Podcasts

Nearly ten days into Operation Guardian of the Walls, Dr. Sarah Feuer sat down with INSS colleagues Dr. Kobi Michael, Col. (ret.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, and Dr. Meir Elran to discuss the current state of affairs – from Hamas’s aims and Israel’s achievements in Gaza, to Israel’s battle for legitimacy in the international arena, to the causes and potential consequences of unrest between Israeli Jews and Arabs.

A decade after a series of uprisings swept across the Arab world, what do citizens in these countries think about prospects for democracy, reform, and change? How come the Arab monarchies emerged from the regional upheaval in more stable condition than their republican counterparts, and to what extent did public opinion play a role? How do citizens in Arab countries view Israel? Dr. Sarah Feuer, INSS research fellow, sat down to discuss these and related questions with Dr. David Pollock, senior fellow at the Washington Institute and the author of “The Arab Spring Turns 10, Through the Prism of Public Opinion,” featured in the current volume of INSS’ flagship journal, Strategic Assessment.

In December Morocco became the fourth Arab state in four months to reach an agreement with Israel (after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan) under US auspices. While this is a welcome development, seeing as Israelis can (and do!) regularly travel to Morocco, despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations between the states, what change can the new agreement be expected to deliver? What are the gains and what is the price that the deal combines for stakeholders? How is it being perceived internationally, regionally and locally? And given Morocco’s King Mohamed VI role in establishing and chairing the Al-Quds Committee of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) can we expect to see active Moroccan involvement in future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the core issue of Jerusalem? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the conversation between two INSS Research Fellows, as Dr. Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky interviews Dr. Sarah Feuer.

INSS Deputy Director Itai Brun hosts a special podcast following the update of the Institute’s strategic assessment for 2020, in the wake of both the coronavirus pandemic and the establishment of Israel’s new government after more than a year of political deadlock. INSS Managing Director Udi Dekel, together with INSS researchers Sima Shine, Assaf Orion, Orna Mizrahi, Meir Elran, Sarah Feuer, and Carmit Valensi provide a comprehensive review on the international system and the Middle East, which have been rocked by the virus, and will offer their recommendations to the new government.

As corona continues to dominate the headlines in Israel, INSS Deputy Director for Research Brig. Gen (ret.) Itai Brun talks with Dr. Sarah Feuer about the impact of the pandemic across the Middle East and the implications for Israel. How are individual states across the region coping with the outbreak? What regional trends are emerging as a result of the virus? And what potential scenarios could Israel encounter as corona leaves its mark on the Middle East?

In recent weeks, the protests sweeping across Iraq and Lebanon have led observers of the Middle East to surmise that the region may be experiencing a second Arab Spring. Indeed, the unrest in Lebanon and Iraq comes on the heels of protests in Egypt and Jordan earlier this fall, and joins a protest movement in Algeria that has continued since February. What lies behind the latest round of social unrest? How do the protests in Iraq and Lebanon compare to one another, and to protests in North Africa? And what distinguishes the latest wave of demonstrations from the 2011 uprisings? INSS research fellows Dr. Sarah Feuer and Orit Perlov sit down to discuss the significance of the current upheaval, possible trajectories moving forward, and implications for Israel.

Some eight years after what came to be known in Israel as the regional “upheaval,” and elsewhere as “the Arab Spring,” Brig. Gen. (ret.) Itai Brun and Dr. Sarah Feuer sit down to discuss the political contours of the Middle East and North Africa today. Drawing on a recent article written with INSS Neubauer research associate Itay Haiminis, they offer a framework of competing hypotheses for understanding the current state of affairs across the region, and demonstrate the framework’s utility in assessing unfolding developments in Libya and Algeria. They close with a discussion of the policy dilemmas and choices Israel has confronted in light of the region’s unrest.

Approaching the 8th anniversary of the uprisings that swept the region in what came to be known as the “Arab Spring,” INSS research fellows Sarah Feuer and Orit Perlov sit down to take stock and review key elements of the region’s current political, security, and economic landscapes. Surveying developments in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, Feuer and Perlov highlight noteworthy trends in the arenas of women’s rights, electoral politics, and political Islam across the Middle East and North Africa. The researchers conclude by discussing some of the implications of the Arab Spring for Israel, addressing new threats and opportunities emerging from the tumult of 2011.

In our first program, Ambassador Dan Shapiro and Dr. Sarah Feuer sit down to discuss Israel’s Evolving Security Challenges and Relations with the United States -Recent moves on the part of the Trump Administration implicating the Israeli-Palestinian arena, and the strengths and potential vulnerabilities of the U.S.-Israel relationship moving forward. How likely is a deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and how might such a deal affect Israel’s relationship with Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. How is Israel assessing the northern broader threat from Iran, both in terms of its potential nuclear capabilities and its destabilizing activities throughout the region? In the Israeli-Palestinian arena, how does the current American administration’s approach differ from those of its predecessors and what are the prospects for a breakthrough in the event the Trump White House unveils a new peace plan? Finally, to what extent might a decline in support for Israel among certain key American constituencies, and a decreased American involvement in the Middle East, affect the U.S.-Israel relationship in the near to medium term?