Israelis Sad to See Hagel Go

by Marsha B. Cohen The resignation of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Monday, Nov. 24 after less than two years in his post was all over the morning news here in the United States. But the story was ultimately trumped by the imminent… Continue Reading

Netanyahu and Obama: Name-Calling and its Discontents

by Mitchell Plitnick The obsession in politics and diplomacy with decorum–largely a relic from the past–can easily distract people from the realities of the present. Case in point, the uproar over Jeffrey Goldberg’s latest article in the Atlantic, the headline of… Continue Reading

Goldberg Sees Crisis in US-Israel Ties, Blames Bibi

by Jim Lobe While everyone ritually insists that the bonds between Israel and the United States are “unbreakable,” yesterday’s analysis by Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is Officially Here,” argues that they’re currently under unprecedented strain and that the fault… Continue Reading

How Does Israel Assess the Threat Posed by ISIS?

by Derek Davison A former senior analyst for Mossad, Yossi Alpher, told an audience in Washington Thursday that Israel sees the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) as an “urgent” national security concern, but the context of his talk at the… Continue Reading

Israelis and Palestinians Moving Apart, Not Closer

by Mitchell Plitnick It’s a busy week for Secretary of State John Kerry. On Monday, he received Israel’s top two negotiators, Tzipi Livni and Isaac Molho. Then he packed his bags and headed off to the World Economic Forum in… Continue Reading