“Taking out the goat” is a known Israeli expression. It usually means creating a false demand during negotiations, so it could be dropped later in a public display of compromise. Obviously, the whole idea of taking out the goat revolves around ego-maintenance and manipulation of public o...

strip away all the b.s. and this is pretty much what you get... juan cole... Shorter AFP: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will try to tell Binyamin Netanyahu, the far rightwing prospective prime minister of Israel, that he should allow the rebuilding of Gaza and start up a peace process that lead...

The unthinkable happens rather frequently in Israeli politics.  Ariel Sharon weathered banishment from politics to return as prime minister.  Many Israelis thought it wouldn’t be possible considering the humiliation of Sharon’s fall from power after Sabra and Chatilla.  But he managed...

Regrettably, Ari Folman’s animated doco-fantasy film “Waltz with Bashirâ€� didn’t win the Best Foreign Film at the 2009 Academy Awards presentation in Hollywood. With just a month passing after winning the Golden Globes film award, the American film industry second biggest awards extra...

Israel seems to specialize in internal domestic drama and instability.  Today is no exception.  Wherever you look within the government there is disarray, dysfunction and general malaise.  The N. Y. Times reports that Bibi Netanyahu has failed to lure Ehud Bark and Labor into a broad based new ru...

Former White House staffer Aaron David Miller described in his book how President Bill Clinton reacted to Netanyahu's habit of lecturing foreign leaders: "Who the fuck does he think he is? Who's the fucking superpower here?"...

JERUSALEM, Feb. 22 -- Israel's hard-line prime minister-designate, Binyamin Netanyahu, promised Sunday to work with the United States to promote peace in the region as he sought to forge a moderate government with his chief rival -- but did not reach a deal....

Apparently, the phrase "the darkest hour is just before dawn" is a myth. But the point it tries to raise -- that in a bad situation, definitionally you have to hit the worst point (whatever that is) before things improve, is true. Time put out an ... article? Opinion piece? I hope the latter, given ...

About 10% of Israelis for Labor, a center-left praty that wants a Palestinian state. About 23% of Israelis voted for Kadima, a center party that wants a Palestinian state. Another 22% voted for Likud, a center-right party led by a guy who wants a unity government with Labor and Kadima. The Washingto...

ALBANY—Kirsten Gillibrand thinks New Yorkers are starting to get used to the idea that she’ll be a senator for a long time. “I think it’s happening already, I really do,� Ms. Gillibrand said in an interview on Feb. 14 as she ate a celery stick dipped in blue cheese at the end of a long day...