The analysis summarizes the declaratory or aspirational Trump Plan for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, outlining proposals on final status issues, and the proposed economic development package, with a hope for a two state-solution. Maps are used to show how Palestine's and Israel's borders have changed over the last 150 years. (Video or audio)
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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, 1919CIE+
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 2026CIE+
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.
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Three years after the Israeli government began the process to overhaul the judiciary, and after two years of war delayed efforts, the drive to rein in judicial independence continues.
Aharon Barak, December 2025: Israeli Democracy Depends on Judicial IndependenceCIE+
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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 HamasCIE+
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New Year’s 2026 Unrest in Iran and Its Context for Israel and the Middle EastCIE+
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 and authoritarianism have…
#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?”…
