Joe Biden’s Remarks to the Rabbinical Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia
Vice President Joe Biden emphatically tells a rabbinic group in Atlanta, “unambiguously, were I an Israeli, were I a Jew, I would not contract out my security to anybody, even to a loyal, loyal friend like the United States.”
Ken Stein Interview with Omar Sirry, Cairo, Egypt, January 5, 1993
Omar Sirry provides intimate details of the diplomatic aftermath of the October 1973 War, the Kilometer 101 talks, Kissinger’s choreography of the December 1973 Middle East Peace Conference, and admiration for Sadat as the ‘modern Egyptian Pharaoh’ who was not ever politically passive but took repeated initiatives for Egypt’s benefit.
Ken Stein Interview with Former Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil, Cairo, Egypt, July 14th, 1993
Mustafa Khalil served as the primary Egyptian negotiator in tying up the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty with Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, Sep1978-March 1979. Though most of the talks took place in Washington, the final excruciating details were negotiated in difficult exchanges in Jerusalem between Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin in the week before the March 26, 1979 treaty signing.
Ken Stein Interview with Yossi Ben-Aharon, Jerusalem, Israel, November 12, 1992
Yossi Ben-Aharon was the Director General of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s office from 1988 to 1992. He was intimately involved in Israeli-US negotiations that eventually saw a highly reluctant Israeli prime minister attend the October-November 1991 Madrid Middle East Peace conference. Ben-Aharon’s evaluations of US Secretary of State Baker, his assistant, Dennis Ross, and President George Bush I are insightful.
#124 Contemporary Readings June 2023
Assembled by Ken Stein and Wendy Kalman, Center for Israel Education AJC Global Forum 2021, “Unveiling Israel’s Strategic Vision: A Conversation with Ron Dermer, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs,” American Jewish Committee, June 12, 2023, https://www.ajc.org/news/unveiling-israels-strategic-vision-a-conversation-with-ron-dermer-israeli-minister-of Farris Almarri, “Jordanians Favor De-escalation in the Region, But Sentiment Against Israel Remains,” Poll, Washington Institute for Near East […]
Israel’s Economy: From Start-Up to Shut-Down Nation? (opinion), Paul Rivlin, Moshe Dayan Center
In January 2023 Israel’s minister of justice announced proposals for radical changes in the legal system that would have virtually ended the separation of power between the courts and the Knesset or parliament. This resulted in massive demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of Israelis that have continued ever since. The minister later admitted that those […]
Correspondencia Husayn-MacMahon
El Sherif de La Meca y Sir Henry MacMahon, un funcionario británico en El Cairo, hablando en nombre del Foreign Office, intercambiaron cartas sobre el actual esfuerzo de guerra contra los turcos y el futuro estatus político de tierras árabes específicas en el Imperio Otomano. McMahon dijo entonces y repitió la declaración nuevamente en 1937, que el área de Palestina fue definitivamente excluida de cualquier área que se proporcionara a un líder árabe después de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Los británicos permitieron que el área de Palestina se desarrollara como un ‘hogar nacional para el pueblo judío.’
Can equality be enshrined in an Israeli constitution? – Yedidia Stern, President Jewish People’s Policy Institute (Opinion)
(By posting a guest’s views, CIE does not take a position on the contents, nor verify the facts nor the assumptions presented.) It is hard to believe, truly inconceivable, that equality is not an entrenched constitutional value in the State of Israel. Our commitment to shaping Israel’s identity as a “Jewish state” cannot be fully […]
Ken Stein, Interview with General Mohamed Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy, Cairo, Egypt, November 10, 1992
General Gemasy served as Egypt’s Chief of Staff during the October 1973 War, executed Egypt’s limited success across the Canal, and negotiated with his Israeli counterpart, General Aharon Yariv the details of the Kissinger choreographed Kilometer 101 Talks that led to the January 1974 Egyptian-Israeli Disengagement Agreement. Gamasy was surprised when Sadat told him at Aswan then, “Egypt was making peace with the United States and not with Israel.” Gemasy to Yariv, “we (the Egyptians) are finished with the Palestinians.”
Ken Stein Interview with Mordechai Gazit, Jerusalem, Israel
Mordechai Gazit served as Director General in Prime Minister Golda Meir’s office from March 1973 to her resignation in April 1974. He observed the outbreak of the October 1973 War and Henry Kissinger’s diplomatic choreography as it unfolded thereafter. Gazit suggests that he was the source of Israeli and Egyptian generals to negotiate face to face at the end of the war near Kilometer 101.
1914-1915 Husayn-McMahon Correspondence
The Sherif of Mecca and Sir Henry MacMahon, a British official in Cairo, speaking for the Foreign Office exchanged letters about the current war effort against the Turks, and the future political status of specific Arab lands in the Ottoman Empire. McMahon said then and he repeated the statement again in 1937, that the area of Palestine was definitely excluded from any area to be provided to an Arab leader after WWI. The British allowed the area of Palestine to develop as a ‘national home for the Jewish people.’
Israel State Archives, “The Cairo Agreement: Israel’s negotiations with the PLO, October 1993 – May 1994”
Read full article at Israel State Archives.
Shukri Friedman: ‘Speak Out Against the Haredim? Go to Jail,’ Jewish People’s Policy Institute
Jewish People’s Policy Institute Shuki Friedman, Jewish People’s Policy Institute (Opinion) By gladly posting a guest’s views, CIE does not take a position on the contents, nor verify the facts nor the assumptions presented. A bill that would expand Israel’s anti-racism statutes to include incitement against the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) was approved on Sunday by the […]
Israel State Archives, “Immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1948 -1985,” and Documents from MFA, 2022
Read full article at Israel State Archives.
Ken Stein Interviews with Tahsin Bashir, Cairo, Egypt
Tahsin Bashir served as spokesman for Egypt and for the Arab League in many capacities from 1963 to 1978. He knew Anwar Sadat intimately, revealing that Sadat kept his own counsel using others to test political and diplomatic options. His long term goal was to reorient Egypt away from Moscow and obtain Sinai’s return. Sadat cleverly managed others including Kissinger, Carter, and his advisors.
Selected Works in Hebrew/Israeli Literature
Compiled by the Center for Israel Education – June 2023 Tens of thousands of Hebrew literary works have been published since the late 18th century. This list of Hebrew literature in English is suggestive and limited. For example, it does not have enough poetry. Great writers omitted include Asher Barash, Yosef Haim Brenner, M.Z. Feierberg, […]
An Annotated Bibliography of Basic Books on Zionism, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
If one wants to start from scratch or build an already sophisticated knowledge base about Zionism, modern Israel, and the Arab-Israeli conflict, we believe that the list of books in English here have significant value. While the literature written on Israel, its Zionist origins, and the contemporary Arab-Israeli conflict is vast, this bibliography is a […]
Ken Stein Interview with Peter Rodman, Washington, DC
Ken Stein Interview with Peter Rodman, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1992 (June 10, 1992) (Permission to publish this interview granted by Peter Rodman, June 1992) Peter Rodman Member of United States National Security Council Staff and Special Assistant to Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft, August 1969 to January 1977; staff member on virtually all of […]
Israeli Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin: The Right of Israel to Defend Itself
Receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the Hebrew University following the conclusion of the June 1967 War, Rabin delivers a speech on behalf of Israel’s entire Defence Forces. He highlights the harsh realities of war, yet concentrates on commending the extraordinary efforts of Israel’s armed forces.
#123 Contemporary Readings May 2023
Assembled by Ken Stein and Wendy Kalman, Center for Israel Education Elliott Abrams, “As Israel Turns 75, ‘Foreign Affairs’ Publishes a Call to Eliminate It,” Council of Foreign Relations, May 9, 2023, https://www.cfr.org/blog/israel-turns-75-foreign-affairs-publishes-call-eliminate-it Ghaith al-Omari, “The Palestinian succession Crisis,” Foreign Affairs, May 16, 2023, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/palestinian-territory/palestinian-succession-crisis Zvi Bar’el, “Saudi Arabia’s New Middle East Strategy Leaves […]
Transcript of Secret Talks between Egyptian National Security Adviser Hafez Ismail and US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger
October 6, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the October 1973 War. Six months prior, Egyptian President Sadat sent his national security adviser to meet with Secretary of State Kissinger to determine whether the US would engage Egypt and Israel in serious mediation for a Sinai agreement, or a series of them, all focused on Israeli withdrawal and gradual acceptance of Israel. Kissinger did not take Sadat’s overtures seriously. Would have American action then avoided the October 1973 War? All informed analyses says, ‘no.’
The Alon Plan
July 26, 1967: The Alon Plan reflects a response to Israel’s pre-1967 war border vulnerability seeking a future west bank arrangement that is not a strategic/geographic threat to Israel and its coastal plain population centers.
Eli Sperling – Evolution of Israeli Culture and Society (video, 1:02)
Upon its inception, Zionism needed more than political and financial solutions to actualize a Jewish home in Palestine. The architects of the Zionist enterprise evolved a cultural identity along with state structures. Its dynamism is still evolving from the diversity of its populations’ origins. see also his excellent Development of Israeli Culture (2018).
Israel’s Road to the June 1967 War
Enormous tension and risks taken by Egyptian and Israeli leaderships are recounted in a brief chronology of events that led to the June 1967 war, a benchmark turning point in Middle Eastern, Israeli, and Jewish history.