Epstein Secrets

ate to Arab governments that the United States would make demands of Israel in pursuit of a regional peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made little secret of his preference for Republican Mitt Romney in last year's U.S. presidential campaign. Netanyahu and Obama have at times disagree

sm in the region in general and toward the United States in particular, given its historical support for the Jewish state. In contrast to predecessor George W. Bush, Obama wanted to demonstrate to Arab governments that the United States would make demands of Israel in pursuit of a regional peace agreement. I

ch in the news. In his speech inviting Netanyahu to form the next government, the President spoke forcefully about peace and even seemed to influence Bibi to mention peace, a word he never used in his election campaign. Peres has rightly earned respect for this from many quarters, but now, as the coalit

ate to Arab governments that the United States would make demands of Israel in pursuit of a regional peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made little secret of his preference for Republican Mitt Romney in last year's U.S. presidential campaign. Netanyahu and Obama have at times disagree

sm in the region in general and toward the United States in particular, given its historical support for the Jewish state. In contrast to predecessor George W. Bush, Obama wanted to demonstrate to Arab governments that the United States would make demands of Israel in pursuit of a regional peace agreement. I

ch in the news. In his speech inviting Netanyahu to form the next government, the President spoke forcefully about peace and even seemed to influence Bibi to mention peace, a word he never used in his election campaign. Peres has rightly earned respect for this from many quarters, but now, as the coalit

el's political compass is guided to some degree by its sense of the American mood. That mood, beginning in the White House, is of growing impatience. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will address Congress this month. He has responded to tumultuous events in the Middle East with vapid tactical sound bit

e White House, is of growing impatience. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will address Congres

Saudi Arabia, are also not at all sure that Syria without Assad would be better than with him. Second, for most U.S. presidents -- Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush being the exceptions -- Syria has served as a kind of unholy diplomatic grail. Since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, U.S. policymakers had vi

United States. The kingdom will not be lectured to. It is sick and tired of American favoritism to Israel — the exuberant congressional reception for Binyamin Netanyahu, for example — and the administration's decision to oppose any effort in the United Nations to create a Palestinian state. In this matter, America is

ign policy is befuddled and bemused. None of the experts look particularly smart at the moment. The realists' who counseled President Obama to forget George W. Bush's support of Middle Eastern democracy and cultivate our relations with regional despots like Hosni Mubarak, the Iranian mullahs and the younger A

of Israel's Mossad spy agency, declared last month that attacking Iran would be "a stupid idea." He suggested his main worry was not Iran itself but Netanyahu's susceptibility to "dangerous adventure." Dagan's concerns have surfaced as Seymour Hersh concludes in a New Yorker article this month that, as he p