Jon Alterman

Everybody's going to fight for the mantle of Ariel Sharon. I think partly because he covered such a wide swath read more

Everybody's going to fight for the mantle of Ariel Sharon. I think partly because he covered such a wide swath of the middle of Israeli politics there are going to be innumerable theories of what he might have done.

It's a 12-step program. The first step is to admit you have a problem. They still have 11 steps to read more

It's a 12-step program. The first step is to admit you have a problem. They still have 11 steps to go.

Suddenly it looks like the policy is not tough diplomacy, but the path to war.

Suddenly it looks like the policy is not tough diplomacy, but the path to war.

Whatever the disarray in the Knesset, whatever's going on there, he's going to make a deal in the name of read more

Whatever the disarray in the Knesset, whatever's going on there, he's going to make a deal in the name of the people of Israel, and he's going to sell it to the people of Israel, and ultimately, because the people in the Knesset are politicians, they will have to back him up.

My guess is that the U.S. will say we are doing what we can. The Saudis will say please do read more

My guess is that the U.S. will say we are doing what we can. The Saudis will say please do more and there will be an agreement to work together to do a little bit more.