Israel

Earlier this week, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert announced that Israel would release “many Palestinian prisoners” once captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is released. Some policymakers believe this prisoner exchange might strengthen Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and improve Israeli relations with the Palestinians. According to official information, there are

Rumors of a newly formed Palestinian unity government have been ubiquitous in recent weeks, yet Hamas and Fatah appear to be closer than ever to reaching an agreement. Their unity talks survived even the tragic killing of twenty Palestinian civilians on November 8 in Beit Hanun, an incident that would

On November 7, 2006, Dvorah Chen, Christopher Hamilton, and Michael Taxay addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Ms. Chen, a visiting Ira Weiner fellow at the Institute, was director of security matters and special affairs in the Israeli state attorney’s office from 1996 to 2004, where she led the

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert will be the first foreign leader to meet President George W. Bush after the U.S. midterm elections. Olmert’s trip to Washington is part of a prescheduled visit to address the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Los Angeles. When the two leaders meet at the

On October 16, 2006, Ehud Yaari addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Mr. Yaari is an Israel-based Lafer international fellow with the Institute and an associate editor of the Jerusalem Report. The following is a contemporaneous article in which Mr. Yaari summarized the content of his remarks. It originally

Virtually alone among peoples of the world, Arabs appear to have won a free pass when it comes to denying or minimizing the Holocaust. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has declared to his supporters that “Jews invented the legend of the Holocaust.” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad recently told an interviewer that

The question of whether Israel is or is not an asset to the United States is one we rarely bother to ask ourselves. Time and again, we see prominent Americans -- presidents of the United States at the forefront -- emphasizing their special relationship with Israel. In polls of American

Dennis Ross reviews Ariel Sharon: A Life, a new biography by Nir Hefez and Gadi Bloom. The review originally appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of the journal Democracy. As Israeli journalists Nir Hefez and Gadi Bloom ask in the beginning of their new book, Ariel Sharon: A Life, will

On September 16, 2006, Uzi Arad, Uzi Dayan, and Ephraim Sneh addressed The Washington Institute's annual Weinberg Founders Conference. Mr. Arad is former head of research for Israel's foreign intelligence service, the Mossad. General Dayan is former head of Israel's National Security Council. Dr. Sneh is former deputy defense minister