Publications on Israeli-Palestinian Relations

Israel’s current strategic situation is one of the most favorable the country has known in its 70 years of existence. Nonetheless, its margins of security are narrow, and it cannot rest on its laurels or rely on the IDF’s military power. There must be political action to promote the future of the State of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, secure, and moral state. Israel’s national security challenges are closely interrelated: to confront Iran’s ambitions to increase its regional influence, Israel must build partnerships with regional...

The recent speech by PA President Abbas before the PA Central Council did not signal any substantive change in policy, and despite the sharp rhetoric, left the door open to negotiations and refrained from endorsing proposals toward a one-state solution. At the same time, Abbas, contending that the United States has ceased to be an unbiased mediator, emphasized his clear preference that the international community lead the political process. The fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives chose not to attend the convention cast...

This memorandum relates to one of Israel’s main national security issues, namely, the charged relations between the State of Israel and its Arab- Palestinian minority. In recent years these relations have been high on the state’s political and public agenda, and the issue has become more prominent with the deterioration in the security situation since fall 2015. The current wave of violence, which began in East Jerusalem and spread to the WestBank as well as to cities within the Green Line, has also highlighted what is happening...

In the course of 2017, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conducted a research study to examine the situation in the Gaza Strip, with a focus on the prevailing political, economic, infrastructural, and security conditions, including their cumulative manifestations and their short term and long term implications. The aim of the project was to provide a knowledge base for reevaluation of Israeli policy toward the region and for an international reconstruction project. Underlying this aim is the understanding that the...

This paper reviews the evolution of US policy toward Gaza following Israel’s disengagement in 2005. It discusses the effectiveness of the current US approach toward Gaza, and analyzes the key US interests, leverage, and limitations that pertain to the Strip. Finally, based on open-source materials and off the record conversations with former US officials across administrations, experts, and NGO staff working on Gaza, the paper recommends concrete short and long term policy options for the United States in Gaza.

The foreign policy of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman – is not a good example of consistent cooperation and unity, and policy on Hamas and the Gaza Strip is no exception. In the first few years of the Arab Awakening, differences between each of the participating Gulf states grew increasingly apparent, including over the issue of support for political Islamic movements. Indeed, the focus of most Gulf states has been on internal problems, regional...

Turkey welcomed Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and the anticipated implementation of the plan was the background to the one and only visit to Israel in May 2005 by then-Turkish Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan also supported the idea of the Ankara Forum, a framework for cooperation between Turkish, Palestinian, and Israeli representatives for rebuilding the industrial zone at the Erez Crossing between Gaza and Israel. While to this day there are differing reports about who signed...

Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in June 2007 created a new reality on Egypt’s northern border, which constitutes the only border of the Gaza Strip that is not under Israeli control. Over the past decade, Egyptian interests have evolved in accordance with regional changes as well as the respective postures of the three presidents who ruled Egypt in this period: Husni Mubarak, Mohamed Morsi, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. In tandem, Hamas’s control over Gaza has incurred a range of implications for Egyptian interests at the military, political,...

With the disengagement in the summer of 2005, Israel hoped to be freed of the burden of the Gaza Strip, which today has a population of almost two million. The disengagement also sought to confront the Palestinians with the challenge of state-building and establishing a functional, responsible political entity, and to bring about a fundamental change in the nature of the ongoing conflict between the Palestinians and Israel. The effects of the disengagement, however, did not meet these expectations. Approximately half a year after the...

With a link between Gaza’s economic situation and the repeated armed clashes between Israel and Hamas, a sustainable solution to the conflict must address this economic dimension. The solution, which needs to be facilitated by international support, should be at the top of the Israeli government’s agenda before a new war erupts. This article describes briefly the key indicators of the Gaza economy and possible future developments.

This article examines the implications of Gaza’s water crisis for public health. The Strip’s water problems are inseparable from its energy woes; this linkage is addressed in greater detail elsewhere in this collection. The article first reviews the general factors that have worsened Gaza’s water crisis recently; this is followed by an overview of the current domestic water supply and state of water sanitation in Gaza. It then describes water-related risks to public health, particularly chemical and biological contamination, and...

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.