Category: Arab world

I told interlocuters in the Arabian Gulf last weekend that Israel firmly will assert its sovereignty and governance in the face of Israeli Arab and Palestinian lawlessness. That is what most Israelis expect of their new government! At the same time, I assured Israel's Emirati and Bahraini allies that Israel will do so without racist incitement and delegitimizing rhetoric, and without crude demonstrations of its power, but rather with finely calibrated tools and from an approach of maximum willingness to dialogue. (I hope that I am right....)
This should be the season for a global defense campaign for beleaguered Christians in the Middle East. Instead, the Western media purveys the false impression that Christians are under assault by Israelis....and intersectionalists have risen to smash Israel for Christmas.
The Sand Curtain between Israel and the Arab world has fallen, but some of the world has difficulty rejoicing in the breakthrough. The Left assiduously is poking holes in the Abraham Accords and making sourpuss faces whenever the Roadrunner-fast advances in Gulf-Israel ties are mentioned.
The sourpuss Left can’t acknowledge Netanyahu’s historic achievement of peace with the Gulf states. I say that nothing less than full-throated celebration is called for!
Israel should not bear-hug the problematic Saudis, nor fall prey to over-enthusiastic fantasies. Don’t assume that MBS is the answer to Israel’s prayers in facing-down Iran. Don’t expect overt Saudi peace overtures to Israel, and beware inevitable demands for down-payments to the Palestinians as the up-front price for lukewarm Saudi openness to Israel.
Global callousness and double-standards, from Aleppo to Jerusalem: The UN has no time to investigate the bad things happening in Syria. It’s busy with more important stuff, like yesterday’s (aborted) UN Security Council session which was to tackle, once again, those dastardly Israeli settlements – the real impediments to peace and security in the Middle East (sic)!
David M. Weinberg is a think tank director, columnist and lobbyist who is a sharp critic of Israel’s detractors and of post-Zionist trends in Israel. Read more »
A passionate speaker, David M. Weinberg lectures widely in Israel, the U.S. and Canada to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. He speaks on international politics and Middle East strategic affairs, Israeli diplomacy and defense strategy, intelligence matters and more. Click here to book David Weinberg as a speaker

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