Opinion and Analysis

Week ending 2 July 2014

1. What does an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq mean?

Lt. Col. (ret) Jonathan Halevi, Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, Vol. 14, Number 22; 2 July 2014

As a new regional reality emerges in the Middle East, Israel faces new and more complex security challenges than in the past.  These threats, once again, sharply focus the issue of defensible borders west of the Jordan River.

2. A kidnapping that made Israel into one family

Elana Sztokman, Jewish Daily Forward, 1 July 2014

It is one of these moments that brings both tragedy and closure – the former, which Israel already has in excess, and the latter which is far more elusive.

3. Where are the Palestinian mothers?

Brett Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 30 June 2014

I’m not the only Western journalist to encounter the unsettling reality of a society sun k into a culture of hate. I have yet to meet the Israeli mother who wants to raise her boys to become kidnappers and murderers.

4. Why we must support Israel

Antonio Villaraigosa, aish.com, 30 June 2014

The recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenage boys by terrorists in the West Bank is an appalling reminder of the cruelty guiding radical elements in the Middle East and of the need for vigilance and solidarity by all those who cherish the sanctity of human life and fundamental values of human rights.

5. Without allies against ISIS, US finds itself in the same camp as Iran, its sworn enemy

Zvi Mazel, Jerusalem Post, 29 June 2014

An extremist Islamic state is coming into being in the heart of the Mideast. It will become a bastion of terrorism unleashing its attacks against neighbours and sending its faithful on operations in Europe and the US.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Has-America-painted-itself-into-a-corner-360880

6.         Islam’s ‘Protestant Reformation’

Raymond Ibrahim, Middle East Forum, 27 June 2014

Synonyms of “reform” include “make better,” “ameliorate,” and “improve” – splendid words all, yet words all subjective and loaded with Western references.  Muslim notions of “improving” society may include purging it of “infidels” and their corrupt ways; or segregating men and women, keeping the latter under wraps or quarantined at home; or executing apostates, who are seen as traitorous agitators.

7. 3 boys, 1 terrorist group and a message for democracies

Tzipi Livni, Wall Street Journal, 25 June 2014

The kidnapping in Israel is a wake-up call about the perils of giving antidemocratic groups access to elections