September 20, 2012

RAMALLAH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians signaled recently to annul or modify the interim Oslo peace accords signed with Israel in 1993, where observers considered the issue an explanation of despair towards reaching a final agreement and establish an independent Palestinian state.

Despite calm, Palestinian Authority still on brink of collapse

Last week, the Palestinian Authority experienced the most dangerous internal crises it has faced since its establishment in 1994. Although the immediate cause of that crisis was the government’s announcement of price hikes in fuel and a 1-percent increase in the value added tax, it is difficult to understand what happened without acknowledging the other, less obvious factors that contributed, including the current political environment.

Netanyahu is leading ties with U.S. to the precipice

Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to be a champion in America. He grew up in America, was educated in America and worked in America. He's an expert on American history, understands the American economy and knows American politics. He thinks in American English, and the thing he really believes in is the uniqueness of America. Most of the people he appreciates are American tycoons and intellectuals.

Israel's idée fixe of a peace-less status quo is returning

On the 19th anniversary of the Declaration of Principles (the Oslo I Accord) between Israel and the PLO, and on the 17th anniversary of the Interim Agreement (Oslo II), the Oslo process has hit rock bottom.

Did Bibi just throw Romney under the bus?

It’s been no secret that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would prefer Mitt Romney as president of America.

He’s had a very tense relationship with Barack Obama, who came to office intent on restarting a peace process the Israeli prime minister would prefer to see shelved. There has been an ongoing flow of anti-Obama leaks coming out of “sources” in Jerusalem often identified in the Israeli media as “close to the prime minister’s office.”

Very Little Room for Diplomacy in ‘Fortress Israel’

Reading Patrick Tyler’s provocative new book, Fortress Israel, it is hard to have confidence that Israel’s leaders will allow much more time for efforts at a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Even Real Lobbies Fail Sometimes

Peaceniks in Palestine

The leaked statements by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney once again betray the dangerous relationship between U.S. domestic politics and U.S. national strategic interests. To be clear, this is not the first time U.S. presidential candidates and party institutions made statements contradicting long-standing U.S. policy to improve their electoral chances. The examples are too many to mention and they all end up back-pedaling once they assume office.

The Answers to Mitt Romney's Israel-Palestine Apathy

Just as Mitt Romney's campaign advisors promised this week that his campaign would start having real policy discussions, we receive the candidate's most substantive treatment of the Middle East to date, in the form of a leaked video from a recent closed-door fundraiser. His main thesis seems to be that, for Israelis and Palestinians, "the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish." He provides two general arguments to support his claim, both of which are problematic.

Bibi's Chutzpah

Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem last week, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed outrage at the refusal of the Obama administration to set "red lines" for Iran's progress on its nuclear program: limits that, if crossed by the Iranians, would trigger U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic. Netanyahu suggested that by not taking a harder line, the United States might fail to persuade Israel to forego a unilateral strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

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