With just more than a month to go before the Israeli-Palestinian peace conference is scheduled to take place, Jerusalem is shaping up to become the key issue.
In the run-up to the regional peace parley in November, Israeli decision makers are facing an increasingly acute dilemma: How to deal with the Hamas terrorists who control Gaza.
With the planned Middle East summit in Washington less than two months away, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is caught in an ideological battle between his party\’s doves and hawks.
With Israel refusing to discuss the apparent airstrike two weeks ago against Syria, observers have begun to suggest that a major event may have taken place. The apparent bombing run might have been akin to Israel\’s bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981, if international media reports are to be believed.
Under pressure from a key coalition partner, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised to pass legislation for a stronger and more stable government. But Israel will remain a parliamentary democracy and will not adopt the American-style presidential system some reformers have been advocating.
Whether the American summit actually boosts Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking will depend on the outcome of the internal Palestinian struggle.
After his overwhelming victory in the Likud\’s leadership primary last week, Benjamin \”Bibi\” Netanyahu might have felt well on the way to succeeding Ehud Olmert as prime minister. For months he had been leading in polls for the premiership, and was now seemingly in control of his party.
Ehud Barak, the new leader of Israel\’s Labor Party, is proving to be something of an enigma.
The problem is simple: With Hamas in control in Gaza and the rival Fatah ruling the West Bank, how can a unified Palestinian state be established in the West Bank and Gaza?
One year after the Second Lebanon War, Israel\’s northern front is quiet, U.N. forces are patrolling the border area and Hezbollah fighters have been pushed back deep inside Lebanese territory.
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