More than seven months since Hamas and others killed 1,200 people and seized more than 240 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7, the IDF is operating in Rafah but must continue to fight elsewhere in Gaza as Hamas and other terrorist groups return to areas Israel had cleared. Meanwhile, the United Nations has acknowledged that Hamas agencies’ reporting on Palestinian casualties is unreliable, and Israel’s defense minister has criticized the Gaza strategy of the prime minister. Addressing the military operations, the war’s toll, the strategic approach and the effects on U.S.-Israel relations May 22 are Institute for National Strategic Studies senior researcher Kobi Michael, a panelist on the weekly webinar March 6, and Washington Institute research assistant Gabriel Epstein, a top expert on Gaza casualty numbers. Moderating the discussion is Dr. Ken Stein, CIE’s president and an Emory University emeritus professor of Middle East history, political science and Israel studies.
Latest articles from CIE
Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud to President Truman, 1947
No document better reveals the hostility which most Arab leaders and Arab states had in 1947 for Zionism and for a possible Jewish state. The Saudi King notes “that US support for Zionists in Palestine is an unfriendly act directed against the Arabs.” The King’s views were totally supported by US State Department officials including Loy Henderson and George Kennan who advocated strongly against Truman’s support of a Jewish state.
#149 Contemporary Readings July 2025
Maya Rezak and Ken Stein, July 31, 2025 Videos Ron Dermer, Minister of Diaspora Affairs, “Review of the Hamas-Israel War: Part 1” Ron Dermer, Minister of Diaspora Affairs, “Review of the Hamas-Israel War: Part 2”…
Yigal Allon, Lessons From the War of Independence, 1952
With crisp analysis, Haganah Commander Yigal Allon, later a Prime Minister of Israel attributes Israel’s successes to multiple factors including the absence of a centralized Arab command, limited Arab military training, underestimating the potential fighting capabilities of local Arabs, and Israel’s success in integrating its citizens into the war effort.
British Report Reveals “Separatist” Jewish Education System in Palestine, 1946
With the British spending local revenue on strategic needs — ports, roads and communication systems — scant funds were devoted to education in the Mandate. Already baked into diasporic habits, the Jewish community raced forward in educating its own in Palestine to inculcate penetrating attachments to Palestine as the Jewish national home. Arab youth literacy ran in place, with separatist education contributing mightily to communal divisions, as occurred simultaneously in the economic and geospatial spheres.
Moshe Shertok, “Palestine — A Jewish Commonwealth”
A key figure in the Jewish Agency’s Political Department, Shertok, later Moshe Sharett argues for a Jewish commonwealth/state in Palestine. Pragmatically he realizes Arabs in Palestine oppose Jewish presence, yet he fully rejects a potential binational Arab-Jewish state, suggesting that the end of WWII will be a turning point in favor of a Jewish state.
Explainer: Zionist/Israeli Music
April 15, 2025 Dr. Eli Sperling © Center for Israel Education, 2025 Israeli music offers a powerful lens through which we can understand the country’s cultural and political evolution, serving as both a unifying force…
August 2025 — Being Safe, Smart and Jewish on Campus: Resilience Prep for College Students
August 10, 2025 College can be a challenging experience for anyone at any time. But for Jewish students, whether entering their first year or returning to campus, rising antisemitism and anti-Israel protests can threaten their…
Trump, Netanyahu Share Vision for Iran and Gaza, July 2025
Before a White House dinner, President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk about Gaza, Iran, Syria and Middle East peace.
June 2025 Pew Research Center Surveys on Israel
Divided at home and condemned abroad, public opinion of Israel sinks in response to war and domestic politics.
