"While many have spoken about the lessons Hamas has learned from Hezbollah over the years, it appears the Israeli political and military establishment has learned one or two of its own. When the 2006 war began, for instance, Olmert vowed to fight on until Israel's two kidnapped soldiers were released, the katyusha rockets being fired from Lebanon were stopped, and Hezbollah was pushed back from the Israeli-Lebanese border. These unrealistic goals were never achieved, and his comments made it all too easy for Hezbollah to claim victory when the fighting ceased."

"The United States must re-examine the manner in which it has dealt with Iran's nuclear program. For too long, U.S. administrations have let their counterparts take the lead in Iranian negotiations. In the meantime, many of those involved in talks with the Iranians have themselves greatly benefited from economic cooperation with the Shiite Islamist regime. Russian assistance, for instance, will allow the Iranians to make their first nuclear plant operational by January 2009. The Germans continue to be the largest trading partner with the Iranians, a country it is supposedly trying to pressure. And NATO ally Turkey recently announced a $12 billion deal to invest in Iran's South Pars offshore gas field. Adept negotiators, the Iranians have used this time to secretly advance their nuclear weapons program while still turning a profit...."

"Barghouti is high on Hamas's list of prisoners that it wants to see released in exchange for Gilad Schalit. Recognizing the dangers of Hamas claiming responsibility for his release, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently requested that he be handed over to him as part of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's 'goodwill gesture.' With his term in office soon coming to an end, Abbas will need all the political support he can get to keep power. A boost from the Israeli government would be a good start; it would show the Palestinians that negotiations, rather than force, yield the better results."

"As Americans inch closer to a new administration, President-elect Obama and his staff will have more critical foreign policy decisions to make than any of his recent predecessors. Hezbollah is rearming at an ever-increasing rate. Iraq is backpedalling on its promises to allow US forces to remain in the country and fight Al Qaeda. Syria is talking peace with the west and Israel while continuing to support Hezbollah in Lebanon and Al Qaeda elements in Iraq. Afghanistan is barely holding on while the Taliban grows fiercer. The puppet master in all these cases is Iran, and there is no consensus on how to deal with it...."

"...The Chinese and Russians say they do not support stronger sanctions because they don't believe in their effectiveness. Off the record, however, both countries recognize that any form of sanctions that restrict their own business ventures is not going to stop the Iranians from pursuing their end goal of acquiring nuclear weapons.Thus in the meantime, the Russians and Chinese are angling themselves to maximize the economic benefits of such a precarious state of affairs in the Middle East...."

"It’s common to hear the term 'Israel-Palestine' when referring to either Israel or the Palestinian Territories, particularly in academic circles. Students and professors in any American college — from your local college to an Ivy League university — are likely  to refer to 'Israel-Palestine' (also written as 'Israel/Palestine') as if that was the name of a country. In this age of extreme political correctness, apparently many are willing to overlook the little fact that there is no such country of 'Israel-Palestine'...."

"There is no doubt that a heightened level of awareness is necessary today. Hezbollah pioneered the use of suicide bombings. It has an advanced global network, sophisticated operatives, and financial and military backing from Iran and Syria. The knowledge, experience and means to operate in multiple countries around the world exist, proven by actions they have taken in the past from Germany to Argentina to Israel. While Imad Mughniyeh is gone, the threat remains. And thus our vigilance must persevere as well."

One should not expect much benefit to come out of the impending IAEA report discussing Iranian nuclear activity, Joshua Gleis writes.

"Blaming Olmert for all that is wrong in Israeli society today would be like blaming Lyndon Johnson for all the failures of the Vietnam War. Just as history has shown that John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon share some of the responsibility for America’s actions in Vietnam, so too must we recall the failures of former Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak in securing the Jewish State."

On the evening of October 7, 2004, three trucks laden with explosives were driven to resorts in the northern Sinai where they were detonated, killing more than 30 people and wounding hundreds more. The targets were Israelis vacationing during their High Holidays at the usually tranquil desert oases of Taba, Ras al-Sultan and Tarabeen. At least three previously unknown terrorist organizations claimed responsibility for the terrorist incident; however, the leading suspect and group named by the Egyptian government was al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad ("Monotheism and Struggle"), comprised of Bedouin tribesmen from the Sinai Peninsula (al-Ahram Weekly, September 14-20, 2006). The Taba attacks marked the first time that Bedouins from the Sinai were implicated in acts of terrorism on Egyptian soil. This trend continued with the bombings at Sharm el-Sheikh, as well as various shootings of police and other security forces (Daily Star [Egypt], May 10, 2006). Analysts attribute this development to the fact that northern Bedouin tribesmen have not benefited economically as much as their southern brethren by the high level of tourism available in that part of the peninsula. Deep-seeded ideological, political and cultural differences between the Bedouin and the Egyptian government also explain the rise in terrorist activity.