Tagged Ehud Barak

(JTA) — Israel’s Meretz party became the first to elect as its leader an openly gay person. The left-wing party picked Nitzan Horowitz as its new head on Thursday in Tel Aviv. Horowitz, a former journalist who served in the Knesset in 2009-2015, defeated incumbent Tamar Zandberg. “Meretz doesn’t… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak announced Wednesday that he is forming a new political party. At an evening news conference, Barak said he rushed to make the announcement to thwart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to cancel the Sept. 17 election. “Netanyahu has reached the… Read more »

(JTA) — The wall separating Bethlehem from Israel-controlled territory is silent and noisy at once, like the breakdown in conversation between Israelis and Palestinians that helped kill the Oslo peace accords. It was only this year — in June, almost 25 years since the launch of the accords that… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — By now it should be obvious how absurd it is to call President Barack Obama Israel’s “best friend” ever, as Thomas Friedman of The New York Times has claimed. A Blame Israel Firster, Obama won’t use his moral authority to try stopping the instigators of this… Read more »

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announcing his retirement from politics at a news conference at the Defesne Ministry office in Tel Aviv, Nov. 26, 2012. (Roni Schutzer/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Is Ehud Barak a calculating political survivor or a military man who, in his own words, “never had any special desire” for political life? Will he be remembered as a warrior or as a seeker of peace? And what will he do next? Barak’s announcement… Read more »

Israeli analysts say that signals from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his leadershipare showing a call for an unequivocal commitment from the administration of President Barack Obama, right, to come to Israel's aid in case of a strike against Iran, led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Photos by Creative Commons, design by Uri Fintzy)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — How much noise does Israel’s leadership have to make to get the Obama administration to say what it wants to hear about Iran? It’s a question now preoccupying Israel, along with its corollary: How much noise is too much and risks precipitating a crisis between Jerusalem… Read more »

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak during an Independence party meeting at the Knesset, May 21, 2012. (Uri Lenz/FLASH90/JTA)

(JTA) — Was Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s recent suggestion that Israel take “unilateral action” to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a hint at a policy under discussion or just an off-the-cuff remark? And how will the response of others — such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — shape the… Read more »

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz walks by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Defence Minister Ehud Barak at an arrival ceremony of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit at the Tel Nof air force base. october 18, 2011. Schalit was moved into Egypt from captivity in Gaza in a prisoner swap deal including hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in return for Shalit. Gilad Shalit has been held in captivity by Hamas militants since June 2006. (Yossi Zeliger/FLASH90)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Has Israel’s game of chicken with Iran jumped the shark? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in recent months have been more explicit than ever about the likelihood of an Israeli strike on Iran to keep it from obtaining nuclear weapons capability.… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The decision by Israel and the United States to delay a massive joint anti-missile exercise set off a frenzy of speculation as to what the move says about relations between the two allies amid mounting tensions with Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed to JTA over… Read more »