Israel may soon be forced to choose between the Turks and the Kurds. In this week's column, I will compare and contrast two developments of great significance for Israel's regional future: the Kurdish question and the development of the offshore … [Read more...] about Israel’s Kurdish Conundrum*
Erdogan
Celebrating Our Freedom
As Jews everywhere are celebrating the Festival of Freedom and Liberty, known as Passover, others in the West are losing their freedoms. These 3,400 years old “Jewish Spring” legacy, is celebrated each year to commemorate and rejoice their liberation … [Read more...] about Celebrating Our Freedom
The Syrian Threat to Israel*
Left: Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria - liveuamap, February 22, 2016 There are more than two dozen state and non-state actors battling over the prostrate body of what used to be Syria, one of the artificial entities carved out in … [Read more...] about The Syrian Threat to Israel*
Key factor in sharply-improved Putin-Netanyahu strategic ties? The Obama White House
Left: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Sept. 21, 2015 / EPA Israeli-Russian strategic cooperation already good was markedly improving in early October 2015. The primary impediment … [Read more...] about Key factor in sharply-improved Putin-Netanyahu strategic ties? The Obama White House
Dancing with Tyrants*
Left: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. The communist leadership of China; President Putin of Russia; Turkey’s Erdogan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Should Israel deal with such regimes? They are all wholesale … [Read more...] about Dancing with Tyrants*
The New Old Sick Man of Europe*
For a century European politics was dogged with “the sick man of Europe”: the collapsing Ottoman Empire and its implications for the major powers. That’s not the case now, of course. Multi-ethnic empires are a thing of the past, their death rattle … [Read more...] about The New Old Sick Man of Europe*
What Should Israel Worry About?
A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency recently stated that the intelligence community in the U.S. has a perfect record of identifying future threats: "We have never been right". The one thing we know nothing about is the future. … [Read more...] about What Should Israel Worry About?
Turkey’s Story on Downing Russian Jet Doesn’t Add Up*
Left: Putin: Turkey's Downing Russian jet "is a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists." The Turkish story on the Russian jet shoot down does not hold up. In fact, the evidence points to a deliberate provocation by Turkey … [Read more...] about Turkey’s Story on Downing Russian Jet Doesn’t Add Up*
A Response to Bernard-Henri Lévy*
On November 16, 2015, French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy published a commentary in which he urges the West to acknowledge that it is at war and must call things by their right names. He subsequently argues that we must battle Islamic jihad … [Read more...] about A Response to Bernard-Henri Lévy*
Obama’s illogic
Left: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Barack Obama. (Photo: Cihan), Nov.13, 2015 The confusion in the President’s thinking and strategy about the current terrorist crisis is frightening in its implications. As the tragic … [Read more...] about Obama’s illogic