Independent voices from the TWT Communities
On June 16, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Israel. This week, President Obama has become the fifth president to do so, and over the course of three days, he will reaffirm the United States-Israel alliance and underscore the advancements Israel has made in only four decades.
President Obama departed Tuesday night on his first trip to Israel, a largely symbolic visit that even his aides say isn't likely to forge progress on peace with Palestinians, the Syrian civil war or Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Who would have thought? Fashion police live in Israel, too, it seems. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara, has taken some serious hits from the political gossip crowd who hated her choice of dress for the 19th Knesset's swearing-in ceremony earlier this week.
When it comes to the threat of corruption, Israel's defense sector faces the greatest risk, according to a new report from a watchdog group that's dedicated to assessing how easy it is to infiltrate and corrupt government bodies around the world.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially won re-election, according to Israeli media, but his Likud party is expressing disappointment.
After a lackluster three-month campaign, few doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to re-election. But the makeup of Netanyahu's next government remains a mystery.
As Israel's ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon developed a strong friendship with President George W. Bush and personally arranged a multibillion-dollar U.S. loan package that allowed the Jewish state to raise foreign funds at low interest rates.
With the establishment last week of a broad national unity government in Israel - brought about by the Kadima Party's bold decision to join Prime Minister Netanyahus government - I believe that Israel is on the crossroads of major positive change.
The Kadima party could lose a large faction of lawmakers because of its leader's decision to join the Israeli government, The Washington Times has learned.
Israel's Kadima party could lose a large breakaway faction of lawmakers following its leader's controversial decision to join the current Israeli government, The Washington Times has learned.
Israel was gripped by election fever Monday, with new balloting expected as early as the summer and polls suggesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands a good chance of re-election — largely because of a divided opposition.
A leading Arab member of the Israeli parliament is threatening to sue the Israeli ambassador to the United States over an article the diplomat wrote that portrays him as a supporter of suicide bombers.
A senior Israeli lawmaker is complaining to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv over the State Department's refusal to issue a visa for another Israeli legislator who once belonged to an outlawed political party on the U.S. terrorist list.
I have just returned from Israel, where I spent 10 days and had the opportunity to visit with people from the prime minister to street market vendors in Jerusalem's Old City and gained perspectives ranging from Knesset members and rabbis to Arab Israelis, Christian Israelis and Muslim merchants. I can attest firsthand that the threat of Iran's government to "wipe Israel off the face of the map" is taken far more seriously than in the Obama administration, where the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Martin Dempsey, spoke for the president by saying that "Iran is a rational actor."
To those who hail the Arab Spring and the first free elections in Egypt in 60 years, a prominent Israeli responded, "Remember Mussolini, remember Hitler." Two years after seizing power in 1922 with a march on Rome, one-time socialist Benito Mussolini's fascist party won 64 percent of the popular vote and 374 seats of 535 in parliament.
