Homeland Security Portal
Israeli Strategy and Security
The National Security Aspect of Fighting Terror – The Israeli Experience
Israel’s long experience of fighting terror has led to an understanding that terror is a strategy that presents a significant threat to Israel’s national security, even if most of the time it appears as a low-intensity action with limited damage and impact. This understanding was adopted gradually, after a long period of time, during which Israel acted against the threat as if it were a strategic threat but tried to convince itself that it was not. For many years, especially as long as the conventional military threat from Arab armies loomed over its survival, Israel referred to terror as a lesser menace and used the euphemistic term “current security threat” to conceptualize it. Read More »
Cyber Terror and Security
The challenge of dealing with the terror threats on the Internet is becoming more complicated, as the quantity of data grows exponentially and as the terrorists make effective use of the cyber dimension for a wide variety of purposes. They take advantage of the Internet’s wide reach, its complexity, the ability to use it without being identified, the emphasis by its mega-corporate operators on protecting privacy and free speech, its reliability, and its commitment to facilitate secrecy so that secured communications will be guaranteed for everybody. Read More »
The Curious State Department Announcement on Israeli Settlements
A brief review of recent State Department statements would indicate that the State Department appears to be utterly and disproportionately fixated with Israel’s settlements, to the exclusion of any other issue that could be bothering the world’s largest and only super-power. Read More »
The Post-Brexit Future of European-Israeli Relations
Britain’s exit, or Brexit, from the European Union is first and foremost a severe British domestic problem that its leaders alone must solve with diligence and as soon as possible. However, Europe as a whole is slowly regaining its composure, and it looks unlikely to change its Middle East policies as a result. Israel must prepare itself accordingly. Read More »
After the Israel-Turkey Agreement, Turkey and Hamas Will Still Collaborate
Turkey’s actions during the reconciliation negotiations with Israel showed its continued good relations with Hamas as well as its continued snubbing of the Palestinian Authority. Read More »
The Internal Palestinian Fight for Jerusalem
East Jerusalem, despite being linked with both Israel and the West Bank, has developed an independent political system. The main public activity in East Jerusalem occurs at the plaza of the mosques on the Temple Mount where the Islamic movements are the dynamic political forces. Both regional powers and Islamic movements vie for control of the plaza and the city’s Arab population. Read More »
The Two States in the West Bank and Gaza Annul the Two-State Solution
In the face of increased Palestinian pressure at the UN Security Council and other diplomatic arenas, Israel is being increasingly pressured to acquiesce to a hastily implemented Two-State Solution. However, this has become increasingly problematic, with the existence of two Palestinian states making these diplomatic drives irrelevant. Read More »
The Delusion of Separation from the Palestinians
The Israeli center-left is slowly sobering-up from the dream of a Palestinian partner. Although many of its leaders and thinkers have already recognized the fact that there is no partner for real peace, they continue to blame Israel for the dead-end the diplomatic process has reached. Read More »
Have the Palestinians Renounced the Peace Process?
The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad Malki, recently stated that the Palestinians “will never go back and sit again in direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.” Many would brush aside such a statement as another example of routine Palestinian bravado and propaganda. In fact, Malki’s announcement must be taken with the utmost seriousness. Read More »
France’s Ultimatum to Israel – Legally Flawed and Politically Imprudent
This ultimatum undermines the Oslo accords (which it witnessed) and jumps to conclusions on issues which must be settled through negotiation. Read More »
Fatah, with Mahmoud Abbas at the Helm, Confirms the Confrontation Strategy toward Israel
The Fatah Central Committee gave its backing to a strategy that combines the terror intifada with diplomatic and legal moves in the international arena aimed at achieving recognition of the state of Palestine as well as an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders with no political quid pro quo from the Palestinians. Read More »
Outlawing the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel
On November 17, 2015, Israel’s security cabinet resolved to declare the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel as an illegal organization. This means that any entity or person belonging to this organization henceforth, as well as any person or group providing financial and other services, or acting on its behalf, will be committing a criminal offense and subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years. It will also be possible to seize all property belonging to the organization. Read More »
Do the Palestinians Want Two States?
The former head of Palestinian General Intelligence, Tawfik Tirawi, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, told an interviewer on the PA's official TV channel that the Palestinians have waged an ongoing struggle to liberate their land ever since the Balfour Declaration, 98 years ago. This is the context in which to regard the current wave of terror attacks. Just as many Zionists now recognize the Palestinian people's right to a nation-state in its land in the framework of the permanent settlement, so long as it does not constitute a threat to Israel's security, so must the Palestinians be required to recognize the Jewish people's right to a (democratic) nation-state in the land of its forefathers. The only possible solution is that of two states for two peoples with mutual recognition. The idea has not died; it simply has not yet been born because the Palestinians, and the Europeans who support them, refuse to allow its birth. Read More »
Introduction
This book, which deals with the future of Jerusalem, was first published seven years ago with the title The Dangers of Division. After a wave of extreme Palestinian violence that centered on Jerusalem, it was rewritten in 2015, considerably expanded, and updated with data, facts, analyses, and conclusions. Read More »
The Disintegration of Syria and Its Impact on Israel
Syria's fragmentation into separate, battling enclaves is intensifying. The two main enclaves are "central Syria," controlled by the Assad regime, and the Islamic State. The nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers has boosted Iran's capacity to support the Assad regime. Iran and Hizbullah's attempts to create a base for terror activity against Israel from the northern Golan Heights continue, relying on released terrorist Samir Kuntar and Druze elements. Read More »