Zoom Event | 

The Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative (MGSDII) invites you to a special panel discussion with leading Israeli academics on today’s announcement, “No to Annexation and Yes to Normalization.”

The agreement that Israel would normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and drop its plans to annex parts of the West Bank was a surprise in a region that seems stuck. Is the Arab World stepping away from its position to not negotiate with Israel until the “Palestinian Issue” is resolved? Does this portend a change in the status of relations with other Arab countries? Is it because of Iran, economics, COVID-19, oil?

Join the MGSDII for a special, up-to-the minute briefing on the strategic implications, the psychology behind the news, and what we should be looking for as the parties prepare to sign on the dotted line.

RSVP by emailing Mitchell@mgsdii.org

The Panel will Feature Esteemed Israeli Academics:

Meir Litvak is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University and an Associate Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern and African History. He is the former Director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Tamar Arieli is a senior lecturer at Tel Hai College in Israel and a former MGSDII Visiting Israeli scholar as San Diego State University. Her main research interests are in spatial planning and policy. Her work focuses on border regions, on regional-based developmental strategies of local governments, and on the potential of local and cross-border cooperation between neighboring communities.

Uzi Rabi is the Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and  a senior researcher at the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is a former Visiting Israeli scholar as San Diego State University.

Yossi Shain is head of Tel Aviv University’s School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs and professor emeritus of government at Georgetown University. His latest book, The Israeli Century and the Israelization of Judaism (in Hebrew), is currently a bestseller in Israel. It will be published in the United States in 2020.