WhatFinger


Ted Belman

Ted Belman is a retired lawyer and Editor of Israpundit.org. He made aliyah from Canada in 2009 and now lives in Jerusalem.

Most Recent Articles by Ted Belman:




How to end the Middle East conflict in four easy steps

Dennis Ross and David Makovsky in Israel's Drive Toward Self-Destruction, argue that Netanyahu must offer up hope to Palestinians or face a revived de-legitimization movement. They're certainly right to point out that the delegitimation movement will grow, but they are wrong to suggest that the answer is for Israel to offer hope to the Palestinians. How facile is that? They argue that what Israel needs to do is begin capitulating even before the negotiations commence, let alone, conclude. They want Israel to give up its bargaining chips for nothing in return.
- Thursday, April 2, 2015

Let's get real -- what is needed is a reevaluation

Obama is insisting on the creation of Palestine with a border separating it from Israel based on the '67 lines plus swaps. In doing so he is ignoring UNSC resolution 242 which grants Israel the right to secure and recognized borders and does not demand a full retreat to the '67 lines. He is also threatening to allow the UNSC to impose such borders on Israel thereby circumventing his oft stated insistence that all matters are to be negotiated between the parties.
- Saturday, March 28, 2015

Netanyahu was the author of his near defeat and his great victory

Shortly after Pres Obama’s inauguration in 2009, Likud, with Netanyahu at its head, was tasked with forming the government. He was concerned to balance the pressure he was under by the right wing of Likud so he invited Ehud Barak, a former Chief of Staff of the IDF and former Prime Minister to break away from Labour by forming a new party so that the new party could be invited to join the Government.
- Wednesday, March 18, 2015

The West has dealt itself a weak hand

The Western countries have dealt themselves a weak hand, yet they are going all in. Israel need only call their bluff. The pot they hope to win is an agreement, misnamed as a peace agreement, which will establish a Palestinian state on the ’67 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. But there are no takers on either side of the ’67 lines.
- Tuesday, February 24, 2015


Going from bad to worse

The world is totally committed to the two-state solution. European country after country is passing non-binding resolutions to recognize Palestine in principle. The parameters of the deal which have been set in stone, notwithstanding that all issues are to be decided by negotiations, are the ’67 lines plus swaps and the division of Jerusalem. Never mind that such a deal is not good enough for the Arabs. Hamas rejects it outright.
- Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Temple Mount Controversy

What motivates the Arabs is not their fundamental attachment to Jerusalem or the Temple Mount but their desire to prevent Jews from exercising sovereignty over both
- Saturday, November 29, 2014



Intractable differences

Intractable differences, Not only is there daylight between Pres. Obama and PM Netanyahu, there are intractable differences.
PM Netanyahu, when addressing the UNGA this week, started out calling the brazen lies uttered at the UN as just that, "brazen lies". His language was anything but diplomatic. One of those lies had been uttered by Mahmoud Abbas when he charged Israel with genocide and ethnic cleansing.
- Saturday, October 4, 2014


What a mess Obama has got the US into

When Obama took office he set about undermining Gaddafi, Mubarak and Assad. He worked in concert with Qatar, Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood.
- Sunday, September 21, 2014

A view from inside the halls of power in Israel

Recently, I interviewed in depth a leading expert on the politics in the Middle East who is also a welcomed visitor to the PMO. What he had to say, fascinated me.
- Friday, July 25, 2014

What’s the point in futile negotiations

On behalf of the State Department, Jen Psaki said,
““At this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas,”
- Wednesday, June 4, 2014

At least this story has a good ending

Although Howard Rotberg and I grew up in small town Ontario, Canada, 16 miles apart, and both went to Law School, we never met. I became aware of him in 2008 as a result of his outrageous treatment as herein described. Howard just sent me this press release:
- Thursday, May 29, 2014

Israel must continue to build east of the greenline

In his first term in office, President Obama targeted Israel’s settlement activity with a vengeance, like no one before him did. He continued American policy of calling them “illegitimate” whatever that means, rather than illegal which was the term of choice put forward by the UN and the EU representatives. But he went further and forced PM Netanyahu to agree to a nine month construction freeze to enable negotiations to take place. This wasn’t enough to induce Abbas to enter negotiations until the last weeks of the freeze. Ultimately all his efforts to bring about a settlement failed. It was generally accepted that his insistence on making the freezing of settlement construction the centerpiece of his efforts was largely to blame for their failure.
- Saturday, May 10, 2014

Michael Oren: ” What happens if we can’t make peace?” ‎

Michael Oren, the former Israel Ambassador to the US in a recent interview, said Israel should consider unilaterally withdrawing from parts of the West Bank and declaring its own borders if the current peace negotiations with the Palestinians fail. This idea has often been raised, and rejected, by Israeli leaders across the political spectrum.
- Friday, February 28, 2014

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