US
David Frum doesn’t think yielding to Iran (to gain its support against ISIS) is necessary –
Little has come of all these attempts, for the uncomplicated reason that the rulers of Iran are not much interested in them. Or, to put it a little more complexly, the rulers of Iran value other priorities more highly than they value any benefit that might come from improving relations with the United States.
According to FP’s Shane Harris, Obama’s bombing strategy in Syria is not coordinated with moderate Syrian rebels –
In a pointed statement issued Friday, a group that supports moderate Syrian rebel forces said it “condemns” the U.S. bombing campaign because it hasn't been planned in consultation with rebels on the ground, who could help direct American aircraft toward Islamic State fighters. Some rebel forces claimed that U.S.-led airstrikes have killed civilians, and they're also accusing Barack Obama's administration of taking its eyes off the main target — the Islamic State — to go after other militant groups that, while considered enemies of the United States, are nevertheless fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. strikes could be having an unintended effect, rebels say: propping up Assad and weakening the opposition to him and the Islamic State.
Israel
Nahum Barnea believes Mahmoud Abbas’ UN speech shows that the peace process is currently off the table –
The thing called the peace process, or the Oslo process, or peace negotiations, is off the table. The gap between the parties is too big; the internal forces opposing concessions are too strong. What we are left with is a battlefield between an Israeli government which will forever stick to the status quo and a desperate Palestinian Authority which is fighting it, with the world's growing support. It's a recipe for an explosion.
Georgetown Professor Rory Miller discusses Israel’s attempts to convert trade into political capital in its dealings with China and India –
Given these calculations, neither country is likely to line up behind Israel’s position on its conflicts with the Palestinians anytime soon. That’s the bad news for Israel. The good news is that as long as high-tech ties are going from strength to strength, it hardly matters; the economic and political relations will just proceed on separate tracks, as they’ve done till now.
Middle East
David Ignatius takes a look at a distubing influential Jihadist guidebook which describes a lot of the tactics used by ISIS –
Naji’s war plan was written in the aftermath of America’s 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. His theme was the need to draw the United States even deeper into conflict across Muslim lands.
The author’s premise was that the United States was a paper tiger that would become fatigued by a long war in Muslim countries and by social problems back home: “Work to expose the weakness of America’s centralized power by pushing it to abandon the media psychological war and the war by proxy until it fights directly.”
Al-Monitor’s Daoud Kouttab examines the curious reasons behind President Abbas’ Hardball tactics with Hamas –
A more strategic reason for Abbas playing hardball with Hamas involves Palestinian-Arab relations. Giving any credit to Hamas, viewed as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, is bound to weaken Abbas’ relations with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which these days have zero tolerance for the Brotherhood. For regional strategic and financial reasons, Abbas is loath to make moves that would give the Islamic movement credit or legitimacy. He does not accept Hamas’ claim that it was victorious in the recent war, in which more than 2,000 Palestinians, many of them children, were killed.
Jewish World
Benjamin Weinthal writes about Germany’s new anti-Semitism problem –
For Jews to feel comfortable in 21st-century Germany, rising anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments will need to be blunted. Merkel's appearance earlier this month at the rally shows that she understands this. “Young Jewish parents are asking if it safe to raise their children here,” she said to the small crowd in attendance. The pressing question is whether Merkel will match her characteristically tough speech against anti-Semitism with policy prescriptions — and whether Germans are listening.
David Bargal and Avner Govrin try to understand why it took Sigmund Freud so much time to understand the Nazi threat –
Freud’s relatives and associates tried to convince him to flee Austria, but he used lame excuses: He was too old and weak, he wouldn’t be able to climb the steps onto the train, he would never be granted a residence permit anywhere. He also argued that leaving the country of his birth was tantamount to a soldier abandoning his post. He was only convinced otherwise a week after the March 15 incident, following the Gestapo’s interrogation of his daughter Anna and the nerve-racking wait for her release.
The conflict between Freud’s multiple identities, as well as his advanced age and cancer, triggered his resort to denial and repression. Only the intervention of his disciples Jones and Marie Bonaparte, and that of British and American diplomats, saved Freud from his self-destructive instincts.
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