The Israeli government vehemently opposes the position of the United States, the international community, and the pragmatic Arab countries, which see a revitalized Palestinian Authority as the only element able to rule the Gaza Strip following the defeat of the Hamas government. Israel’s objection has three possible ramifications: Israel will be forced to govern the Gaza Strip; there will be chaos in the Strip leading to Hamas’s renewed growth; or the United States and the international community will impose on Israel a reality of...
The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which prompted the war aimed at toppling Hamas’ governing and military capabilities in Gaza, as well as freeing the hostages, represents a strategic shift in the broader regional context, and specifically in the Palestinian landscape. This development may well offer significant, possibly historic, opportunities for both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel. In the current dynamic situation, the PA finds itself navigating a complex scenario: aligning with Hamas’ struggle while...
Although the military goals of the Swords of Iron war, as defined by the Israeli government, are clear, Israel has not presented a political idea that should be served by the fighting. As a result, there is increasing international pressure on Israel to present the political goals of the military operation. Israel should present a political plan based on the establishment of a technocratic administration in Gaza, with the support and involvement of pragmatic Arab states and the international community, and in coordination with the...
The October 7 calamity – the worst Israel has experienced in the 75 years of its existence – brings with it a strategic opportunity of historic proportions: a willingness among regional and international actors to form a coalition against Hamas and Iran and its proxies, which operate across the Middle East and beyond. However, in order to take advantage of this golden opportunity, Israel must take meaningful political and public measures, particularly regarding a political process with the Palestinians. Yet the current Israeli...
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are struggling for control of Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank. The PA contends that Area C, with agricultural land, access to Jordan, natural resources, space for infrastructures, and residential construction, should be a central and essential part of the future Palestinian state. However, the aim of the current Israeli government is to establish Israeli control over all Area C, significantly expand Israeli settlement there, and prepare the conditions for Israeli...
The Palestinian issue is expected to command a more central role in the talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel on normalization, compared to earlier assessments or expectations by the Israeli government. Three main reasons account for this: the importance of the issue for Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Arab-Muslim world; the demands that the Biden administration is expected to present to Israel to preserve the two-state option; and the understanding by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he will gain more than he...
The summit of the Palestinian factions in el-Alamein, Egypt, convened by Abu Mazen, was attended by the head of the Hamas Political Bureau and the leaders of most other factions. It was coordinated in advance with Hamas, which upon its conclusion, praised the amicable spirit and inclination toward agreement that prevailed throughout the event. In his concluding remarks, Abu Mazen announced the establishment of a follow-up committee in order to reach agreements for a reconciliation formula that would be acceptable to all, although no...
Operation Home and Garden was declared an operational success, but its effects will wear off quickly unless there is a change in the overall situation, especially regarding the balance of power in the northern West Bank. Therefore, what is needed is a complementary political move to realize the potential of cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and to create the conditions that will allow and encourage the PA to return to Jenin – primarily as an entity capable of reconstruction following the IDF operation. At the...
IDF Central Command is responsible for the ongoing campaign in a unique, complex reality in which it has both military control of territory and control over a population – an Israeli population alongside a Palestinian population with nationalist aspirations. The Command has successfully maintained control over the West Bank for the past 56 years, while aiming to preserve long-term stability through three wssential enabling principles: it is the sovereign with a systemic approach to the theater; it takes a force application approach...
At a meeting in Cairo in early June 2023, Egypt presented leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad the framework for a hudna in the Gaza Strip, i.e., a long-term ceasefire. Israel is not officially involved in the initiative, which would bring it some clear benefits, including prolonged security calm and Cairo’s willingness for deeper involvement in Gaza. These benefits are not obviated by the fact that Hamas would also benefit from the initiative, which includes plans for broader infrastructure and economic projects, providing the...
With the end of Operation Shield and Arrow – the most recent round fought between Israel and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip – talk of a hudna or an extended arrangement at the Israel-Gaza border resurfaced. The discourse is driven by the fact that as in the two previous rounds, Hamas did not take an active part. Nonetheless, is highly doubtful that Hamas’s non-intervention is an indication of its desire for quiet. More likely, it points, rather, to new understandings with the resistance front, whereby all elements can be involved,...
The efforts by settlers to relocate the illegal yeshiva in Homesh to territory defined as “state-owned land,” without going through the requisite and regulated legal process – with the approval of the Israeli government and the tacit agreement of the IDF – are testimony to the fact that the current government of the State of Israel does not feel bound by the law, at least not in the West Bank. The government prefers to undermine the rule of law, violate Israel’s commitments to the United States, and pay the price for the escalation...
