Following the recently announced agreement concerning Iran’s nuclear program and the ongoing Congressional debate surrounding it, our latest expert Q&A examines the deal’s possible implications for Palestine/Israel and the region as a whole, with analysts Diana Buttu, Mouin Rabbani, and Rami Khouri.
on July 29, 2015France’s top diplomat traveled to the Middle East over the weekend to take a crack at solving the seemingly unsolvable Israeli-Palestinian conflict, offering a new way forward that includes a possible U.N. resolution setting out broad terms for ending the impasse and an offer of help from the Europeans and Arab nations.
on June 21, 2015The German foreign minister on Monday called on Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza in return for Palestinian security reassurances during a visit to the beleaguered coastal enclave. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, heading a delegation of 60 German officials, arrived in the region on Saturday to hold talks with top Palestinian and Israeli officials.
on June 1, 2015Germany's foreign minister paid a rare visit to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Monday, calling on Israel to ease a blockade on the territory and urging Hamas prevent rockets from being fired into Israel. Frank-Walter Steinmeier became the latest Western diplomat, including U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, to tour Gaza since a 50-day war with Israel last summer.
on June 1, 2015Before, during and after Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before Congress, we heard many references to Winston Churchill. There's no doubt this is an analogy Netanyahu enjoys hearing. Along with Churchill, Netanyahu is the only foreign leader to address a joint meeting of Congress three times. Netanyahu called his own speech “historic” before even departing for the United States to deliver it.
on March 17, 2015U.S. President Barack Obama wants to make a renewed effort to achieve progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the nearly two years he has left in office, senior White House officials told Haaretz. The final decision on how to move forward, what sort of effort to make and when, will only be made after the March 17 elections in Israel.
on March 6, 2015The extent of damage to the US-Israeli relationship following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress on Tuesday is yet unclear. But if reactions to the 39-minute speech - which Netanyahu came off a plane in Tel Aviv on Wednesday defending - are any sign, the special relationship long shared between the two countries may have a bumpy road ahead.
on March 4, 2015House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi politely stood and clapped when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the House chamber for his long-awaited, and highly controversial, speech to Congress. The longer he spoke, the less enthusiastic she got.
on March 3, 2015Nancy Pelosi looked as if she might charge the well of the House and confront Benjamin Netanyahu personally. When the Israeli prime minister, in his controversial address to Congress on Tuesday, suggested that the deal the Obama administration is negotiating with Iran only seeks to “delay the inevitable” of a nuclear-armed Iran, the House Democratic leader shook her index finger, balled her hand into a fist and spoke angrily to her neighbor, Democratic whip Steny Hoyer (Md.).
on March 3, 2015