Author: Josef Olmert, Ph.D.

Many so-called experts have already closed the chapter titled the Syrian civil war. For them, the war is over, Assad won, and now we can go back to deal with the least non-existent but most talked-about conflict in the Middle East, that is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

It is arguably the case that momentous events are happening in the Middle East with regard to Israel’s position there. Put in sum, the political outcome of them is the transformation of Israel’s role from being the hated bogey man out of the system of Middle East regional relations to becoming a legitimate actor within this very system.

The ISRAEL-UA -US dramatic announcement was actually not a well-kept secret, as speculation swirled for a long while, that ”something” was cooking up. Frequent not-so-secret visits of Head of Mossad in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, flights of Emirates Airlines to Tel Aviv, Israeli sportspeople competing in the UAE with Hatikva played there, and the Israeli flag raised.

It is arguably the case that most people interested in the situation in the Middle East, including members of the media, the academic community, and those in the corridors of government, will hardly advise laypersons to view the current situation in Libya as anything like a useful guide to understanding the problems of the Middle East at large.

Benjamin Netanyahu is arguably Mr. Israel in the last eleven years, the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history. Adore him or loathe him. Whatever has happened in the country in this long period is largely attributable to his achievements or failures, actions, or lack of them.