Lessons in Israeli-Palestinian reality from two Middle East experts
December 19, 2012 | Sharyn Mittelman
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy awarded its 2012 Scholar-Statesmen Award to Dennis Ross and Elliott Abrams on December 6. Ross served as special Middle East negotiator to President Clinton and Iran policy adviser to President Obama, and is currently counsellor to the Washington Institute. Abrams, served as Deputy National Security Advisor in the George W. Bush Administration, and is currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
In a post-award panel discussion, Ross and Abrams reflected on their careers in foreign policy and provided insights into the challenges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran’s nuclear program and the ‘Arab Spring’.
The state of Israeli/Palestinian relations
December 13, 2012
This Update deals with three pieces of analysis on the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations in the wake of the UN vote on “non-member state” status and other recent events.
First up is noted Israeli academic analyst and former UN Ambassador Dore Gold, offering some advice on Israeli diplomacy in the wake of the UN vote. He notes that, despite hints to the contrary prior to the UN vote, there is no sign that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is at all prepared to drop its preconditions and resume peace negotiations with Israel – and indeed the long-standing pre-conditions for talks have now been publicly re-affirmed by PA President Abbas.
Getting inside the head of Khaled Meshal
December 12, 2012 | Or Avi Guy
December 7th was a big day for Khaled Meshal, head of Hamas political bureau. Hamas marked its 25th anniversary, and on the occasion Meshal made his first ever visit to Gaza, which was not only a personal experience, but also his opportunity for a political resurrection.
In his speech, Meshal proved once again that he is just as committed to the “resistance” and “liberation” of Palestine as the most extreme voices. He also proved that not much has changed in the 25 years since Hamas first emerged, with its hateful, antisemitic charter and the call for the annihilation of Israel.
E1 “cutting the West Bank in half”?
December 11, 2012 | Ahron Shapiro
In an update to my blog post from December 4 on the controversy surrounding Israel’s decision to allow the planning of a new neighbourhood for the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’ale Adumim in an area known as E1, we look at some new developments to the story.
Journalist or terrorist? Why choose when you can be both!
December 9, 2012 | Or Avi Guy
Recently it has been reported that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, blaming Israel for allegedly targeting Palestinian journalists during operation “Pillar of Defence” in the Gaza Strip. New York Times journalist David Carr went even further, as he accused Israel of intentionally targeting journalists.
Two main issues are mixed up in the story. Firstly, the use of journalists and press as human shields for terrorist activity, further endangering journalists reporting from conflict zones. And secondly, terrorists’ use of journalist status to cover up for their violent activities.
UN discusses Syrian conflict for an hour, spends five hours condemning Israel
December 7, 2012 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
After the current conflict in Syria had commenced, observations quickly began piling-up that it was receiving noticeably less coverage than it would if it were taking place just over Syria’s eastern border in Israeli territory … Occasionally, something comes up that really illustrates the extent to which the international community treats the mass murder in Syria as completely insignificant in comparison to even the most marginal allegations against Israel.
A perfect example is the recent UN General Assembly (‘GA’) discussion on Syria — the first since last August — as depicted in…
Egyptian opposition leaders to be investigated for bizarre ‘Zionist plot’
December 7, 2012 | Sharyn Mittelman
On December 5 Egyptian Prosecutor General Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah – who was just appointed by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi a few days ago – referred for investigation a complaint accusing three former presidential candidates – Mohammed ElBaradei, Hamdein Sabahy and Amr Moussa of engaging in a “Zionist plot” of espionage and sedition to overthrow the Morsi government.
The aftermath of the PA UN bid and the debate over Israeli building in settlements
December 7, 2012
This Update deals with the aftermath of the UN vote to upgrade Palestine to “non-member state” status last week, the Israeli response in terms of announcements of preparations to build new housing units in east Jerusalem and settlements, and the strong reaction this decision has promoted from many foreign governments, including Australia’s.
Australia’s Woodside Petroleum goes to Israel
December 6, 2012 | Sharyn Mittelman
Australia’s biggest oil and gas firm, Woodside Petroleum has announced it is buying a 30 percent share, valued up to $2.5 billion, in Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field.
Israel, a nation once thought to be devoid of natural resources in recent years has found vast amounts of natural gas deep under its Mediterranean waters. The gas finding may not only make Israel energy self-sufficient for decades but also a world leader in energy exports – including possibly to Europe and Asia.
The Woodside deal also highlights the changing political and economic ramifications of the new gas fields in the East Mediterranean.
Egypt’s new Islamist constitution
December 5, 2012
On Friday, following an all night session, Egypt’s constitutional assembly rushed through a new constitution, which was promptly approved by Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi, and will be put to a referendum on Dec. 15. The rushed constitutional process follows increasing political unrest there after Morsi published on Nov. 22 a decree giving himself near absolute powers, not subject to judicial review, to take measures he judges necessary ” to protect the country and the goals of the revolution.” But the unrest shows little sign of ending anytime soon.
