Martin Indyk

A pro-Israel rally, Washington D.C, July 18, 2014 (photo: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Overcoming Jewish America’s Israel fantasy

The idea of Israel has long been an integral part of Jewish-American identity. But with a generational change among American Jews and increasingly stark political differences with Israel’s leadership, could this be the dawn of a new era? Last summer Michael Oren, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009-13, blithely offended virtually…

By Lisa Goldman December 31, 2015

Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett (Photo by Activestills.org)

Bennett is not the problem

American administrations have a tendency to blame the ‘radical’ settlers for torpedoing peace missions. The real problem, however, is with the ‘moderates’ who are complicit in maintaining the status quo. There is a lot of talk in some circles about Naftali Bennett’s appearance at the Saban Forum last weekend (video below). Bennett, who heads the…

By Noam Sheizaf December 9, 2014

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (Photo: State Dept.)

When the ‘Times’ calls for Kerry to move on, what does it ‘really’ mean?

If the Grey Lady is calling for Washington to reconsider its role as enabler of the occupation, then it is indeed a new approach — perhaps even a revolutionary one. A couple of days ago, a New York Times editorial called on the Obama administration to divert its attention away from the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process, which…

By Noam Sheizaf April 16, 2014

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat address reporters on the Middle East Peace Process Talks at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Halfway through timeframe, Palestinian-Israeli talks are going nowhere

The two parties haven’t met in almost a month, and Israeli politicians are now openly discussing the success of maintaining the status quo. Even the crisis with the European Union is over. Roughly halfway through the current round of negotiations, the talks between Israeli and Palestinians negotiators have hit a new low point. Palestinian chief…

By Noam Sheizaf November 28, 2013

New member of the U.S. delegation to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks David Makovsky (Photo: Screenshot from Washington Institute)

A pro-Israel hawk to draft Kerry’s peace plan?

That one must be a pro-Israeli Zionist in order to be eligible for the State Department’s Israel-Palestine team is indicative of the problem with U.S. policy in the region. You’ll never see an analyst from a PLO-affiliated advocacy organization or Palestinian think-tank become a senior member of the U.S. Mideast peace team. Middle East analyst David Makovsky…

By Noam Sheizaf November 19, 2013

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and special envoy to the peace talks Martin Indyk (State Department photo/ Public Domain)

Is the Obama administration cooking up ‘Oslo 3’?

More and more reports are suggesting that the U.S. is planning to put forward an offer that would end the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Martin Indyk, the American envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, gave an hour-long address at the end of the J Street Conference in Washington last month. Indyk said nothing about the talks…

By Noam Sheizaf November 4, 2013

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ending a press conference in which he announced his retierment from politics (photo: Rafi Michaeli / Megaphone, an independent Israeli paper)

Ehud Barak to step down: On his de-evolution, and Israel’s

The defense minister symbolizes the 21st-century failure of the Israeli ‘warrior for peace.’ Ehud Barak, who announced his retirement from politics today, said a couple of very brave things in his political career. “If I were a Palestinian at the right age, I would have joined one of the terrorist organizations at a certain stage,”…

By Larry Derfner November 26, 2012