Tag: benjamin netanyahu

Netanyahu: Intellectual Father of the ‘War on Terror’

Writing last week on Antiwar.com the redoubtable Phil Giraldi said: “The Israel connection is significant because Israel has long been at the heart of America’s foreign policy woes. America’s misguided war on terror is in fact a complete adoption of Israeli security paradigms without any regard for the actual threats that confront the U.S., making … Continue reading “Netanyahu: Intellectual Father of the ‘War on Terror’”

Is Palestine America’s Next Vietnam?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t been alone in playing for time when it comes to American policy, that’s for sure. (Think, for instance, of our Afghan War commander Gen. David Petraeus.) But Netanyahu played out the pre-election months with some skill and much shuffling of feet, as he officially pondered Obama administration proposals to … Continue reading “Is Palestine America’s Next Vietnam?”

Netanyahu Pounds War Drums

Less than a week after Republicans made major gains in the U.S. midterm elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on President Barack Obama to “create a credible threat of military action” against Iran. Initial official reaction was negative, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates insisting that Obama’s preferred strategy of enhanced multilateral sanctions and … Continue reading “Netanyahu Pounds War Drums”

Netanyahu Tries to Scuttle Peace Talks Again

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once against scuttled a chance for progress in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. You didn’t know? Don’t feel bad. It all happened so quickly that hardly anyone noticed it – except in Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority has its offices. There they know all too well what happened, and … Continue reading “Netanyahu Tries to Scuttle Peace Talks Again”

The State of Blah-Blah-Blah

Will Germany enact a law that demands that every Turk aspiring to citizenship swear allegiance to the “German Federal Republic, the Nation-State of the German People”? Sounds like a ridiculous idea. Will the U.S. Senate adopt a law that would compel every candidate for citizenship to swear allegiance to “The United States of America, the … Continue reading “The State of Blah-Blah-Blah”

His Father’s Boy

Which is the real Netanyahu? Bibi the weakling, the invertebrate, who always gives in to pressure, who zigzags to the left and to the right, depending whether the pressure comes from the U.S. or from his coalition partners?The tricky Likud chief, who is afraid that Avigdor Ivett Lieberman might succeed in pushing him toward the … Continue reading “His Father’s Boy”

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

People endowed with sensitive political ears were startled this week by two words, which, so it seemed, escaped from the mouth of Benjamin Netanyahu by accident: “Eastern front.” Once upon a time these words were part of the everyday vocabulary of the occupation. In recent years they have been gathering dust in the political junkyard. … Continue reading “All Quiet on the Eastern Front”

Bibi Unmasked

In 2001, Bibi Netanyahu paid a condolence call on a group of Israeli settlers in the village of Ofra, widows whose husbands had been killed in the Intifada: the videotaped conversation has just been leaked, and broadcast by Israel’s Channel 10, and it is a blockbuster. At one point, Bibi is telling the widows that … Continue reading “Bibi Unmasked”

Obama and Netanyahu All Smiles

Insisting that the bond between their two nations was “unbreakable,” U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged all smiles from their long-awaited White House meeting Tuesday. Speaking before reporters, the two men, whose last encounter in March appeared to confirm a crisis in bilateral ties, lavished compliments on each other. “[T]he … Continue reading “Obama and Netanyahu All Smiles”

Shalit Debacle Shows Netanyahu’s Incompetence

I am composing these lines while looking through the window at the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea and thinking about the young man who is being held not far from this sea, a few dozen kilometers from here. Can Gilad Shalit look out on the same sea through his window? Does he even have … Continue reading “Shalit Debacle Shows Netanyahu’s Incompetence”