Free Republic

Originally published by the Jerusalem Post. It would be interesting to know which Arab leaders are telling US Secretary of State John Kerry that the absence of peace between Israel and the Palestinians is “a cause of recruitment” to Islamic State. Is that something he is hearing from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani? The Qatari leader, whose kingdom has been cited by the US Treasury Department as a major funder of Islamic State (IS), is certainly one of Kerry’s favorite regional leaders. If Thani did blame Israel for the rise of IS, then his statement would constitute yet...

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat outlined the sorry state of security in the capital Monday, in a session of the Knesset’s Interior Committee. Barkat disputed the claims that the deterioration in security began around the time of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. “Even before Operation Protective Edge, the state of affairs in Jerusalem as regards riots, rock throwing and enforcement was shoddy. We were talking about 200 events of rock throwing [per month]. Even before Protective Edge, we held a discussion about the changes needed to bring back the rule of law in Jerusalem. The Arab residents are complaining about the...