Mitchell Plitnick

Mitchell Plitnick writes for Inter Press Service.

Netanyahu’s Victory Is Just as Bad as It Looks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has scored a dramatic victory, far outpacing the pre-election and exit polls. The consequences for Israelis, Palestinians, and the rest of the world could be very grave. This surprising result undoubtedly came about because of some combination of the pollsters simply being wrong and Netanyahu’s last-minute tactics, which included some … Continue reading “Netanyahu’s Victory Is Just as Bad as It Looks”

Israel Lobby Galvanizes Support for Gaza War

Pro-Israel activists assembled a huge crowd and a long list of congressional leaders and diplomats to declare their unconditional support for Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, largely downplaying tensions between Jerusalem and Washington. Key congressional figures from both the Republican and Democratic Parties echoed similar views: that Israel was exercising its … Continue reading “Israel Lobby Galvanizes Support for Gaza War”

Kerry Draws Israel Hawks’ Ire Amid Failed Talks

In the wake of the collapse of U.S.-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the angry rhetoric around this conflict has only escalated. After days of mutual recriminations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ignited a controversy by telling a gathering of world leaders at the Trilateral Commission … Continue reading “Kerry Draws Israel Hawks’ Ire Amid Failed Talks”

Poll Shows Diminishing Support for Two-State Solution

Twenty years of the Oslo peace process between Israelis and Palestinians have made a solution more difficult to attain, rather than easier. That was the conclusion of a poll of Israelis and Palestinians released on Friday. The poll, conducted by Zogby Research Services, showed that barely one-third of Israelis (34 percent) and Palestinians (36 percent) … Continue reading “Poll Shows Diminishing Support for Two-State Solution”

Israeli Lobby Looks to 2008 Law To Justify Request for More US Aid

Israel and its domestic U.S. lobby are already in the early stages of the next 10-year aid package, which would not go into effect until 2017 and will be the first since Congress passed the Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2008, which requires in part that US military aid to Israel ensure that Israel maintains … Continue reading “Israeli Lobby Looks to 2008 Law To Justify Request for More US Aid”

In Israel, Opposition to Attacking Iran Gains Upper Hand

The ambitions of a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran, as harboured by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, have been defeated by internal opposition, a growing number of observers have come to believe in the wake of dramatic opposing statements by prominent Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres. The picture emerging … Continue reading “In Israel, Opposition to Attacking Iran Gains Upper Hand”

J Street Stresses Return to Stalled Talks

At the third annual conference of J Street, the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby group that is widely seen as a counterweight to the more right-wing American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Israel-Palestine conflict took the focus back from the ongoing tension with Iran. There was much talk of Iran at the Washington conference, but J … Continue reading “J Street Stresses Return to Stalled Talks”

Netanyahu Conditions Denounced as ‘War’ by Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out what he called his vision for peace with the Palestinians Tuesday, but listed a set of conditions the Palestinians immediately called "a declaration of war." Speaking before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress that capped five days of speeches by Netanyahu and President Barack Obama on the … Continue reading “Netanyahu Conditions Denounced as ‘War’ by Palestinians”