Middle East Task Force: Publications, Events and More
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"A lot depends on how long this current conflict continues," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator now at Washington's New America Foundation. ...
For Israel, too, much is at stake. It's no fun to live in a Somalia, and no picnic either being its next-door neighbor. Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the ...
The problem in Israel, said former Israeli adviser Daniel Levy, is that the nation's voters are still largely driven by fear, whereas Obama's election was a ...
The problem in Israel, said former Israeli adviser Daniel Levy, is that the nation's voters are still largely driven by fear, whereas Obama's election was a ...
The discussion about Lebanon was focused on a soon to be
published essay by Nicholas Noe entitled “Re-Imagining the Lebanon Track: Toward a New US Policy.”
Noe, founder and editor-in-chief of the Beirut-based translation news service www.mideastwire.com, argued that a major
fault in U.S. policy toward Lebanon
has been the lack of nuanced and strategic understanding of Hezbollah and the
"People are increasingly going for the maximalist version," says Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation. What changed? Since the recent Lebanon war, ...
"This next administration may well be the last administration that could realistically pursue a two-state solution," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli ...
Naomi Chazan, President of the New Israel Fund, spoke with
emotional sincerity and occasional humor about the future of the peace process.
Her main focus and argument was that the current domestic political situation
within Israel
works against an eventual peace agreement between either the Israelis and the
Palestinians or the Israelis and the broader Arab world. Citing the potential
election of Benyamin Netanyahu as Israeli Prime Minister and the politically
divisive nature of Israeli elections, Ms. Chazan believed that even if peace
... the maximalist version," says Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at Washington's New America Foundation. What changed? To start, Israel has begun to recognize ...
No one should be surprised that president-elect
Barack Obama's first press conference, three days after his historic
November 4th victory, was devoted almost exclusively to the economy.
Obama was also quick to remind reporters that there is only one
president at a time, and his turn does not begin until January 20.
While domestic challenges will dominate his agenda, a not-insignificant
list of Middle East crises will confront America's 44th president as
well. Here are four of the more urgent issues in which Israel has a
keen interest,… more
On the campaign trail, Republican supporters continue to hammer away
at what they say is Obama’s naiveté on the subject, claiming he wants
to “sit down and have dinner” with Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
That’s a “red herring,” said Daniel Levy, director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative of the Century Foundation. “Substantively, the Bush administration has
come closer to accepting the basic Obama position -- which is
engagement.”
The same pressures that pushed the Bush administration to soften its
policy of diplomatic isolation on Iran… more
Part of the move to reexamine Syria policy is also to lay the groundwork for the next administration, either led by Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama.
"They want to get involved now so that it does not look like a reversal," said Syria expert Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.
"The time was right a long, long time ago to do this ... the policy of isolation has not worked," he added. LINK
This week Foreign Exchange features a look at potential Israeli prime minister, Tzipi Livni, with Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation. LINK to video
If Tzipi Livni becomes Israel's next
prime minister, she will bring to that office a belief in the urgency of
reaching an extensive, two-state solution with the Palestinians. This in itself
distinguishes Livni from her two main rivals. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu
disputes the very framework of two viable, independent states, while Labor
leader Ehud Barak parts ways on how pressing the need is to get there.
Livni will inherit the Annapolis
peace process -- and that is where her problems begin. Annapolis is… more
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert handed in his
resignation. Israel’s
Foreign Minister and the newly elected leader of the Kadima party, Tzipi Livni,
has now been formally given the mandate by Israeli President Shimon Peres to
build a governing coalition and thereby become prime minister. Olmert has faced
ongoing corruption investigations, but the cloudy circumstances did not prevent
him from leaving on a playful note. In convening the cabinet to inform them of
his resignation, Olmert explained that there were a number of items… more
Jessica Montell, the executive director of B’Tselem, an Israeli NGO dedicated to rectifying what it recognizes as human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, spoke at the New America Foundation in conjunction with the opening of a satellite office in Washington.
The organization seeks to provide credible information on claims of abuse in the Palestinian territories, in part by distributing cameras in the West Bank and Gaza. The group was awarded the Carter-Menil Award for… more
DANIEL LEVY, POLITICAL ANALYST: Tzipi Livni as prime minister on the
Palestinian track: Livni has been the head of the negotiation team with
the Palestinians. What we can say is that Tzipi Livni is certainly not
averse to negotiating with Palestinian leadership, not averse to
conducting serious negotiations, not averse to showing flexibility on
core issues. But we don't yet know if she can continue to travel to the
place where you could actually strike a workable two-state solution.
She is unequivocally in support of a two-state… more
Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has
just won a primary election for the leadership of the governing Kadima party.
Livni will now try to form a governing coalition. Daniel
Levy discusses the political process in Israel in the
weeks ahead, the coalition vs. election options and what a Livni premiership
might mean for regional issues. Daniel Levy is a senior fellow and director… more