On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a request by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to hold a cabinet meeting on the political stalemate with the Palestinians, to discuss ways of advancing peace negotiations for a final agreement. On Monday Haaretz reported Barak as saying in private talks that a thaw in relations is in Israel's strategic interest and that the country is "living on borrowed time." On Tuesday the European Union demonstrated the price of neglecting this political channel, combined with the race to expand settlements.



Gentlemen, America is telling you 'no'

Article Author(s): 
Eitan Haber
Media Outlet: 
Ynetnews
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 16, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4269283,00.html [23]

Many years ago, the US ambassador to Israel requested an urgent meeting with the defense minister. The ambassador (I'm fairly certain it was Thomas Pickering) sat opposite Yitzhak Rabin, took out a piece of paper from his pocket and read from it.



US punched Bibi, Barak in the face

Article Author(s): 
Attila Somfalvi
Media Outlet: 
Ynetnews
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 15, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4269041,00.html [24]

Once every few years Israel needs a slap in the face to remember where it stands in the world. On Tuesday it was US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey who assumed the role of the responsible adult and slapped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the duo orchestrating the national hysteria surrounding the possibility of an attack in Iran.



Romney must stop playing politics with Israel

Article Author(s): 
Frank R. Lautenberg
Media Outlet: 
Ynetnews
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 15, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=281346 [25]

The rhetoric coming from Republicans and their presidential candidate, Governor Mitt Romney, concerning the US relationship with Israel is downright dangerous.

Republicans want to use our relationship with Israel as part of a political game – which is terrible for US national security and bad for Israel’s safety.



Existential priorities

Article Author(s): 
Jonathan Rosen
Media Outlet: 
The Jerusalem Post
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 15, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=281343 [26]

Israelis have had a number of pressing issues on their minds lately, all of which have been placed in the forefront by the media and the political leadership in the past number of weeks. First and foremost perhaps is the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program, followed closely by the danger of armed jihadists in Sinai, the rise of Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the impending fall of the Syrian regime and the fate of its enormous arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.



BDS campaign remains dangerous, despite failures

Article Author(s): 
Kenneth Stern
Media Outlet: 
Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 15, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/08/15/3104076/op-ed-bds-campaign-may-be-fai... [27]

For more than a decade, anti-Israel activists have sought to shoehorn Israel into the nomenclature of apartheid-era South Africa through the use of a tactic named BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions). Apartheid was a universally decried racist system. BDS activists argue that Israel is the second coming of apartheid South Africa and must be treated the same.



Israel's hawks push a war for personal gain

Media Outlet: 
The National
Article Type: 
Editorial
Date: 
August 16, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/israels-hawks-push-a... [28]

Bluster on Iran is not just dangerous, it is also deceptive. There is growing evidence that a military strike would fail to achieve its strategic goals. That, however, has done little to deter Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak from their campaign of threats. For these two men, it seems, a regional war is an acceptable risk to promote their own political careers.



The Politically Incorrect Guide to U.S. Interests in the Middle East

Article Author(s): 
Aaron David Miller
Media Outlet: 
Foreign Policy
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 15, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/15/the_politically_incorrect_guide... [29]

Foreign policy, including the use of military power, isn't an end in itself. It consists of tools and instruments designed to achieve specific and hopefully well-thought-out ends. Those ends -- let's call them interests -- are theoretically supposed to drive a country's foreign-policy strategy. Sounds pretty simple, right?



Paul Ryan, Meet Dr. Lewis and Mr. Bernard

Article Author(s): 
Hussein Ibish
Media Outlet: 
The Daily Beast
Article Type: 
Opinion
Date: 
August 15, 2012
Source Link(s): 
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/15/dr-lewis-and-mr-bernard.html [30]

Mitt Romney's vice presidential nominee pick, Congressman Paul Ryan, doesn't have a lot of foreign policy experience. But neither does Romney himself, nor did President Barack Obama when he was nominated by the Democratic Party four years ago. Romney's selection confirms the conventional wisdom that, barring unforeseen developments, this will be an election almost entirely fought over domestic policy issues, particularly the economy.