Hussein Ibish of Now Lebanon looks at the rift between Hamas’ rulers in Gaza and the external leadership – with the two seeming to take opposing sides in a changing Arab world.
The external Hamas leadership has a branding and identity crisis, and needs desperately to find new patrons and headquarters, and a new international political and strategic profile. Hence [Khaled] Meshaal has been intensively courting Qatar, Jordan and Egypt, among others, seeking alternative sources of support and a new regional orientation. The Gaza leadership does not share much of this crisis. Their rule is effectively unchallenged, and they continue to draw on various sources of income.
Writing in the LA Times, Benny Morris sounds the alarm for the worst possible outcome should Iran be allowed to obtain nuclear capabilities, and says there is no alternative to military action.
The choice is clear and stark. Either Iran, led by fanatical, brutal and millenarian leaders, will get the bomb, or it will be prevented from doing so by military assault on its nuclear installations, by America or Israel. If the Americans, who have the capability to do a thorough job, don’t do it — and they don’t seem to have the stomach for it after Iraq and Afghanistan — then the Israelis, with their more limited capabilities, will have to.
Bernard Gwertzman of the Council on Foreign Relations talks to Professor William H. Luers of Columbia University about the UN’s difficulties in reaching a consensus about Syria, particularly with Russia and China,
Historically, the Soviet Union—now Russia—and the Chinese have basically held that the United Nations should not authorize any action internal to any single country. This began as an attitude developed out of the general sense that the world was hostile to both governments. So as a matter of principle, they believe that the internal affairs of another country is not an issue for the United Nations to deal with. That has been a fundamental premise throughout the Soviet /Russian existence.
The newly launched Times of Israel takes a look at the efforts by American Jewish organizations to draw in the younger generation.
Bred on a diverse and multi-cultural society where Judaism is often only one of many concurrent identities and accustomed to an ala carte Judaism in which they can pick and choose from a buffet of Jewish options to best fit their own personal needs – if they seek out organized Jewish life at all – today’s 20-and 30-somethings are presenting quite a challenge to the organized Jewish world.
New European Jewish parliament riles existing European Jewish leaders
A row over a new Jewish body in Europe has put American Jewish leaders on the spot, writes Toby Axelrod for the JTA.
Igor Kolomoisky and Vadim Rabinovich, the Ukrainian Jewish moguls behind the body, founded the European Jewish Union last spring and will fete their new parliament in ceremonies at the EU Parliament on Thursday. According to their invitation, 120 Jewish members of parliament have been chosen by 403,810 voters from all over Europe.
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