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Dr. Eric R. Mandel

Dr. Eric R. Mandel

Dr. Eric R. Mandel is the director of MEPIN, the Middle East Political Information Network, and the senior security editor of The Jerusalem Report. He briefs members of Congress, their foreign-policy teams, and the U.S. State Department on Middle East security and strategy.

For the country north of Israel to escape permanent state failure, the restoration of a strong centralized government, free of Hezbollah’s coercion, is not optional but essential.
These entities don’t fully appreciate how profoundly the region has changed, as much of the Arab world has ended the veto that prevented relations with Israel unless Palestinian demands were met in full.
President-elect Joe Biden has an opportunity to bring the United States together or choose to listen to the rising voices of “Justice Democrats” who want vengeance, not reconciliation, and revolution, not evolution.
With the Israeli premier looking to renege on his deal to hand over power to rival Benny Gantz next year, he will be seriously challenged to advance Israel’s goals while advancing his own political interests.
Congress must realize that freedom of speech is too fundamental an American issue to compromise for a short-term advantage.
The Palestinians are not the primary issue for Arabs or for Israel’s immediate security, as evidenced by these treaties and the lack of outrage in the Arab world.
With pressure on Iranian-backed Hezbollah, and the region can become even more volatile with the possibility of violence spiraling out of control.
To ignore the facts and reality of what is happening to liberal American Judaism, especially if you care about Judaism’s future in the diaspora, is to bury your head in the sand.
In the minefield of American politics, trying to look at the facts in context and draw conclusions is almost impossible, as ad hominem attacks rule the day—unfortunately, many of them justified.