Latest articles from CIE
Kushner, Gaza Officials Present Rapid Gaza Redevelopment, January 2026
While the Palestinian official leading the technocratic Gaza administration promises to open the Rafah Crossing and the Bulgarian high commissioner for Gaza urges the world to focus on the big picture, U.S. envoy Jared Kushner lays out a vision for Gaza as a rapid, phased real estate redevelopment.
Zionist Organization Statement to Paris Peace Conference, 1919
A Zionist delegation to the Paris Peace Conference makes an effective, largely successful case for the League of Nations to incorporate a future Jewish national home into the British Mandate for Palestine.
Charter of the Board of Peace, January 2026
The Trump administration’s proposed charter for the Board of Peace, the body the United Nations has charged with overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, does not mention Gaza or any other specific location of operation but does grant its chairman, Donald Trump, extensive control over its mission and operations.
Status of Israel’s Judicial Overhaul, January 2026
Efforts through a judicial overhaul to increase political control over Israel’s judiciary and civil service are simmering. In March 2025, the Knesset passed a controversial law to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee….
Aharon Barak, December 2025: Israeli Democracy Depends on Judicial Independence
December 4, 2025 Source (Hebrew): Conference of the Association for Public Law, https://www.maariv.co.il/news/law/article-1259010 Introduction Aharon Barak argues in a speech to the Israeli Association for Public Law’s conference in Haifa that Israeli democracy is being…
Israeli Supreme Court President Defends Judiciary Against Intentional Disruption (With Justice Minister’s Response), December 2025
Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit warns about the danger to the Israeli public and democracy of sustained political attacks on the judiciary and individual judges.
Explainer: A Short History of Hamas
Updated January 5, 2026; originally posted October 2023. By Ken Stein Hamas’ Origins The 1988 Hamas Charter and remarks by its leaders and other publications express hatred of Zionism, Israel and Jews. It is thus unmistakable that Hamas…
New Year’s 2026 Unrest in Iran and Its Context for Israel and the Middle East
January 2, 2026 A week of unrest in Iran does not guarantee a revolution even if 85-plus million Iranians are angry at the country’s autocratic, theological rulers. Iran is a security-clerical oligarchy where kleptocracy, cronyism…
#154 Contemporary Readings December 2025
Maya Rezak and Ken Stein, December 31, 2025 Yousef Algoos, “MBS in Washington: A new era of strategic tech-alliance,” Al-Arabiya, December 14, 2025. Thomas Albery, “A Crisis of crises: What is going on in Iran?”…