With no grand solutions either violent or peaceful at hand, the IDF's preferred option remains conflict management. At its core lies the old, ugly but useful concept that has always been central to Israel's security doctrine: deterrence, writ large.
IOI is the misguided notion, peddled in the name of Israel's “best interests” by some in the diplomatic, academic, and media worlds, that if only Israel did this or that, peace with the Palestinians would be at hand.
What matters to players in our own region is the possibility of a meeting of minds between the two leaders on issues that may have a direct bearing on our future, perhaps even on the prospect of growing tensions in Syria and a cycle of potential escalation that could lead to war.
True to form, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is reading his electoral success of June 24, 2018, as a mandate to consolidate his grip on power and undo his enemies, real and perceived.
Why is Israel returning to Africa? For Netanyahu, one reason dominates all others. “The automatic majority against Israel at the UN is composed—first and foremost—of African countries,” he told a gathering of Israel’s ambassadors to Africa in February of last year. “Whether in the end or at the outset, our goal is to change their voting patterns.”