Middle East Policy Initiative: Latest Articles

Four Crises on Obama's Horizon

Articles — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:07:00 -0500

No one should be surprised that president-elect Barack Obama's first press conference, three days after his historic November 4th victory, was devoted almost exclusively to the economy. Obama was also quick to remind reporters that there is only one president at a time, and his turn does not begin until January 20. While domestic challenges will dominate his agenda, a not-insignificant list of Middle East crises will confront America's 44th president as well. Here are four of the more urgent issues in which Israel has a keen interest,… more

An Alternative to Paralysis

Articles — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:43:00 -0400

If Tzipi Livni becomes Israel's next prime minister, she will bring to that office a belief in the urgency of reaching an extensive, two-state solution with the Palestinians. This in itself distinguishes Livni from her two main rivals. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu disputes the very framework of two viable, independent states, while Labor leader Ehud Barak parts ways on how pressing the need is to get there. Livni will inherit the Annapolis peace process -- and that is where her problems begin. Annapolis is… more

The New Face of Israel?

Articles — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:16:00 -0400

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert handed in his resignation. Israel’s Foreign Minister and the newly elected leader of the Kadima party, Tzipi Livni, has now been formally given the mandate by Israeli President Shimon Peres to build a governing coalition and thereby become prime minister. Olmert has faced ongoing corruption investigations, but the cloudy circumstances did not prevent him from leaving on a playful note. In convening the cabinet to inform them of his resignation, Olmert explained that there were a number of items… more

Diminishing Returns for Rice in Israel

Articles — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:39:00 -0400

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice just completed her seventh visit to Israel-Palestine since the Annapolis conference nine months ago. You remember Annapolis, when after almost seven years of neglect the Bush administration committed itself to securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal during its last year in office and to dramatically improving the day-to-day situation on the ground.

Displaying admirable consistency and tenacity, albeit a disconnect from reality, Rice reiterated that goal during her visit this week. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders she met with were polite in their… more

There Are Better Options

Articles — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:32:00 -0400

Israel's response to the Iranian challenge has been out of synch with developing realities for some time. Recently though, it has become dangerously counter-productive, anchored as it is in denial. As Israel intensifies its role as threatener-in-chief, and clings to a "more sticks, bigger sticks" line, events all around are moving on. The supposed logic behind Israel's escalating threats, suggesting it is ready to go it alone militarily, is threefold. It pressures Iran, thereby increasing international leverage in negotiations; a nervous… more

Civil War in Gaza Isn’t in Israel’s Interests

Articles — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:57:00 -0400

When a bomb exploded in the Shaja’iyyah district of Gaza last month, killing four Hamas operatives and a 5-year-old girl, Hamas blamed Fatah, and moved violently against its remaining Gazan enclaves. Fatah forces then pursued retribution against Hamas in the West Bank. Another round of intra-Palestinian conflict and bloodletting ensued, with the leading pro-Fatah family in Gaza, the Hilles clan, fleeing to Israel in the hopes of making it to the West Bank.

Think that Palestinians nearing civil war and the ongoing collapse of a central Palestinian governing entity… more

Opportunity Knocked

Articles — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:36:00 -0400

There is an opportunity to hammer out a grand compromise with Iran—one that would even address its nuclear program. But the Bush administration seems determined to prevent talks that could advance vital U.S. interests.

Much of the media coverage of last Saturday’s nuclear talks between representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (the so-called P-5+1, including the United States), and the secretary general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, reflected a disturbing historical amnesia about previous U.S.-Iranian negotiations. Indeed, listening… more

Bringing Closure to Israel and Lebanon

Articles — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:44:00 -0400

It's one of those days when a lot of people are probably looking at the Middle East and scratching their heads. The Israelis have released Samir Qantar, who committed a terrible atrocity, along with four others who are defined as terrorists to Hizbullah - which Israel defines as a terrorist organisation. And all of this in exchange for two dead bodies. What's going on?

I suggest there are three things worth looking at here.

The first is that this brings some kind of closure to the… more

Finding a Silver Lining In the Iraq Cloud

Articles — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:16:00 -0400

If there is ever a TV series about the American adventure in Iraq it might be called "Unintended Consequences Gone Wild." The war strategically weakened the United States, strengthened Iran, undermined democracy promotion, and gave Al Qaeda and the Taliban time to regroup - and that would just be season one. But the latest episode, the unintended Iraqi consensus opposing America's secretive quest to complete a Status of Forces Agreement and a Strategic Framework Agreement by the end of July, may turn out to be good… more

Nuclear Fallout

Ron Tang — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:01:00 -0400

Shaul Mofaz is Israel's minister of transportation. He formerly served as the IDF chief of staff and as defence minister. He is hardly considered to have been one of the greats to occupy either post. Another position he currently holds is that of minister in charge of the strategic dialogue with the US. The very existence of this position is emblematic of the dysfunctionality of Israel's political system right now (ordinarily the role would be part of the… more

Removing the Zionist Straitjacket

Ron Tang — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:22:00 -0400

Earlier this month Prof. Shlomo Avineri argued on these pages that the real Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) did not occur at the hands of Israel in 1948, or even after 1967, but rather was a result of "the inability of the Palestinian national movement to create the political and social institutional framework that is the necessary foundation for nation-building."

Avineri's piece ("The real Nakba," May 9) is important: It recognizes the reality of Palestinian national consciousness and the legitimacy of their claim… more

Road Map To Nowhere

Ron Tang — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:55:00 -0400

This is one of those times of maximum mismatch between the optimistic rhetoric of peace process declarations and expectations and the gloomy reality of daily experience and prospects on the ground.

The Annapolis architect, President George W. Bush, is back in the Middle East, still declaring the worthy goal of peace in '08. But the fundamentally flawed logic of the process initiated last year is increasingly transparent.

The economic, social and health conditions of Gazans collapse further as the siege continues; rockets… more

Israel At 60

Ron Tang — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:53:00 -0400

I don't often, or ever really, write about my own relationship to Israel or how I ended up there, but I'll make an exception for its 60th anniversary.

My relationship with Israel started at the time of the ‘good' Iraq war. You remember, the Iraq war whose ambitions were limited to ensuring continued access to Kuwaiti oil -- not the contemporary trifecta effort to own the oil, change the regime, and transform the region.

In January of 1991 I was working in… more

A Middle East Report Card

Ron Tang — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:52:00 -0400

Condoleezza Rice has just completed her 14th Middle East visit in 15 months and her third since the Annapolis Conference.

The Annapolis effort is scheduled to last one year, wrapping up at the end of the Bush term, but with four months gone, the scorecard makes for predictably depressing reading. Economic conditions and freedom of movement in the West Bank have, if anything, deteriorated -- settlements are expanding, not a single outpost has been dismantled, and Israelis and Palestinians are less… more

'A More Private Occupation'

Ron Tang — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:15:00 -0400

Imagine Philippe Starck and Daniel Libeskind are commissioned to design an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank -- imposing exterior, breezy interior, daring splashes of light and color. Sometimes it seems this is the image being promoted by the newly privatized and civilianized checkpoints and crossings popping up in the territories. When it comes to dress codes, the drab olive of military fatigues is decidedly passe, having been replaced by the crisp uniforms of private security contractors.

A half-dozen such terminals… more

A Fresh Look At Settlement Expansion

Ron Tang — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:08:00 -0400

A series of new data and new decisions have been dribbling out of Israel recently on settlement expansion. The tarmac had barely cooled off from secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's departure earlier in the week and the Israeli government was already announcing plans to build 600 new apartments in the Givat Ze'ev settlement and the approval of 800 new units in Betar Illit. This news came in the wake of new construction plans for Har Homa in East Jerusalem and… more

The Next President And the Middle East

Ron Tang — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:27:00 -0400

Listen carefully when a new president is inaugurated next January for the sigh of relief coming from most of those Middle Easterners whom President Bush embraced as allies. Conversely, Bush’s rivals in the region are likely to tune in to the occasion in a disgruntled mood. For them the Bush years have been good for business. The menu of grievances on which they’ve fed has become a veritable feast. Opposition to American designs in the region -- deployed with different… more

Defining Scandal

Ron Tang — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:00:00 -0400

This was supposed to be the year in which Benjamin Netanyahu was re-crowned King of Israel -- he looked untouchable in the polls, and sitting prime minister Ehud Olmert's days looked numbered. That might still happen, but an inauspicious start to 2008 turned downright ugly this past weekend for Netanyahu when a new political scandal broke -- with him at its epicentre. Israel TV Channel 10's Raviv Druker broke the story -- not only of profligacy and embarrassing… more

Failure To Launch

Ron Tang — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's latest Middle East trip has drawn to a close, and she is now heading back to Washington via Brussels. On being told by a reporter at a press conference in Ramallah that this was her 13th visit, and asked whether she was bringing anything new, Condi responded that 13 is not a lucky number, so maybe she needed to come back again.

Maybe the latest round of violence between Israelis and… more

Reconstituting Rice

Ron Tang — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Why have two of Washington's more noted journalists, The New York Times' Elizabeth Bumiller, and Glenn Kessler from the Washington Post, both come out with books about Condoleezza Rice in recent months? Certainly her story is a unique and appealing one: Rice may be both the second woman and second African-American to fill the position of secretary of state, but she is very much the first person to be both. Unusually for a Bushie, she maintains high approval ratings, and… more