Bibi

The Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Netanyahu Rushes to Repair Damage With Obama

Over the past several years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has on several occasions confronted or even undercut President Obama, taking his message directly to the Israel-friendly United States Congress, challenging Mr. Obama’s appeal to the Arab world, and seeming this fall to support his opponent, Mitt Romney. ...... Netanyahu still maintains strong ties to members of Congress, particularly Republicans ..... Jerusalem is worried that Washington will agree to direct talks with Tehran, and go easier on the Palestinian Authority’s quest this month for upgraded status in the United Nations. ....... “Given what Netanyahu had done these recent months, the question is: Does our prime minister still have a friend in the White House?” Mr. Olmert asked at a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York. “I am not certain of this, and this might be very significant to us at critical points.” ...... “My sense is that he both dislikes and distrusts Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that he is more likely to use his new momentum to settling scores than to settling issues.” ..... Obama was loath to take on a new Middle East military operation ..... “a decade of war is ending.” .... the bid for nonmember state status in the General Assembly

Can Republicans Adapt?

A coalition of aging white men is a recipe for failure in a nation that increasingly looks like a rainbow. ...... America needs a plausible center-right opposition party to hold Obama’s feet to the fire, not just a collection of Tea Party cranks. ..... the Democratic Party embraced the pragmatic center-left Bill Clinton in 1992 after three consecutive losses in presidential elections. ..... primary voters are their party’s worst enemy. ...... the profusion of right-wing radio and television programs. Democrats complain furiously that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity smear the left, but I wonder if the bigger loser isn’t the Republican Party itself. Those shows whip up a frenzy in their audience, torpedoing Republican moderates ......... an ideological black hole that no light can enter. ..... After this election, a record 20 senators will be women, almost all of them Democrats. Opposition to same-sex marriage used to be a way for Republicans to trumpet their morality; now it’s seen as highlighting their bigotry. ...... An astonishing 45 percent of Obama voters were members of minority groups .... Many others were women or young people. ...... if the Republican Party remains a purist cohort built around grumpy old white men, it is committing suicide. That’s bad not just for conservatives, but for our entire country.

Related articles

• Israelis Worry About Failed Netanyahu Gamble To Challenge Obama
• Netanyahu Rushes To Repair Damage With President
• Netanyahu Faces Rocky Road After Obama Re-Election
• Obama victory spells trouble for Israel's Netanyahu
• Netanyahu in damage-control mode after Obama re-election
• Barack Obama victory spells trouble for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
• | Biting the hand that feeds it: Obama victory spells trouble for Israel's Netanyahu!
• Obama win puts Netanyahu between Barack and a hard place
• PressTV: Netanyahu repentant as Obama re-elected
• Netanyahu repentant as Obama re-elected.

Hillary's Peace Efforts In The Mideast

Time: Hillary Clinton's Risky Return To Mideast Peace Talks: last March, when she called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scold him for a perceived slight to Vice President Joe Biden. ..... see her take center stage in this week's meetings relaunching peace talks between Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas...... she also has the ability to talk to these leaders as a significant political figure in her own right and also as a political figure who can appreciate their dilemmas and can help them work through the tough politics on both sides......Netanyahu and Abbas have agreed to meet every two weeks ..... Behind the scenes, Clinton has been preparing for her new role. She ordered a review of all previous U.S. efforts in the peace process, including analyses of what worked and what didn't.... she thinks it's possible

Hillary was a great choice for Secretary Of State. I rooted for her the first chance I got. For someone who almost became president to agree to become Secretary Of State, I appreciated the gesture.

This Mideast permanent mess is one area where she can rely greatly on her husband. Bill Clinton is the last guy who came really, really close to getting it done. If Arafat had settled for a good peace instead of the perfect peace he wanted, it would have been done back in 2000.

The pendulum swung the other way for a decade. Now it is time to get the pendulum swinging our way one more time. It is time to engage, it is time to talk peace.

I don't think there is any debate that a two state solution is where it is at. Even the roadmap is quite obvious. It is the drama of all the intermediate steps that is the challenge.

Could Hillary dance the dance? If she could she will get something Bill Clinton never got, although I can't imagine he did not want to, a Nobel. That guy also wanted Warren Buffett's money.

I am confident she can get it done. For one, she is not starting in the final year of a two term president.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Hillary Clinton's Risky Return to Mideast Peace Talks (time.com)
• Mideast Peace Talks Resume (beliefnet.com)
• Netanyahu hopes to have Mideast peace agreement by end of year (cnn.com)
• Clinton to Attend Mideast Peace Talks in Egypt (politicsdaily.com)
• Clinton opens Mideast peace talks in Washington (sfgate.com)
• Clinton opens Mideast peace talks in Washington (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Clinton warns of 'setbacks' as Mideast peace talks begin (thehill.com)
• Mideast Leaders Commit To New Peace Process (npr.org)
• Hillary Clinton's High-Stakes Reentry into Mideast Peace Talks (time.com)
• Obama's Mideast Workhorse: Mitchell's Surprising Success (time.com)