Memoranda

Joe Biden is reportedly one of only two US presidents to have given serious consideration to a defense treaty with Israel. A number of Israeli premiers have weighed a defense treaty over the years, primarily as a means of offsetting security concerns and public qualms regarding concessions in peace talks. Counterintuitively, perhaps, Israel’s defense establishment has long been opposed. This study analyzes the pros and cons of a bilateral defense treaty from both the Israeli and American perspectives and proposes ways of addressing...

Iran was one of the first states to formulate a national cyber strategy, including development of the necessary state institutions and technological capabilities. Today, Iran is one of the more active states in the cyber realm, near the top of the second tier of global actors. Iran’s cyber attacks have demonstrated the potential to disrupt, sabotage and even destroy civil and commercial targets, critical national infrastructure and military capabilities, and its cyber espionage and information operations have been particularly...

In recent years the technological struggle between the United States and China has intensified. Washington has increased its efforts to deny Beijing access to advanced technologies and has announced huge investments to accelerate technological research and development, in order to secure its status as the world’s strongest economic power. At the same, time, the United States is demanding that its partners join the fight and adopt a policy of restricting China’s research, development, and manufacturing capabilities in the field of...

The Campaign Between Wars (CBW) is the term given to the IDF’s significant offensive activity over the past decade. What began in 2013 as specific, targeted actions with limited objectives, developed into an extensive campaign in physical and geographical terms and was anchored in the IDF operations approach, with far-reaching strategic ramifications. CBW did indeed demonstrate advanced capabilities in intelligence and aerial action. But at the end of a decade and in view of significant changes in the region, there is a need to...

Since 2005, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has worn three hats, serving as President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), General Secretary of the PLO, and Chairman of Fatah. Along with scoring several achievements for the Palestinians during his tenure, Abbas is also accountable for a number of failures, foremost among them the split between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. The difficulty caused by this internal rift compounds the lack of progress toward the long-sought goal of an independent...

In recent years, there has been an increasing tendency to speak of the “demise of the two-state solution” and to replace it with one state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River as a solution to the Israeli−Palestinian conflict. The proponents of the one-state model claim that the two states solution is no longer feasible, given that the Green Line has been blurred and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is connected to the State of Israel by extensive Israeli settlements and activity−both military and civilian. Is the...

This report, produced by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), in collaboration with the Jewish Agency for Israel, examines and analyzes the phenomenon of contemporary antisemitism in the political discourse of five major Western European countries—Germany, France, Britain, Spain, and Ireland. The research is based on systematic mapping of public expressions of antisemitism by elected officials, over a period of one year, from late 2019 until late 2020. The findings indicate that some politicians in Western Europe—on...

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the People’s Republic of China embody the main strategic threats facing, respectively, Israel and its major power ally, the US. The relationship between both governments and their converging interests, especially in the contexts of energy and security cooperation, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and a shared vision of an alternative international order in which America exerts considerably diminished influence, pose challenges to Israel in particular. China is not only one of Israel’s top trade...

This memorandum describes the context and background of the Annapolis process of 2007—2008 for a permanent status agreement between the State of Israel and the representatives of the Palestinians—the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. The authors, who held key positions in planning, organizing, and conducting the negotiation meetings, describe the interactions and events in public and behind the scenes, in a concerted effort to depict the “golden path” between the competing interests and opposing positions of the parties to reach a...

In recent years, the northern arena has emerged as Israel’s primary military challenge. The entrenchment of the Iranian-led Shi’ite axis in Syria and Lebanon, attempts by Iran and its proxies to make inroads toward Israel’s border with Syria, and Hezbollah’s growing strength in Lebanon are all factors contributing to increased friction and cause for concern regarding the next war in the north. One thing is certain: a war on the northern front will be unlike all previous wars. as the conflict is likely to include the Lebanese arena,...

Artificial intelligence (Al) is a general name for data-based computer systems that are capable of producing knowledge and new insights through abilities, such as understanding, reasoning, and perception, which until now have been perceived as uniquely human abilities. Experts estimate that Al will change our lives beyond recognition, when it takes control of a variety of familiar actions and enables a wide range of new capabilities and applications. This technology has already affected many areas, including national security. Many...

The year 2020 marks seventy years since UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), which serves Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, began operation. Since its establishment by virtue of the mandate given to it by the UN General Assembly, UNRWA has not succeeded in bringing about the true rehabilitation of the Palestinian refugees and in reducing their number, which has risen from approximately 700,000 on the eve of the State of Israel’s...