Sunday 3 May 2009
Israel Matzav: Iran and the military option
Iran and the military option
Obama and former Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates left a lot of people in Israel longing for Donald Rumsefeld when he warned us - yet again - not to take military action against Iran.
Use of the military option to force Iran to halt its nuclear program would only yield temporary and ineffective results, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
Sanctions would make more sense, he said.
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Israel Matzav: Iran and the military option
Israel Matzav: Venezuela on watch list for threatening religious freedom
Venezuela on watch list for threatening religious freedom
On Friday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom put Venezuela on a watch list for threatening Jews (mostly) and Catholics.
In a report to be released today, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom puts Venezuela on a watch list of countries where religious freedom is threatened. "Anti-Semitic statements by government officials and state media," it says, "have created a hostile environment whereby some Venezuelan citizens have harassed and threatened rabbis, vandalized Jewish businesses with anti-Semitic slogans, and called for a boycott of all Jewish businesses in Venezuela." In a report on global anti-Semitism last year, the State Department listed Venezuela as a state sponsor of anti-Semitism.
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Israel Matzav: Venezuela on watch list for threatening religious freedom
Israel Matzav: 'Palestinians' to demand Israeli citizenship?
'Palestinians' to demand Israeli citizenship?
The Washington Times' Armand De Borchgrave reviews all the reasons why there's not likely to be a 'Palestinian' state around here any time soon, and then comes up with this zinger:
Palestinian and other Middle Eastern movers and shakers behind the scenes have been saying the two-state solution effectively consigns Palestinians to perpetual neocolonial poverty. And the movement for a one-state solution for Palestine has been gathering momentum behind the scenes
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Israel Matzav: 'Palestinians' to demand Israeli citizenship?
Israel Matzav: Glick: Why Islamic countries keep choosing Islamists
Glick: Why Islamic countries keep choosing Islamists
Caroline Glick is definitely not politically correct in this piece, but it's definitely spot on. No, Islam is not a religion of peace. No, if you give Islamic countries democratic elections, they're not going to vote for a liberal democracy. And no, apologizing to them over and over again isn't going to win them over either. It's time to face reality. Islamic countries keep voting for Islamists because those are the people who best represent them.
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Israel Matzav: Glick: Why Islamic countries keep choosing Islamists
Israel Matzav: Michael Oren appointed ambassador to the US
Michael Oren appointed ambassador to the US
Shavua tov - a good week to everyone.Michael Oren has been appointed as Israel's ambassador to the United States.
Oren is admired by Netanyahu's staff for his expertise on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and has also published numerous articles on Israeli foreign policy.
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Israel Matzav: Michael Oren appointed ambassador to the US
MICHAEL OREM !
Michael Oren, author of Six Days of War, and Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present, will tomorrow be officially confirmed as Israel's ambassador to the United States. I've known Michael, off and on, since he was a graduate student, and can tell of his engaging communications skills and wide knowledge.
It's not clear what ambassadors are for these days, but the Israeli ambassador in Washington plays an important role in explaining Israel's positions to the American political class, media, and public; I can't think of anyone better qualified to do this than Michael. Besides being an engaging speaker and a compelling writer, he knows more about Israel's history than about 99.9% of people, he knows more about American involvement in the Mideast than about 99.999% of people (he wrote the single most important book on the subject), and as an Arabic-speaking Mideast expert, he knows more about the Arab world than most Westerners (I'd say, easily 99.9% of them).
He was in the early stages of writting yet another an important book, which now will be suspended, alas, but if Netanyahu's government lasts a while and does anything of significance, Michael will have insights from the eye of the storm, so I expect we'll eventually get a fine book about that.
Good Luck Michael!
taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)