Barry Rubin, Announcing Construction of East Jerusalem Apartments: Stupid, Yes; Proof of Disinterest in Peace, No

Would it be better for Israel's international position if the announcement had not been made? Yes. Because it allows the United States-which needs excuses for the failure to succeed at peacemaking-and the PA and Arab states-which need some rationale for their own policies to blame Israel

But does it really do any material harm to a peace process which is going nowhere due to Palestinian positions? Or does it make the PA and Arab states, which are supposedly salivating for a peace deal, change their mind? In both cases, no.

So, stupid yes. But deliberate sabotage or proof of warmongering? No.

Avi Issacharoff ,'Barbie's here!' Bedouin children welcome visiting Second Lady

Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, clearly made an impression on the children of Lakiya during her visit."Barbie's here!" cried one. In her bright pink dress, Biden stood out against the desert landscape of this Bedouin town. She would probably have been flattered to hear the women, clad in traditional robes, asking each other where she bought it.

Irwin J. Mansdorf,Is Israel a Colonial State? The Political Psychology of Palestinian Nomenclature

Lest there be any confusion about what a"settler" is, those who use the terminology"settler-colonialist" against Israel clearly mean the entire Zionist enterprise, including the original territory of the State of Israel in 1948. The" colonial Israel" charge is thus rooted in an ideological denial of any Jewish connection to the ancient Land of Israel.

James Traub,Fearful Asymmetry: Reading the Goldstone Report

In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, President Obama said, “And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe that the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight.” Among democratic states committed to upholding human rights standards, the United States is in the unique position of fighting two wars in which those standards are perpetually at risk. The only state similarly vulnerable to reproach is Israel.

But while the United States is protected by its superpower status, so that it may kill large numbers of civilians in pursuit of its military objectives with no fear of international tribunals, Israel is not. Israel will be accused of wrongdoing no matter how conscientiously it observes the rules of war. This is Israel’s political predicament, from which it can be released only by a larger political solution. But that predicament, and that injustice, cannot serve as a pretext for going wild.