For many nations, a 65th birthday may not generate much excitement. But if the country happens to be Israel, which celebrates its birthday this year on April 15-16, it's another story.

Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only UN member state whose right to exist is regularly challenged,...

To know why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has proved so intractable, it's worth reading the two op-eds published by the New York Times on March 13, in advance of President Obama's much-anticipated visit to the region.

The first, placed at the top of the page, was by Rashid Khalidi,...

Argentina has just approved a memorandum of understanding with Iran to jointly investigate the 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA, or Jewish federation, building in Buenos Aires. The blast killed 85 people and wounded 300.

There's only one problem with the agreement -- it's alleged that the current Iranian regime,...

Para comprender cuál es la causa profunda del conflicto árabe-israelí basta con detenerse a examinar varios acontecimientos recientes.

En primer lugar estuvieron los comentarios de dos líderes de la Autoridad Palestina (AP).

En un discurso dirigido por televisión a sus partidarios en Gaza, el presidente de la AP, Mahmud Abbas,...

This week ushers in two significant events.

The first is a milestone anniversary. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly, by a vote of 33 in favor, 13 opposed, and ten abstentions, endorsed Resolution 181, otherwise known as the Palestine Partition Plan.

That plan recommended the division of...

Since the escalation of Hamas missile strikes against Israel began on November 14, there have been three basic kinds of reactions -- moral clarity, moral fog, and moral hypocrisy.

Moral clarity distinguishes between the aggressor and the victim, the arsonist and the fireman, and includes the courage to say so....

When it was announced that this year's Nobel Peace Prize would be given to the European Union, I was thrilled.

There were others who were less excited, even skeptical and cynical.

After all, these doubters said, why honor the EU when it is enveloped in such immense economic...

Hanan Ashrawi, the PLO Executive Committee member much sought after by Western media outlets, has just earned a gold medal for historical revisionism.

In a recent article intended for an Arabic-speaking audience, she asserted there were no Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

Instead, according to her, there were...

The New York Times (Aug. 29) carried a feature article entitled "U.N. Report Predicts a Bleak Future for Gaza Unless Services Are Improved."

Summing up the UN study, the article notes that by 2020 Gaza may not be "a livable place," even as the population of this narrow strip of...

Dear UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,

In a matter of days, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit will take place in Tehran, where Iran will assume the rotating, three-year presidency of the group.

Iran attaches great importance to your presence. Indeed, the regime has already announced your participation....

This falls in the category of "You've got to be kidding!"

I'm not.

On Aug. 26, Iran will assume, for the next three years, the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at a summit in Tehran.

None other than Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will preside.

Founded five decades ago...

Libya is once again in the news.

It's been a while, since the media largely lost interest following Muammar Gaddafi's ouster and assassination.

The North African nation just held its first election. What emerges will doubtless have regional consequences.

But there's another reason Libya should be in the public...

When I first saw the headline in the current issue (July/August 2012) of Foreign Affairs -- "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb" -- I thought there was a typo. Surely it was meant to read "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb -- Not!"

But then I remembered that this bimonthly...

This is an updated version of a piece that appeared previously and has been reposted as it remains as relevant as when it was first published here.

Mention the word "history" and it can trigger a roll of the eyes.

Add "Middle East" to the equation and folks might...

In the daily news coverage, as they say, if it doesn't bleed, it doesn't lead. The larger story of Israel, therefore, is rarely told.

And the steady barrage of anti-Israel assaults -- from the UN's Arab-led automatic majority to the boycott-sanctions-divestment crowd; from some PR-savvy NGOs to the red-green...

What's so special about a country's 64th birthday?

Well, in the case of most nations, perhaps not all that much, unless the country happens to be Israel, which celebrates its birthday this year on April 25 and 26.

Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only U.N. member state...

Here we go again.

First, it was the various "Freedom Flotillas" that tried to enter Hamas-controlled Gaza by sea.

Now it's the "Global March to Jerusalem" (GMJ), slated for March 30.

Whether by sea or land, the goals are the same: to provoke confrontations with Israel, give Israel a...

The name Avi Shlaim may not be widely known on the street, but in the United Kingdom, and particularly in academic settings, it is.

An emeritus professor of international relations at Oxford University, he has been a prodigious writer on the Middle East.

When it comes to Israel, where...

Let's begin with the tweets themselves.

From Narayan Lakshman, Washington-based correspondent for The Hindu, a prominent Indian left-of-center newspaper, to his foreign affairs editor in New Delhi, R.K. Krishnan, citing an article he wrote for the paper last week:

"India can seek oil elsewhere in West Asia: American...

When it comes to Israel, advice is never in short supply.

It's doled out steadily by diplomats, scholars, editorial writers, columnists, you name it.

The onset of the so-called Arab Spring -- in actuality, it more closely approximates an Islamic Winter -- has unleashed...