Coronavirus Has Not Changed the Middle East

By Prof. Efraim Inbar, Israel Hayom— The coronavirus pandemic does not respect borders. Middle Eastern countries have reacted differently and at different times. Eventually, however, they adopted plans of action similar to those of other countries. They restricted international air travel and movement within each country tightened border controls and adopted social distancing. As reliable…

Islamic renewal? Western challenge!

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” Islamic traditionalists vs. Islamic reformers In 2020, a dramatic battle is raging between the traditional, imperialistic school of Islam, which insists on strict adherence to the Quran and Sharia (“divine laws”), on the one hand, and the modernist/reformist school of Islam, which wishes to adjust…

Islamists’ Response to Peace Plan

By Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute— The Palestinian Authority, after rejecting US President Donald Trump’s recently unveiled plan for Mideast peace, “Peace to Prosperity,” as a “conspiracy” against Palestinians, is now trying to persuade the Israeli public that it is “still” interested in achieving peace with Israel. Earlier this month, PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced that…

The End of a Jewish Presence in Europe?

By Guy Millière, Gatestone Institute—- On December 3, the French National Assembly passed a resolution adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. The resolution stressed that the definition “encompasses manifestations of hatred toward the State of Israel justified solely by the perception of the latter as a Jewish collective.” MP Meyer Habib, who…

‘Entry of radical Islamist forces into northern Syria is disturbing,’ says ex-Israeli intelligence official

By Yaakov Lapin, JNS— Israel has been closely monitoring Turkey’s brutal offensive against the Kurds in northeast Syria in recent days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Turkish invasion on Oct. 10, stating that Israel “warns against the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds by Turkey and its proxies,” and that “Israel is prepared to…

Reasons Why Peaceful Resolutions for the Arab-Israeli Conflict Always Fail

By Tawfik Hamid, Gatestone Institute— We must salute Jared Kushner’s attempt to bring a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. That said, the Palestinians’ unsurprising rejection of the peace offer requires some scrutiny, especially the true causes of the perennial failure to achieve lasting peace. Without understanding them, every attempt to solve this conflict, every…