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...
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...
The “application of sovereignty” is a euphemism for the unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank. This move would thoroughly upset the current state of affairs and change the rules of the game in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that Israel is now presented with what is perhaps a one-time opportunity to change the reality in the conflict arena: “Until today, Israel has always been the one that had to concede, to give, to freeze, and to withdraw…Now President Trump has said that it is...
Tension and rivalries within the Sunni camp are a defining aspect of the Middle East. The Sunni states are divided in part according to their respective levels of support for different shades of political Islam. In addition, Sunni states contest for status and influence in the region, and this rivalry also necessarily involves economic interests. The tension is reflected in the ongoing siege against Qatar, in the support of rival parties in the civil war in Libya, and in the competition over control of strategic locations along the...
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reacted to the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the swearing-in of the new government regarding the intention to annex territory in the West Bank with a declaration of disengagement from all agreements between the PLO and Israel and the United States, including the Oslo Accords and other subsequent agreements. The instruction to halt security coordination with Israel was given to the Palestinian working echelons, but was accompanied by a directive, also from...
The IDF withdrawal from Lebanon 20 years ago and the renewed deployment along the UN-recognized international border was a unilateral move by Israel, welcomed by the international community. By contrast, the application of Israeli sovereignty over territory in the West Bank, also a unilateral move, will be the annexation of disputed territory between Israel and the Palestinians, and there is a broad consensus among leading international elements of its illegality. Three critical parameters of Israel’s exit from Lebanon may shed light...
The Palestinian Authority’s efficient and rapid response to the coronavirus outbreak underscored the Gordian knot tying it to Israel in matters of geography, economy, civilian affairs, security, and health. Israel’s new government would do well to recognize this, and consider the PA’s stable and effective performance as a critical component of Israeli national security. The ability of the PA to advance economic growth in the West Bank is a central component of this Israeli interest.
The global, regional, and internal implications of the coronavirus are still not fully clear, but Israel’s 35th government will have no 100-day grace period. It must quickly restore the economy to full activity, despite the presence of the virus and the possibility of a renewed outbreak. On the security level, all the regimes in the Middle East are busy with the pandemic and internal affairs, and will most likely seek to avoid escalation in conflicts with Israel. At the same time, the risk of unplanned escalation (in Syria,...
