Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is traveling to Washington to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Leon Panetta, and other key U.S. security officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become the latest target of Israeli musician Noy Alooshe and his satirical music videos.
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at AIPAC Policy Conference Monday night, reassuring the public that Israel remains the United States\’ \’indespensible ally\’, despite his rejection of U.S. President Obama\’s call for a peace deal based on 1967 borders last week.
Let’s get past this U.S.-Israel relationship thing, so we can get on with important stuff, like the U.S.-Israel relationship.
During this latest episode of the long-running Israel-America reality show – which began Thursday with President Obama’s infamous “1967 lines” speech, followed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s defiant response at the White House the next day, and, finally, Obama’s more conciliatory address at the AIPAC convention on Sunday– I vacillated between my emotional “Sephardi hothead” side and my calmer “Ashkenazi tachlis” side.
It is very telling that in both of the articles criticizing Paul Ryan’s courageous budget proposal, many words (and much hand wringing) are expended defending existing entitlements that are bankrupting our nation but not one word addresses the unsustainable cost of these programs or how we will pay for their escalating costs (“Obama’s Way: Maintain Support for Social Programs” and “Threat to Food Stamps Lies Hidden in Ryan’s Plan,” April 22).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will answer questions from people around the world when he appears on YouTube\’s World View. Netanyahu will be the third world leader to appear on the citizen-powered interview program with his live-streamed interview on March 23.
You\’ve got to hand it to Bibi Netanyahu, who somehow managed to turn international outrage over the brutal massacre of a young Jewish family on the Shabbat as they slept in their beds into widespread criticism of his aggressive settlement policy. The most frequent question I get in speaking to Jewish groups around the country is \”Why doesn\’t Israel get better PR advice?\” The answer is simple: the problem isn\’t PR, it\’s policy and the way it\’s announced to the world.
Israel is staring at a fork in the road, with potential disaster along either path. On the path to the left lies a major Israeli peace initiative that deals with all the core issues under dispute with the Palestinians. On the path to the right lies more waiting, possibly with some kind of offer of an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians, until conditions are right for something more.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neyanyahu wrote President Obama urging clemency for Jonathan Pollard. \”At the time of his arrest, Jonathan Pollard was acting as an agent of the Israeli government,\” Netanyahu wrote in his letter, sent Tuesday. \”Even though Israel was in no way directing its intelligence efforts against the United States, its actions were wrong and wholly unacceptable. Both Mr. Pollard and the Government of Israel have repeatedly expressed remorse for these actions, and Israel will continue to abide by its commitment that such wrongful actions will never be repeated.\” Netanyahu read his letter Tuesday evening to a Knesset plenum discussion. His letter, Israel\’s first formal request for Pollard\’s release, came a day after similar urgings from over 500 clergy in a letter to Obama.
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