Ira Straus

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Dec 8, 2024, 10:09 AM

What options does Israel have left in Syria?

Time is moving fast in Syria. Terrible things are being destroyed; but new terrible things are emerging before our eyes to fill the space the old ones have left. Our passivity has ensured that the new evils would proceed to...

Dec 8, 2024, 12:07 AM

Assad, rebels both turn to Israel. How to respond.

Last week, Syria asked Israel for help against the Islamist rebels. This week, an Islamist rebel commander returned the favor and asked Israel for help against Syria. Israel rightly answered Syria that it would help only if basic conditions were...

Dec 2, 2024, 10:46 AM

A Way Out for Syria: Give Israel Land for Peace

The Islamist assault on Aleppo, made possible by the weakening of Iran and all its proxy militias in and around Syria, puts Assad’s regime in a dilemma: Either rely on Russia -- and risk getting overrun by the Sunni...

Nov 23, 2024, 8:43 AM

Beyond IHRA to a real definition of anti-Semitism

Today’s main "working definition" of anti-Semitism, from the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA), does not in fact define anti-Semitism at all. It is rather a good working guide for recognizing things that might be anti-Semitism. It is importantly helpful as...

Oct 26, 2024, 11:33 AM

Israel, not Biden, Defends US and Allies from Iran

Israel destroys much of the Iranian drone production that goes to Russia to attack and kill Ukrainians. Biden doesn’t. Instead of destroying the drones en masse, Biden spends billions on giving Ukraine air defenses that sometimes succeed in shooting the...

Oct 18, 2024, 5:27 PM

‘War Crimes’ in today’s Anti-Israel Newspeak

‘War crimes’ accusations are supposed to respect the criteria of intentionality and proportionality. Or so one might think from legal theory. But not in reality. Or not any longer. Nowadays the accusations of war crimes are directed not primarily on...

Oct 17, 2024, 11:41 PM

Bring Down the Islamic Republic Next

Nasrallah. Sinwar. Next stop: Khamenei. Israel has its chance in the coming days and weeks, when it finally strikes back in Iran. As American analysts have noted, even if it wants only to restore deterrence it will need to finally...

Oct 3, 2024, 12:55 PM

The Biden Doctrine

Consider the sequence of dramatic posturing after the Iranian attack: Iran threatens that if Israel responds to its attack, Iran will hit Israel back massively -- wildly disproportionately. Biden’s response: to threaten Israel that it must not retaliate to...

Sep 29, 2024, 7:00 AM

Israel Must Pursue and Disarm Hezbollah Fast

The proper goal of this war is not to push Hezbollah back 10 km. It is to disarm Hezbollah – to destroy all its missiles and artillery – and send it into collapse. When the enemy is in retreat, follow...

Sep 28, 2024, 4:05 PM

The Biden Doctrine: Never Actually Win

Ukraine. Iran. Hamas. Hezbollah. The Houthis... The enemy varies, but the Administration policy is mostly the same. And the same under Obama: Syria. ISIS. And Ukraine back then, too. We should call it the Biden Doctrine. And the Obama-Biden Doctrine. And...

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About Me

Chair, Center for War/Peace Studies; Senior Adviser, Atlantic Council of the U.S.; formerly a Fulbright professor of international relations; studied at Princeton, UVA, Oxford. Institutions named above for identification purposes only; views expressed herein are solely the responsibility of the author.