Israel is not the threat, Mr. Obama. Iran is.
Writing in Christian Science Monitor, John Bolton criticizes President Obama for what he says is his determination to prevent an Israeli strike on Iran at any price.
Three years of merciless private pressure against Israel having obviously failed to extract a commitment not to use force, the Obama administration looks to have determined two months ago to go public. The first salvo was Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s assertion that Israel might well strike Iran between April and June of this year. Nothing like letting the target know when to expect the attack.
The Irrational US/Iran/Israel Dynamic
Rami G. Khouri argues in Middle East Online that the United States’ biased policy toward Israel is at the root of its declining international status.
Coordination is a normal tool for diplomatic action, but many people in the United States and around the world feel that the line between cooperation and coercion has been badly blurred in US-Israeli relations, as America’s Mideast policies seem increasingly subservient to Israeli concerns.
Israel Policy to Blame if Obama Loses Jewish Votes
A new poll proves Obama’s fading popularity among Jewish liberal voters, and there can be only one reason, writes Jonathan S. Tobin of Commentary Magazine.
If Obama does lose a fifth of his Jewish support when compared to four years ago, what other explanation can there be for such a result other than the fact that many Jewish Democrats are rightly concerned about the administration’s policy of hostility toward Israel during its first three years? While the current Jewish charm offensive may help shore up the president’s backing in this overwhelmingly Democratic demographic, if this poll is correct and the Republicans make such large gains, the most likely reason for a shift in the Jewish vote would be Israel.
Israel’s New Strategic Environment
With the regional threat posed by Iran, Israel has entered a new strategic era and is increasingly dependent on external powers, writes George Friedman for Strafor.
Israel’s problem is that Iran appears on the verge of a strategic realignment in the region. The sense that Iran is an emerging nuclear power both enhances Iran’s position and decreases anyone’s appetite to do anything about it. Israel is practicing psychological warfare against Iran, but it still faces a serious problem: The more Iran consolidates its position in the Middle East and the closer it is to a weapon the more other countries outside the region will have to accommodate themselves to Iran. And this leaves Israel vulnerable.
Jewish Gangsters Get Their Day at Museum
Daniel Brook of the Forward takes a look a new Las Vegas museum on organized crime, with its fair share of Jewish gangster history.
While the exhibit only breaks the code of omertà about Jewishness at the beginning of its chronological display — noting the Jewish immigration wave alongside the Irish and Italian — as visitors move through the 20th century they see a pantheon of mosaic Murder Inc. veterans, including Moe Dalitz, Gus Greenbaum and Moe Sedway, on a progression from street toughs to casino magnates to pillars of the community.
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