Issues and Analyses

Palestinian Public Resigned to Israel’s Election Outcome, Looks to Other Arabs Instead for Next Steps

A Palestinian public opinion poll conducted during this latest Israeli election campaign, January 23-February 11, showed a mere 8% of West Bankers, along with 22% of Gazans, reporting that the vote would probably turn out “better for the Palestinians.” Many more expected Israel’s election to make things worse for them: a third of West Bankers, and nearly half (46%) of Gazans. The remainder—half in the West Bank, and a quarter in Gaza—anticipated that it would “probably make very little difference either way.”

Issues and Analyses|March 16, 2020

Startup Israel Tackles Coronavirus With Ingenuity and Chutzpah

A handwashing machine and facemasks that claim to kill coronavirus. Contact-free monitoring of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Proactive policies to prevent the spread of the virus. A possible vaccine on the horizon. These are among the many ways Israel is responding with characteristic swift ingenuity to the raging coronavirus pandemic.

Issues and Analyses|March 13, 2020

As Israel’s Kingmaker Gets Off the Fence, Gantz Gets a Boost

Israel’s third round of elections last week seemed inconclusive at first, but the deadlock may now be broken. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did better this time than in September’s round two, but his gains were insufficient to form a new government. Potential kingmaker Avigdor Liberman jettisoned his previous idea of getting the two top parties to join forces; instead, personal antipathy and policy differences have led him to definitely state that he will not join any government Netanyahu leads.

Issues and Analyses|March 11, 2020

Sudan’s Predicament and the Israeli Connection

In this issue of Iqtisadi, Paul Rivlin delves into the structural factors that led to protests and the overthrow of Sudan’s longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019. This background along with more recent developments, explains why some of the leadership in Sudan today believe engagement with Israel makes good economic sense.

Issues and Analyses|March 9, 2020

Israeli startups are greasing the wheels of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

How did a tiny country without a significant manufacturing sector become so important to the Fourth Industrial Revolution – and how will that help us all? While the Third Industrial Revolution introduced technologies such as robotics, 4.0 innovations digitize, simplify, connect, safeguard and generally improve every step of production. This tiny country in the Middle East ranks third in I4 venture investments (after the US and China) and second in early-stage investments.

Issues and Analyses|March 4, 2020

Israeli Election Day is still surprisingly low-tech

Election season in Israel is traditionally a raucous affair. But unlike the lead-up to Election Day, the voting process is staid, tedious and – despite the sporadic appearance of politicians and celebrities coming to cast their votes – pretty unglamorous. No electronic polling stations. No online voting. Only paper chits, envelopes, a cardboard partition and a box in which to cast one’s ballot. ISRAEL21c presents a photographic retrospective of 7 decades of queuing, cardboard boxes and paper chits that keep Israel’s democracy going.

Issues and Analyses|March 2, 2020

A New Political Card

Has the “Deal of the Century” injected energy into Israel’s third election and perhaps provided an incentive for Arab Israelis to turn out in higher numbers than September? Election rallies for the Arab parties in Israel rarely garner much attention or excitement. But recent policy proposals engineered thousands of miles away may have re-energized a once stagnant and unreliable voting bloc. Arik Rudnitzky uses the village of Bartaa as a possible case study.

Issues and Analyses|February 28, 2020

The Deal of the Century: Where Does it Lead?

“The Deal of the Century,” formulated by the Trump administration, is presented as a new paradigm for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that also shapes the architecture of a new Middle East. In order to keep the State of Israel Jewish, democratic, secure, and moral, it is necessary to adopt the components of the plan that both enhance security and at the same time can jumpstart the process of separation from the Palestinians, thus creating a better strategic reality for Israel.

Issues and Analyses|February 26, 2020

Third Time’s a Charm?

On March 2, Israelis will head back to the polls for a third time in twelve months. This previously unimaginable situation has left many asking: How did we get here? The short answer is that, perhaps in an uncharacteristically surprising fashion for politicians, everyone kept their promises. Yohanan Plesner presents the key issues to look out for in Israel’s unprecedented third election and what – if anything – will determine if a stable government will finally be formed.

Issues and Analyses|February 24, 2020

Eden Alene chosen to sing for Israel at 2020 Eurovision

The public and the judges have decided: Eden Alene, a 19-year-old native of Jerusalem, will represent Israel at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Holland, May 12-16. Alene is the first Israeli of Ethiopian descent to be chosen for this honor. She wowed the audience and all-star panel of judges in the reality show “The Next Star to Eurovision.”

Issues and Analyses|February 21, 2020

Palestinian Public Rejects Trump Plan, But Prefers Calm Practical Response

Three different Palestinian polls show that the West Bank and Gaza publics roundly reject the U.S. Administration’s peace plan, by margins of around 90 percent. But the latest poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) also shows that most Palestinians now also reject an armed confrontation or intifadah against Israel—opting instead for a focus on pragmatic improvements on the ground, or even on renewed peace talks.

Issues and Analyses|February 19, 2020

At the Opening of the New Decade, Regional Challenges Test Israel’s Strength – Main Insights from the INSS 13th Annual International Conference

The INSS 13th Annual International Conference (January 28-30, 2020) hosted senior political and military figures, experts, and decision makers from Israeli and abroad. Discussions centered on four areas: the international power system; the regional environment; Israel’s political and security challenges; and Israel’s internal arena – all with a view toward the coming decade. Particular attention was paid to “the deal of the century,” Iran after Soleimani, and Israel’s northern front. This article presents the main insights from the conference sessions.

Issues and Analyses|February 17, 2020

Why the Good Food Institute just had to open an Israeli branch

The world’s central address for supporting research, development and commercialization of plant-based and cultivated meat protein alternatives is the Good Food Institute, founded in 2016. The nonprofit’s branches in the United States, Asia Pacific, India, Europe and Brazil seek to bring sorely needed solutions to the largest populations. So why has GFI has opened a branch office in little Israel?

Issues and Analyses|February 14, 2020

The Middle East Peace Process: Analysis from a Former Negotiator (Testimony Submitted to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs)

Historically, the strategic foundation for U.S. involvement in the peace process has been twofold. First, the peace process was a way for the United States to manage seemingly contradictory partnerships with Israel and the Arab states, few of which recognized Israel and several of which had waged war repeatedly against the Jewish state. Second, the peace process was a means of ensuring Israel’s security, which successive presidents have ranked among our key national security interests in the Middle East. In recent years, however, both of these strategic foundations for U.S. involvement in the peace process have crumbled.

Issues and Analyses|February 12, 2020

Israelis Believe Netanyahu’s Investigations Will have the Greatest Impact on the Vote

January’s Israeli Voice Index found that 32% of Israelis believe Netanyahu’s investigations will be the issue with the greatest impact on voters in the upcoming Knesset elections, followed by other considerations such as the cost of living and housing, security, religion and state and Jewish-Arab relations.

Issues and Analyses|February 11, 2020

Prepare for the Femtech Revolution, Coming Straight from Israel

Technologies being developed for women include a fertility gauge, an advanced breast pump, a cannabis treatment for endometriosis and a gadget that can identify vitamin deficiencies or cancer in menstrual blood. Pitching their product ideas in the predominantly male venture capital arena is a big challenge for entrepreneurs in femtech – a fast-growing field of technology for women’s health and wellness.

Issues and Analyses|February 10, 2020

The Widening Military–Political Gap in Israel

Over the last decade, the gap between the military and political elites in Israel has increased and eventually peaked in 2019, when a group of senior officers who had just retired from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) formed a new party – led by three former chiefs of staff – and called for the replacement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. This gap has developed because Israel’s previous governments have represented a new kind of polarizing, right-wing politics beyond what is considered a shared national common sense.

Issues and Analyses|February 7, 2020

Continuity vs. Overreach in the Trump Peace Plan (Part 1): Borders and Jerusalem

The newly released U.S. peace plan marks a very significant shift in favor of the current Israeli government’s view, especially when compared to three past U.S. initiatives: (1) the Clinton Parameters of December 2000, (2) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s “Annapolis Process” of 2007-2008, and (3) Secretary of State John Kerry’s 2013-2014 initiative. The message is clear: the Trump administration will no longer keep sweetening the deal with every Palestinian refusal, a criticism some have aimed at previous U.S. efforts. Yet the new plan raises worrisome questions of its own.

Issues and Analyses|February 5, 2020

The U.S. Peace Plan: A Return to the Rabin Doctrine of Defensible Borders

The U.S. peace plan offers a return to the security-first approach of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and, specifically, the concept of defensible borders. On Jan. 29, 2020, Shimon Sheves, former Director-General of Prime Minister Rabin’s office, told Israel Army Radio, “The Trump plan is essentially the Rabin plan” and a “continuation of Rabin’s legacy.” Journalist Ben Caspit, writing in Maariv, called it “a modern incarnation of Rabin’s plan from 25 years ago.”

Issues and Analyses|February 5, 2020

The technology that could save us from deep fake videos

It’s November 2020, just days before the US presidential election, and a video clip comes out showing one of the leading candidates saying something inflammatory and out of character. The public is outraged, and the race is won by the other contender. The only problem: the video wasn’t authentic. Israeli startup Cyabra’s technology detects expertly doctored videos as well as the bots powering fake social-media profiles.

Issues and Analyses|February 3, 2020

A Scorecard on the First Decade after the Arab Spring

Today, the Middle East is a combination of confused Arab nation-states that have shown their weakness and incapacity to contain the Iranian threat. The instability of Arab regimes allows the formation of sectarian and extremist Islamic militias that threaten the Middle Eastern and world order. The disintegration of the Middle East nation-states has placed the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on hold.

Issues and Analyses|January 30, 2020

The “Deal of the Century” and the United States in the Region (An INSS Panel Discussion)

The panel of international experts, chaired by Dr. Martin Indyk, dealt first with the “deal of the century,” announced minutes before the speakers took their places on stage. Among the points emphasized was the skepticism that any Arab country would accept this plan, and the belief that the Palestinians can be “bought.” Furthermore, Gen. (ret.) John Allen said that the plan does not resemble any concept that the American people have of a solution to the conflict. Conversely, the plan’s conditional promise of a Palestinian state with a capital somewhere in Jerusalem may fracture Netanyahu’s right wing bloc.

Issues and Analyses|January 29, 2020

Music you can see and touch — even if you can’t hear

Israeli sound engineer’s social business uses sand and water to capture motion of soundwaves, enabling people with hearing impairment to enjoy music. Mordechai Braunstein’s CyMagic uses no algorithms or fancy technology. It’s simple physics: the natural effect of sound on matter.

Issues and Analyses|January 27, 2020

Strategic Survey for Israel 2019-2020

At the core of the strategic assessment for 2020 stands the tension between Israel’s evident strength and its success in various fields, and the possibility that this positive state of affairs will prove temporary and fragile. This tension stems from a series of factors that in the coming year could lead to a large-scale conflict and even to war, and involves Israel’s approach to a series of substantive national security challenges. The strategic assessment is comprised of seven chapters along with an introduction and conclusion.

Issues and Analyses|January 24, 2020