When it comes to the Middle East, the former president never ceases to amaze.

In an interview published in Time, he was asked: "What do you think it means that Iran seems to have its first nuclear fuel rod?"

His complete answer:

Well, of course, the religious...

I sat down to read the New York Times Travel section, which this week featured a major piece on Jerusalem. By the second paragraph, I was shaking my head in disbelief.

The author, Matt Gross, declared up front that "I will go pretty much anywhere, anytime" as...

These words are destined for the history books.

They were uttered by Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, during a recent visit to Tehran.

Other than such brilliant luminaries as Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, and North Korea's...

Here's a recent headline in The Guardian: "Gaza Christians long for days before Hamas cancelled Christmas."

As a non-Christian, I'm curious about the reaction.

Or when the media reports on attacks on Coptic Christians, an estimated ten percent of the Egyptian...

Tom Friedman, the New York Times columnist, crossed a line in his recent op-ed, "Newt, Mitt, Bibi and Vladimir."

Shockingly, he wrote: "I sure hope that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics....

As I've written before, I have a problem with my name.

It's not that there's anything inherently wrong with it. It's just that, unlike Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, or Newt Gingrich, mine is anything but distinctive, so much so that I keep running into namesakes,...

One of the three spaces on the prestigious New York Times op-ed page in the November 23rd edition was given to a rather odd piece.

Amidst all the turmoil going on in the world today, the editors chose to publish a column entitled "Israel and 'Pinkwashing.'"

In...

Last week's report from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- a UN body -- sent a chilling message.

Here is the central finding:

The IAEA has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program. After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available...

I've been reading the Times pretty much every single day since I was ten-years-old. That's more than a half-century by now.

Along the way, I've been informed, inspired, and occasionally infuriated.

This week, there was cause for infuriation.

First, it came on Monday, in the form of four photographs...

He passed away in 2000, at the age of 86.

The more time goes by, the more I miss him. Precisely when his voice is needed more than ever, he is no longer among us.

In 1914, Jan Karski (né Kozielewski) was born to a Catholic family in Poland. The...

You recently wrote a column in The New York Times entitled "Is Israel Its Own Worst Enemy?"

Asserting that yours is "an act of friendship," you unleashed a torrent of criticism against Israel, claiming, among other angry accusations, that the Jewish state is "endangered most by its...

On Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly. He was enthusiastically received by many in the hall.

This should come as little surprise. Look at the make-up of the body: For starters, 22 Arab League members, 56 Organization of the Islamic Conference members, and approximately...

The 27 members of the European Union have become the key battleground in the current Palestinian UN gambit.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal sit on the UN Security Council. They would be among the 15 nations acting on a Palestinian request for UN membership.

Moreover, the General Assembly is...

Once again, the Palestinians, with the help of their international enablers, are about to shoot themselves in the foot -- or worse.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Palestinian leadership will soon turn to the UN to seek support for unilateral recognition of statehood.

Since Washington has indicated it will veto any...

Almost every responsible political leader today expresses a desire to contribute to peace in the Middle East.

Easier said than done. A real effort to promote peace requires an understanding of what motivates the parties to the conflict.

I can't say I quite get what makes the Palestinians tick. If...

Abba Eban, Israel's late and legendary statesman, famously said nearly 40 years ago that "the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

He was right.

Most recently, in 2000, the Palestinians, presented with a breakthrough two-state plan by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, joined by U.S. President...

Now that the world has been treated once again to the sight of such selfless, humanistic, courageous, modern-day Martin Luther Kings and Rosa Parks, whose single-minded goal is to feed the hungry, unshackle the enslaved, and lift the downtrodden, allow me some additional suggestions beyond the lure of Gaza.

Let's...

I read with dismay the reports of repeated assaults on Copts in Egypt.

Here's a Wall Street Journal account (June 11):

Five weeks after the fall of the Egyptian regime, Ayman Anwar Mitri's [a member of the Christian Coptic minority] apartment was torched. When he showed up...

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

Add "Middle East" to the equation and folks might start running for the hills, unwilling to get caught up in the seemingly bottomless pit of details and disputes.

But without an understanding of what happened, it's...

When it comes to the Middle East, too often there's been an inability to distinguish between the despot and the democrat, the arsonist and the firefighter, among those who should know better.

Too often the politics of principle have yielded to expediency, and truth has been thrown to the wind.