روابط عرب و اسرائیل

In this new Policy Focus, David Pollock analyzes a significant transition in PA messaging, both governmental and in the Palestinian street, that has taken place during the past two years.

Normalization negotiations seem closer than ever to conclusion and should be encouraged, but significant differences remain, especially on Gaza, Hamas, and Egypt, and they will likely prevent a return to past bilateral intimacy.

April 8, 2016 Language plays a key role in the lives – and deaths – of humans. Great speeches have stirred many nations and religions into terrible wars. Conversely, language has also given voice to peace talks and anti-violence rallies. In other words, it has consistently been a mutable force

If Washington and other parties hope to enshrine the contours of future peacemaking through a Security Council resolution, they will need to overcome numerous obstacles relating to Palestinian politics, regional priorities, and America's diminished standing in the region.

March 3, 2016 As a professor of politics, I see violent extremism as a disease, and those infected with it suffer from what I call ‘empathy deficiency.’ Violent extremists in Palestine and Israel are infected with this disease; they look at their opponents and see ghosts ready to be eliminated

Until Fatah settles its own internal power struggle, appointing a PA vice president will remain nothing but an idea divorced from political reality.

Even with the low price of oil and natural gas, there are ample business and policy reasons for exploiting Israel's reserves quickly, so Netanyahu is pushing ahead despite ongoing political constraints.

The PA should have the courage to tell the public that its security services did assist Israel in apprehending terrorists, and that they will do so again on the religious ground that the Quran forbids the killing of innocents.

Hamas has long sought to stymie Egyptian control over the peninsula and keep its weapons smuggling routes open, but its latest opportunistic gamble on local jihadists carries wider dangers that should be nipped in the bud by sponsors Turkey and Qatar.