Middle East Task Force: Publications, Events and More

With a weak and divided leadership amongst the Palestinians, a new right wing government in Israel, and recurring political instability throughout the broader Middle East, the salience of different types of Islamist groups on regional and international politics is not likely to be on the wane anytime soon. Policy wonks and diplomats in Europe and the United States continue to debate how to respond to the continued successes of such groups.

Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington DC, joins Martin Savidge to discuss Mitchell’s time in North Africa, his support for a two-state solution and his scheduled meeting with Palestinian leaders on Friday.

President Obama's special peace envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, is just wrapping up his latest visit to the Middle East. It's his third trip since being appointed and this time in addition to Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt, included Saudi Arabia and North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria), with an emphasis on a comprehensive regional peace, building on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. (Mitchell has yet to visit Damascus or Beirut, something unlikely to take place until after… more

"The White House knew it was open to that interpretation," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator with the New America Foundation. It was, of course, Erdogan who also carried out a two-year mediation between Netanyahu’s predecessor, ...

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli official now at the New America Foundation think tank in Washington, said that Obama's reference to the US-hosted Annapolis conference was also a form of "push back" against the new Israeli government. ...

There's a reason no one has ever accused Israeli leaders of being shy. When U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Sen. George Mitchell as his envoy on Middle East peace, he made a point of saying that a two-state solution was the best way to safeguard U.S. interests and secure Israel's future. And yesterday in Jerusalem, as the new Israeli government took office, the new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, began making his counterpoints.

Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, who served on Israeli peace delegations in 1995 and 2001 and also as an adviser to Prime Minister Barak, said that Netanyahu “may have huge coalition problems, not least within his own Likud ...

Daniel Levy is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative at The Century Foundation and a Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Initiative at the New America Foundation. He was interviewed this afternoon by James Zogby ...

Daniel Levy, who has been an advisor to the Israeli government and is now director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, joins Martin Savdige to discuss how the coalition was formed, what concessions were made to Ehud Barak and ...

"The interesting twist in this is that Lieberman sees himself as one of the country's future leaders," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. "He wants to show he can handle Israel's ...

Daniel Levy and Amjad Atallah had some interesting observations on the Israeli-Palestinian issue this morning at the New America Foundation's fabulous new downtown offices, during a conversation hosted by Steve Clemons. ...

... a Netanyahu-Lieberman lineup might offer some indirect benefits to the Obama administration, several pro-Israel activists said this week. “It might give the administration something to push against,” said Daniel Levy, director of the Prospects for ...

Washington, DC -- On March 5th, the New America Foundation hosted an event featuring Congressmen Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Brian Baird (D-WA), who called for the immediate opening of the crossings into Gaza.Showcasing a video of conversations they had with Gazan civilians, the lawmakers emphasized opening the crossings was necessary for both security purposes (Gazan and Israeli) and desperate humanitarian conditions that need to be addressed forthwith.

...  Daniel Levy, former adviser in the office of Israeli in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, shows clearly where the wrong choices were made: withdrawing from Gaza without co-ordinating the "what next" with the Palestinians; hermetically sealing off Hamas and besieging Gaza after the 2006 elections instead of testing Hamas's capacity to govern responsibly; instead of building on the ceasefire, Israel was the first to break it on 4 November. In short, there were other alternatives....

On March 5th, the New America Foundation hosted an event featuring Congressmen Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Brian Baird (D-WA), who discussed their recent trip to Gaza.

Amjad Atallah, an analyst at the New America Foundation think tank, said Obama's broad approach to the region is better than that of former president George W. Bush who dealt with one issue at a time and created a "disaster" with each.

Amjad Atallah, the co-director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the future of relations with Syria and other issues examined during Clinton’s visit. Clinton’s deliberate handshake with ...

A sense of the absurd hovers over the current negotiations to form a new governing coalition in Israel. After previously serving in governments together, Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas are belatedly discovering that they might just be incompatible. Having secured a clear mandate for a government composed of right, ultra-right and religious-right partners, Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be distinctly unenthusiastic about such a prospect. While Tzipi Livni's principal stance seems principled rather than absurd, it too contains an element of the unreal.

Clinton will also see defence minister Ehud Barak of the Labour Party. "Given the situation in local politics on the ground, she has to be in a listening mode," said Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington. Continued...

But even if the bulk of the money goes to Gaza, it will do little good unless Israel first opens the border crossing into the territory, said Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a research organization in Washington. ...