Saddam Hussein

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks through binoculars during his visit to the border with Syria, August 18, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

As Mideast borders open, Israel is more isolated than ever

Over the past decade, Middle Eastern countries have viewed their borders as a physical obstacle. The recent warming of relations between Arab states has led to increase in trade, leaving Israel more regionally isolated than ever before. By Moran Zaga Over the last month, border crossings have opened along both the Jordan-Iraq and Iraq-Saudi Arabia…

By +972 Magazine September 18, 2017

Citrus farmer Yusuf Jilal Arafat stands in front of his home, in which his 5-year-old daughter Runan was killed when 10 Israeli missiles struck this mostly agricultural area in the Al Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, December 2, 2012. Arafat's wife, four months pregnant, and 8-year-old son Jilal (black shirt) were found alive in the rubble. His children now suffer from frequent panic attacks at night. Arafat does not know why his home was targeted, as no rockets were launched from the area. (photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

‘They left us no choice’: On military escalation and its Israeli rationale

The alternatives to military action shouldn’t only be examined when things blow up, but rather in the context of the months and years that preceded this latest round of fighting. When it comes to using military force, I find Netanyahu to be one of the most restrained prime ministers Israel has ever had. I don’t…

By Noam Sheizaf July 9, 2014

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (photo: Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org)

On Iran, Netanyahu chooses politics over strategy

Netanyahu did not take Israel’s strategic interests into account in his latest confrontation with the United States. Will his decision cost him when it comes to the ballot box? Only time will tell. By Ilan Baruch Over the last several days, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s sour face has peered over at us through the screen. While his…

By +972 Magazine December 5, 2013

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Mad dogs? Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak (photo: Israel Defense Forces)

Don’t believe Bibi: 1981 strike only sped up Iraqi nuclear program

With Netanyahu and Barak desperate to sell their case for an attack on Iran, they’ve been repeating the urban legend that Israel’s 1981 bombing of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor stopped Saddam’s nuclear ambitions permanently. Since we are getting down to crunch time, I am reposting below an excerpt from my March 2 post, ‘The myth of Osirak and the march to Iran.’ Like all Israelis, I…

By Larry Derfner August 3, 2012

The myth of the Osirak bombing and the march to Iran

Israeli security god Amos Yadlin’s NY Times op-ed yesterday is an example of why Obama should not believe Netanyahu’s case for war The 1981 attack on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor is believed by Israelis (and not just them) to have been a historic success, a precedent for the use of military force as the ultimate in arms control, most relevantly in Iran. Knowlegeable…

By Larry Derfner March 2, 2012