August 18 2011- Israel Refuses to Apologize to Turkey, Singer Held Wtihout Bail

Henry Kissinger once stated that Israel has no foreign policy only a domestic policy. At no time has that statement been better underscored than by Israel's actions today. The Arab world in in turmoil. Turkey is turning against Syria, and with that Iran as well. Yet, instead of building a better alliance with Turkey, Israel refused to apologize for the raid on the Turkish ship last year. National pride and the idiocy of Foreign Minister Lieberman stand between Israel gaining a strategic advantage and reforging a strategic relationship. It is really hard to understand what the government is thinking; other than concern they might look weak to the electorate. The American proposal called for Israel to state that if any mistakes were made over the course of the operation, Israel apologizes. How could that not be acceptable?

The Israeli news in the last two days has been dominated by the story of the arrest of Margalit Tzan’ani, a popular Israeli singer, on charges that are related to extortion. Without going into the details of the case, what I find troubling is that a judge agreed to her remand for 9 days until the investigation can be completed. The lack of Habeas Corpus and the ability to keep people in jail as part of an investigation has always struck me as one of the major shortcomings of the Israeli judicial system.