Iran’s new president, Hassan Rohani, is just the latest brutal, dangerous leader inexplicably given the benefit of the doubt by so many liberal defenders of human rights, though no real doubt of his nature exists. Why? Continue reading
Author: Abe Katsman
What Everyone “Knows”–Solving The Israeli-Palestinian Dispute
This column was originally published in American Thinker.
Preview: Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, absent major changes, is arguably the single most counterproductive act imaginable for long-lasting peace. There is no greater obstacle to peace than the perpetual temptation to launch another war against Israel from such lopsided lines.
An entire country, nine miles wide? A bicycle could easily cross it in 30 minutes — and a rocket in a matter of seconds. Nine miles is less than the distance from Barack Obama’s Chicago home to Wrigley Field. It’s the distance from New York’s George Washington Bridge to the Holland Tunnel. It’s 1½ times around the Central Park loop.
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Abe interviewed on the Andrea Tantaros Show May 6, 2013
Stop Blaming Israel And America For Fayyad’s Fall
This column was originally published in The Daily Beast.
Popular as he was in international aid circles and New York Times (and Daily Beast) op-eds—and even among Israelis—Fayyad had no democratic Palestinian constituency to speak of. As Archie Bunker once said of then-President Gerald Ford, “He’s doing a great job for a guy nobody voted for.”
Who lost Salam Fayyad? The resignation-dismissal of the respected Palestinian Prime Minister has provoked plenty of finger-pointing. Continue reading
Abe interviewed on The John Batchelor Show, April 18, 2013
Abe was interviewed on the John Batchelor Show about the resignation of Salam Fayyad, plus Abe’s recent column on John Kerry’s Mideast diplomatic missteps.
Kerry Squanders Obama’s Good Work In Israel
This piece was originally published in The Daily Beast.
President Obama said all the right things in his Middle East visit; John Kerry has quickly undone his good work. Continue reading
Abe interviewed on The Andrea Tantaros Show, March 19, 2013
Abe was interviewed on The Andrea Tantoros Show, March 19, 2013. Andrea interviewed Abe about the impact of President Obama’s visit to Israel, plus Abe’s recent column on Foreign Policy Neocons, Realists and Surrealists.
The Israeli Election Winner is… William F. Buckley!
This column was originally published in The American Thinker.
“There is a future” (Yesh Atid) is not a bad name for this party with no past: every one of the newly elected MKs is new to national politics. Israel has taken a step toward citizen government.
Explaining Israeli election results to an American audience is always a challenge. But this time, that challenge is compounded by having to explain the explanations. Even by famously contentious Israeli standards, interpretations of the results are all over the map. Continue reading
Neocons, Realists…Now Meet Obama’s Foreign Policy Surrealists
This column was originally published in The Times of Israel.
How else does one describe Kerry, Brennan and Hagel, who so breezily substitute a wishful alternate reality for the obvious, menacing threats to America and the West? Foreign policy is easy once one imagines away the threats. Unfortunately, these surrealists are taking charge of foreign policy and defense of America, not of Fantasy Island.
For some time, American foreign policy has been dominated by two camps. The neoconservatives advocate an idealistic, assertive promotion of liberty, democracy and American interests, including through military means. They are opposed by the self-described “realists” who advocate a pragmatic, realpolitik approach, focusing on power and material considerations.
The realists criticize the neocons for dreaming too big and overextending American power. The neocons criticize the realists for being amoral, disloyal to allies and Machiavellian. Both see the dangers facing America and the world with clear vision; they disagree in their approach to addressing those challenges.
So, where on the spectrum does one place President Obama’s new foreign policy team? Continue reading
John Kerry: ‘Perfect choice’ for whom?
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post.
From his radical past to his disdain for America’s leveraging its power to promote its values, from undermining American allies to appeasing America’s opponents, and from his terrible judgment to his inability to assess threats to the Western world, Kerry represents everything already wrong with the Obama administration’s inept foreign policy, where American influence wanes while radical anti-American forces flourish. Continue reading
Another country heard from: Abe Katsman weighs in 