Bibi’s Dilemma — and Barack’s

"Bibi" Netanyahu was disgusted. "My initial reaction is that Iran has gotten a freebie. It has got five weeks to continue enrichment without any limitation." The Israeli prime minister was referring to Saturday's meeting in Istanbul of the P5-plus-1 -- the...

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The Babylonian Captivity of Washington

The most troubling prerogative of modern government is the ability of the sovereign or head of state to go to war.  War means death, debt, and, if the decision is a bad one, the very end of civil society and the prevailing political order.  Because war is potentially...

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US to Iran: Surrender Dorothy!

On a recent trip to Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid down the law: America must threaten the Iranians with war if Tehran insists on pursuing its nuclear energy program. We are supposed to take seriously Netanyahu’s threats to strike Iran...

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Spying on the Spies

Stewart Nozette, a brilliant scientist whose work was instrumental in advancing the US space program, was convicted last year of attempting to spy on behalf of Israel, and this month was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a substantial fine. Under investigation for...

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The Islamophobia Excuse

It seems that the Republican presidential aspirants’ fervor to confront Islam has receded a bit with the decline and fall of Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, but one can likely still count on Rick Santorum to come up with some bon mots on the threat posed by Shariah law....

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A Palestinian Mandela

Marwan Barghouti has spoken up. After a long silence, he has sent a message from prison. In Israeli ears, this message does not sound pleasant. But for Palestinians, and for Arabs in general, it makes sense. His message may well become the new program of the...

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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...

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