After Abbas | Interview with Avi Melamed

Avi Melamed is a former Israeli intelligence officer and strategic consultant to some of Israel’s top politicians, such as Teddy Kollek and Ehud Olmert. A Middle East analyst and fellow of intelligence and Middle East affairs at the Eisenhower Institute, Melamed currently serves as the chief education officer of Inside the Middle East, a nonprofit dedicated to non-partisan education on the regional complexities of Israel and its neighbors. His most recent book is Inside the Middle East: Entering a New Era. This interview is part of a special Moment package about what will happen after Mahmoud Abbas no longer controls the Palestinian Authority. For the rest of our coverage, click here. What might the Israeli-Palestinian relationship or governmental relationship look like after Mahmoud Abbas is no longer in power?  To a large extent, it depends on what will...

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bulldozer attack

In Preparation for Obama, Bagels and Blood

Today, the day before Sen. Barack Obama's much publicized visit to Israel, we have seen an odd collection of news from the Holy Land. First, there was a bulldozer attack in Jerusalem earlier today near the hotel where Obama will stay. There were no Israeli deaths and the attacker, a Palestinian man, was killed by armed people nearby. The attack is similar to another bulldozer attack which took place on July 2 and killed at least three people, according to The New York Times. At a press conference in nearby Amman, Obama (as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) quickly condemned the attack. There is less grim news coming from the region before Obama's arrival, however. There is a Palestinian man who named a bagel after Obama especially for the presumptive Democratic nominee's visit. It has cherry tomatoes...

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