Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Abraham Katsman

Neocons, realists…now meet Obama’s foreign policy surrealists

Abraham Katsman — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:41:43 +0000

For some time, American foreign policy has been dominated by two camps. The neoconservatives advocate an idealistic, assertive promotion of liberty, democracy and American interests, including through military means. They are opposed by the self-described “realists” who advocate a pragmatic, realpolitik approach, focusing on power and material considerations. The realists criticize the neocons for dreaming [...]

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When a weakness as a candidate is a presidential strength

Abraham Katsman — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 06:40:35 +0000

Mitt Romney is a bad self-promoter. The reasons why are also reasons he’ll be a fine president. How bad a self-promoter is Mitt Romney? Pretty bad, when you think about it. Romney has lived in the public eye to varying degrees his entire life. He’s run numerous campaigns, served in public office, and is completing [...]

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Romney Wins in a Landslide (at Least in Israel): What it Means

Abraham Katsman — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:53:42 +0000

On the election map, the State of Israel is not just blue and white; it is solidly red. The Presidential election results are in. Well, at least the votes from Americans in Israel. Not one to keep readers in suspense, I’ll reveal the most important numbers up front: Gov. Mitt Romney received 85%–85%!–of the vote; [...]

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From under the bus: A response to Efraim Halevy

Abraham Katsman — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:23:45 +0000

Efraim Halevy, the former director of Israel’s Mossad, has penned a most peculiar column published in The New York Times. Halevy maintains that “no Democratic president has ever strong-armed Israel on any key national security issue,” and that Republican presidents were the ones who have thrown Israel “under the bus.” Halevy used to be a serious [...]

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Obama’s improved debate performance: What the pundits are missing

Abraham Katsman — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:38:35 +0000

Let the race to over-analyze the debate begin! What’s that? Oh, it seems I’m a bit late — instant analysis and spin were already in full force within seconds of the debate’s completion. Instead, I’ll have to analyze the over-analysis of the debate that blankets today’s news coverage. My own conclusion: Overall, the immediate analysis [...]

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The Surprising Israeli Takeaway From the Presidential Debate

Abraham Katsman — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:14:26 +0000

The first Obama-Romney debate is over, and has been followed by predictable torrents of over-dissection and over-analysis. So, why add more? Because reactions in Israel may be surprisingly instructive in projecting the likely impact of this debate on the coming election. Americans in Israel, as well as native-Israelis, make for an interesting group with which [...]

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Don’t bury Romney: How not to read presidential polls

Abraham Katsman — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:03:43 +0000

At first, it was just a trickle, a misguided throw-away line here and there, easily ignored. Then it started picking up momentum, showing up in one Israeli commentary after another. And now, it is conventional wisdom in the Israeli press and public that the US election is already over, that polls show President Obama’s reelection [...]

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The Democrats Were For Jerusalem, Before they Were Against It, Before They Were For It, Before They Were against It

Abraham Katsman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:56:50 +0000

Are we really supposed to trust these people? The outrageousness of the stories surrounding the Democratic Party platform’s now-you see-them, now-you-don’t sections relating to Israel and Jerusalem grows daily, exceeded only by the cynicism of the party spokesmen peddling them. On the bright side, the entertainment value of the saga is pretty high. Since 1972, [...]

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Big trouble for Obama: Lessons of presidential reelection history

Abraham Katsman — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:52:47 +0000

Let’s take a short break from the back-and-forth arguments on the merits of whether to reelect President Barack Obama or to send him packing after one term. Instead, here’s a different take on how the election is shaping up based on some compelling history and demographic analysis. (Spoiler alert: This analysis does not bode well [...]

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