Palestinians

Operation Cast Lead, initiated in response to resumed Hamas rocket attacks on communities in southern Israel, represents Israel's most furious attack on Hamas since the terrorist group assumed control of Gaza. For the past six months, an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire maintained an uneasy status quo, during which time Hamas smuggled some

Israel's current Gaza operation represents the strongest attack on Hamas since summer 2006, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are creating the conditions for broader military action. Although it is unclear how far the IDF will take the current operation, its attacks are already posing a significant challenge to Hamas

This timely collection of brief essays urges the Obama administration to follow three clear guidelines in Arab-Israeli diplomacy. First, do not overreach for a full agreement right away, but launch an effective U.S. peacemaking role -- active, yet patient and incremental. Second, outflank Hamas. This means maintaining the perfectly valid

On December 10, 2008, Walter B. Slocombe, J. D. Crouch II, and Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs (Ret.) addressed a Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to launch a new strategic report entitled Security First: U.S. Priorities in Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking. Mr. Slocombe, currently an attorney at Caplin & Drysdale, served

This Washington Institute Strategic Report argues that the Obama administration should focus its early efforts in the Middle East peace process on expanding and improving the U.S.-led program to train Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces so that they are willing and able to fight terrorism. Security First: U.S. Priorities in

By Matthew Levitt A federal appeals court in Chicago today upheld a $156 million judgment against several Palestinian charities accused of funding Hamas. A full history of the Boim case, covered extensively on this blog, is available here. In an earlier appeal, the original judgment against the defendants was overruled

Thirteen years after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli security officials are expressing heightened concern that a new wave of violent extremism among fringe elements in the Jewish settler movement threatens not only Palestinian civilians, but also Israeli national security and the future of any potential peace diplomacy

Last week, Israeli forces entered Gaza, destroyed an underground border tunnel, and battled Hamas fighters, leaving several militants dead. In response, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired around eighty rockets into southern Israel, including the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Despite this breach of the tahdiya, or ceasefire, both Hamas and

On September 23, 2008, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Giora Eiland and Ambassador Martin Indyk addressed a Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. General Eiland is former head of the Israeli National Security Council and currently a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Ambassador Indyk