9 Facts About Israeli President Reuven Rivlin

by Marsha B. Cohen Reuven Rivlin has just been elected Israel’s 10th president. A member of Israel’s parliamentary body since 1988, he served as Speaker of the Knesset from 2003-06 and again from 2009-13. Today, Israel’s parliamentarians, by secret ballot, elected him… Continue Reading

“Diamonds for Peanuts” and the Double Standard

by Marsha B. Cohen The New York Times’ op-ed page headlined “Hopes for Iran”, which offers half a dozen cautious-to-negative views on Iran’s president-elect Hassan Rouhani, unexpectedly links to a “Related Story” published last year: Should Israel Accept a Nuclear Ban?… Continue Reading

Israeli Leaders Respond with Scowls to Rouhani’s Election

by Marsha B. Cohen For most Israeli politicians, the news of the election of moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran, is not good. That it is considered good news by anyone else makes it that much worse. In… Continue Reading

Little Support in Washington for Kerry’s Mideast Efforts

by Mitchell Plitnick While Secretary of State John Kerry was in Israel declaring his aim to “exhaust all the possibilities of peace” to try to stop wasting the Obama Administration’s time and energy on the futile effort to find a… Continue Reading

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