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Ningún documento revela mejor la hostilidad que la mayoría de los dirigentes árabes y los Estados árabes tenían en 1947 hacia el sionismo y hacia un posible Estado judío. El Rey saudí señala “que el apoyo de EE. UU. a los sionistas en Palestina es un acto inamistoso dirigido contra los árabes”. Las opiniones del Rey fueron totalmente apoyadas por funcionarios del Departamento de Estado de EE. UU., entre ellos Loy Henderson y George Kennan, que abogaron enérgicamente contra el apoyo del presidente Truman a un Estado judío.

The shock and horror of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack shook Israelis to their core. Since then, ongoing revelations about Oct. 7 and what hostages suffered, fear for the remaining hostages, military losses, battles in the International Court of Justice and global court of public opinion, political discontent at home, and the disruptions to daily […]

In taking personal responsibility for her governments mistakes of judgement that allowed Syrian and Arab armies to cause massive Israel deaths, destruction, injury and prisoners taken hostage,  in the October 1973 war, Prime Minister Golda Meir, though not required to do so, resigned her position. She was followed by Yitzhak Rabin who became Israel’s 6th […]

Hamas launched its vicious terrorist attack Oct. 7 not only as a strike against Israel, but also as part of its rivalry with Fatah and other groups to lead the Palestinian national movement. Since mid-2007, Hamas has ruled Gaza, while the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has controlled the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. Palestinians have […]

Glossaries This section offers easy access to names, events, and terms associated with modern Israeli history. Terms listed were used successfully by students for understanding context in learning about modern Israel and the Middle East. Personalities Listing of personalities have been assembled from biographical dictionaries, some collected from multiple sources, and others created by CIE. […]

Hamas’ devastating attack of Oct. 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and others and taking some 240 hostages, shocked Jewish communities around the world as they dealt with the loss of friends and family members. The responses of some non-Jewish neighbors, including expressions of support for Hamas and refusal to acknowledge horrors such as sexual assaults inflicted […]

Former US President Jimmy Carter embraced Hamas as a legitimate voice of the Palestinian people. His motivations possibly stretched from intentional to misguided to malevolent. Hamas leaders who were engaged in inter-Palestinian struggles remained pleased with the recognition he gave them. American officials and Israelis were keenly perturbed by the courtship he gave them.

Assembled by Scott Abramson and Ken Stein, Center for Israel Education Adam Asad and Yaron Kaplan, “Most Arab Israelis: October 7 Attack Does Not Reflect Islamic, Palestinian, or Arab Society Values,” Israel Democracy Institute, December 26, 2023. https://en.idi.org.il/articles/52016 Tal Avraham and Carmit Valensi, “Syria and the Israel-Hamas War: Symbolic Support, Short of Escalation,” Institute for […]

Investigate the history of Arab and Jewish communities in the Land of Israel as they often clashed, sometimes cooperated, and always coexisted from the late Ottoman period forward. Uncover the interests and differences in approach of Arab and Jewish leaders as they managed the conflict’s development. Explore the complexities of unresolved issues and the conditions that have made some efforts between Israel and its Arab neighbors successful. Examine pivotal moments in history, the parties involved, key leaders and major wars from the late 19th century through the October 1973 war. This unit stands alone but also provides essential background and serves as a perfect complement to the unit covering the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1973 to the present, including Israel’s quest for normalization.

Follow the transition of the Arab-Israeli conflict into a series of Arab-Israeli negotiations and distinct peace processes amid warfare against nonstate actors and outbreaks of terrorism. Understand why and how national interests gradually replaced ideological commitments that were not achievable. The first three parts of the unit focus on the process toward normalization between Israel and willing Arab partners. Part IV covers the tragedy that befell Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Hamas-Israel war that followed. This unit stands alone but works best as a follow-up to Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Pre-State-1973.

Unfolding the transition of the conflict into a series of Arab-Israeli treaties and agreements is this unit’s focus. Understand why, when and how national interests replaced ideology as primary Arab state objectives. The negotiation process from 1973 to the present is covered through the priorities of Golda Meir, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein, with insights into the U.S. as mediator including Henry Kissinger and the post-1973 disengagement agreements through Jimmy Carter and the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty, Bill Clinton and the Oslo process, and Donald Trump and the Abraham Accords. The final section covers the Hamas-Israel war that began Oct. 7, 2023, and its preliminary implications for Israel, the Jewish world and the Middle East.

As we enter 2024 and near the end of three months of fighting in response to the massive Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7, two expert observers participate in CIE’s 12th weekly webinar on the war: Haviv Rettig Gur, a journalist for The Times of Israel, and Einat Wilf, a former Knesset member and a […]

Explore the roots and evolution of Zionism, the Jewish national liberation movement — a liberation from passivity to action and from oppression to freedom. Consider the strategic decisions that established a modern Jewish state. Examine sources and documents from early Zionist writings to understand how the outlines of a Jewish state evolved before Israel declared independence. Understand how early Zionists empowered themselves to regenerate their historical homeland.

Examine the diverse waves of Jewish immigration to Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel), then identify how that diversity generated a medley of cultural identities expressed in music and pop culture. Enjoy examples of music and art from Israel’s dynamic cultural scene.

Egyptian President Sadat colluded with Syrian President Assad to attack Israel on October 6, 1973. Sadat’s objective was not to seek Israel’s destruction but to gain a limited success by crossing the canal. He also sought to engage American diplomacy to generate talks with Israel that would see Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian land Israel secured in the June 1967 War. Sadat took a large gamble by attacking Israel yet he unfolded a negotiating process with Israel that lasted through 1979. He achieved his overarching long-term priority of having Egyptian Sinai returned to Egyptian sovereignty.

In the aftermath of the horrific Hamas attack on Israelis where Hamas terrorists murdered more than a thousand Israelis and more than two dozen Americans, and others in southern Israel, in half a dozen speeches, President Biden unequivocally categorizes Hamas’s brutality as ‘pure unadulterated evil.’ He reiterates that the US will “stand with Israel.” He punctuates his support of Israel by sending two aircraft carrier groups to the Middle East, and his administration provides Israel with needed military supplies.

Biden’s is seized by Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and its continued support of terrorist organizations, like Hezbollah and Hamas; they endanger Israel and the world. Golda Meir told him. “Israel’s secret weapon; it has no place to go.”

Unfold the aspects of Jewish peoplehood, grasp Israel’s fundamental role and special place in Jewish identity, understand the history of antisemitism and the roots of Zionism, and identify contemporary examples of anti-Zionism. Examine the motifs of antisemitism that have endured through the ages and realize how Israel’s existence provides a focal point for Jew-hatred today. While criticism of Israel does not always pose a threat, anti-Zionist sentiment often camouflages antisemitism. This unit offers ways to identify hostile speech and actions taken against Jews or Israel.

Serving as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1976-1977, he recounts Rumanian overtures to Rabin for a visit to gauge interest in another agreement with Egypt; he estimates that Rabin and Begin both took strategic considerations in hand in negotiating considerations; he is highly critical of Carter’s political naivete.

This first Carter-Rabin meeting was unpleasant at best. Rabin would not turn over Israel’s negotiating prerogatives to the US; Carter publicly told Israel that it might have to return to the June 1967 borders. Carter said Rabin was like a “dead fish.” and Rabin said that he felt ‘cornered by Carter.” His administration was interested in carving out the West Bank for Palestinian political expression even before the PLO was prepared to accept Israeli legitimacy. And Israel was not prepared to withdraw from the West Bank, a position also held by Menachem Begin.

December 20, 2023 America’s need for a robust higher education system, where students learn to think deeply, engage respectfully, and disagree constructively, is greater than ever. Author’s Note: This essay recently appeared in slightly different form in the Jewish Journal. As a board member of CIE, I share it here, proud that CIE is also […]

With more Arab sale offers than funds for purchases, Zionist leaders decide on strategic priorities and designate areas around Haifa, Jerusalem-Jaffa road, and the Galilee near headwaters of the
Jordan River.

Israel’s 25 Knesset elections and three direct elections for prime minister have resulted in 14 different people serving as prime minister, in addition to one person, Yigal Allon, who served only on an interim basis. Israel’s Prime Ministers Click on a prime minister’s name for more information. David Ben-Gurion was Israel’s first prime minister and […]

>> Lea la parte I: El advenimiento del sentimiento antiisraelí en el campus En la Parte I, describí el aumento del activismo antiisraelí en los campus universitarios, que fue paralelo al discurso político en la sociedad estadounidense. Aquí profundizo en los roles de los Estudios de Medio Oriente y los Estudios de Israel. Durante medio […]

Kol Israel Arevim Zeh Baze.[“Todo Israel está vinculado el uno al otro”, principio legal judío del Talmud.] Introducción Lo que golpeó a los israelíes con tanta ferocidad y fuerza repentina en las aldeas y kibutzim de la frontera de Gaza el 7 de octubre no tuvo precedentes: un desastroso tsunami de violencia indiscriminada en el […]

The 11th webinar in the Center for Israel Education’s weekly series on the Israel-Hamas war is a special one-on-one conversation between CIE President Ken Stein and David Harris, the former longtime CEO of the American Jewish Committee. Harris describes the role of non-Israelis in the three-front war against Hamas, expresses disappointment about some would-be allies […]

en español Ken Stein, December 15, 2021 Sandwiched in between the end of the 1973 October Middle East War and convening the December 1973 Geneva Middle East Peace Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger failed to convince Syrian President Hafez Assad to attend the conference. They met in Damascus on December 15, 1973. Assad […]

With intentioned ambiguity, Britain asserted that its goal in Palestine was not to make it wholly Jewish or subordinate the Arab population. Self-determination was not promised. Britain wanted to remain ‘umpire’ between the communities. Naively it thought it could control communal expectations and keep the peace.

After outbreak of communal violence, the British investigatory committee suggests partition of Palestine, seeking to create two states for two peoples.