The INSS 12th annual international conference addressed the web of challenges and opportunities Israel faces at the start of 2019. As in previous years, we chose strategic issues from the different spheres – domestic, regional, and international – that make up Israel’s strategic reality, and examine these individually and in context of one another. Continuing a trend from our previous conferences, we approached Israel’s national security priorities critically from a variety of perspectives.
According to the report presented by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) established by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the use of force surrounding the events at the Gaza fence, there are reasonable grounds to believe that in the vast majority of cases the use of live ammunition by Israeli soldiers against the demonstrators was unlawful and may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. The report claims that the demonstrations were civilian in nature, had clearly stated political aims, and despite some...
In late January 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided not to renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH). It is unclear what prompted the Prime Minister to reach the decision, although reportedly Hebron’s Jewish population pressured the Prime Minister to terminate the TIPH mandate, and the forthcoming April elections also likely influenced the decision. While it is too early to assess the implications of the decision not to extend the TIPH mandate, concern was expressed by international...
The development of internet use raises serious questions about a person’s right to privacy and the duty of companies to safeguard the confidentiality of information they possess. In practice, too many events have occurred in which confidential information leaks out of the companies responsible for safeguarding it; such information is sometimes even sold to criminals. In the face of these abuses, the western legal system and regulatory agencies have been forced to deal extensively with this seemingly new issue in recent years. Yet, we...
International law is applicable to cyberspace. There is international consensus that the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force, applies to cyberspace. There is, nonetheless, some disagreement on what would constitute an armed attack in cyberspace, and consequently, what response would be permitted. Actions that do not amount to attack may still be prohibited by international law, for example if they constitute interference in the domestic affairs of states.
Various measures taken under the current government are perceived by part of the public as threatening the robustness of Israeli democracy. These include the Basic Law: Israel – the Nation State of the Jewish People; the Judea and Samaria Settlement Regularization Law; the so-called “Loyalty in Culture” bill; the bill on the override clause; and attacks on the Supreme Court and human rights organizations. On the other hand, some argue that Israeli democracy is stronger than ever, and that those mourning the state of Israeli democracy...
In December 2018, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) published her annual report on the preliminary examinations conducted by her office. The examination of “the situation in Palestine” includes an examination of alleged crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since June 2014, by all the parties involved – Israelis and Palestinians. The current report indicates a number of development. First, events in Gaza examined include alleged crimes committed during the Great...
The Six Day War, which broke out on the morning of June 5, 1967, was a formative event that changed the face of the State of Israel and, to a large extent, the entire Middle East. Prior to the war, Israel had been under existential threat and in six days, the Israel Defense Forces succeeded in removing the threat by achieving a decisive military victory and positioning Israel as a significant force in the region. This victory was accompanied by new complexities, and fifty years after the war, some of its implications still remain as...
The amendment to the Entry into Israel Law enacted in March 2017 prohibits issuing an entry visa or residency permit to foreigners actively involved in promoting the boycott of Israel. The amended legislation was intended to equip the State of Israel with an effective tool for fighting the BDS movement, and after it was passed, Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority issued criteria for its enforcement. The Lara Alqasem affair offers a test case for assessing the cost-benefit ratio of the amended legislation, and provides a...
Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky | Amir Prager | Shahar Eilam
The discussion surrounding the Nation State Law has sparked a heated debate in Israeli society. One side claims that the law is a proper and necessary legislative anchor for the national character of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, against those who seek to deny the Jewish people’s right to a national home in its homeland. The other side argues that this is discriminatory legislation, which undermines the democratic nature of the State of Israel. In reviewing the Nation State Law, it is important to consider...
The combined attack by the United States, Britain, and France on Syrian targets following the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons has sparked extensive debate on the strike’s strategic aspects, and how, if at all, the offensive will affect the situation and the balance of power in Syria. The attack has also aroused a legal discussion, which once again highlights the limitations of the existing rules of international law when it comes to dealing with situations where the use of force is not based on the authorization of the...
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...
