Research Library

This paper, published by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, examines obstacles faced by those in Israeli society who promote long-term solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In separate papers, two Baker Institute fellows — one Palestinian, the other Israeli — provide their perspectives on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

King Abdullah announced that Jordan will not renew the annex to the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty that created special governing areas in Naharayim and Zofar. Gilead Sher, the Brochstein Fellow in Middle East Peace and Security, and Mor Ben-Kalifa explore this decision and the conditions that led to it in The Institute for National Security Studies: https://bit.ly/2Pvag58

At a time when ideas to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be highly speculative, this report attempts to objectively analyze and present the two major options for a negotiated peace and to explain the consequences for both of the parties involved and the international community.

In this brief, the authors explain why Israeli-Palestinian negotiations failed in 2013, and outline the elements necessary to relaunch the talks and reach a durable Israeli-Palestinian peace based on the two-state solution.

Despite right-wing pushes for the annexation of a significant portion of the West Bank, support remains for a two-state solution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yair Hirschfeld, fellow in the Center for the Middle East, analyzes Israel's political environment in this post on the Baker Institute Blog.

In the current absence of direct negotiations, the Obama administration has an opportunity to reshape the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating framework, according to a report by the Conflict Resolution Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The report recommends that the administration continue to demonstrate strong U.S. support for the two-state model, test the willingness of the parties to compromise and adopt a more comprehensive approach to resolving the conflict with the support of the international community.

What strategy should the U.S. pursue in confronting ISIL and addressing the broader challenges of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen, stability in the Persian Gulf, and the ever-present Israeli-Palestinian dispute? Leadership and engagement play a part, of course, but they must be subservient to a U.S. strategy whose objective is to protect and, if possible, advance our core interests in the region.

This report reviews the key concepts and themes that emerged from the conference “Divided Societies, Volatile States: The Politics of Identity Post-Arab Spring,” hosted by the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East on March 10, 2015.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in the March 17 Israeli elections proved one thing: He is a politician of the very highest order. His party, Likud, won and — by the standards of recent Israeli elections — won big. This is in many ways a personal triumph for Netanyahu, who is already Israel’s second-longest serving prime minister. But what will Netanyahu’s triumph mean for U.S.-Israeli relations?