Steven A. Cook

From the Potomac to the Euphrates

Cook examines developments in the Middle East and their resonance in Washington.

Posts by Category

Showing posts for "Israel"

Weekend Reading: Egypt’s Revolutionary Symbols, Religious Tolerance on the Nile, and Israel Is Not Feeling Lucky

by Steven A. Cook
A man feeds camels at the camel market in Agadez, northern Niger. The Libyan crisis has affected the camel trade in Agadez badly, as Libya was a large market for the animal, and now there is no trade available from the country. (Luc Gnago/Courtesy Reuters). A man feeds camels at the camel market in Agadez, northern Niger. The Libyan crisis has affected the camel trade in Agadez badly, as Libya was a large market for the animal, and now there is no trade available from the country. (Luc Gnago/Courtesy Reuters).

Muftah analyzes the Muslim Brotherhood’s appropriation of revolutionary symbols, such as the Ultras,  to claim popularity among the youth in Egypt. Read more »

Weekend Reading: 1967 Borders, Sectarianism in Egypt, and the Options for Iran

by Steven A. Cook
A vendor works on a copper item to be sold in a shop in Baghdad's al-Safafeer Souq bazaar (Mohammed Ameen/Courtesy Reuters). A vendor works on a copper item to be sold in a shop in Baghdad's al-Safafeer Souq bazaar (Mohammed Ameen/Courtesy Reuters).

Dahlia Scheindlin evaluates the pragmatism of Ghazi Hamad,  Deputy Foreign Minister of Gaza, who publicly recognized the 1967 borders last week. Read more »

Between Barack, Bibi, and Tayyip

by Steven A. Cook
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) speaks on the phone (Baz Ratner/Courtesy Reuters). Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) speaks on the phone (Baz Ratner/Courtesy Reuters).

There has been much ink spilled in the last week over the rapprochement between Israel and Turkey.  I have been somewhat reluctant to weigh-in if only because I was fairly certain that reconciliation between the two countries was not going to happen anytime soon.  I am now eating crow. Read more »

Israel’s Jerusalem “Piece Process”

by Steven A. Cook
Jewish settlers hold Israeli flags and shout slogans from their balcony at left-wing activists (not seen) during a demonstration to show solidarity with Palestinians against a newly dedicated Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem (Amir Cohen/Courtesy Reuters). Jewish settlers hold Israeli flags and shout slogans from their balcony at left-wing activists (not seen) during a demonstration to show solidarity with Palestinians against a newly dedicated Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem (Amir Cohen/Courtesy Reuters).

So it has begun.  President Barack Obama travels to Israel—as well as Palestine and Jordan—this week and columnists, bloggers, and foreign policy wonks of all stripes have begun commenting on the visit.  My friend Aaron Miller weighed in Sunday morning with a big article in the Washington Post’s “Outlook” section about where the President can find common ground with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, though most of the piece was devoted to the relationship with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The National’s Hugh Naylor quotes Yossi Bellin, who will forever be identified as an “architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords,” as stating boldly that President Obama should not bother making the trip unless he comes with proposals to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end. Overall, there have been at least sixteen articles and op-eds in the past few weeks dealing with the peace process and President Obama’s travels to the region. Most of them are in line with the low expectations that the White House has set ahead of the visit, suggesting that the meetings between the President and Israeli prime minister will deal almost exclusively with Syria and Iran. That may be the case, but there are some modest expectations bubbling up on the peace process. Read more »

Weekend Reading: Israel’s Defense, Saudi’s Trials, and Egypt’s War on Women

by Steven A. Cook
Muslim children read verses from the Koran at al-Amin mosque, in downtown Beirut, during the holy month of Ramadan (Jamal Saidi/Courtesy Reuters). Muslim children read verses from the Koran at al-Amin mosque, in downtown Beirut, during the holy month of Ramadan (Jamal Saidi/Courtesy Reuters).

Brent Sasley compares former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to the newcomer in the position, Moshe Ya’alon.

The Saudi Twittersphere is stirring in reaction to the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) Trial. Read more »

Dissolve the Palestinian Authority

by Steven A. Cook
A member of the Palestinian security forces is seen behind a flag during a celebration in the West Bank city of Ramallah upon the return of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the U.N. General Assembly in the U.S., September 25, 2011 (Darren Whiteside/Courtesy Reuters). A member of the Palestinian security forces is seen behind a flag during a celebration in the West Bank city of Ramallah upon the return of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the U.N. General Assembly in the U.S., September 25, 2011 (Darren Whiteside/Courtesy Reuters).

Negotiation? Done it. Violence? Check. Spoken openly of a one-state solution? Already part of the playbook. Declared statehood?  A few times.  UN recognition?  In the bag.  In the last almost decade and a half, the Palestinians have tried almost everything to force the Israelis to be more forthcoming on the issues that divide them—settlements, refugees, Jerusalem—all to no avail.  For a combination of political reasons and security concerns the Israeli leaders have resisted the pressure, arguing either that the Palestinians cannot deliver or that Israel will not respond to threats. Indeed, the Israelis have been ruthlessly effective in demonstrating to the Palestinians that these tactics do not work through violence, settlements, and economic pressure.  The result has been a crippled Palestinian leadership and bred despair among both West Bankers and Gazans. Read more »

Obsessive Are the Peacemakers

by Steven A. Cook
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses the press (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters). U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses the press (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters).

Lost in all the reporting and blogging about President Obama’s planned March visit to Israel were the first phone calls his new Secretary of State, John Kerry, made even before entering office.  Even before figuring out how to use his new email, learning the way to the cafeteria, and filling out “Emergency Contact” forms, Secretary Kerry called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Shimon Peres and president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.  Perhaps America’s new chief diplomat was merely extending a courtesy to important Middle East allies or maybe he was giving them a heads-up that the White House was going to announce the president’s visit to Israel and the West Bank or perchance Secretary Kerry wants to have a go at making peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Read more »

Weekend Reading: Banking on the Nile, Dialogue in Bahrain, and Obama in Israel

by Steven A. Cook
Pigeons fly during a dust storm in Kuwait City (Stephanie McGehee/Courtesy Reuters). Pigeons fly during a dust storm in Kuwait City (Stephanie McGehee/Courtesy Reuters).

Mohamed A. El-Erian presents seven compelling reasons that Egypt’s leadership needs to adopt new, more cooperative approaches to solving the increasingly dire economic crisis on the banks of the Nile. Read more »

Turkey: Davutoglu’s Pebbles

by Steven A. Cook
An Israeli air force pilot poses near a F15-E fighter jet at the Tel Nof air base in central Israel (Baz Ratner/Courtesy Reuters). An Israeli air force pilot poses near a F15-E fighter jet at the Tel Nof air base in central Israel (Baz Ratner/Courtesy Reuters).

A few years ago, a Turkish contact in a position to know regaled me with stories about the inner workings of the ruling Justice and Development Party—who was up and who was down, the personality differences, and who was positioning himself to be the next prime minister (this was at a time when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s health was thought to be failing).  Most of this stuff was harmless gossip not to be taken seriously.  When we veered into more substantive matters of mutual interest, Turkey-Israel relations came up.  My interlocutor indicated that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was the driving force behind the continued tension between Ankara and Jerusalem and that there was a growing awareness that while downgrading Turkey-Israel ties had been appropriate, a policy bordering on outright hostility was not benefiting Turkey even if its grievances had not been addressed. Read more »

Can Israel’s New Coalition Fix Relations with Turkey?

by Steven A. Cook
Employees from a Turkish-owned company in Israel protest against the recent tensions between the two countries outside the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv December 28, 2010. (Nir Elias/Courtesy Reuters). Employees from a Turkish-owned company in Israel protest against the recent tensions between the two countries outside the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv December 28, 2010. (Nir Elias/Courtesy Reuters).

This article was originally published here on TheAtlantic.com on Monday, January 28, 2013.

Since Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party’s surprise showing last week in Israel’s elections, there has been an outpouring of commentary about a new dawn in Israeli domestic and foreign policies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud, in conjunction with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party lost a combined eleven seats in the Knesset, will have to form a broader government that includes centrists like Lapid. As a result, a conventional wisdom has developed that this new coalition will lead Israel out of its international isolation. Typically, observers have been asking what the Lapid phenomenon means for the “peace process” — as if that is something that exists. Yet a handful of commentators have also zeroed in on Turkey-Israel ties as ripe for rapprochement under a new, allegedly more conciliatory, Israeli government. It is a nice idea, but so are rainbows and unicorns. The reality is that, despite Lapid’s rise, nothing has or will likely change to convince Israeli and Turkish leaders that mending ties is in their political interests. Read more »