OPINION AND ANALYSIS

1. 106 retired Israeli generals and spy chiefs urge Netanyahu to push for peace

The Forward and JJ Goldberg, Haaretz, 3 November 2014

Israel has the strength and means to reach a two-state solution that doesn’t entail a security risk, signatories write in a letter sent to the prime minister.

2. Israeli minister: We have “fantastic partners” in the Arab world if only we’d use them

David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, 3 November 2014

Israel shares key interests with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan in thwarting Iran and stopping Islamist terror, says Yesh Atid’s Yaakov Peri. But it needs ‘more pragmatic, braver’ leadership

3. Iran remains the greatest challenge in US-Israel relations

Maj.Gen. (res.) Yaacov Amidror, BESA, 3 November 2014

If a “permanent agreement” with Iran fails to guarantee the bare minimum safeguards against Iran’s nuclearisation that Israel feels is necessary, Israel will have to rethink its policy and avoid being influenced by the fact that its closest ally signed an unacceptable agreement with Iran. Israel will have to defend itself by itself, as U.S. President Barack Obama once said – with everything that doing so entails. This would truly put the relationship between Israel and the U.S. to the test.

4. President Obama should try to reset relations with Benjamin Netanyahu

Editorial, The Washington Post, 31 October 2014

Mr. Netanyahu recently announced expansions of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, ignoring U.S. appeals for restraint. The prime minister argues that the construction is in areas that are certain to be annexed to Israel in any peace settlement. But Mr. Kerry and the White House see them as provocations that at a minimum will make it harder to blunt another Palestinian diplomatic campaign at the United Nations — and at the worst will ignite violence in an increasingly tense Jerusalem.

5. The Palestinians’ genocidal logo

Ilya Meyer, The Times of Israel, 31 October 2014

There is something particularly revolting about ostensibly civilized, modern nations giving both official recognition and massive funding to terrorist organizations with a clearly expressed genocidal goal.  Sweden is the latest country to officially recognise “the state of Palestine”.

6. Sinai: terrorist presence becomes full-fledged insurgency

Abdallah Schleifer, Al Arabiya, 31 October 2014

Sinai is no longer a dangerous region subject to periodic terrorist attacks. This is now a full-fledged insurgency, in all likelihood operating from bases in Gaza close to the border with Egypt, and staffed increasingly by Egyptians and Gazans who are believed to have travelled to Syria and Iraq and have now returned.  As such, the government and army are taking measures quite typical of any authority seriously threatened by such an insurgency. Cairo’s determined response – including a state of emergency and curfew in Sinai, and construction of a buffer zone along the border with Gaza – is totally justifiable. Of course Hamas was quick to denounce the attack, chiefly so as not to provoke a massive Egyptian counter-attack.

7. Israel must export self-criticism

David Suissa, Jewish Journal, 30 October 2014

Israel is the only country in the region engaging in self-reflection and self-criticism. “It’s time we stop blaming others for our problems and start taking responsibility for our own people and our own future.”  This kind of talk can only happen in cultures that encourage people to speak up and think for themselves.

8. Middle East meltdown

Aaron David Miller, Foreign Policy, 30 October 2014

In a region now crowded with failed states, a murderous terrorist group has gained a foothold, changing the power dynamics and the United States needs to pay attention.

9. Saudi activist Manal al-Sharif on why she removed the veil

Manal as-Sharif, The Daily Beast, 29 October 2014

No piece of cloth throughout history has sparked more controversy than the veil. Many Muslim women are forced to wear it daily. The hijab has a spectrum, of course, from its most radical embodiments, the niqab, which covers the entire face, to loose fitting headscarves. Saudi Arabia comes come second only to Iran in using the power of the stick (the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice or the religious police) to impose a particular form and colour of hijab on all our women.

10. An Israeli newspaper published this stupid 9/11 cartoon. Here’s the REAL reason you should be mad.

Timothy McGrath, The Global Post, 30 October 2014

For people who genuinely care about US policies with respect to Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East more broadly, the real reason to be perturbed is that it’s a massive, unnecessary distraction from a serious diplomatic problem and from a crisis on the ground in East Jerusalem that’s set to explode.

11. New York Times editor admits to holding the Palestinians to a lower standard.

Tamar Sternthal, The Times of Israel, 29 October 2014

There has not this year – forget this month – been a single Times Op-Ed devoted to Palestinian racism. So much for “equal opportunity” for all voices. Falsehoods and truth are equally welcome at The Times when it comes to Op-Eds with gross slurs against Israel. Indeed, The Times has been compelled to publish correction on all of aforementioned pieces – the editorial, along with the Op-Eds by Zonszein and Jebreal.

12. Rivlin’s Kfar Qasim speech can herald change

Ariana Melamed, YNet News, 29 October 2014

Reuven Rivlin is the first Israeli president who can make Jews and Arabs reach out to each other – not out of love, but because there is no other choice.  Because the Arab citizens must accept the principle that this is the Jewish people’s homeland, and Israel’s Jewish citizens must accept the principle that there is a large national minority here who shares this homeland and that no one is going away, and no one should go away.