The Gaza Strip is currently facing a dire humanitarian crisis with potentially devastating implications. Lack of clean water for domestic use and unsafe sanitary conditions pose a serious public health threat to the two million people living in the Gaza Strip. By now, large amounts of untreated wastewater have already crossed Gaza’s borders and created additional repercussions for several neighboring communities in Egypt and Israel, with Israel at one point forced to close two of its beaches.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, controlled by Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas, perceives the situation in the Gaza Strip, as well as its involvement in any reconstruction projects there, through the lens of its own political gains. Fatah’s main political interest remains to ensure its dominance, in terms of power and support, over the Hamas movement, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006.
The current situation in the Gaza Strip is marked by several primary phenomena, led by Gaza’s severe economic plight and deteriorated infrastructure. These hardships aggravate humanitarian distress, which in turn motivates belligerent tendencies and heightens the danger of security escalation between Israel and Hamas and other terrorist forces operating in the Strip. Additional parameters include Hamas’s comprehensive and stable control of the region; the organization’s proven capacity for destructive activity, both in the Israeli-...
During the recent waves of protests in Iran, much criticism was voiced against the country’s involvement in regional conflicts, particularly given the difficult economic situation within Iran itself. The expectations of the Iranian public for economic benefit rose following the lifting of sanctions on oil production and the banking system two years ago. However, considerable improvements at the macro level have yet to trickle down to the micro level (the economic situation in the street), and the adjustment will in any case be...
The cyber threat ranks high among the risks to a country’s interests and national security. In recent years, this threat has already materialized in cyberattacks on political institutions, political parties, organizations, financial institutions, and critical national infrastructure around the world. In the future, additional risks are expected, particularly to the civilian sector, originating in the Internet of Things. These risks are the result of the growing number of connected devices, most of which are neither secured by the...
The utilization of emerging technologies for purposes of cyber espionage is the cornerstone of this paper. Although many have referred to cyber security risks that are directly connected to the security sphere, national security threats due to economic cyber espionage have not been dealt with to the same extent, and this oversight is rather puzzling. As cyberspace becomes increasingly utilized for espionage purposes, it is imperative to further examine the possibility of exploiting cyberspace for the purpose of espionage specifically...
On the second anniversary of the implementation of the nuclear agreement and the removal of the international sanctions on Iran, it appears that the hopes of President Hassan Rouhani and the concerns voiced in Israel that the agreement would lead to a wave of foreign direct investments that would propel the Iranian economy to new heights, have not yet materialized. Although the Iranian economy has seen achievements, mainly a lowering of the inflation rate and a rise in growth, the rise in trade and foreign direct investments has...
Seven years after the onset of the upheaval in the Middle East and two years since the implementation of the nuclear deal between the world powers and Iran, the main contours of the region’s emerging reality – including the actors, rivalries, partnerships, front lines, power relations, and behavior of the major powers – are becoming clear. Now, after nearly one full year at the Washington helm, the nature of the Trump administration and its influence on the domestic arena, the Middle East, and the global stage are also coming into...
As 2017 draws to a close, the Middle East is witnessing the convergence of several important developments that will potentially have a broad impact on Israeli national security. The civil war in Syria is subsiding through a process dominated by Russia, Iran, and Turkey – which poses the danger that Israel’s interests will not be taken into account in the deliberations and steps toward an agreement to stabilize the arena. The jihadist territorial Islamic State established in Iraq and Syria has been obliterated, although the underlying...
Internet currencies do not claim to replace state currencies, but even if the phenomenon is realized only partially, it is hard to dismiss the idea that it could deprive states and financial establishments that control the global financial system of their exclusive hold over means of payment. In the long term, if this phenomenon spreads and is not regulated, it could also have implications for internal stability. At present, regulatory bodies such as central banks in the West as well as in Israel appear fairly indifferent to internet...
The financial assistance program to Egypt by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), approved in November 2016, has scored important achievements, even as it has presented Cairo with complicated economic and political challenges. Ongoing monitoring of the economic-political developments over the past year in Egypt, coupled with a close reading of the IMF’s first annual review of the program, show that Egypt still faces a difficult uphill journey. The regime’s challenge is twofold: it must draft a comprehensive, inclusive social...
According to IDF statistics, there has been a steady decline among new soldiers inducted for mandatory service in motivation to serve in “maneuvering units” – among them, armored corps, combat engineering, and artillery – that maneuver across enemy lines. In an effort to address the problem, the IDF has decided to offer greater compensation to these fighters. According to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, while technology and intelligence units are critical, “the fighters are the most important...
