December 23, 2024

 
 

Is Israel – and America - Missing Its Window of Opportunity with Syria?

One evening last week a flutter of reports appeared in the Israeli media in quick succession with what at first appeared to be breakthrough news – Benjamin Netanyahu on his way to Cairo ostensibly to finalize a deal with Hamas, a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement at hand.

The reports, however, were swiftly proven to be baseless, even wishful thinking.

But where was Netanyahu who had requested to excuse his absence that day in the courtroom hearing the corruption case against him on account of official state business? Was he not hard at work on major diplomatic advances – especially as the country remains on exhausted on edge waiting for a truce with Hamas that would lead to the release of its 100 hostages being held in Gaza?

The answer revealed itself quickly in the release of a photo of the Israeli prime minister wearing a flak jacket and sunglasses, standing alongside his new defense minister and about 25 Israeli soldiers clasping M-16s on the snowcapped peak of Mount Hermon, on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

Dina Kraft is a journalist, podcaster and the co-author of the New York Times bestseller, My Friend Anne Frank, together with Hannah Pick-Goslar. She lives in Tel Aviv where she's the Israel Correspondent of  The Christian Science Monitor and a creator of the podcast Groundwork, about activists working in Israel and Palestine. She was formerly opinion editor of Haaretz English. 

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. House GOP Goes All-In on Targeting Israel Protest/Speech on Campus
4. Selected Members on the Record
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

New episodes of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast:

  • 12/17/24: Eyewitness to Israel’s Intentionally Created Health Apocalypse in Gaza, ft. MEP President Lara Friedman speaking with Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, an American physician who has been to Gaza twice since 10/7/23, serving as a humanitarian physician and has worked at Al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex; and Dr. Yara Asi, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics, and visiting scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.
  • 12/17/24: Can Syria Rebuild? ft. FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart and Maha Yahya, Director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, discuss the new developments in Syria.
  • 12/16/24: Connecting the Bullets: Guns on the Kitchen Table to Organized Crime to Crimes Against Humanity, ft. FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaking with attorney and activist Meisa Irshaid, activist and author Rela Mazali, and Professor Jonathan Metzl about the proliferation of guns in civilian spaces in Israel/Palestine.

1. Bills & Resolutions

New legislation

  • (ENHANCE US-ISRAEL COOPERATION ON TUNNELS) S. 5562: Introduced 12/17/24 by Peters (D-MI) and Budd (R-NC), “A bill to modify United States-Israel anti-tunnel cooperation.” Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

  • (LEBANON DEMOCRACY) S.5574: Introduced 12/17/24 by Cardin (D-MD), Shaheen (D-ND), and Reed (D-RI), “A bill to support Lebanon’s rule of law and democratic institutions through sanctions, grants, and scholarships, and for other purposes.“ Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

  • (WE *HEART* THE ISRAELI AMBASSADOR) S. Res. 931: Introduced 12/17/24 by Graham (R-SC) and Blumenthal (D-CT), “A resolution recognizing the exceptional service of Ambassador Michael Herzog during his tenure as Ambassador of Israel to the United States.“ Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent NJN's views and policy positions.

 
 
 
 
 

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