Presidential Proclamation Recognizing Golan Heights as Part of Israel, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights more than 37 years after Israel annexed the mountains.
Civil War? The rift between Fatah and Hamas, as seen on social media
Michael Barak surveys the online discourse surrounding the ongoing feud between the Fatah and Hamas movements, which has been characterized by public disputes between supporters of the respective movements. The tension is causing public concern about the possibility of further deterioration into civil war.
Strategic Survey for Israel 2018-2019: A Collection of Articles
The articles in this volume explore the primary significance of the changes in the Middle East over the past year, and focus on the areas of intensifying friction in the region and their international context. Contrary to previous volumes in the Strategic Survey for Israel series, which raised many diverse issues, even those without immediate ramifications for Israel, this volume covers domestic and external events that have a clear and immediate impact on the country’s national security.
Explainer: Haredim and the IDF (4:31)
Our latest Whiteboard video explores the history and context of ultra-Orthodox deferments from the Israel Defense Forces. Beginning with the 1947 status-quo agreement between David Ben-Gurion and Agudat Israel, we explain the origins of the policy and why it has become so divisive in contemporary Israeli society.
The Ten Leading Challenges Facing the New IDF Chief of Staff
On Tuesday, January 15, 2019, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi assumed his position as the 22nd IDF Chief of Staff. From a security perspective, his tenure begins in a stormy, unstable period, when the IDF’s strategic and operational environment continues to be marked by vast uncertainty.
Common Values and Interests as a Catalyst for Cooperation: The Visegrád Group’s (4 EU countries) Policy towards Israel
Since 2017, relations between the Visegrád Group (V4) and Israel have been changing. Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are increasingly developing shared views and values on international politics and show a greater willingness to cooperate economically. This coincides with growing European Union (EU) criticism of the Israeli government’s stance on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Six Days, Fifty Years: The June 1967 War and its Aftermath, 14 Superb Essays
The Six Day War, which broke out on the morning of June 5, 1967, was a formative event that changed the face of the State of Israel and, to a large extent, the entire Middle East. Prior to the war, Israel had been under existential threat and in six days, the Israel Defense Forces succeeded in removing the threat by achieving a decisive military victory and positioning Israel as a significant force in the region.
Explainers: U.N. Resolution 181 — The Partition Plan (3 videos, 3:07, 3:48, 4:15)
In recognition of the anniversary of the United Nations’ passage of Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947, we present our newest three-part whiteboard videos providing context to this historical moment in Jewish history.
On Developing a Coherent US Regional Strategy Towards Iran, and Iran’s Likely Response
The US can and should develop a coherent region-wide strategy, involving US allies including Israel, to impede Iran’s ability to continue developing in ways detrimental to the region’s security. However, Iran is proficient in the practice of using proxies and paramilitary methods, as well as in the combination of paramilitary and political struggle. Its response to a US-led strategy to contain and roll back their influence is likely to focus on these areas.
The Global Trade War: Scenarios and Significance for Israel
On July 6, 2018, the first tariffs imposed by the United States and China on one another following the American initiative to reduce its trade deficit with China took effect. Prior to that, the US imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum from the European Union, Mexico, and Canada, which responded with their own tariffs.
Not Necessarily “A People that Dwells Alone”
Six pillars comprise Israel’s national defense doctrine: deterrence, early warning, short conflicts, defensive capabilities, and strategic alliance cooperation. Seventy years of Israel’s Alliances and Cooperation are reviewed.
Diaspora to 1949 (2 videos, 56:36 and 31:15)
Emory Professor of Contemporary and Middle Eastern History, Political Science, and Israeli Studies and Center for Israel Education President Ken Stein outlines the history of Zionism and the British Mandate at the CIE 2018 Educator Enrichment Workshop.
Israel at 70: Unfinished, Ken Stein (50:45)
Israel is only 70 years old. It is certainly more developed and different than the US was in 1846. What are the domestic and foreign policy issues that remain open-ended? Which issues have settled into consensus acceptance? CIE President and Founder Professor Ken Stein explores these questions and more in this webinar from May 2018.
Paul Rivlin: The Crisis in Gaza
Though written in May 2017, Paul Rivlin, a Moshe Dayan Center researcher analyzes a rich trove of data to analyze the Gaza Strip’s troubling economic character. Five major reasons are enumerated for its dilemmas: absence of investment, extraordinary high unemployment, a very young population, inability of goods and services to go in and out of the strip, and Hamas’s stranglehold on taxation and spending.
Surveys: 50 Years Since the Six-Day War – The Guttman Center for Public Opinion
During the 1967 Six-Day War, the State of Israel conquered territory that tripled its size. Though Israel later ceded the clear majority of that territory in the context of a peace agreement with Egypt, the war changed the contours of Israeli politics and opened an ideological rift that has been at its core ever since.
50 Year Anniversary of the Six-Day War: Possible Political Scenarios and their Implications
The Israel Democracy Institute and Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) held a two day forum at the end of May 2017, on possible scenarios for the future of Israel.
Hamas: A Document of General Principles and Policies, 2017
The general principles are restated as they are in the 1988 founding Hamas Charter, jihad is the means to liberate Palestine, with an important notable addition, that these principles include ‘no recognition of the Zionist entity,’ for their point of view a terrible PLO recognition in September 1993. This document also restated the Palestinian right of return to all of Palestine defined as from the Jordan River on the east to the Mediterranean Sea.
The June 1967 War: How It Changed Jewish, Israeli and Middle Eastern History
The June 1967 Middle East War transformed Israeli, Jewish, and Middle Eastern History. In the span of six weeks, in May and June 1967, Israel, its neighbors and the international community were engulfed with varying emotions including admonition, arrogance, audacity, astonishment, bravado, boasting, daring, euphoria, fears of annihilation, hesitation, humiliation, indecision, miscalculation, pride, procrastination, relief, resignation, self-doubt, self-importance, and tension.
Capturing these moments as well as the prelude and aftermath of the War dominate the contents of The June 1967 War: How It Changed Jewish, Israeli and Middle Eastern History in both the Leader’s Guide and Participant Booklet.
- Suitable for those with varying knowledge levels. Valuable for those traveling to Israel, for easy use in summer camps, and in adult education, college, and high school settings.
- The Leader’s Guide − 111 pages; Participant Booklet− 117 pages
- Adaptable for use in three 75-minute sessions, five 45-minute sessions, or more
Sovereign Israeli Rights
Placing Jewish destiny into Jewish hands was why Zionism emerged at the end of the 19th century. Acquiring political power to promote Jewish security is how a Jewish state was created.
The June 1967 War: Actions with Unfinished Consequences
Coming up, fifty years after the June 1967 War. How many times have I taught the causes and effects, or written about the War? Hundreds of times in forty years.
President Trump and International Relations
America’s new president has the potential to thoroughly shake up international relations. Volker Perthes lays out five theses that researchers and policymakers will need to address.
Forty-Three years since the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War
The October 1973 War was 43 years ago this month. What follows is the US Intelligence Estimate when the war started on October 6
U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding on Military Aid, 2016
The US promises Israel $38 billion in military aid over a decade, the assistance promised despite Jerusalem and Washington periodically differing over matters relating to Iran and the Palestinians.
Under certain conditions, Israelis support the idea of a referendum to determine the future of the territories
Israelis are divided on the impact and future of the territories gained in the June 1967 war, according to the June 2016 Israel Democracy Institute Peace Index.
