Epstein Secrets

the Golan Heights, the Syrian territory it has occupied since 1967. Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi last month told the Knesset that unnamed `global jihad' groups (Israeli code for al-Qaeda) had begun operating on the Syrian side of the Golan, from which the Assad regime had

vinced, probably correctly, that each day devoted to national security is a day not spent talking about the economy. And criticizing the slayer of Osama bin Laden requires a more sophisticated critique than the presidential campaign — currently at the level of "Romney Hood" vs. "Obamaloney" — will bear. But

ts bitterlemons.net and is former director of the Jaffee Center at Tel Aviv University. Colette Avital, former ambassador and deputy speaker of the Knesset, is international secretary of the Israel Labor Party. Maj. Gen. Shlomo Gazit was military coordinator in the Occupied Territories and head of mili

s Gates telling him. Gates concedes he was sometimes on the wrong side of an issue. For instance, he was gun-shy about using ground troops to kill Osama bin Laden, arguing that Obama should opt for an airstrike instead. Gates hesitated because he feared a repeat of the bungled 1980 attempt to free American ho

yed nerves in the Israeli government, which had already been skeptical of the Egyptian revolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset committee on May. 30, "Global terrorist organizations are meddling [in Sinai] and their presence is increasing because of the connection between Si

other senior officials that al-Qaeda and the Taliban have suffered major setbacks. It was even better to hear that U.S. troops had finally killed Osama bin Laden. Nevertheless, these triumphs have come at demonstrable cost. There was perhaps no reliable way to kill bin Laden without grievously offending Paki

yed nerves in the Israeli government, which had already been skeptical of the Egyptian revolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset committee on May. 30, "Global terrorist organizations are meddling [in Sinai] and their presence is increasing because of the connection between Si

other senior officials that al-Qaeda and the Taliban have suffered major setbacks. It was even better to hear that U.S. troops had finally killed Osama bin Laden. Nevertheless, these triumphs have come at demonstrable cost. There was perhaps no reliable way to kill bin Laden without grievously offending Paki

ent and the Social Democratic candidate for European Commission president in the coming European Union elections, traveled to Israel to address the Knesset. The idea of a German politician speaking before the Israeli Parliament is newsworthy enough. But it was what he said that caused an uproar: Mr. E

so-grand—visions of America's role in the world. To the extent that Obama pitched his foreign policy record at all, he did so around the killing of Osama bin Laden, which today looks like an increasingly symbolic rather than substantive triumph, as jihadists spread across the greater Middle East. Mitt Romney l

e prominent coalition members — Tzipi Livni, who is helming the peace talks and Yair Lapid, who helms the second largest voting bloc in the Israeli Knesset, have hinted that they expect the peace process to move forward ... or else. Livni's departure would not be a major problem for Bibi, but Lapid lea

aeli occupation was central to the growth of Islamic nationalism in the Middle East in the 1970s and to the rise of international terrorist groups. Osama bin Laden's 1996 Fatwa was directed at the "Zionist-Crusader alliance." America's continued support for Israel— measured in military aid and in its tilt to Isra

assume a responsibility that has become "part of Germany's reason of state," as Chancellor Merkel said in a speech to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in March 2008? "It means that for me, as a German chancellor, Israel's security is never negotiable," Merkel told the lawmakers. The perils of suc

Spring was thought to signal the end of al-Qaeda's appeal by showing that secular dictatorships could indeed be brought down without the cataclysms Osama bin Laden and the like called for. The persistence of secular dictatorships will bring new appreciation of al- Qaeda as intransigent regimes are ratifying a c

tlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territories. So, too, are some prominent Israelis, including Avraham Burg, the former speaker of the Knesset, a well-known and influential figure among diaspora Jews, who publicly announced his position in an Independent op-ed. Many young British Jews are

Afghanistan and Pakistan, was hamstrung from the outset. The problems do not stem only from the U.S. drone campaign and the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden, nor is Islamabad's failure to take on difficult domestic reforms solely to blame. The problems are also due to the United States' inability to ins

a man who will be bypassed by history. Here is what Netanyahu’s immediate predecessor, Ehud Olmert, said in a widely reported speech to the Israeli Knesset in 2008: “We must give up Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem and return to the core of the territory that is the State of Israel prior to 1967, with min

's call for constant struggle. Hamas needs no reminder that al Qaeda is more foe than friend. Though Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's leader in Gaza, praised bin Ladin after his death as an "Arab holy warrior," this was largely pandering HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023527 --- PAGE BREAK --- 12 to his religious base. In fact

rayed nerves in the Israeli government, which had already been skeptical of the Egyptian revolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset committee on May. 30, "Global terrorist organizations are meddling [in Sinai] and their presence is increasing because of the connection between Sina

s during the Bush administration); harshly criticized Pakistan’s government and military before the Abbottabad operation; embarrassed both by killing bin Laden inside the country; and then followed the action with further public criticism and cuts in assistance to the Pakistani military. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_024