When it comes to the latest Arab peace initiative, two questions are circulating in Washington: Why Qatar? And why now? The three answers: Because Qatar is rich; it is scared; and why not? Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, in recent weeks has driven the revivification of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, moderating it slightly to hew closer to the outlines touted by the Obama administration since 2011. The updated version, outlined by Hamad in remarks to …More

The Arab League might be open to supporting a two-state solution not confined to 1967 borders, the prime minister of Qatar said Monday. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani made the admission after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Arab League leaders in Washington. Al-Thani said in a press conference the Arab nations would be open to a land swap as a pathway to creating a Palestinian state, a departure from the Arab League’s 2002 peace plan, which called strictly for ’67 border lines …More

A group of Jews from Yemen arrived in Israel via Doha on a Qatari flight, the Iranian Fars news agency reported. The Fars report on Sunday cited the Palestinian Arab-language weekly al-Manar, which quoted "informed sources" as saying that the undetermined number of Jews from Yemen had landed in Israel. Israel is planning to bring more Yemeni Jews in the coming months, according to Fars. The Jewish community of Yemen last year numbered an estimated 130, with 50 living in the capital Sana’a in a compound …More

The Emir of Qatar met with Hamas today, marking the first time a diplomat has sat with the Palestinian group since its overtake of Gaza in 2007. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani met with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Tuesday, a move that made a political statement against the West Bank’s Fatah, the Palestinian party recognized by most Western nations. "You are today, by this visit, declaring the breaking of the unjust blockade," Haniyeh said in a speech this morning. "Today we declare victory …More

Long time Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who stated September 30 that he would leave the group, offered some rare criticism of his Islamist party. Monday in the Quatari capital of Dohah, at a conference on Islamism and democratic rule, Mashaal commented on Hamas’ failures as a ruling party. He said that the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot had tried “to combine resistance [against Israel] and governance” but that the attempt had failed and “should not be taken as a model unless for learning a …More

Security issues may prevent Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan from attending the United Nation’s conference on climate change. Officials from Qatar, where the summit will take place in November, have agreed to allow Erdan into the country, but have refused to allow his security detail. A similar security scuffle occurred in January 2010, when Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau visited United Arab Emirates to attend the International Renewable Energy Agency conference. While Shin Bet, …More

A top American Jewish Committee official decried to an Arab audience advocacy of a "one-state solution" from the pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian perspectives. “One-state formulations are historically, politically and morally untenable,” Jason Isaacson, AJC's director of government and international affairs, told the Doha Forum in Qatar over the weekend in presenting his organization's opposition to the idea. Isaacson's comments come as proponents of a single state stripped of its Jewish significance …More

The announcement of the capture of Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif al Islam, 39, outside Obari near the southern desert town of Sabha was initially celebrated as the last chapter of the ex-ruler's family role in the fight for control of Libya – but not for long. Although justice minister claimed his arrest, it quickly turned out that Qaddafi's son was in the hands of one of Libya's most important militias, the Zintan Brigades, who refused to hand him over until a government is formed. …More