- Dr. Mordechai Chaziza
- Paper No. 1604
The successful implementation of China’s BRI strategy will largely depend on its ability to overcome the Middle East’s weighty political, economic, religious, cultural, and security problems.
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.
- Ofira Seliktar
- Paper No. 1603
Iran’s new anti-Israel legislation has banned all contact with the “Zionist enemy,” however indirect, even going so far as to criminalize the use of electronics that contain components manufactured by companies with branches in Israel. The law has also mandated the creation of a “virtual embassy” in Jerusalem to protect the Palestinians’ interests. For all its hardline posturing, the law reflects chaos within the regime.
- Dr. George N. Tzogopoulos
- Paper No. 1602
Greece, Israel, and five other countries of the Eastern Mediterranean have established the East Med Gas Forum. Turkey is not a member and is employing its own muscular approach in the region. The US would like the Forum to be more inclusive, specifically toward Ankara. Athens and Jerusalem could launch a diplomatic initiative to explore Turkey’s participation, as they have nothing to lose and much to gain from such an initiative.
- Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
- Paper No. 1601
The African public intellectual Achille Mbembe was invited to be keynote speaker at this summer’s Ruhr Triennale music Festival in Germany (canceled due to coronavirus). His invitation was questioned due to his history of making extreme antisemitic statements. Mbembe claims, falsely, that his opponents were members of the extreme right who didn’t want a black speaker. A debate has ensued in which his supporters are demanding the firing of Germany’s antisemitism commissioner, Felix Klein. The Mbembe affair is one of the most aggressive campaigns to whitewash antisemitism seen in recent years.
- Burak Bekdil
- Paper No. 1600
Turkey’s political polarization along conservative and secular lines is showing signs of being a slow-fuse time bomb. For most Turks, the domestic “political other” is not just a rival but a traitor, an enemy within—and Turks are increasingly expressing their willingness to kill or die to purge that other.
- Dr. Edy Cohen
- Paper No. 1599
The Palestinians, always quick to adapt to new circumstances, are taking full advantage of the coronavirus crisis to incite the murder of Jews.
- Dr. James M. Dorsey
- Paper No. 1598
Israel resides at the cusp of the widening US-Chinese divide, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent visit to Israel attests. Pompeo’s visit was for the express purpose of reminding Jerusalem that its dealings with Beijing jeopardize its relationship with Washington.
- Dr. Roie Yellinek
- Paper No. 1597
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently made a swift visit to Israel—his first trip overseas since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Although Iran and the application of Israeli law over parts of the West Bank were discussed, his priority was to pressure Israel to limit its economic ties to China. Two weeks later, it was announced that Hutchison Whampoa, a Chinese company, had not won the construction tender for a major Israeli desalination plant. Israel has little choice but to accede to American wishes in such matters, but it should not give up its relations with China entirely.
- Dr. Hanan Shai
- Paper No. 1596
The conquest of southern Lebanon in Operation Peace for Galilee, and Israel’s long sojourn in the area, had political and military justification. But defects in the IDF’s deployment during the operation, and later in its protracted security activity, culminated in the May 2000 hurried withdrawal that continues to this day to negatively affect Israel’s national security.
- Dr. Alex Joffe
- Paper No. 1595
New York City is the largest urban area in the US. It has the biggest economy and is the nation’s financial and cultural center. It also contains the largest single Jewish population in the world outside Israel. All those things are about to change. The twin impacts of the economic collapse created by the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing urban insurrections will intensify existing trends. People and power are moving out of New York at increasing rates. What are the implications for the US, the world order, and the global Jewish community?