Sudan's Bashir: Israel is enemy no. 1

By YNET— A tired but healthy-looking Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir appeared on television Thursday after a minor operation, calling Israel “enemy number one” in a return to his typical fiery rhetoric. Bashir, 68, spoke standing at a lectern for about 15 minutes in what government-owned Blue Nile TV said was a broadcast recorded earlier in…

Details

A view from Israel of our election results

By DAVID WEINGBER, ISRAEL HAYOM— I’d like to believe that President Barack Obama’s re-election means nothing significant for U.S.-Israel relations, since “all Democratic and Republican presidents over the past four decades have been solidly pro-Israel” — as Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom argued on Israel Radio this morning. But Shalom is putting a pretty face…

Details

Obama victory raises questions about future of Israel relations

BY JOEL GREENBERG, WASHINGTON POST— In Israel, the reelection of President Obama raised immediate questions about the future of the rocky relationship between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — specifically whether in a second term Obama might be firmer with Israel on a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear program and on promoting…

Details

Israel officials down but not out over Obama win

By RYAN JONES, ISRAEL TODAY— Israeli government officials belonging to the ruling right-wing parties had a difficult time hiding their disappointment over Barack Obama’s victory in the US presidential election, but remained determined to keep Israel-US ties tight and secure. Deputy Knesset Speaker Danny Danon, a rising start in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party,…

Details

Israel congratulates Obama, looks forward to strengthening 'great friendship'

By ISRAEL HAYOM— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated U.S. President Barack Obama on his election victory on Wednesday morning, sending a statement which said, “The strategic alliance between Israel and the U.S. is stronger than ever. I will continue to work with President Obama in order to assure the interests that are vital to the…

Details

Meanwhile, on the Israeli-Palestinian issue

By ELLIOTT ABRAMS— While Americans have been focusing on our election, there have been a few developments in the so-called “Middle East Peace Process.” PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said he would drop his precondition for negotiations—a total construction halt in the settlements and in East Jerusalem—and return to the table after the UN General…

Details

Pat Mercer Hutchens artwork in Ukraine Museum Center

by DR. INNA ROGATCHI, THE ROGATCHI FOUNDATION— The very morning of the opening ceremony, I filmed for the project, representing The Rogatchi Foundation with my husband, renowned artist Michael Rogatchi. We donated Michael’s famous Faces of the Holocaust  triptych to the Museum; but there was another very special ceremony for us. The Rogatchi Foundation donated…

Details

The Obama Doctrine: Keeping Enemies Closer

By JAMES S. ROBBINS, inFOCUS— When Barack Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, the committee expected he would make “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” More than three years later, Mr. Obama has failed to meet expectations, but it has not been for lack of trying. His administration has…

Details