American and Hamas officials secretly met numerous times over the last six months, according to a report in the online news website BuzzFeed. The meetings were held between U.S. intermediaries and Hamas’ leadership, which lives outside the Gaza Strip in third-party countries ranging from Egypt to Qatar and Jordan. Topics...
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In reaction to yesterday’s endorsement by the Obama administration of the recent formation of a Palestinian unity government, Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz wrote a scathing critique of the administration’s approach to Israel. Horovitz, who is often critical of Israel’s current government, writes in 12 Ways the US Administration has Failed...
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On a conference call with reporters on Friday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) called his trip to Israel “the most amazing trip I’ve ever been on” and expressed his belief that peace is still possible. However, Manchin also made clear which side he believed needed to change to make peace possible....
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An article published Wednesday by one of Israel’s top veteran journalists assesses that the Palestinian Hamas faction has opted to follow the “Hezbollah model” – “bullets plus ballots” – in establishing a unity government with the rival Fatah faction: For Hamas, this means integrating into the general political system while retaining...
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Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, announced Sunday that it had broken up eleven plots to kidnap Israeli soldiers since September 2013. The Times of Israel reports: Of the foiled attempts, “the majority were driven by prisoners in order to use as a bargaining chip for their release.” Half...
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Thirty-five thousand people marched in the fiftieth annual Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City yesterday. The Associated Press reported: Awash in white and blue — the colors of Israel’s flag — tens of thousands of onlookers cheered the celebration that also featured a model of an Israeli spacecraft. … The...
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Analysis from U.S. and Israel-based experts emerged last week casting doubt on the robustness of existing and planned Iranian nuclear concessions, with observers evaluating the matter both in the context of negotiations and as it is likely to affect the calculations of Iran’s neighbors. Dr. Emily B. Landau, the head...
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As the Palestinians were finalizing the formation of their unity government in recent days, U.S. lawmakers were discussing the legal ramifications of continued American aid to the Palestinian Authority. Secretary of State John Kerry told PBS last Thursday that Israel’s stance toward an expected unity government between the rival Palestinian Hamas and...
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While Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says it will be business as usual with Israel after the expected formation of a new Palestinian government this week, one of Hamas’ leading officials told reporters on Saturday that security cooperation with Israel will not continue. The Hamas-Fatah unity government was sworn in earlier...
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The Lebanese-Shiite Hezbollah may have set up a branch in the Gaza Strip, according to the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. The flag and logo of an organization that was launched a few days ago in the Gaza Strip suggest a Hezbollah now exists in Gaza. The organization is called al-Sabirin (the...
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