Middle East

http://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-1556.html There is a wickedly funny and enormously sad piece of satire making the rounds about a “Lithuanian” charedi father attempting to explain to his inquisitive child the story of the Hasmoneans and their triumph...

http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~samuel/september.html The nature of the Arab purpose in Palestine was illumined, was indeed dramatised, by the clash between the terrorist organisations and the Jordanian government that began September 1970. Not an ideological confrontation nor the...

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/06/23/Don-t-Fall-for-the-Hoax-that-Mandela-Is-Anti-Israel Don’t fall for the false claim that Nelson Mandela was anti-Israel! It is based on a hoax--a letter written by anti-Israel activist Arjan El Fassed more than a decade ago in the style of...

http://rubinreports.blogspot.co.il/2013/12/why-israel-is-more-secure-in-2014-than.html Articles in the Israeli media based on analysis of security in 2014 present a surprisingly optimistic assessment, though not from a U.S. perspective and still with some warnings. Most of the work is by Ron...

http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=62508 Israel's Herzog calls for 'brave' steps in peace talks Published yesterday (updated) 02/12/2013 18:32http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=653289 RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog said Sunday he would push the government to take "brave" steps in US-brokered peace...

Arab diplomatic sources said the Hashemite kingdom was hosting the training of thousands of Islamist rebels in the war against Syrian President Bashar Assad. They said the rebels, trained and equipped by Saudi Arabia...

http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=62506 YERUSHALAYIM - As part of the rapprochment between the United States and Iran, it has emerged that the U.S. and Iran secretly negotiated a series of prisoner exchanges, The Times of Israel has learned. In...

http://www.inss.org.il/index.aspx?id=4538&articleid=6096 The interim deal signed in Geneva by the P5+1 and Iran is meant only to put “more time on the clock” in order to negotiate a final deal - a comprehensive agreement that will...

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4071/geneva-agreement In terms of nuclear infrastructure Iran will be as close to getting the bomb in six months as it is today. Geneva leaves Iran with something it was never granted before: the right to...

http://arlenefromisrael.squarespace.com/current-postings/2013/12/2/december-2-2013-strength-for-the-hard-times.html Credit: Amit Erez I give thanks for this Chanukah season, which is buoying me - and I hope many of you! - during a difficult time. ~~~~~~~~~~ Before moving to the difficult stuff, I begin with links...