Mike Pompeo – the Secretary of State who is trying to become the world leader in subverting democracy – went to Israel to put some finishing touches on his disastrous term in office. He visited a settlement, a first for a US Secretary of State. He said settlement products can be labeled “Made In Israel,” erasing a major piece of the line between Israel and the occupied West Bank. And…
You knew it had to happen, didn’t you? Israel’s absence from most of the 2020 election campaign couldn’t last. In Georgia, we see the ugly face of Israel-Palestine politics from both sides. Republican Kelly Loeffler launched a disingenuous attack on Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock calling him anti-Israel and implying he is antisemitic. Warnock responded by calling BDS antisemitic, swearing his devotion to Israel, and saying that Israel should always be…
There is a long-standing tradition in Israel and in many pro-Israel circles around the world to identify critics of Israel as anti-Semitic or, at the very least, irretrievably biased against Israel. This rhetorical device has become increasingly weaponized, in and outside of Israel. Human Rights Watch’s Israel-Palestine Director, Omar Shakir, was expelled from Israel for doing his job too well, in just one of many examples. Israel has also placed…
In the latest episode of the ReThinking Foreign Policy Podcast, Mitchell Plitnick examines the effect of the hastily-convened press conference where Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe accused Iran of interference in the United States’ election. He examines the implications for how Iran is perceived in the United States, and also puts the whole question of external interference in the U.S.’ elections in perspective. Next, Mitchell takes a look at…
You wouldn’t think a small revision to the rules governing three bi-national foundations run by the United States and Israel would represent a major change in policy. Bute such is the case with the new rules governing three joint U.S.-Israeli foundations, when the new rules in question extend their mandate over all of the West Bank. Until now, those mandates have stopped at the Green Line, as a matter of…
