What to Expect from a Harris Administration on Israel-Palestine and the Middle East
Should she beat Donald Trump in this November’s election, Kamala Harris would come into office with more foreign policy experience than most presidents. As vice president, she made 17 foreign trips, giving a high-profile speech at the Munich Security Conference and leading the US delegation to the 2023 climate summit in Dubai. She has met […]
A Guide to Harris’ Foreign Policy
How will Kamala Harris conduct foreign policy if she becomes president in January 2025? Would she hew to traditional Democratic Party stands on dealing with authoritarian regimes, climate change and foreign alliances? Or will she veer off in unpredictable directions? One obvious place to try and answer this question might be to explore Harris’ own […]
Higher Education and American National Security
Higher education has become a national security risk, for the present and for the long term: this is the lesson of the aftermath of October 7 on campus. Contemporary great power competition is taking place in many arenas, especially in the dimension of technological innovation. Leading research universities play a vital role in this race. […]
Mr. Netanyahu Goes to Washington
The practice of inviting foreign leaders to address Congress goes back to 1824 with Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette. But the person most frequently honored with such an invitation, four times to date, is Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On July 24, he spoke to a joint session of the House and Senate […]
Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress Will Be About More Than Bashing Biden
Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address a joint session of the United States Congress on June 13. But that day, while an ordinary day in Israel, was the second day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot in the United States and the rest of the Diaspora. Jews in the Diaspora traditionally celebrate the beginning and […]
America-Israel Disagreement over Gaza at a Critical Junction
Rarely in the American special relationship with Israel has there been such a dramatic display of discord between leaders. What began as a remarkable show of American support and solidarity with Israel, in the wake of Hamas’s assault in October, came by February and March to be increasingly marred by acrimony. The White House statement […]
Anti-Israel Activism in American Universities II
Middle Eastern Studies and Israel Studies
Middle Eastern Studies and Israel Studies
>> Read part I: The Advent of Anti-Israel Sentiment on Campus In Part I, I described the rise of anti-Israel activism on college campuses, which paralleled the political discourse in American society. Here I delve into the roles of Middle Eastern Studies and Israel Studies. For half a century, one-sided Arab views of Middle Eastern Studies […]
Anti-Israel Activism in American Universities I
The Advent of Anti-Israel Sentiment on Campus
The Advent of Anti-Israel Sentiment on Campus
Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Bazeh.[ “All Israel is bound one to the other,” Jewish legal principle of the Talmud.] Introduction What hit Israelis with such ferocity and sudden force in the villages and kibbutzim on the Gaza border on October 7 was unprecedented, a disastrous tsunami of indiscriminate violence in which Hamas took 1300 lives and […]
The US College Campus as a Long-term Strategic Threat to Israel, the US and Global Stability
By now it’s clear to anyone paying attention that many American college campuses have since October 7 become hotbeds of anti-Zionism and antisemitic fervor. One Jewish professor at a small liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest, an institution you’re not hearing about in the news, recently told me that “From the River to the […]
Should America and Israel Sign a Defense Treaty? Depends on the Saudi Deal
A defense treaty with the US sounds attractive to many in Israel. In 1986-1987, I chaired discussions on the issue in the foreign affairs and defense committee of the Knesset, and we produced a document with pros and cons. The idea came up again in the Sharon government of 2004-2005, and we concluded then that […]
Should America and Israel Sign a Defense Treaty?
A bilateral US-Israel “security deal” or defense treaty is back on the agenda of an Israeli government, according to the press. The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune asked three former senior Israeli officials for their views. Hunting a Dangerous TrophyYair Golan Let us assume that Israel does put on the table a request for a formal defense […]
American Policy and the Israeli Domestic Debate
On March 29, a few hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed pause on his government’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, US President Joe Biden delivered a warning to his long-time friend. “Like many strong supporters of Israel, I’m very concerned,” Biden said, masking his deep frustration with measured understatement. “I’m concerned that they get […]
Israeli Sovereignty and American Intervention
The streets are seething. Police have clashed with demonstrators and there have been not only arrests but some violence. Hundreds of thousands and likely millions have protested proposed government actions. Unions have called for nationwide strikes. Government reactions have elicited even more fierce opposition. Israel? No, France. Most recently, protests have intensified when the government completely […]
Back to the Basics of Shared Values in the US-Israel Relationship
Recently, I was asked whether I might consider revising the book I wrote on the US-Israeli relationship entitled Doomed to Succeed. Turmoil in Israel, the most right-wing, religious government in Israel’s history, and President Biden’s decision to hold off inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington led to concerns about where the relationship might be headed, […]
American Jewry and Israel
The underlying basis for a more positive view of Israel among the American Jewish public already exists, and the question is whether Israelis will succeed in tapping into it.
How Israel Became a Pro-American Democracy
Ben-Gurion’s Grand Strategy and the Role of American Jewry
Israel and Palestine—What Can the US Do?
A hawkish Bennett and a weak Abbas are unlikely to bring about a solution. A third party—and new paradigms—are needed
Power over Force: A New Policy for Israel
Israel is a regional power. The time has come for it to act accordingly
Israel–US Jewry Ties and the Abraham Accords
The Abraham Accords can remind US Jews that Israelis truly desire peace, so much so that their Arab neighbors recognize it
Healing Israel’s Relations With Diaspora Jewry
Israel desperately needs a stronger connection with diaspora Jews. Can the rift be healed?
Israel and the New American Landscape
Israel is far less of a bipartisan issue than it used to be. But there's something deeper going on in the US
Afghanistan: The Ten Big Mistakes
America’s chaotic exit was merely the culmination of a series of major errors, going back to 2001
The Sinai Multinational Force, 40 Years On
A closer look at a critically important, but little known, example of US engagement in the Middle East
The Abraham Accords and the Talking Stick
A personal perspective on Middle East peace, offering an insight into the dynamics of dialogues that can build bridges
President Biden and Israel
Biden is the last of his generation of Democrats. What does it say for the present—and future—of US–Israel ties?
The Two-State Solution Imperative
JST Debate: Action is needed to break the ongoing impasse in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process
No, You Can’t: The Prospects of a Two-State Solution
JST Debate: A breakthrough in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process is unlikely
Prospects of a Breakthrough in the Middle East
JST Debate: Voices from both sides of some of the most heated discussions of our time
America’s Technology Competition with China
Much hinges on Beijing’s expectation that time is on China’s side, but is that really the case?
America and the Post-1945 World Order
The time has come to restore realist balance-of-power thinking to the center of international relations theory
Israel’s Place in the New Order
A practitioner’s perspective: Only a militarily strong Israel can sustain its regional position
A Letter From the Publisher
It may strike some of you as curious that of all people, a Moroccan Arab Muslim would move to create a journal about the US–Israel relationship
