“ Most of the arguments that Iran is a threat to Israel center around Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s anti-Semitism and holocaust denial. But he does not make Iranian foreign policy, Khameini does.”

Azeem Ibrahim, a research fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program, wrote “Why Israel is Safer (from Iran) Than it Might Seem,” which the Huffington Post published on November 20, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://www.belfercenter.org/publication/19735/

“The importance of the Goldstone Report was captured in Goldstone’s statement to the UN Human Rights Council, in which he stressed that pursuing justice for all is critical for ensuring accountability, which in turn is vital for ending impunity in the use of violence against civilians.”

Rami Khouri, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center’s Dubai Initiative and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and the American University of Beirut, wrote “The Need for Israeli Lawfulness and Accountability,” which Agence Global released on November 2, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=2180

“Israel, the United States, and others who voted against the report’s adoption by the UNHRC last week missed the opportunity to bring the rule of law and impartial juridical accountability to bear upon the apparently criminal actions of both Arabs and Israelis — precisely the sort of action we need to shift from senseless and endless war to conflict resolution based on the rights of all concerned.”

Rami Khouri, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center’s Dubai Initiative and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and the American University of Beirut, wrote “The Wisdom of Judge Goldstone,” which Agence Global released on October 21, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=2167

“Those Jewish Americans, who share a deep concern for Israel’s trials and travails, have the right, even the duty, to express their criticism within the Jewish community, the public at large, pretty much anywhere — except before the administration and Congress. There, we have to present one voice — not ‘pro’ every Israeli policy, but united, unswerving support for Israel and a strong US-Israel relationship.”

Chuck Freilich, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program, wrote “AIPAC, J Street, or JDate?” which the Jerusalem Post published on October 12, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://belfercenter.org/publication/19632/

“There’s no option for an American invasion now – we don’t have the forces and there would be no public support for that.  There is, at least in theory, the option of air strikes by the United States conceivably, also by Israel.  But those don’t solve the nuclear problem, they just delay it for a few years.”

Stephen Walt, faculty chair of the Belfer Center’s International Security Program and a member of the Center’s board of directors, was interviewed on WGBH’s “Greater Boston with Emily Rooney” on September 30, 2009.

For the full interview, go to: http://www.wgbh.org/greater_boston/index.cfm#

“I suspect that peace among Palestinians and Israelis will not be achieved by the trio of Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas. It is not clear, though, which one of them will depart the scene. They are all vulnerable.”

Rami Khouri, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center’s Dubai Initiative and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and the American University of Beirut, wrote “Souvenir Photo at the UN,” which Agence Global released on September 23, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=2140

“This situation is a tragedy in the making between peoples who have known more than their share. Unless Obama summons the will and skill to break the logjam, a two-state solution will become impossible and those who yearn for peace will be even worse off than before.’”

Stephen Walt, a member of the Belfer Center’s board of directors, wrote “Settling for Failure in the Middle East,” which the Washington Post published on September 20, 2009.

For the full article, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/18/AR2009091801146.html
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“The half-full glass is the Obama administration’s decision to replace the planned deployment of missile defenses in Eastern Europe with ‘a reconfigured system aimed more at intercepting short-and medium-range Iranian missiles.’”

Walt also wrote “Foreign Policy: One and a Half Moments of Sanity,” which NPR published on September 18, 2009.

For full oped go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112955012

US to host Netanyahu-Abbas talks
Aljazeera.net
September 21
Quoted: Chuck Freilich, Belfer Center
Topic: Upcoming three-way talks among Israel, Palestine, and the U.S.

The US president is to host three-way talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday, the White House has announced. …

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli national security adviser currently with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, told Al Jazeera that the Palestinians’ demand for a total end to all settlement building was ultimately impossible.

“The demand that there be a total and complete Israeli freeze not only in the West Bank as a whole, but including Jerusalem, was an unrealistic demand,” he said.

“No Israeli prime minister could have agreed to that.”

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“The greatest and saddest of ironies is that Israel turned a blind eye to the growth of Hamas in the 1980s, when it saw it as a means of weakening Yasser Arafat’s Fateh movement. Today, Israel has reversed position, by giving special permission for theFateh delegates from throughout the region to enter occupied Bethlehem in order to attend the Fateh congress, as it tries to support Fateh in order to weaken Hamas. Neither strategy will work…”

Rami Khouri, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center’s Dubai Initiative and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and the American University of Beirut, wrote “Perpetual and Collective Failures,” which Agence Global released on August 12, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=2096

“Not surprisingly, an American-Israeli disagreement on Israel’s settlements in occupied Arab lands materialized quickly, and may well expand into a full-blown showdown. The United States says it is making equal demands of Arabs and Israelis. But Israel and its zealot-like allies and proxies in the United States argue that Washington is putting undue pressure on Israel alone.”

Rami Khouri, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center’s Dubai Initiative and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and the American University of Beirut, wrote “A Pro-Israel Panic,” which Agence Global released on August 10, 2009.

For the full oped, go to: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19507/