Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- July 28, 2014

Secretary of State John Kerry. (Charles Dharapak/Pooll/Reuters)

John Kerry’s Big Blunder In Seeking An Israel-Gaza Cease-Fire -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Secretary of State John Kerry has made a significant mistake in how he’s pursuing a Gaza cease-fire — and it’s not surprising that he has upset both the Israelis and some moderate Palestinians.

Kerry’s error has been to put so much emphasis on achieving a quick halt to the bloodshed that he has solidified the role of Hamas, the intractable, unpopular Islamist group that leads Gaza, along with the two hard-line Islamist nations that are its key supporters, Qatar and Turkey. In the process, he has undercut not simply the Israelis but also the Egyptians and the Fatah movement that runs the Palestinian Authority, all of which want to see an end to Hamas rule in Gaza.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- July 28, 2014

Ex-Israeli Security Chief Diskin: 'All the Conditions Are There for an Explosion' (Interview) -- Spiegel Online

Why Is Israel Losing a War It's Winning? -- Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic

Saudi Crocodile Tears Over Gaza -- David Hearst, Huffington Post

How Israel Persuaded Airlines the Tel Aviv Airport Is Safe -- Justin Bachman, Bloomberg Businessweek

In Iraq's Mosul, radicals unleash their vision -- Vivian Salama, AP

Why Iran Fears an Independent Kurdistan -- Alex Vatanka, National Interest

The Road to a Bad Nuclear Deal with Iran -- Ephraim Asculai and Emily B. Landau, National Interest

The US Has Given Over 465,000 Small Arms to Afghanistan. Where the Hell Are They? -- Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones

Did China Blink in the South China Sea? -- Alexander Vuving, National Interest

Preventing a massacre in North Korea’s gulags -- Roberta Cohen, Washington Post

Ebola Requires a Team Africa -- Bloomberg Editorial

The Wake-Up Call: Europe Toughens Stance against Putin -- Spiegel Online

Sorry, Hillary: The Russian ‘Reset’ Never Worked -- Andrew L. Peek, The Fiscal Times

A Tour of France: Examining the New Sick Man of Europe -- Alexander Smoltczyk, Spiegel Online

Why young Europeans are becoming jihadis -- Sara Miller Llana, CSM

Obama failed to stop the Islamic State when he had the chance -- Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post

Why Is the World Becoming Such a Nasty Place? -- Victor Davis Hanson, PJ Media