This week Israel is soberly marking its 76th Independence Day during a war against Hamas in Gaza, where more than 130 hostages are unaccounted for more than seven months after the brutal terrorist attack of Oct. 7. Northern Israel remains evacuated and under bombardment from Hezbollah and others. Protests on North American college campuses have joined demonstrations in European streets. Ironclad U.S. support has yielded to questions, criticism and delayed arms shipments. Joining Dr. Ken Stein, CIE’s president and an Emory University emeritus professor of Middle East history, political science and Israel studies, to examine Israel’s position and its connections to Diaspora identity are three return panelists: former American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris, New Jersey Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner and University of Georgia teaching fellow Dr. Eli Sperling.
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Aharon Barak, December 2025: Israeli Democracy Depends on Judicial Independence
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Explainer: A Short History of Hamas
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#154 Contemporary Readings December 2025
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U.S. Defense Law Focuses on Postwar Middle East, Israel, December 2025
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