On June 20, 2013, at the end of a routine visit to the region, Lady Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, met in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As expected, the Israeli-Palestinian issue was a main topic of conversation. The Prime Minister reportedly asked Ashton to withhold publication of a statement by EU foreign ministers condemning Israel for construction in the Jewish settlements on the West Bank and presenting the EU principles for a resolution of...
Four EU member nations that are also members of the UN Security Council – Great Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal – joined forces, and on December 19, 2012 issued a statement criticizing the Israeli government decision to accelerate settlement construction in “the occupied territories.” According to their statement, issued after the Security Council debated the matter earlier that day but failed (due to American opposition) to issue a joint statement of condemnation, Israel’s decision sends a...
The book includes thirteen analytical essays written by INSS and outside researchers. Focus is on Israel’s strategic environment, particularly the challenges and the opportunities that await Israel in 2013. The chief issues are: the Iranian nuclear threat; renewal of the politcal process with the Palestinians; preservation of the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan; the increasing instability among Israel’s neighbors, especially Syria; and preservation of Israel’s international stature.
This article will analyze whether there are any signs of a new game with Iran, or whether what we have witnessed over the past year is basically a repeat of what we have seen so many times before, and as such is simply “more of the same.” The article will present and analyze these alternative interpretations of international efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions over the past year, beginning with the release of the IAEA report on Iran in early November 2011.
It was one of the rare weeks since the outbreak of the Arab awakening that went well for Turkey. Between what was seen as a successful visit by Vladimir Putin to Istanbul on December 3, 2012 and NATO’s approval the following day of the deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey, it seemed as if Turkey was currently playing its cards right. For Turkey, the best scenario is exactly the one that manifested itself that week – a solid base in NATO coupled with good relations with Russia. Whether this is sustainable in the long run is...
Although at first sight many issues related to targeting densely populated areas seem similar, regardless of the type of conflict and the area where hostilities take place, it should be recalled that what works in the framework of one operation does not necessarily work in another operational context. This can be illustrated by two contemporary conflicts in which air assets play or played a major role: Afghanistan and Libya. Air operations conducted in the framework of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are similar but...
In an interview a few weeks ago, Nicolas Sarkozy, playing on the statement often attributed to Louis XV, said that he didn’t expect a deluge to come after him. To judge by the election results, it seems that the French electorate shared his assessment and decided to entrust its future for the next five years to socialist Franחois Hollande. Sarkozy thus joins a long line of heads of state in the EU who, since the start of the economic-financial crisis, have failed to be reelected to a second term. The reasons for Sarkozy’s...
The events in Toulouse shone a spotlight on the threat posed by global jihadism to Europe and on several problems that for some time have been on the French and European Union agenda, first and foremost the difficulties of integrating the Muslim immigrant community and the issue of anti-Semitism. From an analysis of the events in Toulouse – both the practical aspect, manifested in the cold-blooded murder of French soldiers and Jewish citizens, including children, and the ideological aspect, which the murderer took pains to expound...
One year after the uprisings known as the “Arab spring” erupted, this collection of fifteen articles explores what is evident thus far as to the regional and international ramifications of the upheavals, with special reference to the potential ramifications for Israeli national security. Among the questions addressed: Why did the upheavals occur now, and what do they portend for the future? How have the major powers and certain Arab states, ostensibly spared the turmoil, responded to the events? Where do Iran and Turkey...
The book includes thirteen analytical essays written by INSS researchers. Focus is on Israel’s strategic environment, particularly in the wake of the major changes experienced in the Middle East commonly known as the Arab spring. The ongoing Palestinian issue and Iran’s nuclear program remain at the fore of the challenges facing Israel. Other issues explored in the volume include the “new” Middle East and the role of the superpowers, Turkey, and questions of particular urgency to Israel, including the...
Over the course of 2011, the international community – and in particular the trans-Atlantic bloc and Russia – was challenged by the need to contend with major domestic political-economic issues on the one hand, and on the other hand, to confront the Arab spring and provide an appropriate political, economic, and at times military response. These challenges will continue to preoccupy the United States, the European Union, and Russia in 2012 and beyond, and will impel them to try to avoid further deterioration in their domestic...
As expected, the government of Israel’s decision to issue a tender for construction of 1,000 housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem elicited a response from Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The response by the German government, however, and a statement by the four EU Security Council members – Germany, France, Britain, and Portugal – were less expected. These criticisms roughly coincided with both a document written by EU ambassadors in Israel stating that some of the...
