Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

If the anti-Israel shoe fits, wear it

Ruthie Blue Leibowitz interviews Jeremy ben-Ami of J-Street. What constitutes being “anti-Israel?” Being anti-Israel means rejecting the notion of the right of the Jewish people to a state that didn’t exist before, and that its establishment was a mistake. Those … Continue reading

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Hariri suspects freed

The BBC reported yeterday that the UN’s special tribunal investigating the assassination of Rafiq Hariri has released four Lebanese generals it had been holding as suspects in the assassination. The UN court was set up to investigate the bomb attack … Continue reading

Posted in Lebanon, Syria | Tagged | 1 Comment

If we would just pressure Israel we’d have peace in the Middle East

The New York Times reports that Fatah and Hamas are engaged in reconciliation talks. Fatah insists that any unity government formed will be acceptable to the international community and satisfy the conditions of the so-called quartet of Middle East peace … Continue reading

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Chummy with Chavez

Madeleine Albright’s former poodle and Mr. Christiane Amanpour, James Rubin, has published an essay Why Obama Shook Chávez’s Hand. Despite the results of November’s election, Mr. Obama’s critics are judging him on the basis of the old Bush calculus. Whether … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism | Tagged | 1 Comment

What’s a Jewish state got to with it?

Isabel Kershner of the NY Times reports that “moderate” Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas refuses to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state. The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Monday dismissed a demand by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to recognize … Continue reading

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There is no Sadat

Stop him before he writes again. Roger Cohen’s latest column, Clinton’s Middle East Pirouette, starts off badly: The sparring between the United States and Israel has begun, and that’s a good thing. Israel’s interests are not served by an uncritical … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, Iran, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Jew Cooties | Tagged | 1 Comment

Continental divide?

Barry Rubin observes in regard to Israeli relations with Europe: Probably they are better than at any time since the early 1980s. With the end of the Palestinian intifada in 2003, Israelis withdrawal from and the Hamas takeover of the … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

An Israeli bull in the Iran shop?

Jim Hoagland fears that President Obama’s plans for the Middle East are imperiled by Israel. In An Israeli surprise for Obama?, Hoagland writes: The review cannot be completed until Obama has what may be his toughest meeting yet with a … Continue reading

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3 arrested in Lebanon for spying for Israel

The New York Times reports that Lebanese authorities have arrested three men for spying for Israel. The arrests on Saturday were based on information from Adeeb al-Alam, a retired Lebanese general who was arrested this month and charged with spying … Continue reading

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Corruption: it’s a feature not a bug

In Gaza power plant surprising profit generator, Dion Nissenbaum notes that a recent report shows that foreign aid indirectly flows to Mahmoud Abbas’s sons. The power plant story follows another investigative piece by Entous that examined lucrative US contracts given … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, palestinian politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Driving the wedge

How clear the conflict between the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration are, is unclear at this point. That doesn’t stop Glenn Kessler from emphasizing the differences. Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said this week that the Israeli … Continue reading

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Heroes? Yes.

According to Michael Goldfarb, that’s what we ought to call the interrogators who got timely information that saved lives. (via memeorandum) That’s what we ought to call the men and women who interrogated the worst of the worst. For those … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Terrorism | Tagged | 7 Comments

Bridging and expanding the gap

I observed yesterday that conflicts between the new governments in the United States and Israel are being magnified by those who seem to have a stake in ensuring friction between the two. Shmuel Rosner debunks another effort to magnify differences … Continue reading

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Face value

Yesterday, I wrote about Elder of Ziyon’s efforts to count the Arab casualties from Cast Lead accurately. Look at today’s report in the New York Times about the IDF’s investigation of its behavior during Cast Lead. Gaza health officials said … Continue reading

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How far apart?

Last week Barry Rubin argued that Israel and the United States – despite what’s being reported – are not headed for a major confrontation. Yesterday Israel Matzav looked at a report about President Obama refusing to meet with PM Netanyahu … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged , | 2 Comments