A string of coordinated cross-border terrorist attacks against Israelis launched from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula and Gaza yesterday underscored one of the ominous side effects of the “Arab Spring”: Egypt’s state security institutions have lost control over the Sinai region and are fighting a losing battle against Islamist terrorist groups and …
Tensions are rising between Israel and Lebanon, this time over underwater gas reserves. After months of debate, Israel’s cabinet approved last week a proposed maritime border that overlaps with a competing Lebanese claim, creating a sliver of some 430 square miles in dispute. Typically, after decades of arguments over fishing …
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today addressed a joint session of Congress and proclaimed that his government is willing to make “painful compromises” for peace with the Palestinians, but he ruled out any proposal that sacrifices Israel’s security needs or its identity as a Jewish state. In a lengthy speech …
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits President Barack Obama at the White House today for three hours of meetings, he will likely ask the President a very important question: Do you stand by the long-standing U.S. commitments to Israel’s future as a Jewish state? He’s right to ask the …
President Obama today delivered a lengthy speech on U.S. policy in the Middle East that promised continued American support for democratic transitions in the countries influenced by the “Arab Spring.” He outlined an overly optimistic vision of what an Israeli–Palestinian peace settlement would look like. But he missed an opportunity …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast, Heritage Middle East expert Jim Phillips reflects on the current unrest between Israel and Syria. To listen to the full interview, click here. A few days ago marked the anniversary of “nakba,” or “the day of catastrophe,” for Palestinians and their Arab allies. That day is …
HERZLIYA, ISRAEL. Emergence of a nuclear Iran; turmoil in Egypt and destabilization of secular, pro-Western Middle Eastern states; blurring of the lines between unconventional, conventional, and low-intensity conflicts; explosion of information challenges in and around the battlefields—all of these concerns will increasingly challenge U.S. and regional policymakers and military commanders …
Two years of President Barak Obama’s Middle Eastern foreign policy, and especially its handling of the Egyptian revolution, earned poor marks at Israel’s flagship national security event, the Herzliya Conference. The prestigious conference attracted NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, U.K. Defense Minister Liam Fox, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander …
