Hardly a week passes without a media report concerning the growing chasm between American Jews and Israelis over issues of culture, religion and politics. The recent Israeli elections may aggravate the divide.
As might have been expected, President Trump's short speech on December 6 changing the U.S. stance on the status of Jerusalem, albeit in line with Congressional legislation dating back to 1995, unleashed a firestorm of excited verbiage both pro and con, much of it overblown and at times absurd.
Former President Sebastián Piñera won Chile’s presidential election on Sunday, December 17. His triumph demonstrates a turn towards the center-right in a region that has been dominated by leftist movements for over a decade. In 2012, Piñera became the first Chilean president to visit Israel, a fact that sets great expectations for the future of bilateral cooperation.
It is now seven years, almost to the day, since the eruption of the raging regional tumult (some naïve souls still call it "the Arab Spring"). The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan remains an island of stability in the eye of the storm – indeed, of several storms seemingly sweeping stronger states into the abyss.