Israel Policy Forum

Israel Policy Forum is an American Jewish organization that works to promote a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict though advocacy, education, and policy research.[1][2] The organization works with American policymakers,[3] Jewish communal institutions,[4] and a network of young professionals[5] in support of this goal. Israel Policy Forum staff produce research and analysis for publication on the organization's website[6][7] and have also written for outlets including The New York Times,[8] Foreign Policy,[9] Foreign Affairs,[10] Haaretz,[11] The Forward,[12] JTA.[13] The organization was founded in 1993.[14]

Israel Policy Forum
FoundersRobert K. Lifton, Yizhak Rabin
Type501(c)(3) organization
90-0653286
FocusArab–Israeli conflict
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Location
Area served
 Israel /  USA
MethodPolicy
Executive Director
David A. Halperin
Susie Gelman
Key people
Charles Bronfman(Board)
Alan Solow (Board)
Robert Sugarman (Board)
S. Daniel Abraham (Advisory Council)
Robert Lifton (Board)
 Haim Saban (Advisory Council)
Ronald Lauder (Advisory Council)
E. Robert Goodkind (Board)

The organization's Chair is Susie Gelman and its Executive Director is David A. Halperin.[15]

Mission

The stated mission of Israel Policy Forum is to shape the discourse and mobilize support among American Jewish leaders and U.S. policymakers for the realization of a viable two-state solution.[16] Israel Policy Forum believes that a two-state solution to the conflict will "safeguard Israel’s security and future as a Jewish and democratic state."[1]

History

Israel Policy Forum was founded in 1993. In 1997, it absorbed Project Nishma, a Washington-based organization that specialized in mobilizing Israeli military authorities who argued that the peace process was in Israel's security interests.[17]

Israel Policy Forum trains advocates to promote a peaceful resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through educational programs. Israel Policy Forum holds an annual Leadership Event to support key figures who promote peacemaking efforts. Previous speakers at the Leadership Event include President Bill Clinton,[18] Vice President Al Gore,[19] Senator Joseph Biden,[20] Prime Minister Ehud Barak,[21] then-Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert[22] and Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon.[23]

During the Clinton Administration, Israel Policy Forum served as a base of influential American Jewish support for the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, and President Clinton publicly announced the "Clinton Parameters" at an Israel Policy Forum event in his last address on the subject before leaving office.

In the wake of the violence of the second intifada, Israel Policy Forum garnered broad support for the Gaza disengagement plan as a step toward renewed Israeli–Palestinian negotiations and hosted Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a landmark speech that signaled his forthcoming political transformation. Israel Policy Forum subsequently delivered policy recommendations endorsed by top diplomats to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in support of the Arab Peace Initiative and the Annapolis international peace conference.

More recently, Israel Policy Forum has convened hundreds of community leaders across the political, denominational, and generational spectrums behind timely messages that have expressed concern about unfettered Israeli settlement activity, opposition to Palestinian incitement and violence, and support for American efforts to bring the parties to negotiate an historic compromise.

Today, Israel Policy Forum's analysis, commentary and educational initiatives are providing essential background and information to community leaders and policy makers with regard to how Israel's security can be enhanced while preserving and advancing the goal of a lasting two-state solution.[24]

Activities

Israel Policy Forum's work is focused though a number of projects.

Two-State Security

Israel Policy Forum's Two-State Security project is an in-depth educational initiative and interactive web resource that thoroughly examines Israel’s security needs in the pursuit of a two-state solution.

Israel Policy Exchange

Israel Policy Forum's Israel Policy Exchange is an outlet featuring written commentary and analysis from the organization's in-house experts on Israeli politics and society, Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, and the US-Israel relationship.

Briefings

Israel Policy Forum convenes Jewish leaders, legislators, and the media and provides timely resources, information, commentary, and analysis.

Koplow Column

Israel Policy Forum Policy Director Michael Koplow’s weekly Column provides nuanced commentary on Israel, peacemaking, and the American Jewish community.

IPF Atid

IPF Atid ("Atid" is Hebrew for "future") is Israel Policy Forum's national young professionals network, with branches in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Launched in 2017, IPF Atid's inaugural program featured Grant Rumley of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Amir Tibon of Haaretz for a discussion on their new book, The Last Palestinian: The Rise And Reign of Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, IPF Atid organizes briefings with policymakers and experts for supporters aged 22 to 40, including in-person meetings and video calls. Featured speakers for such programs have included Member of Knesset Ksenia Svetlova, Journalist Tal Shalev, Maj. Gen. Amnon Reshef (Ret.), Obama administration sanctions official Richard Nephew, and others. IPF Atid also launches quarterly initiatives, online educational programs offering a focused batch of content on a specific topic. Initiative subjects have included Russia in the Middle East, Palestinian leadership, and the politics of Israel's Knesset. Each initiative recruits a set of featured experts to participate in podcasts, briefing calls, and answer questions from IPF Atid supporters. Past featured experts have included Israeli authors and journalists Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez, Al-Monitor Russia-Mideast Editor Maxim Suchkov, Professor Brent E. Sasley, and others. IPF Atid is led by a national director and a group of volunteer lay leaders.[25]

Two-State Security

Israel Policy Forum's Two-State Security project is an in-depth educational initiative and interactive web resource that thoroughly examines Israel’s security needs in the pursuit of a two-state solution. The project was released in June 2016. The project consists of private and public briefings in communities nationwide as well as TwoStateSecurity.org, a unique online resource providing interactive maps and visual renderings of detailed research conducted by teams of Israeli and American former military officials.

This project derives from two unique studies published in early June, 2016. The studies, which were facilitated and coordinated by the Israel Policy Forum, were developed by the Center for a New American Security, an independent nonpartisan research institution, and Commanders for Israel’s Security,[26] a coalition of some 200 former senior members of the IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Mossad and police forces who advocate in support of a two-state solution.[27]

Security Now[28]

Israeli measures that can be taken immediately to improve the security environment – in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank—endorsed by a network of over 215 former IDF Generals and their counterparts from the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the police forces.

Security Long-Term[29]

A robust security framework in the context of a two- state agreement, developed by former American and Israeli officials from the Pentagon, State Department, IDF and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

See also

References
  1. About Israel Policy Forum Archived 2012-04-27 at the Wayback Machine at Israel Policy Forum website.
  2. "Full text: Israel Policy Forum letter urges Palestinian president to push for peace in UN speech". Haaretz. September 25, 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  3. June 4; 2020 (2020-06-04). "Rep. Ted Deutch cautions Israel against rushing on annexation before U.S. presidential election". Jewish Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-04.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "Jewish Insider's Daily Kickoff: November 16, 2018". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  5. "These young professionals still believe in the two-state solution. Are they too late?". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  6. "Israel Policy Exchange - Anaylsis and Commentary". Israel Policy Forum. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  7. "Koplow Column". Israel Policy Forum. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  8. Koplow, Michael J. (2019-09-16). "Opinion | The Oslo Accords' Last Remnants Are Under Fire. Don't Let Them Die". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  9. Gottesman, Daniel B. Shapiro, Shira Efron, Evan. "Annexation Would Threaten U.S. Military Support for Israel". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  10. Koplow, Michael J.; Sachs, Natan (2017-01-10). "Bibi's Trump Dilemma". ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  11. "With the world pre-occupied with coronavirus, Israel pushes a West Bank land grab | Opinion". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  12. HoffmanJanuary 24, Ari; 2020. "Opinion | Trump's 'peace plan' is theater of the absurd". The Forward. Retrieved 2020-06-04.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. "Netanyahu's victory means the far right in Israel is about to get a lot more powerful". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  14. Schemo, Diana J. "Barak, Addressing American Jews, Stresses Israel's Yearning for Peace". The New York Times. Accessed September 20, 2008.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2015-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "Israel Policy Forum - About". June 6, 2016.
  17. Israel Policy Forum to merge with progressive group? Archived 2014-11-08 at the Wayback Machine 10/13/2009, James Besser
  18. http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/mepp/new_prrn/research/papers/clinton.htm
  19. "Gore critical of failures to implement Wye accords". jewishsf.com.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-10-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "Barak, Addressing American Jews, Stresses Israel's Yearning for Peace". The New York Times. November 21, 1999. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2008-10-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2003-09-06. Retrieved 2008-10-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "Pro-Israel heavyweights press hard for 2 states". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  25. https://israelpolicyforum.org/atid/
  26. "Commanders for Israel's Security". Commanders for Israel's Security. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  27. "Former Israeli and US officials unveil security-based proposals for two-state solution". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  28. "Security Now - Two-State Security". Two-State Security. Archived from the original on 2016-06-12. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  29. "Security Long Term - Two-State Security". Two-State Security. Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
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