Clanging Symbols: Obama’s 50 Hours in Israel

by Marsha B. Cohen US President Barack Obama has arrived in Israel. Greeted by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu (who wore a blue tie that almost exactly matched Obama’s), the US president was quickly ushered to… Continue Reading

Iron Dome, “Iron Dumb”?

by Marsha B. Cohen Americans will soon get to see their taxpayer dollars at work when Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket system, funded largely by the US, is deployed during President Obama’s Israel visit. Unless the inauguration of Pope Francis I… Continue Reading

Gaza and Iran’s Security Policy

You will not hear me say this often, but Hossein Shariatmadari — Iran’s irascible and intractable editor of the hardline Kayhan daily — makes one important point in this editorial. Although a few months ago Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei referred in… Continue Reading

The Gaza Crisis: A Strategic Boon for Iran

The recent war in Gaza has been portrayed as a political dividend for the main protagonists, namely Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Egypt’s Mohammad Morsi, and the Hamas leadership in Gaza, despite the tremendous psychological, infrastructural and humanitarian costs borne by innocent… Continue Reading