By DAVID BEDEIN— On February 5, the reconstituted US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa held a subcommittee hearing on the subject of “Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation: Threatening Peace Prospects.” Two senior expert witnesses from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy testified and expressed optimism that US-trained Palestinian Security Forces, affiliated with…
By RYAN JONES, ISRAEL TODAY— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week pointed to the overtly hostile rhetoric of Hamas coupled with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to reconcile with the terror group as the primary reason that true, lasting peace is currently unachievable. Over the weekend, Hamas marked its 25th anniversary with a gala…
In response to Hamas’ ongoing rocket fire against Israel, Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense on Nov. 14, 2012, aimed at crippling the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. On Nov. 21, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire. This video was one of many broadcast by Hamas during the conflict, as part of their campaign to…
By RON JAGER— When Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to the cease-fire with Hamas rather than move ahead with a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, sticking to the modest goals of Operation Pillar of Defense, he probably expected that the opposition parties in Israel would taunt him with his own words from 2009: “We must…
By ISI LEIBLER, ISRAEL HAYOM-— Castigating the government for the cease-fire agreement and implying that Operation Pillar of Defense was a failure is misguided and merely provides credibility to the distorted Hamas narrative of the conflict. Under current adverse geopolitical conditions, it was unrealistic to anticipate that this campaign would end the conflict as eliminating…
By ELLIOTT ABRAMS, PRESSURE POINTS— The success of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system is one of the great stories to emerge from the Gaza conflict, but its importance may still have been underestimated. First, even enthusiasts for Iron Dome tend to exaggerate its variable costs. It is often said that Hamas can make rockets…
By CAROLINE GLICK, JPOST— The ceasefire agreement that Israel accepted Wednesday night to end the current round of Palestinian rocket and missile attacks is not a good deal for Israel by any stretch of the imagination. At best, Israel and Hamas are placed on the same moral plane. The ceasefire erases the distinction between Israel,…
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel is prepared to act if Hamas breaks the Egypt-mediated truce. “The operation’s goals were met,” Netanyahu said. “I know there are citizens that expect a harsher stand in Gaza – and we are prepared to make one. We choose when to act, against who to act…
By MICHAEL FREUND, JPOST— Amid the extensive coverage of the latest flareup in Gaza, there is one critical issue that has been all but ignored by most of the mainstream press. For all the talk over the past few days regarding whether the IDF should return to Gaza, no one seems to be asking the…
