New Israeli Elections Offer Little Hope For Change

by Mitchell Plitnick The Israeli government is headed for yet another round of elections. Although the official election date for the next Knesset is November 7, 2017, no one ever expected this government to last that long. The voting will likely… 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

Recognizing Palestine

by John Feffer In his recent meeting with President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was “committed to the vision of peace for two states for two peoples.” That sounds nice. But if he’d been pressed, Netanyahu might have… Continue Reading

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