Helena Cobban

RAMALLAH – Negotiations for the political endgame of the recent Gaza war have proven much more difficult than – presumably – the Israeli cabinet imagined last December, when it took the final decision to start the war. Now, the negotiations to stabilize the fragile twin cease-fires that went into effect Jan. 18 have become deeply … Continue reading “Mideast Peace Talks on Hold Amid Dual Power Struggles”

The tandem un-negotiated cease-fires that Israel and Hamas announced Jan. 18 across the Gaza-Israel front line remain fragile. Local and international efforts to consolidate the truce have stalled, and officials and analysts around the world warn of a high risk of further escalation. Further complicating the truce stabilization effort, Israelis go to the polls Feb. … Continue reading “A Truce Too Big to Fail?”

The war that Israel launched on Gaza Dec. 27 is the seventh war of choice Israel has launched against its neighbors since 1973, the last year in which it fought a war that was forced upon it. Of the seven wars one – in Lebanon, 1978 – had the goal of establishing an Israeli-controlled "security … Continue reading “Israel’s Wars of Forced Regime Change”