Israel: Troubled Talks | Newsweek Periscope

WORLD AFFAIRS
Israel’s Dissident
Kevin Peraino 11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM
It's hard to think of a foreign leader whose public image is more closely tied to George W. Bush's than Natan Sharansky. A former Soviet dissident turned Israeli politician, his 2004 book, "The Case for Democracy," has been credited with serving as the intellectual underpinning for Bush's discredited "freedom agenda." The 43rd U.S. president once referred to Sharansky in a private letter as his "soul mate," and the 60-year-old Israeli keeps a cartoon on his office wall showing him and Bush exchanging a high-five.
ISRAEL
The Prospect Of An Odd Couple
Kevin Peraino 11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
One morning this past summer, Barack Obama sat down around a conference table in Jerusalem's King David Hotel with Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel's Likud Party. Neither man ran a country but both had high hopes. The talk was "like a hypothetical business discussion" among "two people who knew they might be working together," says a Netanyahu associate who was present but requested anonymity to speak freely. But that's where the similarities stop. Netanyahu, 59, is an unreconstructed hawk, raised in the cold war's shadow. Obama listened politely, but the gap was obvious. "Obama, clearly, is a product of a new age," says the Israeli.
WORLD AFFAIRS
A Piece Of The Peace
Kevin Peraino 10/4/2008 12:00:00 AM
Hazem Maali's only warning was his wife's clipped scream. The 34-year-old Palestinian salesman was driving his family through the stony hills and olive groves of the northern West Bank, on their way to a wedding. As they sped past the turnoff for the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, a Frisbee-size chunk of asphalt came crashing through his windshield. His wife, six months pregnant, started to vomit; blood poured from her head. Only when Maali screeched to a stop at a nearby Israeli Army checkpoint did he pivot to check on his children. The projectile had ricocheted into the back seat, knocking his 7-year-old daughter unconscious.
THE MIDDLE EAST
Exit Olmert
John Barry 9/29/2008 12:00:00 AM
One morning back in 1975, I sat in the office of Israel's prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and listened to him tell stories. I had asked him about Israel's policies on the Palestinian issue. His response was characteristically edged and allusive.
Why Israel Won’t Change
Michael Hirsh 8/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Some things will change for Israel and its chief ally, the United States, when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigns. But most things won't-especially the big things. Israel still faces at least four major strategic choices: how to resolve the faltering peace talks with the Palestinians, how to deal with the growing power of Hezbollah in Lebanon, whether to maintain the fragmentary ceasefire with Hamas, and above all whether take military action against Iran. And it doesn't much matter who the next prime minister is—or even the next U.S. president: the choices that Israel makes will likely be the same.
Perspectives
7/26/2008 12:00:00 AM