Israel

Senator Ted Cruz’s Imaginary Foreign Policy March 23, 2015 Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced his candidacy this morning at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. His speech was long on rhetoric and short on policy, especially foreign policy. Sen. Cruz stressed goals for U.S. policy, asking his audience to “imagine a president who says ‘I will honor the Constitution, and under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon,’” to “imagine a president who says ‘We will stand up and defeat radical Islamic terrorism,’” to “imagine a president who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel,” and to “imagine a president that finally, finally, finally secures the borders.” But this isn’t an imaginary foreign policy: these are the actual goals of current U.S.… Read More ›

Partisan Republican Actions Damaging U.S. National Security March 11, 2015 The letter on the Iran negotiations by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), signed by 46 of his Senate Republican colleagues, is the latest and most blatant example of what is becoming an emerging pattern of Republican partisanship that expressly works to undermine U.S. foreign policy and national security. More than just an embarrassing political stunt, Sen. Cotton’s unprecedented letter will damage U.S. international credibility and weaken the United States’ ability to conclude a deal that would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This willingness to put short-term political goals ahead of U.S. interests has been on display with other Republican initiatives in recent weeks, particularly Speaker of the House John Boehner’s (R-OH) efforts to circumvent… Read More ›

Conservatives Rush to Derail Iran Talks After Netanyahu’s Misleading Speech March 4, 2015 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech laid out Israel’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program – a concern shared by Congress and the Obama Administration. But while it succeeded in cynically pandering to his home constituency – after the speech, members of Congress called it a “campaign pep rally” and “straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook” – it failed to present a feasible alternative to the Administration’s diplomatic initiative. Instead, the Prime Minister made clear that he misunderstands what sanctions and negotiations can achieve, and what the consequences of these talks could be. Now, Congress is fast-tracking a bill that could scuttle the talks. As this increasingly partisan legislation is rushed to… Read More ›

Why Netanyahu Is Still Wrong on Iran March 3, 2015 This morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give a contentious address before Congress. Due to the politicization of the speech – Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) did not consult the Obama Administration in inviting Netanyahu, and invited the Prime Minister in the middle of an Israeli election campaign – a quarter of congressional Democrats have announced they will not be attending. But members of Congress don’t need to attend Netanyahu’s speech to know the message he’ll deliver – the Prime Minister has made clear his opposition to any agreement with Iran which would allow it to maintain an enrichment capability. This belief that the international community could negotiate a deal in which Iran would give… Read More ›

Iran Showdown: Bibi’s Address to Congress Hosted by NSN and Rethink Media March 2, 2015 at 3:00 pm EST Controversy continues to swirl around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s joint address before Congress. Accepting Speaker Boehner’s invitation without the consultation of the White House weeks before the Israeli elections breached protocol and aimed to politicize the special relationship between Israel and the U.S. As negotiations between the international community and Iran continue with the hopes of reaching a successful conclusion in the near future, Bibi’s address has the potential to scuttle progress and to convince members of Congress to reject any final deal reached between the P5+1 and Iran. The manner in which this invitation was extended without White House knowledge and the fallout since its announcement has… Read More ›

Analysts: Israel PM’s Visit Complicates Risk to Troops and ISIS Fight By Bryant Jordan February 20, 2015 | Military.com House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak before Congress puts the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in jeopardy, but also complicates the Arab coalition formed to defeat ISIS and complicates the risk to U.S troops stationed abroad, according to military and foreign policy analysts. Netanyahu is slated to speak to a joint session of Congress on March 3. His appearance was orchestrated by Boehner through Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Though Democrat lawmakers have widely criticized the move, most are expected to attend the speech. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, now a senior advisor with National Security Network, a Washington, DC-based foreign… Read More ›

Ex-US General Blasts Netanyahu’s Planned Congress Address By Amir Oren January 25, 2015 | Haaretz A high-ranking ex-U.S. army general warned this weekend that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned Congress address in March could imperil both the United States and Israel. Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton told Haaretz that U.S. House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not only improper, but perilous to both countries. In coming out against legislation tabled by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) in the Senate and championed by Speaker Boehner in the House, with overt help by Netanyahu, Eaton has strong pro-Israel credentials. He also has friends in the Israel Defense Forces, such as Shamni. “Soldiers value diplomacy,” he says,… Read More ›

The Battle Over Middle East Policy, and its Genesis February 27, 2014 Ed Kilgore | Washington Monthly   John Judis’ new book Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict, is one of those books that is exhibiting the mixed blessings of arriving on a wave of controversy that will be absorbed and discussed by a lot of people who haven’t actually read it (myself included, though it’s on my short list). While Genesis has received considerable praiseas an intense and non-polemical look at the decisions made by Americans (both Zionists and the various factions that contended for control of Middle East policy during the Truman administration) that haunt the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today, it’s also generated some exceptionally strong, even vituperative, criticism, typified by a review from Ronald… Read More ›

John Kerry’s Years of Quiet Diplomacy Helped Forge Path to Peace Talks By Eli Lake and Josh Rogin July 25, 2013 | The Daily Beast Next week’s potential relaunch of direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators represents the culmination of behind-the-scenes diplomacy by Secretary of State John Kerry that began nearly five years ago. Long before he was sworn in as America’s top diplomat in January, Kerry in 2009 began conducting his own quiet peace process from the Senate through meetings, late-night talks, personal visits, and phone calls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and other key leaders in the Middle East. Kerry conducted his shadow diplomacy even as President Obama’s Middle East peace initiative floundered. To be sure, between 2009 and 2012 Kerry was the… Read More ›

By Heather Hurlburt July 19, 2013 | US News I’m having trouble summoning the requisite inside-the-Beltway cynicism at Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcement today that Israelis and Palestinians have agreed on the outline of renewed peace talks, and that he will be inviting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat to open talks in Washington. Sure, I know all the reasons, and thanks, Twitter, for reminding me: there’s “nothing new” in Kerry’s approach; “neither side is hurting enough to make a deal“; the status quo is “stable,” while peace talks will bring “spoiler attempts to gin up violence.” Most of this analysis I even agree with. But it is answering the wrong question. Here’s where I start, instead: Political establishments… Read More ›