Alon Ben-Meir
Alon Ben-Meir is professor of international relations at the Center for global Affair at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiations and Middle Eastern studies.
Contact Information
Articles by Alon Ben-Meir
June 18, 2009
President Obama's push for a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict has given the Palestinians an historic opportunity to end their disastrous state of affairs. Although many parties involved in the conflict-especially the Arab states and Israel-have contributed directly or indirectly to Palestinian suffering, the Palestinians have undoubtedly inflicted the greatest injury upon themselves by forgoing numerous opportunities to make peace with dignity. With the best of intentions by the international community, and even with unwavering American and Arab support, only the Palestinians united in their purpose and committed to a peaceful solution can end their hardship and realize a state of their own. Sixty-two years of dislocation and despair can come to an end; the question is will the Palestinian leadership be able to present a united front and rise to the historic occasion?
June 01, 2009
I am departing from my usual analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict as I profoundly feel that these are neither ordinary times, nor ordinary circumstances. The challenges and opportunities that Israel faces today will undoubtedly lay the ground for its future coexistence both in the Middle East and as an ally to the West. With new US and Israeli leadership in office comes a renewed prospect to solve the old struggles, and to address once and for all the Palestinian question of statehood. Israel must wake up and heed the call of the international community, rise to the occasion and use the support it has now and its overwhelming power to make the necessary sacrifices for peace. Above all though, Israelis must look introspectively and ask themselves where they want to be in 10, 15 or 20 years from now. Do they want to live in peace with security and prosperity or do they wish to continue the struggle, which is becoming increasingly more threatening if not existential? I believe that Israel is approaching that fateful hour.
August 05, 2008
n the wake of last week's resignation announcement from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, much of the Israeli media and public have welcomed his decision to step down in September amid charges of corruption. Olmert's shortcomings notwithstanding, he was carrying the mandate of his Kadima party to pursue peace--a choice that should not be denied its grandeur or be pawned off as a last effort to distract public attention from his personal troubles.
July 14, 2008
By all accounts, the Israeli-Syrian indirect negotiations through Turkish mediation are going well, and the fact that a fourth round of talks is scheduled for the end of July suggests that both sides expect to make further progress. The reports from Damascus and Ankara, however, indicating that Syr...
May 28, 2008
Recent reports indicating that Israel and Syria are indirectly engaged in Turkish brokered peace talks suggest a major (albeit overdue) development in the Mid-East peace-making process. Since the collapse of the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations in May 2000, I have consistently been advocating the n...
March 18, 2008
The killing by Israeli undercover troops of four Palestinian militants in Bethlehem, on March 12, raises questions not as much about Israel´s right to self-defense but about the context and the circumstances under which this right is exercised. Even the right to self-defense and matters of nat...
March 11, 2008
An Egyptian brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could temporarily stop the bloodshed, and if it saves the life of one Israeli or Palestinian, is still worth the effort. But a ceasefire which is not followed by a new strategy that leads to ending hostilities permanently will only play into Ha...
March 04, 2008
Even before it begins the Arab summit scheduled for the latter part of March in Damascus, is in serious trouble; there are several political discords among Arab states as well as the region´s continuing violent conflicts. Whereas a resolution to the crisis in Lebanon over the selection of a ne...
February 18, 2008
The most acute problem facing Israeli officials today is how to end the daily Kassam rocket attacks intended to demoralize Israelis and to undermine the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel insists--rightfully--that Hamas, as the self-proclaimed authority in G...
February 11, 2008
The collapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century, leaving the United States as the sole superpower, led to the century being dubbed, "The American Century." The world looked forward to enlightened leadership, visionary policies, and a multilateral approac...
February 05, 2008
I have just returned from an extended trip to the Middle East, hoping that I would come back feeling recharged by the progress made in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, especially in the wake of the Annapolis peace conference. To my dismay, not in Israel or in Jordan or in talking to Palestinian...
November 06, 2007
The most momentous declaration that came out of the Arab world was the Arab Initiative which was re-adopted by the Arab League in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March 2007. It would be tragic to allow the Initiative to die the way it withered and died in Beirut, Lebanon, when it was first introduced by Sa...
October 17, 2007
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs which adopted a resolution calling the Armenian mass killing by Ottoman Turks genocide, has basically sat in judgment on an event that occurred 92 years ago. The question here is whether the mass killing of Armenians during the World War I era was genocide comm...
October 11, 2007
The notion that the focus of the Middle-East conference is to reach an agreement in principle between Israel and the Palestinians, and so other conflicting parties, such as Syria, are marginal to the deliberation, is fundamentally flawed. The Bush administration must quickly reassess its position re...
August 20, 2007
It appears that the Bush administration’s proposed Mid-East peace conference may not be held before November 2007 -- a relatively long time from now considering the volatility of the region, especially the ever deteriorating situation in Iraq and the deepening Fatah-Hamas conflict. Holding such a co...
August 03, 2007
As Congress debates when and how to withdraw American troops from Iraq, the most critical question for every single member to answer is: What sort of Iraq will the United States leave behind? Having torn the country to pieces, destroyed its social order and brought millions of Iraqis to the point of...
July 16, 2007
For a number of years, I have been advocating the importance of constructively engaging Syria, not only to improve the prospects for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, but to substantially contribute to the stability of the Middle East. With security conditions throughout the region deteriorating d...
June 18, 2007
Thanks to Fatah’s ineptitude and corruption, Israel’s shortsightedness, and the Bush administration’s misguided policies, Hamas is now in control of the Gaza strip, setting the stage for potentially ominous developments.
Specifically, it was Israel, seeking a counterbalance to the PLO, that gav...
June 05, 2007
Perhaps more than anything else, the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 Six Days War has shown a spotlight on the present crisis of leadership in the Middle East. Israel is now being led by a government paralyzed by self-inflicted wounds, a government that lost its compass in the wake of the war with ...
May 14, 2007
The recent conference on Iraq, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, and attended by more than 50 countries representing half of the world’s population, seems at first glance to underscore the “great interest so many countries have displayed” over the future of that torn country. But, perhaps we should lay it on...
May 01, 2007
However damning Judge Eliyaho Winograd’s report may be regarding the Prime Minister’s conduct of the second war in Lebanon, it would be far more damning and destructive for Israel if the political leaders seeking to replace Mr. Olmert lose sight of Israel’s ultimate national interests. The situation...
March 27, 2007
The Israeli government should accept the Arab initiative because it has a solemn obligation to explore any possibility, however remote, to peacefully end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel can accept the Arab initiative in principle, and as long as it negotiates in earnest, the whole world will liste...
March 22, 2007
The flurry of activity surrounding the reintroduction of the Saudi initiative at the Arab League Summit in Riyadh in late March is entirely different from the atmosphere when it was originally adopted by the Arab states during their Beirut meeting five years ago. The convergence of ominous developme...
March 12, 2007
For the U.S. representative, during the regional conference held in Bagdad on March 10, to actually sit at the same table with the Iranian and Syrian delegates represents, in itself, an important development. The next such meeting, scheduled for early April, and at the foreign minister level, offers...
February 20, 2007
Administration officials are increasingly talking about the wisdom of engaging with Syria to try to gain its support of and participation in efforts to stop the already chaotic situation in the Middle East from further deteriorating. Although it would have been wise from the first to engage with Syr...
February 14, 2007
It has been famously said that the Palestinians never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The recent meeting, hosted by Saudi King Abdullah, held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, between Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian Prime Minister, and Kh...
February 05, 2007
That Iran stands today able to challenge or even defy the United States in every sphere of American influence in the Middle East, attests to the dismal failure of the Bush administration’s policy toward it during the last six years. Feeling emboldened and unrestrained, Tehran may, however, miscalcul...
January 22, 2007
After more than six years of tragic neglect, Washington might have one last chance to push for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse. Whether there is a direct or indirect link between this century-old struggle and the violence in region, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains, for Arabs, the ...
January 16, 2007
Since President Bush unveiled his “new strategy,” the debate in the House, the Senate, and the media has centered around two main options: immediate withdrawal or escalation of the troop’s level. If either is pursued, it will precipitate an even greater disaster in Iraq than is the existing situatio...
December 11, 2006
After nearly four years of successive disasters in Iraq, which unleashed a civil war and brought the country to its knees, not to speak of the monumental American losses, there are still those dreamers, including the president, who speak of victory. Knowing what we know about the grave situation in ...
December 04, 2006
I admit that I find myself struggling to find a way or a phrase to summarize the sorry state of affairs in the Middle East in 2006; they seem to defy not only logic but the instinct to survive. How do you describe a region that has gone mad, setting itself on a self-destructive path and racing headl...
November 30, 2006
To prevent genocide in Iraq on the scale of the genocide in Rwanda between the Tutsis and the Hutus, the Bush administration must move swiftly to divide Iraq into three main self-rule entities with loose federal ties. Neither the insurgency nor the sectarian killing will end unless the Sunnis can go...
November 20, 2006
It is time for the Bush administration to disabuse itself of three myths if it wishes to find a way out of the Iraq quagmire: Contrary to what the administration believes, there will be no victory in Iraq, there will be no Western-style democracy, and Iraq is not center stage but a transit station i...
November 14, 2006
There should be no doubt that the United States has waged two Gulf wars largely, if not solely, for oil. To ensure that the Iraq war is the last Gulf war, the administration and the Democratic majority in the new Congress must work together to enact an energy-independence bill to address the roo...
November 07, 2006
Whereas the Iraq war has not achieved any of its stated objectives, it has dramatically and irreversibly changed the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East, ushering in new conflicts that may rage for decades. The war has handed Iran an historic windfall, and it has given rise to its long-histori...
November 01, 2006
Although President Bush, in his most recent press conference, provided a more somber assessment about the horrifying situation in Iraq, he still insisted that the United States can win in Iraq by remaining committed to staying the course, albeit with some tactical changes. With the civilian carnage ...
October 23, 2006
Whatever the circumstances and regardless of the Palestinians’ internal struggle, Israel must recognize that continued occupation is not only non-sustainable but insidiously eroding rather than enhancing its own national security. This is why a responsible Israeli government must develop a framework...
October 16, 2006
North Korea has finally played its trump card by testing a nuclear weapon. In doing so, it has challenged the United States, shook South Korea, deeply alarmed Japan, paid little heed to Russia, and risks humiliating China for a big reward by appearing independent and daring. Emboldened by its own ac...
October 09, 2006
The failure of Fatah and Hamas to reach an agreement on a unity government that recognizes Israel and begins to deal with the desperate needs of their people is just another in a string of failures that have come to characterize the Palestinian situation. For nearly sixty years, the Palestinians hav...
September 28, 2006
Try as it may to put the best face on it, the American intelligence agencies’ assessment of global terrorism trends is damning the Bush administration in whichever way we look at it. In many ways the report stated the obvious: The Iraq war has contributed directly to the rise of Islamic radicalism a...
September 18, 2006
For the more than two decades that I have been involved, directly and indirectly, in Middle-Eastern negotiations and, at the same time, in my research and analysis of the region’s trials, never have I witnessed such turmoil. At present, nearly every nation there is embroiled in an internal conflict...
September 08, 2006
I'm writing this column from Cairo while on an extensive visit to the Middle East. If there's a more appropriate place from where to assess the implications and repercussions of the events of 9/11 and the success or the failure of the Bush administration’s so-called war on terrorism, I d...
August 28, 2006
The failure of the Bush administration to persuade or coerce Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions for the past six years has increased the menace while decreasing the prospects for a peaceful...
August 21, 2006
The Bush administration’s strategy of treating Syria and Iran as if they are evil twins is fundamentally flawed. Although Damascus and Tehran have many common interests in a...
August 14, 2006
Regardless of how and when the guns fall silent, Israel has lost the war of perception. No matter how many Hezbollah fighters were killed, or how many Katushka rockets destroyed, or how severe the damage to the Lebanese and Hezbollah’s infrastructure, what matters in the Arab streets is that for fi...
August 07, 2006
In my last weekly article “The Missing Link,” I argued for the need to engage Syria in any future negotiations that may lead to a sustainable ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Since the reaction to my article was mixed, I thought that, given Syria’s critical importance, I should offer a more com...
August 03, 2006
There is no doubt of the urgency in negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. But, as the international debate moves into higher gear, the question is not whether a ceasefire should come as soon as possible but how to ensure that it will be sustained to prevent a reoccurrence of...
July 24, 2006
Much has been said and written in recent days about the issue of proportionality in armed conflict in the context of Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s unprovoked across-the-border attack. No cogent argument can be made for or against Israel unless we first consider the three fundamental principles of...
July 17, 2006
As the violence in the Middle East escalates, it is hard not to conclude that every player involved directly or indirectly has badly miscalculated. This conflict will not end by a restoration of the status quo ante. Israel will refuse to allow a replay of the last two weeks. This means that there m...
July 10, 2006
It has been said time and again that there is no logic or reason or rationale to the to the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This observation c...
July 07, 2006
In the search for a solution to the present impasse between Israel and Hamas, one has to establish what actually precipitated the crisis. The killing of two Israeli soldiers and the capture of Corporal Guilad Shalit in a daring attack on an Israeli military post has become a symbol of Palestinian de...
July 03, 2006
The news that Hamas and Fatah may conclude an agreement and avert not only more deadly clashes but reach a consensus on a national political agenda would be the best thing that can happen to the Palestinian people. Fed up with internal infighting, political disarray, corruption, and now, ...
July 03, 2006
In the recent U.S. Senate debate over a timeframe for troop withdrawal from Iraq, both sides of the aisle seem to have missed the point. Neither the Republicans’ “stay the course” approach nor Senator John Kerry’s proposal to establish a specific time-table addressed the reality of post-...
May 26, 2006
The decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to engage all Palestinian factions in a national dialogue to stop the present internal discord from spinning out of control and to create a coherent national policy toward Israel has not been made a minute too soon. The challenge that Mr. Abbas presented can c...
May 15, 2006
For the past five years the Bush administration has followed a failed policy toward Iran, leading to the current dangerous impasse. It is time for the administration to reassess its strategy, think out of the box, and enter into direct talks with Tehran. The goal would not simply be to defuse the pr...
May 02, 2006
Any concerted effort by the Bush administration with the support of other regional powers in the Middle East to undermine Hamas and precipitate its early collapse will be counterproductive and extremely dangerous. A better option is to persuade Hamas, for its own good, to enforce a comprehensive cea...
April 18, 2006
Iran?s success in developing enriched uranium, even if this achievement is limited in scope, obviously could have serious regional and international implications. Sadly, the failure of the Bush administration to pursue a coherent strategy toward Iran and its willy-nilly approach for the past five ye...
April 10, 2006
Tragically, the Bush administration has been engaged in a deadly game in Iraq from the day of the invasion more than three years ago. It has broken Iraq into pieces and now is trying, hopelessly, to recast it in its own image. Assisted by a healthy dose of arrogance, a combination of tragic errors, ...
April 06, 2006
The realignment of Israel’s body politics as manifested in the recent elections represents an historic watershed in Israeli politics. For the first time since 1967, a conversion of several parties, representing a majority of the Israeli electorate, supports the withdrawal from most of the West Ba...
April 03, 2006
Committing an act of terror against Israel at this particular juncture, or even condoning it, is the worst mistake Hamas can make. It is a mistake that will severely undermine its authority and shatter the ardent hope of the Palestinian majority to live in peace. Hamas must quickly rein in other mi...
March 06, 2006
For the first time, Israeli demands for ending the violence as a precondition for any progress in negotiation with the Palestinians converge with Hamas? interests in ending the violence in order to survive politically following its overwhelming victory in the recent elections. This is why Hamas will...
February 27, 2006
An open letter to Israel’s acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
In less than a month, national elections in Israel will determine which party wins a relative majority in the Knesset. I believe that the Kadima Party under your leadership will emerge victorious and you will become Prime Minister. More ...
February 21, 2006
An open letter to the Palestinian Prime Minister designate Ismail Haniya
I am addressing this letter to you because you are known to be a pragmatic man and also a believer. Use your pragmatism and belief in God to alter the dest...
February 14, 2006
Hamas’ rise to power provides the United States and Israel with a strategic opportunity to shift their attention to Israel’s northern front with Syria. Damascus’ interest in recovering the Golan Heights remains on the top of its national agenda. Syria is also in dire need of economic assistance and ...
February 06, 2006
Alon Ben-Meir has just returned from a second extensive trip in as many months to Israel, Egypt, and Palestine where he met with scores of government officials, political party leaders, academics and ordinary citizens. This is the last article in a series of three reflecting some of his findings.
...
February 01, 2006
Alon Ben-Meir has just returned from a second extensive trip in as many months to Israel, Egypt, and Palestine where he met with scores of government officials, political party leaders, academics and ordinary citizens. This article is the second in a series of three reflecting some of his findings.
...
January 30, 2006
I have just returned from a second extensive trip in as many months to Israel, Egypt, and Palestine where I met with scores of government officials, political party leaders, academics and ordinary citizens. This article and the two others that follow reflect some of my findings.
The degree to whic...
January 09, 2006
There are no words to express the sadness of millions of Israelis and people around the world on hearing of the strokes suffered by Prime Minister Sharon during this fateful time in the Middle East. Those who pinned their hopes on his vision to deliver peace and those of us who knew Sharon first-han...
December 22, 2005
As I write my final article for the year, I thought it would be appropriate to devote it to the Palestinian children who have grown up under the occupation without ever experiencing the innocence and beauty of childhood. By the time they reach their teens, these children see the world through specia...
December 12, 2005
I have just returned from a week-long trip to Israel and Palestine during which I met with many Israeli and Palestinian officials, intellectuals, and ordinary people. This article is the second in a series of articles written with the hope of shedding some new light on many conflicting issues at a t...
December 05, 2005
I have just returned from a week-long trip to Israel and Palestine during which I met with many Israeli and Palestinian officials, intellectuals, and ordinary people. This article is the first in a series of articles written with the hope of shedding some new light on many conflicting issues at a ti...
November 21, 2005
No one has a lock on patriotism. This, however, has not stopped the administration from using it as a whip to lash out at the integrity of those who disagree with its disastrous and, by now, senseless war in Iraq. Yet the truth is that those who are against or in favor of a troop withdrawal within a...
November 14, 2005
By now the world has gotten used to the fact that following every heinous terrorist attack, be it in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt or London, public officials first issue a rash of condemnations. Next come the adoption of some new security measures, terrorism “experts” appearing in the media with t...
November 07, 2005
Free elections do not constitute democracy and when they precede the building of democratic institutions, they are more likely to produce instability and upheaval, especially in countries previously governed by authoritarian regimes. This explains why the United States should first assist and enco...
October 31, 2005
While the call this past week by Iran?s President Ahmadinejad to ?wipe Israel off the map,? should not come as total surprise, it could suggest a dangerous shift in Iran?s policy toward Israel. In any case, such a grotesque breach of international conduct by Mr. Ahmadinejad adds considerably to the ...
October 26, 2005
Israel’s momentous withdrawal from Gaza and the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, while substantially reducing the level of violence in the past eight months, have not produced the hoped-for momentum to propel the peace process forward. The two parties have remained stuck, una...
August 23, 2005
NEW YORK, (UPI) -- The failure to complete the new Iraqi constitution by the Aug. 15th deadline should have been foreseen by the Bush administration. Notorious for establishing arbitrary datelines, the White House has never quite understood the social, political, religious, and traditional dynamics ...
August 13, 2005
NEW YORK, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- America's ascent to superpowerdom is one of the most significant events in history since the rise of the Roman Empire. No nation or combination of nations has a greater capacity for good and evil or exercises greater influence on other nations than does the United States to...
November 30, 1999
Since President Bush declared his intention a few months ago to convene a Middle East peace conference, experts on the region and government officials have proposed specific agenda items that should be addressed to insure its success. Key suggestions include a declaration of principle, the creation...
Articles by Alon Ben-Meir From Other Sources
June 09, 2009
published in alonben-meir.com