Preparing for a Post-Abbas Palestine?

by Mitchell Plitnick On December 31, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas closed out a year of stinging defeats by signing on to 18 international accords. Included among these was the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).… Continue Reading

Abbas Moves Toward ICC After UN Failure

by Mitchell Plitnick The Palestinian Authority (PA) has now moved a step closer to making good on its threat to go to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and bring charges against Israel. There is little doubt that this was a… 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

The US Must Do Less To Resolve the Israel-Palestine Conflict

by Mitchell Plitnick Former American diplomat Aaron David Miller is a frequent and worthwhile contributor to US foreign policy discussions in both Washington and the news media. His long career in Middle East diplomacy and strong focus on Israel have enabled him to clarify for… Continue Reading

Obama Punts Syria Question To Congress

by Mitchell Plitnick US President Barack Obama’s decision to use force in response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons but to seek Congressional approval before doing so was very surprising. It is a major reversal of the behavior of every… Continue Reading