After the Lebanon and Gaza experiences — sustained rocket attacks on Israel in the wake of unilateral pullouts — will Olmert still want to adopt last summer\’s Gaza model of withdrawal without agreement, or will he seek a different formula, such as bilateral arrangements with moderate Palestinian leaders or the introduction of international forces to keep the peace after Israel pulls back?
Beyond the immediate escalation, the recent Palestinian attack on an Israeli army outpost near the Gaza border raises serious questions about Israel\’s security and foreign policies.
Fighting between small groups of Hamas and Fatah members on the streets of Gaza shows signs of intensifying. Both sides have mobilized large forces in Gaza and the West Bank, and some Palestinian observers are predicting civil war.
The key to whether the Saudi plan becomes a serious option — even if adopted by the Palestinians — lies in Washington. The American goal remains a negotiated two-state solution based on Bush\’s \”vision\” that he outlined in June 2002.
American tycoon Warren Buffett invested $4 billion in an Israeli manufacturing firm
Olmert\’s attention to the fine print and his less-than-mythic status in Israel have become subjects of parody at home.
But it\’s just those qualities that have made him a favorite among Jewish officials and politicians in Washington.
At the beginning of the Lebanon War in June 1982, my Jerusalem roommate was packing to leave for grad school in America. Each day\’s newspapers had pictures of men who\’d died at Beaufort, Damour, Sidon.
The supposedly limited operation in Lebanon had morphed into a full-scale invasion that belonged in an updated edition of \”March of Folly.\” Dedicated as I was to living in Israel, I felt a touch of envy for my roommate, soon to be at a quiet campus far away.
It\’s little more than a week to the airdate, March 28, and Ofra Bikel is still putting the final touches on her hourlong documentary, \”Israel: The Unexpected Candidate.\”\nThat\’s not like Bikel, a meticulous professional, described by critic Howard Rosenberg in the Los Angeles Times as \”one of television\’s premier documentary filmmakers … whose camera wields the power to mobilize public opinion through exposure.\”\n\”Usually, I take seven to eight months to make a documentary, but in this case I had only six weeks,\” Bikel said in an hourlong phone call from Tel Aviv, her speech a medley of Israeli, French and American accents.
Fending off a hailstorm of Israeli criticism — as well as a possible showdown with Washington — Russia insisted it only wanted to help tame Hamas.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.