Statement by National Security Leaders on an Israeli-Palestinian Two-State Solution and U.S. Policy USMEP | March 2nd 2018

For three decades, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization have stated their readiness to negotiate a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the goal of achieving the two-state outcome. The United States has also accepted this goal and has played a role in trying to achieve that outcome. Unfortunately, every effort has descended into mutual recrimination and the possibility of a two-state peace has slipped further away. Given the degree of disruption and destabilization in the Middle East during this new century, it is important to remember that a sustainable and mutua...

Text of speech by Daniel Levy, Russia in the Middle East Conference, Valdai Discussion Club, Moscow Session 4. Middle Eastern Settlement: An Exploded Quiet? | February 19th 2018

[Speech as prepared for delivery] What I would like to suggest is, the quiet, the manageability of the Israeli-Palestinian situation covers important dynamics below the surface and to suggest that the Trump administration could play in some way, an unintended role in accelerating those dynamics. So, I am going to look at five things:
  1. What to make of this US administration on Israel-Palestine, where is the continuity, where is the change and what is driving it?
  2. How that impacts Israeli dynamics.
  3. How that impacts Palestinian dynamics.

The Implications of President Trump’s Jerusalem PloyHenry Siegman - The National Interest | January 23rd 2018

The question whether “liberal Zionism” can survive the far right trends that now dominate Israel’s political life was raised forcefully in the New York Times by its columnist Michelle Goldberg. It was prompted by Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which Goldberg described correctly as “another nail in the coffin of ‘liberal Zionism’.” While the reactions to Trump’s initiative have not yet fully played out, much is already evident. To begin with, they have exposed the stunn...

In Memoriam: Peter Sutherland (1946 - 2018) USMEP | January 10th 2018

It is with much sadness that we note the passing of our International Board member and Senior Advisor Peter Sutherland.

Peter, who absented himself from our International Board meetings in recent years because of his long battle with cancer, made major contributions to many areas of international life. Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict was one of his major concerns.

Peter chaired one of the U.S./Middle East Project’s major projects in 2002, when we produced a study, funded by the Makhzoumi Foundation, that resulted in an important publicati...