In addition to its military interventions in Syria and Libya, the Kremlin has in the past few years increased its involvement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, cultivating friendly relations with Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas, and the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These initiatives, writes Oved Lobel, are all part of Vladimir Putin’s quest to make his country the Middle East’s “indispensable intermediary.” Now Moscow has turned its sights on Lebanon:

If there is to be a resolution to the conflict between the Jewish state and a putative Palestinian one, writes Jonathan Michanie, it won’t start with drawing lines on maps or restrictions on where Jews can build houses, but with the Palestinian Authority (PA) abandoning its official anti-Semitism. The PA can, in this regard, learn much from those Arab nations that have recently made peace with Israel: