The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) held a Cabinet meeting to analyze the peace and normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Researchers focused on the background to the agreement and its implications for Israel and the Middle East. Participants addressed several questions, among them: What is included in the agreement, and what was omitted? Which objectives of the Trump administration propelled the Accords? Why was the UAE in such a hurry to sign the agreement at this time? What...
The year 2020 marks seventy years since UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), which serves Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, began operation. Since its establishment by virtue of the mandate given to it by the UN General Assembly, UNRWA has not succeeded in bringing about the true rehabilitation of the Palestinian refugees and in reducing their number, which has risen from approximately 700,000 on the eve of the State of Israel’s...
The announcement by President Donald Trump regarding normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has heightened the Palestinians’ distress and forced them to consider their future. A conference in Ramallah and Beirut on September 3, 2020, with the participation of all the Palestinian factions, reflected their sense of the seriousness of the current challenge. In the closing statement, all agreed on the need to fight the American-Israeli plot by means of “popular resistance,” although at the conference...
With the ongoing struggle against the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic and societal consequences dominating the headlines in Israel, a public opinion survey conducted by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in August 2020 found that the public was less worried about security threats than threats to healthcare and the economy. Recently, however, the Gaza Strip has reminded Israel that the security threats still exist. The significant security escalation in the Gaza arena in recent weeks is liable to develop into a...
On Thursday, August 13, 2020, the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a joint official announcement that Israel and UAE would embark on a political process that will culminate in the full normalization of relations. The announcement stated that delegations from Israel and the UAE will meet to reach agreement in various areas in order to build substantive relations. There are various possible motives behind the dramatic step of the UAE, given the changes in its strategic environment.
The normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, announced with much fanfare on August 13, 2020, comes at a time when the Palestinian camp is at one of its weakest strategic points since its establishment. Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials responded with a mixture of outrage and frustration, and the PA has clearly lost an important asset – its veto power over normalization between Israel and the Arab world. However, precisely in these circumstances, Israel would do well to adopt a broad, supportive...
On August 13, 2020, a significant breakthrough between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was announced on the road to the establishment of full relations. The agreement, under the auspices of the United States, is an important reinforcement for the moderate pragmatic camp in the region against Iran and both Shiite and Sunni radicals. Vis-à-vis the Palestinians, the agreement removes the issue of unilateral annexation from the agenda, and improves opening conditions for negotiations and a future arrangement.
In January 2020, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) hosted its 13th Annual International Conference. Entitled “Strategic Assessment for Israel: A Look at the Coming Decade,” the conference included discussions, simulations, and lectures on strategic issues important to Israel’s national security. The conference was attended by decision makers, opinion leaders, and leading researchers from Israel and abroad. We invite you to read the digital version of the booklet that summarizes the conference...
Israel’s process of annexing West Bank territory has restored the Palestinian issue to center stage, after Jerusalem succeeded over the past decade in pushing the issue to the margins of the regional and international agendas. The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conducted a war game to examine the ramifications of Israel’s application of sovereignty over territories in the West Bank. In the scenario, following the Israeli government’s decision to apply sovereignty in limited scope to settlement blocs in the Jerusalem...
Since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, the political future of this territory has cast a shadow over all other issues in Israel’s relations with Europe. Discord with the EU intensifies particularly when the Israeli-Palestinian political process stalls, even when Israel is not necessarily to blame, and when Israeli settlement activity in the region increases. Large or small-scale Israeli annexation of territory in the West Bank will elicit negative responses from Europe, deepening the divide between Israel’s senior political...
Debates are currently underway in Arab countries regarding Israel’s possible application of sovereignty in parts of the West Bank. In an exceptional manner, even if not unprecedented, prominent figures from the Gulf states have made a public and direct appeal to the Israeli public. Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States; and Nawaf Obaid, an academic and former advisor to the Saudi government presented the position of their respective...
On June 9, 2020, in a majority decision of eight justices against the single dissenting view of Justice Sohlberg, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the Regularization Law is unconstitutional and is therefore to be annulled. The ruling was anticipated, as the law was formulated in an overly general manner and approved despite the opposition of Israel’s Attorney General. The Court’s ruling precludes the sweeping regulation of illegal construction in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but leaves open the possibility of resolving...
