Peace Process

The PA’s weakening grip over its territory, coupled with the rise of a young generation frustrated with their political leaders, has helped accelerate the vicious cycle of Palestinian attacks and IDF crackdowns.

Reversing the dangerous trends in Palestinian domestic dynamics is a complicated undertaking, but failure to address these issues will ultimately hobble any diplomatic and security understandings reached on West Bank de-escalation.

Approval for contacts with Israelis remained steady through 2022, even as hesitancy on Abraham Accords continued.

Conversations with key officials and close reading of the coalition agreement that produced Israel’s new government indicate that the two allies need to confer closely and clearly to avoid public blowups over Jerusalem holy sites, West Bank settlements, and other hot-button issues.

Although Palestinian and Kurdish politics have similarly deteriorated into ineffective blame games, fresh U.S. policies focused on institution-building could restore the promise of progress in both cases.

As Prime Minister, MbS won't throw out the Arab Peace Initiative altogether, but he will likely reframe it.

Appointing senior ministers who incite against Arabs would undermine the shared values that buttress the bilateral relationship while giving fuel to Israel’s critics in Washington.

Pollsters are finding little movement between the two main camps, though the dramatic rise of a new hard-right party has many observers on edge.

Watch an expert forum on the new realities of the Middle East and Israel's strategic position amid deepening ties with Arab countries, Iran's regional ambitions, Palestinian political crisis, and renewed great-power competition.