More in ‘Israel’

More Dubai Evidence Points You-Know-Where

Following the money to the Mossad
By Marc Tracy | 10:00 AM Mar 10, 2010

The New York Observer may have found yet further evidence—if distantly circumstantial—of Mossad involvement in the January 19 assassination of Hamas weapons procurer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. (To learn everything you need to know about the whole thing, click here.)
The interesting detail has to do with a New York City-based company called Payoneer, whose prepaid ...

Daybreak: Biden Backs Jewish State

Plus intermarriage blessings, George Mitchell in full, and more in the news
By Marc Tracy | 9:01 AM Mar 9, 2010

• After meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Vice President Joe Biden declared, “There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security.” [WP]
• A Reform Judaism task force proposed the establishment of separate blessings for major life events, including marriages, involving non-Jewish spouses. [AP/Vos Iz Neias?]
• With U.S. ...

Biden Brings Hopes and High Stakes to Israel

The ‘proximity talks,’ and what happens if they fail
By Marc Tracy | 4:24 PM Mar 8, 2010

Now that Vice President Joe Biden has touched down in Israel (and the Israeli military’s chief-of-staff has landed in Washington, D.C.), it’s time to take a slightly closer look at those indirect peace talks that, ostensibly, are about to kick off.
The idea: U.S. envoy George Mitchell will shuttle between the Israelis and Palestinians, with the ...

Daybreak: Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Peace

Plus Biden in Jerusalem, Iran throws an elbow at Russia, and more in the news
By Marc Tracy | 9:00 AM Mar 8, 2010

• The Palestine Liberation Organization formally dropped its requirement that Israel freeze all settlements before peace talks commence, in order to allow a new round of U.S.-mediated indirect negotiations. [AP/NYT]
• Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Israel today, ostensibly to kick-start those talks, but perhaps most of all to signal to Israeli leaders that America ...

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Middle East

Hearts and Minds

When Chabad arrived in an upscale Tel Aviv neighborhood, its liberal residents didn’t respond with open arms
By Vox Tablet | 7:00 AM Mar 8, 2010

The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement is known for its outreach among non-Orthodox Jews, encouraging them to become more religious. Chabadniks are posted to about 75 countries, where their efforts are generally met with curiosity, indifference, or, at worst, irritation. But in Ramat Aviv, an upscale, liberal, and famously secular neighborhood of Tel Aviv, the sect’s arrival ...

Daybreak: Public Tensions, Private Friendship

Plus the China exemption, more power to Levin, and more in the news
By Marc Tracy | 9:00 AM Mar 5, 2010

• Both Israel and the United States have reason to convince the world that the former will bomb Iran, against the latter’s wishes. Actually, though, the two are cooperating on the subject ever more closely (with bombing relatively unlikely). [NYT]
• Syria accused Israel of planting uranium traces at the suspicious compound that IDF planes bombed ...

Daybreak: Talking The Talks

Plus China anti-sanctions, U.K. acts on war crimes, and more in the news
By Marc Tracy | 9:00 AM Mar 4, 2010

• It looks like indirect peace talks, with U.S. envoy George Mitchell shuttling rapidly between the Israelis and Palestinians in hopes of getting them in the same room, are on, since the Arab League gave its blessing. [LAT]
• The United States drew up new proposed sanctions that would target Iran’s banking, shipping, and insurance. [NYT]
• ...

Sundown: Biden Kibbitzes With Jewish Leaders

Plus a heist wife, Israel’s size does’t matter, and more
By Marc Tracy | 5:00 PM Mar 3, 2010

• Vice President Joe Biden hosted folks from most Jewish-American groups to consult on his upcoming trip to Israel. Conspicuously unrepresented: J Street. [Laura Rozen]
• A columnist argued that Syrian President Bashar Assad is cozying up to Iran not out of rational self-interest and power politics but because he’s an anti-Israel ideologue. [JPost]
• Iran announced ...

Sundown: This Week’s ‘Celebration’

Plus oh hi Farrakhan, ‘Brooklyn Shore,’ and more in the news
By Marc Tracy | 5:12 PM Mar 1, 2010

• Several universities around the world are marking “Israel Apartheid Week,” advocating for divestments, boycotts, and sanctions. I have read both the Anti-Defamation League and J Street condemn the comparison of Israel to South Africa, and accuse organizers of attempting to de-legitimize Israel’s existence. [Haaretz]
• The Israeli Embassy in Madrid has of late received letters ...

Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Are Pro-Israel

Figure much higher than at the height of Oslo Accords
By Marc Tracy | 10:00 AM Feb 25, 2010

Despite President Barack Obama’s tougher line on Israel, particularly regarding West Bank settlements, support for the Jewish state among the U.S. population has rarely been as high as it is now. Gallup found that 63 percent of Americans favor Israel more than the Palestinians. That figure has not been that high since Saddam Hussein attacked ...