Iran, the Jewish People and Israel
May 18, 2025 Contradiction has been a theme in Iran’s relationship with the Jewish people, for nowhere else in the Muslim world have Jews both suffered so grievously and flourished so thoroughly. Nor is the…
Explainer: Israel’s Ecology Creates Diverse Tapestry
Diversity is one of Israel’s most distinctive features. Finding common ground on sacred ground, Israeli Jews have returned to their homeland from more than 100 countries, forming a population of diverse culture, religious observance and…
Explainer: Israeli Government and Politics
Jewish-majority self-rule existed in Eretz Yisrael during the First and Second Jewish Commonwealths, 1020 to 586 B.C.E. and 538 B.C.E. to 70 C.E., respectively. Then living for centuries as minorities throughout Europe, the Middle East…
Explainer: The United Nations and Israel
The U.N. partition resolution in 1947 cleared the way for Israel to declare independence six months later, but since then the United Nations has largely been antagonistic and condemnatory toward Israel and a tool for the Palestinians and Israel’s enemies.
Dr. Eli Sperling, 75 Zionist/Israeli Songs for 75 Years
Dr. Eli Sperling, April 15, 2025, for CIE © Center for Israel Education, 2025 Israeli music offers a powerful lens through which we can understand the country’s cultural and political evolution, serving as both a…
Explainer: Zionist/Israeli Music
April 15, 2025 Dr. Eli Sperling © Center for Israel Education, 2025 Israeli music offers a powerful lens through which we can understand the country’s cultural and political evolution, serving as both a unifying force…
Ken Stein, “Legal Protection and Circumvention of Rights for Cultivators in Mandatory Palestine”
Stein, Kenneth, “Legal Protection and Circumvention of Rights for Cultivators in Mandatory Palestine,” in Joel S. Migdal, (Ed.) Palestinian Society and Politics, Princeton, (1980): 233-260. In the immediate wake of communal violence that plagued Palestine…
Jewish Immigration to the Land of Israel
By Scott Abramson and Ken Stein, April 4, 2025 The Exile and the Homeland It may be said that the Jewish people’s entire cosmology (the origin and nature of the universe) from their birth as…
Zionist/Jewish Economic Development in Palestine Before 1948
March 12, 2025 By Ken Stein The Jewish growth in Mandatory Palestine in the period of the New Yishuv to establish a Jewish territory for a state had significantly developed by 1939. Arab leadership in…
Scott Abramson, “Islamophobia and Antisemitism: A False Equivalence”
As originally published in the British journal Fathom, CIE’s Scott Abramson explains the fallacy of presenting Islamophobia and antisemitism as equivalent.
Kenneth W. Stein, “Evolving a Diplomatic Legacy From the October War: The US, Egyptian, and Israeli Triangle”
Kenneth W. Stein, “Evolving a Diplomatic Legacy From the October War: The US, Egyptian, and Israeli Triangle,” in Asaf Siniver (ed.), The October 1973 War Politics, Diplomacy, and Legacy, London: Hurst and Company, 2013. This…
Explainer: The Economy of the Yishuv and the State of Israel
By Ken Stein and Scott Abramson, March 23, 2025 Zionist/Jewish Economic Development in Palestine Before 1948 Jewish physical growth in Mandatory Palestine in the period known as the New Yishuv was sufficient through land acquired…
Why Is the Center for Israel Education Unique?
March 5, 2025 The Center for Israel Education is unique because its work is based on Jewish context and otherwise mostly unavailable content. Providing excellence in Israel education through perspective and via multiple platforms separates…
Explainer: Jewish Immigration to the Land of Israel (Zion) to 1949
By Scott Abramson and Ken Stein In his famous 2004 essay “Between Right and Right,” Israel’s most celebrated novelist, Amos Oz, reflects on Israeli society, summing up his fellow citizens with this appraisal: “What we,…
Domestic Discord — Haredim in the Military and Proposed Judicial Overhaul
Two major discordant issues that vexed Israel before October 7, 2023, continue to cleave Israeli society: a possible exemption from mandatory military service for the Haredim and the Netanyahu government’s persistent effort to wrench from…
Explainer: Europe and Israel
Historical Background Unlike any other region of the world, Europe has had the most intimate, impactful and longest-lasting relationship with contemporary Israel and its origins. As the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and with the…
Netanyahu’s Persistent Advocacy for Strong Israeli-U.S. Relationship: What Is Next for Both Countries With Changing Middle East Landscapes?
Since coming to office the first time in 1996, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has met with four presidents (Clinton, Obama, Trump and Biden) on 11 occasions. Four times he has addressed Congress, each…
Palestine’s Rural Economy, 1917-1939
Kenneth Stein, “Palestine’s Rural Economy, 1917-1939,” Studies in Zionism, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1987), pp. 25-49. During the early decades of the 20th century in Palestine, the majority Arab population sustained itself primarily through agricultural and pastoral…
Second Trump Administration’s Views on Israel, Middle East
By Aidan New and Michael Jacobs (updated April 9) President Donald Trump’s second administration had an impact in the Middle East even before his inauguration Jan. 20, 2025: Special Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff was…
Explainer: Arabs of Palestine/Israel
Some ancestors of modern Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, like those of Israeli Jews, lived in the Land of Israel millennia ago, but most came to the area when Muhammad’s successors took Jerusalem and settled there…
Hamas-Israel January 2025 Ceasefire — Commentary and Implications
The details of the three-stage Hamas-Israel cease-fire that went into effect January 19, 2025, along with unanswered questions, insightful analyses and the relevant U.N. resolution from June 2024.
Post-Presidency Insider Ken Stein Offers Insights on Jimmy Carter
Professor Ken Stein spent decades working with and researching the presidency and post-presidency of Jimmy Carter and shared many of his insights with the media and fellow scholars after the 39th U.S. president died Dec….
A History of Israel’s Geography and Geology
By Scott Abramson A Disadvantaged Land in a Pivotal Location The State of Israel lies at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, at the intersection of three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. Together with…
Jimmy Carter — An Obituary: The Audacious Camp David Mediator and His Naive Approach to Israel, Iran, the Palestinians and the Whole Middle East
January 9, 2025 By Dr. Kenneth Stein, Emeritus Professor, Emory University As the 39th president of the United States, James Earl Carter held office from 1977 to 1981. Carter was the longest-surviving former United States president…
