Category Archives: Israel

27Mar/25

Syria and Israel: How Jerusalem, Damascus can break the cycle and strive for peace ?

Israel, Middle East, Syria, ,

By NIR BOMS, SHADI MARTINI

Syria and Israel have the rare opportunity to reshape their relations and progress toward peace.

With only two years separating their official births, Israel and Syria have never known a time when they weren’t at odds. Since 1948, the Syrian Arab Republic participated in every major war against the State of Israel, proudly raising the flag of resistance.

Even after signing the 1974 armistice agreement, Syria aligned itself with Iran and Hezbollah, continuing its aggression against Israel through Lebanon and acting as a base for Tehran’s proxies. However, Syria reached a historic turning point on December 8 with the fall of president Bashar al-Assad’s regime and his subsequent flight to Moscow, raising critical questions about Syria’s future, domestically and in terms of regional and international relations.

The new administration in Syria quickly sought to reassure the world and its neighbors, including Israel, that it would not pursue further conflict. Instead, it sought to introduce a pragmatic agenda focused on power-sharing, minority rights, and economic development, which are critically needed in a war-torn country.

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17Apr/22

New Tensions in Israel – an Update 

Israel, Middle East, , ,

For several years now, Israel’s domestic security situation was considered relatively good, with long periods of quiet occasionally punctured by few incidents and frequent reports of air strikes against hostile targets in neighboring countries.
Military Intelligence nevertheless continued to issue strategic alerts regarding an outbreak of violence emanating from the West Bank, due either to internal Palestinian tensions or individual frustrations. Whatever the cause, the warnings were proved correct with a series of deadly attacks on civilians in major urban centers.
With fear turning to panic, Israel’s political and security leaders tried to go on the offensive, responding to the series of terror attacks with “Operation Waves Breaker,” particularly focused on the Palestinian Authority district of Jenin.
How effective can such missions be and what are the possible repercussions?
Panel:
– Amir Oren, Host; Editor at Large, Host of Watchmen Talk and Powers in Play.
– Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Project Director on Middle East Developments, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
– Dr. Nir Boms, Research Fellow, Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.
– Col. (Res.) Reuven Ben-Shalom, TV7 Powers-in-Play Panelist, Cross-Cultural Strategist and Associate at ICT, Reichman University.

25Jul/21

Israel-Gaza 2021: A moment for the emerging moderates?

Israel, Middle East, Palestinian Authority, , , , ,

The more tolerant Arab states have no incentive to support the extremist theocrats like Hamas and Hezbollah that rally for resistance rather than renaissance.by Jul 24, 2021, Newsi, South Africa

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Commons; Signing of Abraham Accords, White House, Credit: Avi Ohayon

Extremists of all types have had their debut moment in the 11 days fighting between Israel and Gaza. By launching rockets at the holy sites of Jerusalem, Hamas – the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate running the Gazan enclave – has sought to place itself at the center of Palestinian political life. Hamas’s rhetoric has also empowered extremist elements inside Israel and has spurred attacks between mobs from both Israeli Jewish and Arab communities. They lit a fire. But will it continue to burn?

This round of fighting has also gone further on social media than before. Platforms like TikTok spread incitement while proudly showing young Arab mobs attacking Jews in the middle of the street. Antisemitism levels have gone up 80% in a month. In America, the socialist wing of the Democratic party has been pushing hard to overturn the traditional moderate position of the party. Those such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, have openly spoken about the destruction of Israel.

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