Tagged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Kerry, at contentious U.S.-Israel confab, asks Israel to consider perils of single state

Secretary of State John Kerry addressing the Saban Forum in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2015. (Courtesy of Brookings Institution)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at an annual U.S.-Israel confab, said Israel’s government must consider the consequences of evolving toward a single state incorporating the Palestinian areas. “How does Israel possibly maintain its character as a Jewish democratic state?” Kerry said Saturday at the Saban Forum in Washington,… Read more »

Is EU discriminating against Israel by labeling settlement goods?

A demonstration in Madrid in support of Western Sahara's self-determination, Nov. 11, 2006. (Wikimedia Commons)

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — To Israel and many of its supporters, the new European Union regulations requiring separate labeling for settlement goods are discriminatory measures reminiscent of Europe’s long history of institutionalized anti-Semitism. In a harshly-worded statement Wednesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that by ignoring other territorial disputes around the world, the EU… Read more »

Netanyahu and Abbas agree: Blame the UN

alestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 30, 2015, and Oct. 1, 2015 respectively. (Both Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas took plenty of shots at each other. But in their dueling dueling speeches to the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian Authority president directed much of their fire at the same target: the assembled world leaders. Netanyahu… Read more »

Everyone’s talking ISIS at the UN, leaving Netanyahu glaring

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the U.N. General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York City, Oct. 1, 2015. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

(JTA) – All anyone attending the United Nations General Assembly opening seemed to want to talk about was the threat posed to the world by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That was much to the consternation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who argued in his speech… Read more »

Jewish terror draws Netanyahu’s focus homeward

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting the hospitalized family of a West Bank Palestinian baby killed in an arson attack, July 31, 2015. (Flash90)

  Updated 8.5.15 WASHINGTON (JTA) – Ahead of what may be the toughest diplomatic battle of his career, a final bid to kill the Iran nuclear deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suddenly found himself facing down a terrorist threat – apparently from Jews. The flow of Iran… Read more »

Netanyahu to speak on Iran nuclear agreement in live webcast

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak to the American Jewish community and friends of Israel in a live webcast on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 at 1 pm EDT. Register here to receive the web link for access to the address. Participation is free and open to all. The… Read more »

Et tu AIPAC? Delegitimizing American Jews in the Name of Supporting Israel

I recently wrote an article outlining how and why the new well-funded Adelson/Netanyahu/Republican/Evangelical coalition has emerged as the new pro-Israel voice in the U.S. — supplanting the traditional majority of American Jews who are increasingly demonized for expressing honest and heartfelt concerns about the policies and statements of the… Read more »

Following Iran deal, Israel to lobby Congress — and reconsider a strike

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to the media from his office in Jerusalem following the finalization of a nuclear deal with Iran, July 14, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decried an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program hundreds of times — most notably in a March speech to a joint session of Congress. Now that the agreement is signed, experts say Netanyahu has one way left to block it: Go… Read more »

On two states, tensions between Netanyahu and Obama have calmed, for now

The relationship between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here after Obama's arrival in Israel on March 20, 2013, is improving. (Pete Souza/White House)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Two months after questions about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to a two-state solution threatened to upend the U.S.-Israel relationship, tensions have abated, but not because peace with the Palestinians is any nearer. There has been no more talk recently from President Barack Obama’s White House about “reevaluating”… Read more »

For Netanyahu and Obama, mistrust is personal — and cynical

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Obama administration officials have long contended that the friction between the U.S. president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not personal and that American support for Israel remains as robust as ever — and arguably even more robust by some metrics. But a year of… Read more »

Netanyahu facing challenges, criticism from Jewish liberals

J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami addressing the group's conference in Washington, D.C.,March 21, 2015. (Courtesy of J Street)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing escalating criticism and pressure from the White House, he could use some help from Israel’s erstwhile allies in the American Jewish community — especially those with sway in liberal and Democratic circles. But several leading Jewish liberal critics of Netanyahu… Read more »

Will the real Netanyahu please stand up?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified his position on the two-state solution in an interview after his election win with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC, March 19, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

(JTA) — There are two Benjamin Netanyahus. To his detractors, Netanyahu is arrogant, a dissembler and a racist. To his defenders, he is intrepid, politically astute and singularly devoted to Israel’s security. Netanyahu’s critics blame him for alienating Israel’s closest ally — snubbing the U.S. president, using Congress as… Read more »

Call for unity on right, hardline rhetoric propel Netanyahu to comeback

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrates his Election Day victory at his Tel Aviv headquarters March 18. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

This city’s Rabin Square was full of young men wearing large knit kippahs and women in long skirts and long sleeves cheering as right-wing politicians declared their opposition to Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. On Sunday night, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ascended the stage to address the… Read more »

Netanyahu: No Palestinian state on my watch

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview that as long as he is Israel’s prime minister, a Palestinian state will not be established. The interview was published Monday on the Israeli news website NRG, a day before Israelis head to the polls, as Netanyahu attempts to shore… Read more »

Ex-Israeli generals target Netanyahu’s security image

Asher Levi, a retired Israeli brigadier general, appears in a video by Commanders for Israel's Security, a group of former generals who oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Against a soundtrack of dramatic music, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lists his government’s security accomplishments, declaring over the shouts of opposition lawmakers that his Likud Party has stopped terrorists, stood up to Iran and secured Israel’s borders. Released Wednesday, the video is the latest… Read more »

Op-Ed: Netanyahu’s speech an exercise in futility

Now that the applause after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech in Congress has faded away, we are left with the question: Was he right or wrong to deliver that speech? Opponents of the move (like myself) believe that the speech has accomplished nothing except to further alienate the White… Read more »

Did Netanyahu’s speech make new allies or alienate old friends?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks about Iran during a joint meeting of Congress, March 3, 2015. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, in the end, was about reminding Americans that the enemy of your enemy may still be your enemy. He may have lost some friends in the process. Netanyahu spoke before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday following a six-week buildup that spurred questions about… Read more »