Mitchell Plitnick

Palestinians march through the streets of Bethlehem to commemorate the Nakba, May 14, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Trump’s endgame in Palestine

Washington defunding the Palestinian refugee agency is not merely an attack on UNRWA, as serious as that may be. It is an attempt to destroy the Palestinian national movement. By Mitchell Plitnick Late last month, the State Department announced it would end all funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN…

By +972 Magazine September 9, 2018

A file photo of Alan Dershowitz. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

Why Israel is so worried about Qatari outreach to American Jews

Qatar has been focusing on prominent American Jewish leaders as the isolated Gulf state seeks to repair its image. Why American Jews? It’s about Saudi Arabia. By Mitchell Plitnick On January 31, the Israeli embassy in the United States stated that Israel did not approve of several right wing, pro-Israel American Jewish leaders meeting with…

By +972 Magazine February 16, 2018

‘I’d like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. We’ll work something out,’ Donald Trump tells Benjamin Netanyahu at a White House press conference, February 15, 2017. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Trump finally drags Israel into his orbit of chaos

The litany of scandals affecting the Trump Administration made relatively little impact on Israel — until this week, when the revelation that classified information he leaked to Russian politicians likely came from Israeli intelligence. By Mitchell Plitnick When the history of this chaotic period is written, people will doubtless be amazed that, not even four…

By +972 Magazine May 18, 2017

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) stands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at his residence in Jerusalem, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010. (Kobi Gideon/Flash90)

What the West gets wrong on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Netanyahu’s oft-heard statements asking the Palestinians to prove they want peace reveals a fundamental disconnect in the Western world’s approach to the conflict: Israelis want peace, but Palestinians are struggling for freedom. By Mitchell Plitnick On April 21, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Palestinians must prove that they want peace. “I think…

By +972 Magazine May 5, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement to the press in front of construction in the Har Homa settlement in Jerusalem, March 16, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The endgame lurking behind Netanyahu’s new settlement policy

Netanyahu’s new settlement policy doesn’t just pave the way for massive construction in the West Bank — it also, with the blessing of a right-wing U.S. president, risks freezing Palestinians out of the diplomatic process entirely. By Mitchell Plitnick On March 30, the Israeli government announced that it had approved the first new settlement in…

By +972 Magazine April 13, 2017

Israeli Border Police officers man a checkpoint for Palestinians leaving the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, October 15, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

What neoconservatives get wrong about U.S. Jews’ relationship with Israel

As much as it chagrins the likes of Elliott Abrams, the increasing difficulty they are having with defending Israel’s policies is due to the policies they are working to defend. The longer the occupation continues, the less support it will find among Jews in the United States. By Mitchell Plitnick Over the past few years,…

By +972 Magazine May 28, 2016