- Edwin Black
- Paper No. 1253
Jerusalem Post editor Yaakov Katz probably had no way of knowing that this would be the perfect time to release a book detailing Israel’s mission to wipe out Syrian nuclear power. Or did he?
Perspectives Papers
Perspectives Papers provide analysis from BESA Center research associates and other outside experts on the most important issues pertaining to Israel and the Middle East.
- Dr. Tsilla Hershco
- Paper No. 1252
Veterans of the Jewish Resistance in France participated in the rescue of tens of thousands of Jews during WWII. They provided emissaries from the Land of Israel with vital infrastructure for clandestine Zionist activities in France, including money, manpower, forged documents, accommodation, and contacts among the French authorities. In July-August 1947, they were significantly involved in the dramatic story of the Exodus 1947, the ship full of Holocaust survivors turned back by the British. It is regrettable that their contribution to the creation of the State of Israel is almost entirely absent from the collective memory.
- Dr. Alex Joffe
- Paper No. 1251
A corruption scandal involving sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation against whistleblowers, and lots of business-class travel has gripped the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It represents a new low for UNRWA and is an indictment of the idea of an international agency dedicated to a single interest. But it's also a unique opportunity to see behind the curtain of a billion-dollar UN bureaucracy and phase it out.
- Yaakov Lappin
- Paper No. 1250
Israel's shadow war in Syria is based on the strategic objective of convincing the Islamic Republic that its investment in a war machine is going to waste. Iran has so far chosen to weather the strikes and shift tactics without abandoning its Syria project.
- Dr. Alex Joffe
- Paper No. 1249
An original analysis of the global distribution of BDS Internet searches revealed disproportionate interest in countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, and Sweden, as well as in coastal US states with large academic institutions. In the former regions there are few Jews and little contact with Israel, while in the latter, there are many Jews but proportionately fewer Christian supporters of Israel. A simple explanation for these patterns is that BDS interest correlates with post-Christian contexts in which Jews are relatively absent, or with “white” class anxiety emanating from academia. In the US, growing negativity about Israel in liberal Western communities is likely a class-based transfer of anxiety regarding ”white privilege” onto Israel and Jews.
- Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
- Paper No. 1248
Dissent inside the British Labour Party has increased following the recent broadcast of a BBC Panorama documentary on antisemitism within the party’s ranks. One-third of Labour members of the House of Lords published an advertisement attacking Corbyn’s position on antisemitism. A great majority of Labour staff members accepted a motion against the party leadership’s attitude toward employees. As many of Corbyn’s opponents prefer to fight the ineffectiveness of Labour leadership on the antisemitism problem rather than leave the party, this internal battle is unlikely to go away any time soon.
- Irina Tsukerman
- Paper No. 1247
Post-Bashir Sudan is being proclaimed a new “Arab Spring” by many who failed to grasp the meaning of the first. And just as occurred the first time, the failure to distinguish among interests and actors is hindering understanding of the movement.
- Dr. Max Singer
- Paper No. 1246
It is usually wiser to work for a solution to a conflict than try to achieve victory. But in some conflicts, the objectives of the two parties are so mutually exclusive that the conflict can only end when one defeats the other. Israel’s goal is survival; the Palestinian goal is the elimination of Israel. Peace requires that the Palestinians give up that goal, which they have had for nearly a century. They won’t do so until they understand that they have no chance of succeeding.
- Dr. Alon Levkowitz
- Paper No. 1245
The June 30, 2019 meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at Panmunjom, the border between North and South Korea, reignited negotiations between North Korea and the US on the Singapore agreement. The gap between Washington and Pyongyang remains huge. The negotiation team will have to find new ways to weave together North Korea's Yongbyon offer and Washington’s demand for full disarmament.
- Dr. James M. Dorsey
- Paper No. 1244
A UAE decision to withdraw the bulk of its forces from Yemen shines a spotlight on hard realities underlying Middle Eastern geopolitics. The pullback suggests that the UAE is preparing for the possibility of a US military confrontation with Iran in which the UAE and Saudi Arabia could emerge as prime battlegrounds. It also reflects long-standing subtle differences in the approaches of Saudi Arabia and the UAE toward Yemen.