IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics revealed a figure on Monday that will concern the country's nationalistic right wing: As many Muslims (6.5 million) now live alongside Jews (6.44 million) between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. But for one man in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian quagmire, that number is full of encouragement.
on March 28, 2018
President Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration is making a radical break with nearly 70 years of official United States policy and with the international community: He is recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This decision will be interpreted by Palestinians, Arabs and the rest of the world as a major provocation.
on December 7, 2017
President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel represents a major break with decades of U.S. foreign policy. It is a final, devastating blow to the prospect of a two-state solution for Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. The move involves, first, a contemptuous dismissal of Palestinians’ aspirations and rights, a denial of their claim to the city they consider their capital, where almost 400,000 of them live.
on December 7, 2017
Every time it seems Donald Trump cannot outdo himself, he does it again. Now he has announced that his administration will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing nearly seven decades of American policy. This step will have multiple negative ramifications, many impossible to predict.
on December 6, 2017
There is a small constituency in the United States that genuinely cares about the location of the American Embassy in Israel. Evangelicals and a right-wing, pro-Israel lobby were thrilled by President Trump's campaign promises to reverse decades of U.S. policy by recognizing a “united” Jerusalem as Israel's capital and shifting the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. At a speech on Wednesday, Trump is expected to outline his plans to do just that.
on December 6, 2017
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has backed legislation that would in effect annex settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories that are home to between 125,000 and 150,000 Jewish people. In comments made at a meeting of his Likud party at the large settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, Netanyahu said he would support the “Greater Jerusalem” bill.
on October 3, 2017
Fact Sheets
Prior to the conference on Israeli-Palestinian peace being convened by the French government in Paris on Sunday and the principles of a two-state framework recently laid out in a major speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry, the IMEU offers the following policy brief.
on January 11, 2017
Q&As
Following President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's final meeting at the White House, the IMEU offers the following expert Q&A with Diana Buttu, Ramallah-based political analyst and former advisor to Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian negotiators.
on September 21, 2016
Settlement watchdog Peace Now slammed the Israeli government’s approval of 800 housing units in the Maale Adumim illegal settlement bloc and in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, saying the decision endangered “both the possibility for peace and two states and the security of Israeli citizens.”
on July 4, 2016