Following the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), charged Hamas leader Ismail Haniya with the task of forming of a new government. Haniya initially tried to set up a Government of National Unity that would include Fatah, in the hope of neutralizing its opposition, but he was unable to overcome basic differences of principle. Abu Mazen also failed to persuade Hamas to draft policy guidelines that would meet the minimal demands of the...
Hamas victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council has set off a flurry of speculation about the possible implications for regional politics beyond the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Considering the longstanding historical ties between the populations of the two Banks of the Jordan River, the large Palestinian population in Jordan itself (more or less half of the total), and the fact that Jordan ruled the West Bank for nearly twenty years prior to the 1967 War, the election results might appear to have particularly negative...
On February 17, the newly-elected Palestinian parliament was sworn in. Of its 132 members, 74 belong to Hamas, and their installation marks the end of Fatah’s longstanding domination of Palestinian politics.
To the surprise of most observers, Hamas has won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections by a large majority. For the first time in almost forty years, leadership has passed, through democratic means, from those who created the national movement and have dominated it ever since, and the Palestinian political system is now entering a period of profound uncertainty.
Did the terror offensive of the second Palestinian intifada impact on Israeli national resilience, and if so, to what extent? Did this terror offensive result in changed political views of the Israeli public concerning issues related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Israel’s National Resilience suggests that the years of terror did not unseat the Israeli public’s prior attitudes and accepted patterns of behavior, nor did it puncture the majority consensus regarding the manner of confronting the Palestinians or the...
Hamas’ sweeping gains in the fourth round of the Palestinian Authority (PA) municipal elections, held on December 16, completed its evolution as the dominant faction in local politics, with significant ramifications for national Palestinian politics as well. Over 1,000,000 Palestinians now live in municipalities governed by Hamas, compared with about 700,000 in municipalities controlled by the hitherto dominant Palestinian movement, Fateh. This accomplishment may serve as a prelude to a Hamas victory, or at least a very great...
The terrorist attack in Netanya in the first week of December is but the latest in a string of suicide bombings carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) after the declaration of tahdia (temporary lull in violence) by mainstream Palestinian organizations. And it demonstrates, once again, that neutralization of the PIJ, which sees in terrorism the only course to follow, is a shared objective of Israel and the Palestinians.
This study proposes an optimal future structure of the defense industry in Israel. The authors contend that Israel would stand to gain from a merger of its defense industry companies into one large, private corporation. A merger into one or two corporations is essential in order to guarantee the independence of Israel’s defense industry, whose future competition will be primarily in the global market. This measure should accompany development of weapon systems that capitalize on Israel’s technological advantage, and the...
This study presents five policy options for Israel in its search for a solution to the Palestinian conflict: immediate negotiations towards a permanent agreement along the lines of the roadmap; expansion Israel’s sovereignty in the West Bank; a set of interim agreements until conditions ripen for an overall peace; an international presence to advance a two state solution; and unilateral disengagement. The study allows a careful comparison of different policy options and their respective ramifications.
For most of the world, the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank that began on Monday is an event whose outcome will directly affect the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When analysts and policymakers ask about “the day after,” they are generally thinking about how Israel and the Palestinians will interact with each other in the future. In fact, since the disengagement was not formulated as part of a broader strategic plan; its ultimate impact on the conflict is highly uncertain and will be...
On July 20, Fatah and Hamas agreed to end several days of fierce clashes on the streets of Gaza that had erupted following an escalation of mortar and rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel and an effort by Fatah to enforce the tahdia (relaxation of the violence) agreed to by Hamas in March.
In advance of the disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank in mid-August, Israel is attracting what will certainly be the largest foreign media presence in recent memory. Given its dissatisfaction with press coverage of other salient episodes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel is consciously attempting to avoid a similar outcome this time, particularly since it assumes that the images emanating from the withdrawal process will be inherently disturbing.
