عملية السلام

On February 23, 2004, Shimon Peres addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Current chairman of Israel's Labor Party, Mr. Peres previously served as that country's prime minister, foreign minister, and defense minister, as well as in numerous other positions during a career that has spanned six decades. For his

Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee As the prospects for even limited bilateral Israeli-Palestinian agreements have grown increasingly more remote, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has announced his intention to withdraw nearly all the Israeli settlements from the Gaza strip. It is a revolutionary move that creates the possibility of

Less than a year ago, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon rejected the idea of a unilateral pullback from Gaza, telling Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna that isolated settlements such as Netzarim were equal to Tel Aviv in his eyes. Last week, however, Sharon—a leading architect of Israel's settlement movement—declared his

Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher bravely told an audience at the American University of Kuwait recently that "we [Arab nations] have failed in taking a stand against targeting civilians in all sides, including Israeli civilians." His Jan. 13 comment is significant because it followed the "strong condemnation of terrorism in

Currently, the Gaza Strip is in a state of stagnation; it is a place where freedom does not exist and where violence and anger flourish. These circumstances have led to the emergence of Hamas as a powerful and influential alternative to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has failed to offer

On January 5, 2004, the council of Arab interior ministers concluded its twenty-first session in Tunis by renewing its "strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and sources." The question remains whether this condemnation will lead to action against Hamas, including its political leadership. The Role of Hamas's Political

In 2003, a new debate is underway about the future of Israel. The question is not about whether a grand deal with the Palestinians is possible; now the debate focuses on the political implications of current demographic trends that reflect a sharp increase in the region's Palestinian population. Within a

Yasir Arafat is the main problem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not part of the solution. Despite the developments at Oslo, Camp David, and Taba, Arafat does not really want to reach an agreement with Israel. More than three years ago, he made a strategic decision to achieve his goals through

Rarely has the reality between Israelis and Palestinians appeared to be so bleak. Terror continues unabated. The Israeli siege of the territories is tighter than ever. And, with the U.S. preoccupied with Iraq, there is no ongoing diplomacy. Israel faces the unpleasant reality that there is not a lot more