At a critical juncture marked by both turmoil and opportunity in the Middle East, what does the future hold for Israel? In the aftermath of Israel’s recent national elections, Israel’s fifth round in less than four years, it is critical to assess Israel’s domestic political landscape, in addition to the future direction of policies in security, trade, and foreign relations. Will there be more of the same under the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu or a radical upending of the status quo? Do the recent election results signal a seismic change in the voting patterns of the Israeli public, seeing as the Left collapsed and the Right has become dominant? What are the ramifications of the likely new government led by Mr. Netanyahu on relations with neighbours and those further afield? How can the UK encourage and promote the further success of the Abraham Accords?

While Israel’s recent election has garnered much attention, there is still much that is little understood in the West about the future direction of the Israeli state and society. The inner dynamics of the politics of alliance-making as well as Jerusalem’s foreign policy priorities have important implications for the wider region.

To explore these issues, The Henry Jackson Society is delighted to invite you to join the panel discussion on Israel’s political trajectory, both at home and abroad.

Zvi Yehezkeli is an Israeli television journalist and documentarian. He is an Arab affairs correspondent and head of the Arab desk at Israeli News 13, the news division of Israel 13.
He holds a Master’s degree in Middle East History, as well as graduating in Media and Journalism at the Koteret school of journalism. Yehezkeli, whose parents immigrated to Israel from Iraq, is regarded as one of Israel’s leading experts on Arab affairs.

After decades reporting on the Palestinian Authority, in 2012 Yehezkeli starred in an undercover television documentary series, “Allah Islam,” purportedly exposing the real European Islam and Muslims of Europe. In 2016-2017, Yehezkeli went undercover again under a variety of Arab aliases to investigate the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in Europe. This resulted in a 5-part series BeZehut Beduya (Under a False Identity) which aired on Channel 10 in February 2018.

Dr Gadi Yishayahu holds a PhD in the study of crises in the Department of International Politics at the University of London (City). He previously worked in the field of crisis management in the Office of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Deloitte Economic Consulting Services, and as a senior associate in a commercial law firm in Tel-Aviv. His research focuses on the foreign policy of Israel, contemporary Foreign Policy Crises and their implications on the discipline of crisis management.

Dr Burcu Ozcelik holds a PhD in Politics and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and subsequently held the prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the Department of Politics and International Studies where she taught Conflict, Peacebuilding, and the Politics of the Middle East.

Dr Ozcelik’s research primarily focuses on the international relations of the Middle East, non-state armed actors and peacebuilding. She has extensive experience with Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Israel.

Prior to joining HJS, Dr Ozcelik was an associate fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and has previously worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkey and in civil society, focusing on democracy and human rights. In addition to her scholarly articles, Dr Ozcelik’s research has been widely published in journals including War on the Rocks, The National Interest, Foreign Affairs, New Lines Magazine, Middle East Eye, the Royal United Services Institute and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Dr Ozcelik also acted as contributing editor of The politics of race and racialisation in the Middle East (Routledge 2022) and authored An Analysis of Seyla Benhabib’s The Rights of Others: Aliens, Residents and Citizens (Routledge and Macat 2017).

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EVENT SUMMARY

The Henry Jackson Society was pleased to welcome Zvi Yehezkeli and Dr Gadi Yishayahu for a discussion on the landscape of Israel’s domestic politics, the impacts of Netanyahu’s re-election and Israel’s foreign relations. Dr Burcu Ozcelik began by introducing the speakers. Zvi Yehezkeli then described how a civil war emerged due to conflicting religious identities after Hamas launched 2 missiles towards Jerusalem, whilst referencing the events of May 2021 and exploring the lack of security in Israel. He then explained how donations which are meant to aid Palestinians will likely be received by Hamas, who also unknowingly to many, fund certain “human rights” organisations. Burcu Ozcelik continued by highlighting that in the post-election, new reality in Israel, there is a concern there will be more open backlash against the Abraham Accords, before Zvi Yehezkeli emphasised their significance and explored how Arab countries are having to now confront the violence occurring after children being educated to hate Jewish civilians. Moreover, he explained that he is not expecting to see dramatic change under Netanyahu’s leadership and highlighted the day of the event as being the 35^th anniversary of Hamas. After touching upon recent events in Iran, Zvi Yehezkeli then voiced that Qatar is the biggest sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood. Following this, Turkish -Israeli relations were discussed and Dr Gadi Yishayahu stated that the mutual interests between the nations are so strong and embedded that he has positive hopes for the future.