N7 Initiative

In the wake of the Abraham Accords signed in September 2020, the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, in partnership with the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, launched the N7 Initiative to help accelerate and strengthen normalization between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries, and to drive bipartisan support in the US for normalization.

Explore n7 initiative
Israel Project

Issue Brief Dec 15, 2021

Doing it his way: How Naftali Bennett could beat the odds and wind up transforming Israel

By Shalom Lipner

Israel is experiencing the throes of growing pain. After the uninterrupted, twelve-year reign of Benjamin Netanyahu – whom many Israelis considered irreplaceable as the country’s prime minister – Israelis have a new chief. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, virtually unknown on the global stage, is moving through this uncharted territory ambitiously.
Elections Israel
Israel Project

Issue Brief Aug 30, 2021

Pitching Abraham’s tent: The human dimension of UAE-Israeli normalization

By Yoel Guzansky, Shalom Lipner, Jonathan H. Ferziger, Sarah Feuer, Tomer Fadlon, Ari Heistein, Ebtesam Al Ketbi, and Noura Al Breiki

In the past year, many have written on the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states, focusing on economic interests and emphasizing shared security interests in the region. Case studies, however, indicate that relations between countries are improved when they encompass aspects related to the lives of citizens. Incorporating an element of cultural affinity […]
Economy & Business Israel
Israel Project

Issue Brief Jul 7, 2020

Israel’s growing ties with the Arab Gulf states

By Jonathan H. Ferziger, Gawdat Bahgat

Once thought to be irreconcilable adversaries, Israel and the Gulf states have grown closer in recent years. What started as under-the-table intelligence sharing designed to counter Iran’s ambitions throughout the Middle East has morphed into greater cooperation not only on security but also on economic, political, and cultural issues.
Israel Politics & Diplomacy
Israel Project

MENASource Aug 4, 2022

Russia is forming an alliance of pariah states in the Middle East. It might put Israel in an awkward situation in Syria. 

By Ksenia Svetlova

For lack of other options, Russia is opening to Iran and is preparing to establish a new alliance of pariah states with the Islamic Republic—to the detriment of Jerusalem.
Europe & Eurasia Israel
Israel Project

MENASource Aug 9, 2022

Israel’s military operation against PIJ was a short-term success. Here’s how it could be a longer-term one too.

By Shalom Lipner

What has been widely recognized as an Israeli tactical success could also—possibly, if not assuredly—lay the groundwork for consolidating an even more impactful strategic transformation.
Israel Middle East
Israel Project

New Atlanticist Jul 12, 2022

Biden’s big chance to build a new coalition in the Middle East

By Daniel B. Shapiro

A regional coalition is emerging of US partners who face common security threats and share similar social, economic, energy, and climate-related challenges.
Israel Middle East

Experts

Fellow

Nasredeen Abdulbari

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Africa Arabic

Fellow

Carmiel Arbit

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Civil Society Extremism

Former fellow

Jonathan H. Ferziger

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Israel Middle East

Fellow

Marcy Grossman

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Economy & Business Israel

Fellow

Shalom Lipner

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Crisis Management English

Former staff

Yulia Shalomov

Former Associate Director, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society Conflict

Fellow

Daniel B. Shapiro

Distinguished Fellow, Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Conflict English

Former fellow

Ksenia Svetlova

Former Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict

Staff

William F. Wechsler

Senior Director, Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

National Security Middle East

Past events

Online Event Thu, September 8, 2022 • 9:00 am ET

Two years since the Abraham Accords: How the region is transforming
Economy & Business Energy & Environment Israel Middle East
Online Event Wed, July 20, 2022 • 5:00 am UTC

Biden’s trip to the Middle East: Outcomes and opportunities
Israel Middle East Oil and Gas Politics & Diplomacy
Online Event Tue, May 3, 2022 • 12:00 pm UTC

Building a new Middle East: A conversation with Ambassador Thomas R. Nides
Israel Middle East Politics & Diplomacy
Online Event Mon, March 7, 2022 • 10:00 pm UTC

Promoting tolerance: A conversation with the House Abraham Accords Caucus and regional experts
Education Extremism Israel Middle East
Online Event Tue, February 1, 2022 • 12:00 pm ET

Inside Israel and the Abraham Accords: An interview with Axios’ Barak Ravid
Israel Middle East Politics & Diplomacy
Online Event Mon, September 13, 2021 • 4:00 am ET

The new normal: Assessing the Abraham Accords one year on
Economy & Business Israel Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

Latest analysis

New Atlanticist

Mar 19, 2014

Missing Flight 370 Has Israel on High Alert

Atlantic Council Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Oren appeared on Piers Morgan Live to talk about how the search for missing flight 370 has put Israel on high alert. One theory on the disappearance is that the plane was hijacked to be used in a 9/11-style attack. As Oren points out to guest host Bill Wier, Israel’s precarious […]

Israel

New Atlanticist

Feb 24, 2014

Oren on the Topic Israelis Are Talking About

Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Oren is one of the newest additions to the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Based in Tel Aviv, he’s able to give a front-line perspective on developments in the tumultuous region. A regular contributor to CNN.com, Ambassador Oren commented on the difference between what outsiders might think tops the morning news in […]

Israel

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2014

Ariel Sharon: Influential in Death

By New Atlanticist

“Written on every page of Israel’s history, in ink and in blood, is the name Ariel Sharon,” notes Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States. Even following Sharon’s death January 11, the former soldier and prime minister “will influence the future, as Israelis consider their options” in the event that US-led diplomacy fails […]

Israel

New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2013

Coping with Netanyahu on Iran

By R. Nicholas Burns

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back in the headlines on the subject of Iran. On CBS’s “Face the Nation,’’ Netanyahu complained that there was “no sense of urgency” by the global community about Iran’s advancing nuclear program. He went on to warn that Israel will “have to address this question of how to stop […]

Iran Israel

MENASource

Oct 16, 2012

Israel, the PA, and the Inevitable Palestinian Spring

By Alex Simon

While domestic and international media are abuzz with talk of upcoming elections in both the United States and Israel, scant attention has been paid to the municipal elections set to take place in the West Bank on October 20. In fact, many Palestinians are themselves unmoved by the prospect of elections, which they view as […]

Israel Middle East

New Atlanticist

Feb 9, 2012

Israel, Iran and the United States: All Options Are Bad!

By Don Snow

The growing confrontation between Israel and Iran over the Iranian nuclear weapons program is spinning perilously out of hand, and it has within it the seeds of the most potentially dangerous threat to international peace since the Cold War ended over 20 years ago. What we are witnessing is a verbal run-up to a military […]

Iran Israel

New Atlanticist

Nov 8, 2011

Israeli Strike on Iran’s Nukes a Real Danger

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Iran’s nuclear ambitions predate the clerical dictatorship that overthrew the monarchy in 1979. The late last monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, reached the same conclusion when Britain, in 1968, suddenly relinquished all of its geopolitical responsibilities east of Suez — from Singapore to the Suez Canal, including the Persian Gulf and the oil that then […]

Iran Israel

New Atlanticist

Oct 31, 2011

Israel: A True Ally in the Middle East

By Robert D. Blackwill and Walter B. Slocombe

American leaders have traditionally explained the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship by citing shared democratic values and the moral responsibility America bears to protect the small nation-state of the Jewish people. Although accurate and essential, this characterization is incomplete because it fails to capture a third, crucial aspect: the many ways in which Israel advances […]

Israel

New Atlanticist

Sep 27, 2011

Creeping Annexation

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

In the perennial Palestinian-Israeli crisis, Barack Obama decided to enhance his 2012 re-election chances by giving his pro-Israel credentials a much-needed boost. By the same token Obama scuttled his chances of improving America’s image in the Arab world. The Palestinians are no nearer to achieving statehood and U.N. membership. And the land for the creation […]

Israel Middle East

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2011

Obama Must Choose Between Israel and the Arab World

By Rena Zuabi

On the margins of the United Nations Security Council vote on the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood, President Obama met with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan this week in New York to discuss the future of Turkey’s deteriorating relations with Israel. Since Israel’s attack on the Gaza Flotilla in 2010, which killed nine Turkish citizens, […]

Israel
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