At the end of April, Israel marks its 75th anniversary with major questions about its internal coherence and changing regional dynamics that are lessening the clout of Israel’s longtime protector, the United States. How will Israel cope with these challenges? What do they mean for the rights of Israeli citizens and Palestinians? How might US policy toward Israel change and what new players might arise? Join for a discussion with a panel of experts on Israel’s trajectory as a democracy and the regional landscape.
Featured Speakers
Jeremy Ben-Ami, President, J Street
Jeremy Ben-Ami is the President of J Street, bringing deep experience in American politics, a strong belief in diplomacy and a commitment to the state of Israel. He has been at the center of the evolving debate around Israel and foreign policy and was one of the leading advocates in the successful campaign to secure congressional approval for the Iran nuclear agreement. He has worked on numerous campaigns and served in the White House as an adviser to President Bill Clinton.
Mairav Zonszein, Israel-American journalist and senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group
Mairav is an Israeli-American journalist and commentator who has covered Israeli politics and U.S. foreign policy for over a decade. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Columbia Journalism Review, and more. She is a founding editor of +972 Magazine and currently serves as senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group.
Yousef Munayyer, Non-resident Senior Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC
A non-resident Senior Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, Yousef Munayyer writes on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He also serves as a member of the editorial committee of the Journal of Palestine Studies and was previously Executive Director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Some of his published articles can be found in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, Journal of Palestine Studies, Middle East Policy, and others.
Dina Esfandiary, Senior Advisor in the Middle East and North Africa department of the International Crisis Group
Dr. Dina Esfandiary is Senior Advisor in the Middle East and North Africa department of the International Crisis Group. Previously, she was a Fellow at The Century Foundation, a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and an Adjunct Fellow in the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Middle East Program. She has also worked at the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London and at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Moderator
Barbara Slavin, Distinguished Fellow, Stimson Center
Barbara Slavin is a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University. Prior to joining Stimson, she founded and directed the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council and led a bi-partisan task force on Iran. The author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to Confrontation (2007), she is a regular commentator on US foreign policy and Iran on NPR, PBS and C-Span.