September 2024 By Kenneth Stein Kenneth Stein is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern History, Political Science and Israel Studies at Emory University and President of the Atlanta-based Center for Israel Education. He is the author…
Delve into the roots of Jewish peoplehood and the pivotal moments in Jewish history that led to the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Explore how precarious Diaspora life and outbursts of violent antisemitism catalyzed Jewish self-determination. Examine how Jewish leaders employed compromise, perseverance and adaptation in interactions with the Ottomans, British, and Arabs to overcome challenges, and so much more.
It is now apparent that distances between the Carter administration and Israel did not begin in earnest after Begin’s May 1977 election or over the settlements. Newly available materials show that from its outset, the Carter administration prioritized curbing Israeli influence in Washington.
Watch our collection of weekly Wednesday webinars with expert analysis and insights into the war and related topics, and register for the next webinar.
With more than 1,200 murdered and 250 kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, the Middle East and other parts of the world continue to seethe with emotion and limitless uncertainties. Joining us for CIE’s…
October 25, 2023 After Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and others and kidnapped at least 240 on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military responses unfolded. Political and emotional reactions erupted across the region and…
The murderous attacks perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against Israelis reverberated across Israel, the region and the world. As Israel buried tens of hundreds of its dead, the government formed an emergency war cabinet to shape responses as thousands were mobilized for reserve duty. On Israel’s borders and across the region, tensions rose. The U.S. responded with unequivocal presidential, congressional and military support for Israel’s national security and President Biden’s visit to Israel on October 18. Joining CIE to provide insight into Hamas’ ideological motivations, its connections to Iran and the rise of Islamic antisemitism were Tel Aviv University Professor Meir Litvak. Discussing Middle Eastern, North African and international responses was Dr. Sarah Feuer, a lecturer at Reichman University and a research fellow at the Gazit Institute in Tel Aviv. Addressing the implications and context of Biden’s visit was Dr. Amnon Cavari, who teaches at Reichman University and this year is an Israel Institute visiting professor of political science at the University of Michigan. During this 39-minute webinar, they talked about Hamas’ genocidal ideology and its reasons for striking now, the likelihood of weakening regional and international support for Israel as the war continues, and the war’s best possible outcomes for Israel. Moderating was Dr. Ken Stein, the Center for Israel Education’s president and an Emory University professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history and political science.
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.
The Camp David accords culminated after thirteen days of intense negotiations between Israeli, Egyptian, and American delegations. Egyptian and Israeli leaders met with President Carter where after difficult negotiations they signed two accords, one an outline for an Egyptian-Israeli Treaty and one for Palestinian self-rule. The negotiations continued for another six months until the Egyptian-Treaty was signed in March 1979, after considerable bad feeling was tossed back and forth between Israeli and American negotiators.
Siegel resigned over two matters: the administration’s policy of selling advanced fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which he believed a threat to Israel’s national security, and his sharp disagreement with the Carter White House for not allowing alternative views on policy matters to find their way to the President’s desk. Siegel’s detailed interview about the administration’s anti-Israeli viewpoints are explained here.
Join CIE’s founding president, Ken Stein, in a conversation at 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 29 with two experts in the field of U.S.-Israel relations, Aaron David Miller and Raphael Danziger, as part of CIE’s Israel@75: A Yearlong Exploration program.
Balfour, an English politician and diplomat who served as the British prime minister from 1902 to 1905, was the foreign secretary in November 1917 when he sent a letter to Lord Rothschild that became known…
The 45th and 47th U.S. president, Trump took steps in both terms to strengthen ties with Israel. He withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. He fulfilled a deferred 1995 law and moved the U.S….
Ken Stein explains in detail how Egyptian and Israeli leaders coached their generals into reaching an understanding on how their troops would be disengaged after the war. On that day, a German-born Egyptian career foreign service officer, Omar Sirry was told to pack his toothbrush and go to meet several Israelis along with other Egyptians at the 101 Kilometer marker for talks.
New Jersey native Brody was a first-round NBA draft pick out of the University of Illinois in 1965, but after visiting Israel for the first time that summer for the Maccabiah Games, he decided to…
A British brigadier general, Kisch chaired the predecessor to the Jewish Agency, the Palestine Zionist Executive, from 1918 to 1921. Kisch was prolific in Jewish life in Mandate Palestine. He helped found the Palestine Philharmonic…
On President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel, he and Prime Minister Yair Lapid affirmed the long-term U.S.-Israel strategic relationship.
This 54-minute webinar, recorded Oct. 27, 2021, is part of the Center for Israel Education’s “Israel in Context” series and is incorporated into an extensive set of documents, study guides, videos and other resources CIE has compiled at https://israeled.org/madrid-conference/ to mark the 30th anniversary of the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, when Israel first sat at the same table with all of its immediate Arab neighbors to talk peace.
Historical Context Explore the historical context through the events and the documents leading up to the 1991 Madrid Middle East Peace Conference: 1949: Israel ends the War of Independence without secure borders or Arab acceptance….
October 18, 2021 Examine the events that led the United States and the Soviet Union to convene high-level delegations from Israel and all of its immediate Arab neighbors, as well as other regional parties, in…
A week after Antony Blinken’s confirmation as Secretary of State, the Acting US Ambassador to the UN outlined with considerable detail the administration’s objective to an agreed, not imposed two-state resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.
President Biden comes to the presidency with more Washington experience than any other former president. While he has designated a foreign policy team with significant experience, his immediate priorities will be domestic. With a razor thin senate majority why would he expend political capital in trying to find solutions to Middle Eastern issues that are highly complex, seemingly intractable, and culturally embedded? The exception might be seeking to curtail Iran’s nuclear and regional aggressiveness.
UAE and Bahraini ambassadors to the U.S. provide incisively sharp assessments about why their peace accords unfolded with Israel in September 2020: to halt West Bank annexation, strengthen ties with the United States, enhance national security, and stimulate, if possible, Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
CIE Founding President, Professor Ken Stein and Visiting Israeli Scholar, Dr. Nachman Shai, who served in the Israeli Parliament for 10 years, explain the context and implications of the Abraham Accords for Israel and the Middle East.
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