IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Israel is a powerful nation with the most advanced and capable military in the Middle East. It is the single greatest beneficiary of American military assistance, receiving $3.8 billion, some 25 percent of its defense budget, from American taxpayers each year. The security of Israel is obviously important to the United States, with missile defense programs like Iron Dome and David’s Sling as success stories.
on December 11, 2017
Videos
Two years after Israel's attack on Gaza, Palestinian families remain living in shipping containers designed as temporary shelter. Yousef Najjar and his family are still displaced after Israel destroyed his village of Khuza'a.
on July 13, 2016
Israel has destroyed US$73 million worth of European Union funded projects in Palestine over 14 years, according to a new report by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which urged the bloc to take financial action against the Israeli government. The report, titled “Squandered Aid” and obtained by Al-Jazeera Monday ahead of its release later this week, estimates the total lost EU aid money at US$73 million lost over the period 2001-2015...
on June 6, 2016
Q&As
The IMEU offers the following expert roundtable Q&A on yesterday’s meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ongoing crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, with analysts from Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.
on November 10, 2015
Reduced donor aid, war, suspension of revenue payments and ongoing restrictions by the Government of Israel have had a severe impact on the Palestinian economy. The World Bank economic report to the Ad Hoc Liaison committee (AHLC), a forum of donors to the Palestinian Authority, examines current economic trends and recommends measures and reforms to stop further deterioration.
on September 29, 2015
A complaint filed last week with the New York state attorney general by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights is casting light on the fact that an Israeli organization called Honenu has been getting a U.S. tax write-off. There is nothing alarming or unusual about that fact alone. What is of grave concern is that Honenu’s sole purpose is to defend and offer material support to Israelis accused and convicted of violent crimes against Palestinians, including murder.
on September 1, 2015
With the anniversary of Israel's war on Gaza, activists, analysts, and policymakers have been writing about the situation on the ground one year later, and how the political landscape has (or hasn't) changed. The 51-day onslaught devastated this besieged parcel of land by the Mediterranean Sea and left thousands dead, wounded, homeless, jobless, poor, and hungry.
on July 22, 2015
Contrary to Israeli claims that the Marianne was taken peacefully, this video shows that armed commandos used brutal violence against unarmed passengers aboard the Gaza-bound boat early on Monday. According to the organizers of the flotilla, 14 of the 18 civilian passengers and crew remain in Israeli custody more than two days after they were violently abducted in international waters.
on July 2, 2015
Israeli naval commandos intercepted a protest ship at sea bound for the Gaza Strip on Monday and diverted the vessel toward a port in Israel. The Israelis said no one was injured in the operation. The Swedish-registered Marianne of Gothenburg was attempting to enter Israeli-controlled waters in the Mediterranean Sea and deliver aid packages to Gaza.
on June 29, 2015