Arab and Iranian Responses to the Capitol Hill Riot

The Arab street and social media responded to the riot on Capitol Hill in Washington with a combination of gloating and appreciation for the relative restraint shown by American law enforcement in suppressing the violence. The regime in Tehran expressed satisfaction at the chaos while leaving an opening for improved relations with the incoming US administration.

Debating Yad Vashem

BESA Center
January 18, 2021
Paper No. 1891

The recent attempt by PM Netanyahu to appoint former IDF general and cabinet minister Effi Eitam as chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center has stirred a heated public debate about the Center’s depiction of the Holocaust in recent years and its implications.

After Coronavirus, Governments Must Promote Health, Empathy, and Solidarity

Governments need to start planning for the post-coronavirus era. This will have to include more components than economic and social policies. Populations have to be given renewed hope for the future. Empathy, human warmth, and solidarity will be needed to support those whose lives were made more difficult by the pandemic. This will require the involvement of as many civil actors as possible.

The Future of Settlement in Israel

Having embraced a market-economy approach, the Israel Land Authority is blocking the growth of Jewish residence in, and control of, most parts of the country that are beyond the densely populated cities of the coastal plain.

The Interests Behind the Saudi-Qatar Rapprochement

Behind the ending of the dispute between the two Gulf States stands an intense fear of Iran as well as American pressure to renew diplomatic ties. Israel must bear in mind that ties with the Gulf States are not etched in stone.

Jared Kushner: Unsung Hero of the “New Middle East”

Jared Kushner, son-in-law and Middle east envoy of outgoing US president Donald Trump, was instrumental in ushering in the peace agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, and recently mediated an end to the three-year conflict between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

What Will Happen When Khamenei Dies?

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is 81 years old and reportedly in declining health. The question of the succession will be decided by the regime’s Assembly of Experts, who will choose the new Supreme Leader following Khamenei’s death. Six individuals have emerged as possible successors.

Are There Now Memory Communities in Holocaust Discourse?

The controversy around the identity of Yad Vashem’s directorate chairman seems to suggest that Holocaust discourse is now deteriorating into polemical argument. For decades, the Israeli collective memory in the military and security domain has been fraught with disagreement over language, narrative, and interpretation of the past. It is to be hoped that the State of Israel, which is supposed to play a key role in preventing the politicization of the memory of the Holocaust, will not instead participate in that trend.

Biden’s Approach to the Indo-Pacific

While the new US president is likely to reverse many of Donald Trump’s foreign policy decisions, one area likely to remain untouched is the US approach to the Indo-Pacific region. Joe Biden will push for a reinvigorated set of alliances and building of confidence in US power among China’s neighbors. The nascent Trumpian Indo-Pacific strategy will take final shape under Biden.

How Israel Is Adapting to the Growing Threat of Terror Armies

The Israeli defense establishment is playing a central role in the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic while also carrying out its many daily security missions. Yet at the same time, it is in the middle of an intense race against time. The goal of this race is to adapt to the growing threats posed to the country’s home front, and to strategic targets such as ports and power plants, from the terror armies located on Israel’s doorstep—threats that will remain long after Israel is able to place the pandemic behind it.

Perspectives Papers