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ArticlesKräne statt Kontrollen, by Daniel RackowskiDer Nahostkonflikt erregt bekanntlich die Gemüter wie kaum eine dauerhafte Auseinandersetzung in der jüngeren Geschichte der internationalen Politik - es sei denn, man ist israelischer oder palästinensischer Geschäftsmann. Gebetsmühlenartig weisen Händler, Entrepreneure und Unternehmer auf beiden Seiten seit Jahren mit Sachlichkeit und Nüchternheit darauf hin, dass man doch nur alles dafür tun solle, die wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen zwischen den Konfliktparteien zu verbessern, und zwar nicht nur des wirtschaftlichen Ertrages wegen. Full text Nove mesi di Obama e un mondo meno sicuro, by Emanuele OttolenghiVista dal Medio Oriente, l’Amministrazione Obama finora merita un attributo – mediocre. In solo nove mesi di presidenza, va detto a parziale merito del presidente, Obama è riuscito a metter le basi per più guai e grattacapi nella regione in anni a venire di qualsiasi suo predecessore, Jimmy Carter compreso. E considerando che Carter, almeno, il Nobel se l’era meritato per aver presieduto, suo malgrado, agli accordi di pace tra Egitto e Israele, è chiaro che qui si tratta della proverbiale storia che si ripete, come tragedia la prima volta e come farsa la seconda. Cosa ha fatto Obama per meritarsi gli allori? Full text Cocktail of naivete, by Emanuele OttolenghiTwo weeks ago, Jonathan Freedland suggested on this page that "maybe Israel just needs to acknowledge Palestinian pain" (September 18), encouraging Israel to undertake a gesture that "may just unblock a peace effort which desperately needs unblocking.".. Full text Obama is in trouble, by Emanuele OttolenghiPresident Obama’s Middle East policy looks to be in trouble... Full text Biden did not give Israel a ‘green light’ to bomb Iran, by Emanuele OttolenghiWhat should be made of US Vice President Joe Biden’s recent comments on a possible Israeli military strike against Iran? Mr Biden was interviewed on This Week, ABC’s Sunday morning show. He said that “Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else.” Most commentators seem to think Biden was offering Israel a green light to attack. He continued to say that Israel is “entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that.” Full text Ma è difficile la strada per convincere Israele, by Emanuele Ottolenghiembra incredibile ma è vero. Non sono passati nemmeno otto anni da quando, l’11 settembre 2001, quindici cittadini sauditi e quattro egiziani dirottarono quattro aerei di linea seminando morte e distruzione a Washington e New York. E ieri, dopo una visita in Arabia Saudita, un presidente americano ha pronunciato al Cairo un messaggio di riconciliazione tra l’America e il mondo musulmano. Alla retorica presidenziale in tema siamo già abituati. Full text A perfect storm, by Emanuele OttolenghiThe most liberal US President since John F. Kennedy has taken office with plans to revamp his country's Middle East policy, placing peace, Palestinian statehood and engagement with Iran high on his agenda. In comes Israel's new Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, a man known for his aversion to Palestinian statehood. Is this not the perfect storm? Full text The high price of deterring Iran, by Emanuele OttolenghiFull text Un capolavoro di diplomazia, by Emanuele OttolenghiCome in ogni altra visita pastorale, il viaggio di Papa Benedetto XVI in Terra Santa ha una doppia dimensione: religiosa e politica. I tre governi che lo hanno ospitato e ospitano fino a venerdì-Giordania, Israele e Autorità Palestinese - condividono senz’altro la speranza di vedere un Vaticano più attivo sulla scena internazionale a promuovere il processo di pace. In che modo, naturalmente, dipende dai desideri della capitale in questione. Ma difficilmente il papa poteva soddisfare questa aspettativa: il Vaticano tradizionalmente non scende in campo su temi controversi, preferendo guardinghe dichiarazioni pubbliche e operando piuttosto dietro le quinte. E non poteva essere altrimenti, vista la natura altamente spericolata dell’equilibrismo richiesto al pontefice in questo viaggio. Il Papa in cinque giorni doveva parlare al mondo musulmano, ai cristiani in Medioriente e agli ebrei, ma anche agli arabi, agli israeliani e ai palestinesi. Full text download PDF A trusted new voice to nurture Israel's relationship with Obama, by Emanuele OttolenghiIN THE week that Shimon Peres met US President Barack Obama, the new US Administration began to publicly recalibrate its positions on the many Middle East files it needs to confront. All bear enormous consequences for Israel... Full text The US, Israel, and the Iran connection: collision course?, by Emanuele OttolenghiPresident Barack Obama has not yet fully clarified the scope and extent of his policy review of the Iran file. Clearly, there are already signs of a new course. These include President Obama’s Nowrooz greetings message on March 20; an unscheduled meeting ten days later between US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Mehdi Akhoundzadeh on the sidelines of the Afghanistan conference in The Hague; the announcement that a high ranking US State Department official (William Burns) would represent the United States at talks with Iran in the framework of the P5+1; and more generally, a lifting of the ban on US diplomats meeting with their Iranian counterparts around the world.What this means for relations with US allies, especially Israel, is still unclear. Full text No discounts for Iran, by Emanuele OttolenghiAs the Obama administration prepares to enter negotiations with Iran, in the established "P5+1" framework (the UN Security Council's permanent members plus Germany), reports indicate it may not demand that Iran first suspend uranium enrichment. This would be a major shift in U.S. and Western policy. And also a mistake. The way to address Iran's noncompliance with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is by increasing its cost, not by dropping demands. Full text Mitchell prepara la bufera su Israele, by Emanuele OttolenghiDopo una serie di fermate in capitali arabe, l’inviato speciale del presidente americano Barack Obama per il processo di pace in Medioriente, George Mitchell, arriverà oggi a Gerusalemme per la sua seconda visita in Israele e nei Territori palestinesi. La visita non promette nessuna grande svolta, ma dovrebbe servire a mettere a fuoco ulteriormente il futuro corso dei rapporti tra Israele e Stati Uniti. È evidente infatti che sui tre fronti più caldi per Israele - Iran, Siria e processo di pace - la nuova amministrazione Usa non è in sintonia con Gerusalemme: il potenziale di una piccola burrasca nei rapporti bilaterali è dunque alto... Full text Obama gioca a scacchi con l’Iran, by Emanuele OttolenghiIn attesa di illuminare la comunità diplomatica e il grande pubblico sulla natura della svolta politica americana sul dossier Iran - una svolta attesa entro l’inizio di aprile - il presidente americano Barack Obama ha fatto un inatteso gesto di apertura al pubblico e ai leader iraniani, trasmettendo un messaggio benaugurale per il capodanno persiano e la festa di Nowrooz celebrata ogni anno il 20 marzo in Iran. Full text La scommessa di Bibi, by Emanuele OttolenghiIl primo ministro incaricato israeliano, Benyamin Netanyahu, ha formalizzato l’accordo di coalizione con il partito Israel Beteinu e il suo Avigdor Lieberman, che con tutta probabilità diventerà ora il nuovo ministro degli esteri. L’annuncio ha provocato costernazione nelle capitali europee e condanna in quelle arabe. Full text Analysis: There is one positive, by Emanuele OttolenghiHow close is Iran to developing nuclear weapons?
According to Amos Yadlin, Iran has crossed another threshold on the road to nuclear capability, after the recent International Atomic Energy Agency report that Iran has accumulated a much larger stockpile of low-enriched uranium than previously documented. Full text Ora Israele può davvero colpire l’Iran, by Emanuele OttolenghiLa piccola baruffa tra l’ammiraglio Mullen e il segretario alla difesa Usa, Robert Gates ha meno a che fare con i fatti del programma nucleare iraniano e più con i suoi significati. Infatti, secondo l’ultimo rapporto dell’Agenzia Internazionale per l’Energia Atomica, l’Iran dispone di sufficiente uranio arricchito (1010 chili) da poter costruire una prima arma nucleare. Le divergenze d’opinione stanno sui tempi e sulla capacità scientifica e tecnologica di superare gli ostacoli che ancora separano Teheran dalla bomba. Full text Compromising Situation, by Emanuele OttolenghiIsrael's general election on February 10 could have been a new beginning. By 2006, the last time Israelis went to the polls, voters had grown tired of the two visions that for decades vied for dominance in Israel and the parties that embodied them. The Peace Now vision lay moribund, since the intifada had broken the Oslo illusion, and survived only thanks to often unwelcome and unwise interference from abroad. The Greater Israel vision had become a pipedream in the face of the unbearable price of keeping millions of unwilling Palestinians under Israeli rule. Before long, Israelis understood, an international community with little patience for and understanding of Jewish rights would force Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders and face civil war, or keep the post-1967 lines and become a Jewish minority in an Arab-dominated state... Full text Analysis: The world is willfully blind to these crimes, by Emanuele OttolenghiFor a brief time last week, UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, had a “man bites dog” moment. UNRWA’s protest against Hamas’ looting of its warehouses — to supply Hamas’ own supporters or profiteer on the black market — was unprecedented, especially coming on the heels of another admission: that the terrible incident at the Al-Fakhura school near Jabaliya, on 6 January, had been misrepresented. Full text O insieme o il caos, by Emanuele OttolenghiIn attesa del risultato finale che deve ancora computare 150.000 voti di diplomatici e soldati - il cui valore, di sei seggi, potrebbe alterare il panorama emerso dal voto di martedì - le elezioni israeliane hanno prodotto un pareggio e una paralisi. Peccato, perché avrebbero potuto segnare un nuovo inizio. Full text 'It Really Doesn't Matter Who Wins Election', by Emanuele OttolenghiIt is hard to blame Israelis for their collective yawn: next week's elections have not triggered enthusiasm among voters and - as has been the case in recent years - will probably not yield a decisive result. Full text What's Best for Europe?, by Emanuele OttolenghiWhat was Europe's interest in Israel's military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Working to halt Israel's military onslaught, thereby saving Hamas, or letting Israel achieve its goals at the cost of hundreds of lives? The former contradicts Europe's official position on Hamas - it is a proscribed terrorist organisation, whose al-Aqsa TV station was banned from France's main satellite carrier. The EU also accepts the Quartet's formula of no talks with Hamas until it renounces violence, recognises Israel and embraces the Oslo Accords as a basis for negotiations. A ceasefire that left Hamas standing would repudiate all of the above and overnight turn it into a player the international community could no longer ignore, let alone ostracise. But the latter approach would put Europe on the side of the media-designated aggressor, in a war depicted - no fact-checking needed - as one of the worst humanitarian crises of our times. Full text Just a sideshow, by Emanuele OttolenghiWhen historians revisit Israel's Operation Cast Lead in a few decades, they will no doubt see it as a minor tiff between the warring sides in a broader conflict engulfing the region. Behind two familiar faces engaged in a vicious century-long fight that everyone knows how to solve and no one ever manages to fix, can be found Iran and its allies, on one side, and Iran's pro-Western foes, on the other.
Full text Doubt Cast on Hamas fatality numbers, by Emanuele OttolenghiThere is every reason to doubt the figures given by Hamas for the number of dead and wounded in Gaza. In Jenin in 2002, Palestinian spokesmen gave staggering figures: first 3,000, then 500. A UN inquiry downsized this to 54 and confirmed that most were combatants... Full text Pressure must be kept on Hamas, by Emanuele OttolenghiFrom the perspective of history, Operation Cast Lead no doubt will be seen as a minor tiff in the broader regional showdown pitching Iran and its ideological proxies against pro-Western governments. Presently, moved by images of human suffering, Western leaders and pundits mistook a sideshow for the real story... Full text showing from 1 to 25 of 172 documents | next |
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