December 19, 2012

In-depth

Three Sins of the Israeli Left

Writing for Al-Monitor, Nadav Eyal examines the missteps by Israel's center-left that have left it in freefall.

Circumstances required the left to re-imagine Israel in a way that would attract voters to it, and there was fertile ground for such a vision. Israel underwent tremendous changes in the last two decades, but the growth of the hi-tech industry and the linkage to the global economy were not translated into an effective political message. Someone in the Israeli left should have connected the dots between the concepts of a start-up nation and the left. That did not happen.

The “Day After” Scenario in Syria

Jonathan Halevi of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs looks at the key players fighting the Assad regime, and what it could mean for Israel when the government falls. 

The revolution in Syria has greatly depleted the Syrian army. The rebel forces, for their part, are hostile to Israel and reiterate calls to extend the jihad from Damascus to the liberation of Jerusalem. At present all their resources are directed at overthrowing the Assad regime. After that is accomplished, a potential military-terrorist threat to Israel will likely emerge in the transition period, which will be marked by governmental instability and a lack of central control over at least some of the fighting forces.

Daily Digest

• Times of Israel: Hamas bars EU observers from border crossing with Egypt
• Haaretz: Labor slams Netanyahu over settlement expansion: Israel is headed for isolation
• Jerusalem Post: Israeli gun control regulations 'opposite of US'
• Ynet: US: Israel's settlement plans provocative
• New York Times: Rubble and Despair of War Redefine Syria Jewel
• Washington Post: A defector’s account of Syrian chemical weapons on the move
• Wall Street Journal: State Dept. Faulted in Benghazi Attack

Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter and Facebook for facts and figures, analysis and opinion on Israel and the U.S., the Jewish World and the Middle East