President Obama and Haim Saban, Washington, D.C., December 7 / Getty Images Tempers are wearing thin both in Washington and Jerusalem over continuing disagreements on the Iran nuclear talks and the U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. And the situation wasn’t helped by last weekend’s Saban Forum in Washington. The three-day forum, sponsored by the Brookings Institution,…
Peace between Israelis and the Palestinians is unlikely, but talks must continue if only to manage the conflict, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said. “Trust between the two sides is about zero,” Liberman said Friday evening at the annual Saban Forum, a gathering in Washington of Israeli and U.S. persons of influence. Liberman said U.S….
We’ve noted before that the assessments of Israel’s security needs we hear from Israel’s elected leadership, starting with the prime minister, are not always identical — to put in mildly — to the assessments the leadership gets from its own intelligence and security professionals. On the surface, that dissonance appears to be recurring in spades…
To understand why Shelly Yachimovich was booted out as head of the Israel Labor Party after just two years on the job, it helps to note that Labor has had a bad habit, ever since Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995, of changing leaders every time it holds a primary. But this time was different. Previous…
Israel pledged allegiance on Wednesday to its special relationship with the United States, now tested by pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran, after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman appeared to question the strength of the tie. Any notion that Lieberman’s comments, in a speech on Wednesday, meant that Israel was looking for new friends at…
It was to be the misconduct case of the century and trumpet a message that the highest of ethical standards is expected in Israeli public life. But when proceedings against Avigdor Lieberman ended with his acquittal on November 6, Israel was left more cynical than ever about the state’s ability to fight corruption. The saga…
Israeli far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman was sworn in as foreign minister on Monday after his acquittal on corruption charges, a development that could further complicate peace talks with the Palestinians. Lieberman stepped down last year when he was indicted. His reinstatement to the role, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had held open for him, is…
The Israeli cabinet approved on Sunday the return of far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister after his acquittal on corruption charges, in a move that could further complicate peace talks with the Palestinians. Lieberman stepped down last year when he was indicted. His reinstatement to the role, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had held…
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