PBS Newshour (December 2012)
American Task Force on Palestine's Ghaith al-Omari and Washington Institute for Near East Policy's David Makovsky
are interviewed about Israeli settlements and whether a two-state solution is possible when both sides assume the
worst of the other's actions. (8:02) Watch >
S. Daniel Abraham Center / Dahaf (December, 2012)
Finds that roughly two thirds of Israelis would support a peace agreement establishing a demilitarized Palestinian
state based on the 1967 borders, Israel's retention of major settlement blocs and a division of Jerusalem. Also
finds support for this position from majorities of voters in the right-wing parties of Likud-Beiteinu and Habayit
Hayehudi PDF >
The Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development / PIPA / CISSM (2012)
Authoritative survey of the Israeli public that includes findings regarding the Palestinian issue (page 12). Finds
that a majority of Israelis say that they are ready to accept the Arab Peace Initiative as the basis for
negotiation, whereby Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders and a peace agreement is established with all Arab
states. PDF >
Council on Foreign Relations (November 2012)
Features basic information about Hamas, including its origins, beliefs, leaders, operations, terrorist attacks,
goals, and perception among Palestinians. Read More >
November 21, 2012
Text of the agreement between Israel and Hamas negotiated by Egypt that brought an end to the 2012 Israeli military
campaign in Gaza. Outlines the parameters of the ceasefire as well as its implementation mechanism. Read Document >
CNN / ORC (November 16-18, 2012)
Finds that 59% of Americans say their
sympathies lie more with Israel, as opposed to just 13% who say their sympathies are more with the Palestinians.
Also shows that 57% of Americans believe Israel justified in "taking military action against Hamas and the
Palestinians in the area known as Gaza", while only 25% feel it is unjustified. PDF >
Daniel C. Kurtzer (Ed.) | Palgrave Macmillan (2012)
Book Review (Americans for
Peace Now) | CampusBooks
The Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development / The Program on International Policy
Attitudes (October 8, 2012)
Among other findings, shows that two-thirds of Americans
continue to express the view that the Arab-Israeli conflict is a "top five issue" in regard to its importance to
U.S. foreign policy. Also shows that a plurality want the U.S. to maintain its current level of diplomatic activity
in the Middle East. PDF >
B'Tselem (October 2012)
Examines the ramifications of the Separation Barrier on nearby Palestinian communities, ten years after its
construction commenced. The report details and critiques the permit regime instituted by Israel in what is known as
the "Seam Zone," West Bank lands on the "Israeli" side of the barrier. Read More >
Attacks Reflect Zig-Zag Line of Settlement Enterprise
It is tempting to impute retroactive intentionality to yesterday's events. As Gershom Gorenberg felicitously puts it, we mistakenly assume "that if things turned out a certain way, someone planned it that way." Looking back now, it may seem a foregone conclusion that Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank (and in Golan, too) was from the beginning an evil design, intended to encroach on Palestinian rights rather than to solve immediate problems. But the effort to draw a straight line of intentionality from then to now obscures more than it clarifies.
It is tempting to impute retroactive intentionality to yesterday's events. As Gershom Gorenberg felicitously puts it, we mistakenly assume "that if things turned out a certain way, someone planned it that way." Looking back now, it may seem a foregone conclusion that Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank (and in Golan, too) was from the beginning an evil design, intended to encroach on Palestinian rights rather than to solve immediate problems. But the effort to draw a straight line of intentionality from then to now obscures more than it clarifies.