Almost every responsible political leader today expresses a desire to contribute to peace in the Middle East.

Easier said than done. A real effort to promote peace requires an understanding of what motivates the parties to the conflict.

I can't say I quite get what makes the Palestinians tick. If...

Abba Eban, Israel's late and legendary statesman, famously said nearly 40 years ago that "the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

He was right.

Most recently, in 2000, the Palestinians, presented with a breakthrough two-state plan by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, joined by U.S. President...

Now that the world has been treated once again to the sight of such selfless, humanistic, courageous, modern-day Martin Luther Kings and Rosa Parks, whose single-minded goal is to feed the hungry, unshackle the enslaved, and lift the downtrodden, allow me some additional suggestions beyond the lure of Gaza.

Let's...

I read with dismay the reports of repeated assaults on Copts in Egypt.

Here's a Wall Street Journal account (June 11):

Five weeks after the fall of the Egyptian regime, Ayman Anwar Mitri's [a member of the Christian Coptic minority] apartment was torched. When he showed up...

Mention the word "history" and it can trigger a roll of the eyes.

Add "Middle East" to the equation and folks might start running for the hills, unwilling to get caught up in the seemingly bottomless pit of details and disputes.

But without an understanding of what happened, it's...

When it comes to the Middle East, too often there's been an inability to distinguish between the despot and the democrat, the arsonist and the firefighter, among those who should know better.

Too often the politics of principle have yielded to expediency, and truth has been thrown to the wind.

You recently wrote in The Huffington Post that you plan to join the flotilla headed for Gaza next month.

You stated that the goal is to "break the blockade of Gaza," and support the "right of self-determination" for the Palestinians there.

You asserted that "everyone on the boat...

This week, Israel celebrates its 63rd birthday.

For most countries, that number would elicit a shrug of the shoulders. Not in Israel's case.

Considering Israel's extraordinary history, each birthday is a cause for celebration -- and admiration.

It's quite a story -- and it drives Israel's foes bonkers. Try as...

No, this isn't a bad joke.

The very same Syria that today is mowing down its own people in the streets could well be elected a member of the UN Human Rights Council on May 20th.

Here's how it works:

The Council is comprised of 47 member states....

Lots of attention has deservedly been paid to Judge Richard Goldstone's "aha moment," when he realized that he hadn't quite got his damning UN report on Gaza right.

Of course, the damage to Israel's good name had already been done many times over, so the jurist's words...

It's become a bad joke.

Ever since 1973, when the Arab Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (AOPEC) first imposed a crippling oil boycott, one president after another has promised to wean us off our dependence on unstable sources of oil.

With great solemnity, our leaders have spoken of the dangers...

Want a case study in disinformation and misinformation?

On March 11th, AJC wrote to the UN General Assembly President, Joseph Deiss, asking him to reconsider hosting the premiere of a new film, Miral, at UN headquarters on March 14th.

Our reasoning was simple: The film was about...

Each of you has several things in common.

For starters, you are the leaders of your respective countries -- Venezuela, Turkey, Bolivia, and Nicaragua.

Moreover, each of you, in many speeches, has talked about the centrality of justice.

President Chavez, you've spoken of your quest "to bring about a...

With Iran violently suppressing demonstrators in the streets and Libya using brute force in the face of mass protests, it was reassuring to know that the UN sprang into quick action.

Just as it did after the rigged elections in 2009, Tehran was using arrests, live fire, torture and intimidation...

First it was the myth about linkage between Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

According to the logic, without progress on the Palestinian front, it would be impossible to mobilize Arab countries to face the Iranian nuclear threat.

The notion had shelf life, sustained by some diplomats and the commentariat...

Since writing "How can you defend Israel?" last month, I've been deluged by comments.

Some have been supportive, others harshly critical. The latter warrant closer examination.

The harsh criticism falls into two basic categories.

One is over the top.

It ranges from denying Israel's very...

I was sitting in a lecture hall at a British university. Bored by the speaker, I began glancing around the hall. I noticed someone who looked quite familiar from an earlier academic incarnation. When the session ended, I introduced myself and wondered if, after years that could be counted in...

In 2007, I wrote a blog about the ludicrous comments of Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who summarily dismissed the prospect of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. "No state in the world connects its national identity to its religious identity," he declared.

Three years later, nothing much has changed....

I am a forgotten Jew.

My roots are nearly 2,600 years old, my ancestors made landmark contributions to world civilization, and my presence was felt from North Africa to the Fertile Crescent -- but I barely exist today. You see, I am a Jew from the Arab...

The request came from the State Department. A group of young political leaders from Lebanon would be visiting the United States as guests of our government. They were eager "to have a dialogue," we were told. Would AJC be amenable to receiving them?

We agreed immediately. We have often hosted...