Yossi Alpher
By Yossi Alpher
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Opinion How Benjamin Netanyahu’s Scowl Campaign Hurts Israel
As the world’s leaders converge in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is encountering an unusual confluence of activities and initiatives concerning nonconventional weaponry in the Middle East. Some of this activity appears to be working to Israel’s benefit, some of it against Israel. Netanyahu is working overtime…
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Opinion The Issues the Peace Process Should Avoid
Let’s set aside for a moment all the familiar reasons why renewed peace talks won’t work. We know that Palestinian negotiators can’t “deliver” the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. And we know that Benjamin Netanyahu can’t “deliver” his own coalition or even his own party, both of which are dominated by politicians who oppose a two-state solution….
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Opinion Where Gaza Has Left Us
Now that the fog of war over Gaza has lifted and the ceasefire appears to be settling in, a number of strategic questions and lessons emerge. Many are relevant not just to the Israel-Hamas confrontation. Perhaps most ominous for the future of the region, and most puzzling, is the impression left on Israel’s enemies by…
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Culture Patrick Tyler’s Skewed Agenda Sabotages Book
Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country — and Why They Can’t Make Peace By Patrick Tyler Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 576 pages, $35 Veteran Washington Post and New York Times journalist Patrick Tyler has written a comprehensive, well-researched 500-page survey of Israel’s encounters with war and peace from…
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Opinion Syria Bloodshed Could Lead to Break-Up
The fighting in Syria, now officially designated by the Red Cross as a “civil war,” could end up differently than most people expect, with dangerous consequences. Survival of the Assad regime is increasingly in doubt as rebels close in on Damascus and senior officers either defect or are assassinated. On the other hand, out-and-out victory…
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Opinion ‘There Is No Breakthrough Here’
The real significance of Mousa Abu Marzook’s Forward interview appears to be that the Hamas leadership wants to make sure that Israelis and the American pro-Israel community understand its positions and its terms. Under the influence of its mentor, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which is ascending to power in Cairo, it wants to be understood…
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Opinion Dangers of Syria’s Downward Spiral
Of all of Syria’s neighbors, Israel is the least involved in the revolutionary events there, and wisely so. Turkey is arming and training an opposition army; Lebanon is the main avenue for smuggling weapons to the rebels; Jordan is sheltering refugees and may be supplying arms to the opposition; Iraqi Sunnis are helping Syria’s Sunni…
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Opinion Why They Aren’t at the ‘Damn Table’
The past 18 years of failed attempts to guide Israelis and Palestinians to a two-state solution have produced memorable clichés and even curses on the part of frustrated third-party officials. One of my favorites is, “The outlines of an agreement are known to all,” which I usually attribute to Tony Blair, though there are other…
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News What a Secretary of State Marco Rubio would mean for American Jews and Israel
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Fast Forward ‘Antisemitic hit-and-run squads’: Amsterdam temporarily bans demonstrations after Israeli soccer fans attacked by street mobs
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