יום ראשון, כ״ז תמוז תשפ״וSunday, July 12, 2026
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Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) is a leading independent research institute specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy. Founded in 1976, the Center has produced hundreds of studies and initiatives by leading experts on a wide range of strategic topics.
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By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
If we want to win – not just the battles but also the war – we must start by understanding the battlefield we’re actually on.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Trump’s declarations to Hamas are far more than mere rhetoric. These are concrete intentions backed by Israeli military readiness and U.S.-Israeli coordination.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
See how the U.S. State Department defines anti-Semitism.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Hamas suffered military but not political damage. It is likely to bolster its standing among the Palestinian public and enhance the influence of radical Islam.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
While Islamic tradition sees Christians and Jews as the “People of the Book,” they still retain only second-class status as “protected” dhimmi, an inferior status for not having accepted Islam.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Iran's fear of an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities is driving it to project a willingness for dialogue with the Trump administration
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
After Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Israel, by necessity, has become the Middle East’s strong horse in its ongoing battle against the Iranian regime and its terror proxies.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The status of the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem has become a destabilizing issue in Israel and the Middle East. The demand for the “liberation” of al-Aqsa has become the battle cry for extremists including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Iran, and Turkey. Al-Aqsa’s “occupation” provided Hamas with a pretext to launch its terror […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
How October 7 Conditioned the Israeli Psyche
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Day After: Victory or Pushback?
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
During war, as during peace, language and terminology create attitudinal truth.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Jews vote in exceedingly high numbers. In several critical states, the “Jewish vote” might be particularly significant in determining the outcomes.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
25% of those under 45 agreed that kidnapped Israelis were treated kindly.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Truman: “When you have to deal with a beast, you have to treat him as a beast.”
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The relatively small civilian collateral damage is the result of Israel’s strict adherence to the international laws of war and the utmost efforts made by the IDF to convince the Gaza civilian population to evacuate battle zones
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Control of Western Sahara is vital to Moroccan, European, African, and Israeli security
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
A new antisemitic law in Iraq reflects the outlook of Iran’s mullah regime, not the Kurdish people.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Sudan’s full entry into the Abraham Accords is a powerful symbolic statement of the rejection of Arab rejectionism.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The world still believes that the “Two-State Solution” is the way to resolve the Israel-Palestine Conflict. But when the Arab Palestinians invoke this idea, they are holding something back.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The EU plan to help the PA build in Area C is an egregious violation of the Oslo Accords.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Qatar has steered attention away from its own human rights abuses by allowing for pro-Palestinian messaging during the World Cup.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Antisemitism on Ivy League campuses is worse and more overt today than ever
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
America’s fight for the world order under its leadership is Israel’s opportunity for further achievements...Israel must not depend on Biden to manage the critical regional processes.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Three well-known biased actors (as pictured) were appointed as members of the inquiry who could be counted on to manufacture a guilty verdict
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
While still holding right-wing sources more responsible for antisemitism, there is a perceptible increase in sentiment among Americans, especially Jewish Americans, of antisemitism emanating from left-wing or “woke,” progressive sources.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
(Written by Professor Anne Bayefsky, Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, and President of Human Rights Voices) The UN has started a dangerous process that its creators hope will conclude with the end of the Jewish state. But events over the past two weeks indicate that arriving at that ignominious result […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The international community has worked to thwart measures to stop the illegal building in the area. Often, the Europeans themselves are involved in illegal construction activity in Area C.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The religious beliefs and core values of Arab and Palestinian nationalism portray the Jews in general, the Zionists in particular, and the settlers all the more, as the ultimate evil.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Each President of France has marked his mandate with his own style and imprint, but until now, all have adopted a biased and pro-Palestinian policy. Will this change with Macron's new mandate?
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
If Iran decides to enrich its current stock of uranium to a military grade, it could have enough for four nuclear devices within four months.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
These attacks strengthen Hamas’ position on the Palestinian street as the leader of the struggle against Israel, dragging the Palestinian Authority into a competition to increase its incitement and heap praise on the perpetrators of the attacks, while accusing Israel of executing the terrorists killed during the attacks.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Russia receives Mahmoud Abbas’ greatest foe, Mohammed Dahlan. Is this the end of the unwavering Abbas-Russia relationship?
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
A short-sighted idea to obtain a short-term goal
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad see the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan as vindicating their longstanding ideological claims that patience pays off and that “resistance” can defeat the American-led Western alliance and dismantle the State of Israel.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
A disinformation campaign leveled at Israel’s legitimacy has been percolating through the West since the 1975 UN “Zionism is racism” Resolution and has overtaken American public discourse on Israel since 2000. This campaign has come to normalize the application of delegitimizing terms to Israel such as “genocide,” “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “settler colonialism,” and “racism.”
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The weapons of this asymmetrical social media warfare are not guns, rockets, and bombs. They are TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Wikipedia.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Biden administration must stop the Iranian regime’s rush toward nuclear weapons threshold capability.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Israel’s Arab citizens have increasingly sought economic and political integration, with 63% supporting Arab parties joining the Israeli coalition government. Ra’am’s electoral success reflects a societal shift in the Israeli Arab sector. Two polls in early 2020 indicated a growing Israeli identity as opposed to a Palestinian identity that had more commonly characterized Arab citizens of Israel.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
There have been various suggestions and creative ideas raised to establish a border along the 1967 lines with some local changes and to replace Israel’s military presence in some of the critical areas with foreign forces or to rely on electronic detection devices alone. However, this cannot provide Israel with adequate defense
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The entire thesis of the need to transfer Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem to Palestinian control to protect Israel from losing its Jewish or democratic identity ignores not only Israel’s justified security needs but also the historical and legal rights and aspirations that stand at the core of Zionism.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The two plans of Givat Hamatos and Atarot are defined as strategic plans, which will have a meaningful impact on the future borders of Jerusalem:
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
{Reposted from the JCPA website} Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Vice President Joe Biden to his Ramallah office, March 2016. (Arab Press) As Joe Biden’s inauguration and entry into the White House near, speculation grows over the nature of the “peace process negotiations” the United States will choose to conduct between Israel and the […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The success of the Israel-Arab normalization agreements will be tested in coexistence, cooperation, and respect in Jerusalem
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Ultimately, Biden will have to take into account that relations with Israel are crucial to protecting American interests in the region and that the pragmatic Arabs are close allies of the United States.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Biden administration will both continue and change Washington’s fundamental approach to foreign policy.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The author, Nadav Shragai, responds to modern-day Muslim and Palestinian fabrications about the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem with the testimonies of esteemed Islamic religious authorities from more than 1,000 years ago.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Mayors of several major cities and governors of some states where violence took place chose not to act and ordered the police and firefighters to stand down. Such inaction created a state of anarchy, leaving the public without protection.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
We may now be seeing a trend in Jewish-American attitudes that represents a narrower definition of “support” for Israel. which shows moderately strong but less than enthusiastic overall support for Israel. Though there is deep concern over anti-Semitism, dissociated from concern over anti-Israel attitudes. There is a lack of serious concern for anti-Semitism from the left-progressive elements of society.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Even if the preferred option for Israel is to continue to maintain a functioning Palestinian Authority, the various alternatives, including one where Israel will retain its responsibility for the territory over time, are not any worse.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Arab population is growing at a faster rate, but since 2012, the birth rate among the Jewish population in Jerusalem is significantly higher than that of the Arab population.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
{Originally posted to the JCPA website] Iran Celebrates International Quds (Jerusalem) Day On Friday, May 22, Iran and the Muslim world celebrated International Jerusalem Day or Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan. In line with a ruling by Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian government, this day has been […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
If the U.S. supports Israel’s unilateral implementation of sovereignty under the peace plan, according to the conditions it laid down for Israel, and if Israel does not exploit the current set of circumstances to apply its law/sovereignty in keeping with the plan, it could be regretted for generations.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
{Originally posted to the JCPA website} As the coronavirus pandemic continues and expands across the globe, attention has turned to the behavioral consequences that may result. The implications go beyond narrow clinical concerns for those affected and have widespread social-political and economic repercussions, much of it related to the effects of continued forced restrictions on […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Reports about a pending prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas are gaining momentum. However, according to Palestinian sources in Ramallah, there are still major obstacles in the way, particularly within Hamas.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The petition asserts that the United Nations health official and the organization’s actions in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak have been unacceptable, adding that Tedros is “unfit” for his role as head of the organization.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
{Originally posted to the JCPA website} According to official Palestinian reports, the actual expenditure by the Palestinian Authority on salaries to incarcerated terrorists during 2019 was 517.4 million shekels ($148 million). This is in comparison to 502 million shekels in 2018. The overall actual expenditures of the PA ministry for prisoners and released prisoners amounted […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
One clear way for Israel to deal with the new and complex challenges arising in the aftermath of the coronavirus epidemic is to invest in the advancement of responses to the virus and to thereby expedite its contribution as a center of scientific research to the security of the West and the U.S.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
As the world faces the threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19), many commentators and national leaders around the world are beginning to recognize it as a genuine national security threat.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Developing Givat Hamatos and E-1 will save Jerusalem and environs.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Diving into the Abbas: Pals with fewer pals.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The U.S. peace plan means Israel is being asked to take unprecedented risks by living next to a sovereign Palestinian state in a Middle East plagued by radical regimes and failed states. That is why defensible borders are critical to guarantee Israel’s security.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Fate has sent Israel a rare set of circumstances that is unlikely to come our way again. The “deal of the century” really is a once-in-a-century opportunity, and Israel must seize it.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Continuing the Civil Rights Legacies of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Martin Luther King.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Hansell’s opinion treated Israel’s presence in the territories as a standard situation of belligerent occupation, totally disregarding the legal, historic, and indigenous claims of Israel and the Jewish people, encapsulated in the 1917 Balfour Declaration and transformed into international legal instruments by the 1920 San Remo Declaration, the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, and reaffirmed by Article 80 of the UN Charter.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Some see in the Cyrus Cylinder, housed in the British Museum, as a confirmation of the Bible and its historicity about captive peoples: ”All their people I collected and brought them back to their homes,” (line 32) which could be the confirmation of releasing captive Jews, even if these are not named in the text.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The idea of a defense pact between Israel and the U.S. has already been considered several times and rejected. Both sides are cautious about making commitments that would limit their freedom of action and require them to act militarily in contexts that are not viewed as vital by their respective populations.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
it can be said with certainty that Nasrallah is an actor and a liar who has turned manipulation into an art.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Tensions between Iran and Israel have reached new heights after three events attributed to Israel – attacks on “killer drone” teams in Syria, a drone attack in Beirut, and repeated attacks on weapons in the warehouses of pro-Iran militias in Iraq.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Wadi Hummus is a neighborhood in the southern Jerusalem Arab village of Sur Baher. The inclusion of the neighborhood of about 4,000 people within the Israeli security fence was done at the request of the local residents. According to the IDF, in the area along the security fence where construction is prohibited, 97 illegal structures have been built over the past eight years.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The ancient Pilgrimage Road in the City of David is one of the most sensational archaeological discoveries to be made in Jerusalem since Israel’s establishment. On this road, remarkably preserved under the ashes of the Roman destruction, many thousands of Jews in Second Temple times, after a ritual bath in the Shiloah Pool, walked about 700 meters up the hill to the Temple Mount.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The academics who support BDS
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad believe that the rounds of escalation serve their interests and are important in their own merit as they help demonstrate their commitment to the struggle against Israel. The escalations enable them to boast of their military capabilities, mobilize the population to the cause of fighting Zionism, distract the Gaza population from their daily miseries, and gain economic assistance from Qatar, while blaming Abbas for the difficulties in Gaza and pressuring the PA, Egypt, Qatar and Israel to improve living conditions in Gaza.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries perceive the Al-Aqsa mosque as a rival to the holy city of Mecca and do not support it. Saudi Arabia does not provide any assistance to Jerusalem, and the Saudis prevented the Arab League from carrying out a decision to transfer $500 million to east Jerusalem.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Sari Nusseibeh disagrees with Ramallah on many issues. He represents the local leadership, while the leadership of the PLO has its roots in Tunis and the Oslo agreement. Mahmoud Abbas represents the PLO locally.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Furthermore, the Manama conference is focusing on the Arab and Palestinian private sector. The private sector is perceived as having interests that are contrary to the “national interest” of the “Palestinian struggle.” The private sector wants stability. The “struggle” seeks instability.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Following the most recent round of fighting in Gaza, Hamas is concerned about the success of Israeli intelligence methods of action.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Israel’s cultural image is in dire need of improvement. The Best Countries Index shows that Israel scored a 1.4 out of 10 in terms of cultural influence in 2019. The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), which is scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv in May 2019, allows Israel to enhance its cultural image through civil society initiatives centered around the arts.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
According to Syrian opposition reports, Cohen's remains may already be on the way home. No denials-or confirmation-by Israel
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
PA Chairman Abbas is concerned about reelected PM Netanyahu’s intention to extend Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank. PA sources say that they have no practical ways to prevent this.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Hamas will present itself in large numbers in the West Bank, not as a terror organization but as a force that can mobilize large public gatherings. We must wait and see to what extent Hamas is capable of accomplishing this task, but the mere intention tells us a lot about its future strategy.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Palestinian social networks have been full of mendacious propaganda calling on Muslims to come to the Temple Mount to prevent “the settlers” from forcibly entering the new mosque at the Gate of Mercy.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Gate of Mercy (Shaar Ha’Rachamim) compound is the fifth mosque that the Muslims have created on the Temple Mount. After 1967, there was only one functioning mosque there. The Muslims are not satisfied with this
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Golden Gate is part of the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. It consists of two bricked-up openings. The Gate of Mercy is the sole gate within the wall directly leading to the Temple Mount.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Though Jewish anti-Zionists have avoided employing the terror tactics of the PLO and other Palestinian terror organizations. However, PLO and Arab anti-Zionist incitement and Jewish anti-Zionist condemnations reflect similar rhetoric, ideology, and goals.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Israel is using its intelligence to assist the Egyptian army with its war on terror, thwart the passage of arms deliveries to the Gaza Strip, and prevent the entrenchment of ISIS on its border with Egypt.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Following the move of the other organizations toward Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas was not able to convene the PLO institutions in Ramallah, which very likely led to his resolution to dissolve the Legislative Council.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Some performers won’t “cave-in” to Walter Rogers’ demands.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The NGOs in Ramallah are very radical, marked by hatred of Israel and the U.S., and they foment tension between Europe and the U.S.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Jordan has now renewed its request on this matter as part of a growing rivalry with Turkey over exerting an influence on the Old City and the Temple Mount.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
Europe should be engaging in responsible conduct, in contrast to the problematic behavior of the PA. But Europe, instead of exploiting its influence with the Palestinians to promote good-neighborly relations with Israel and positive diplomatic interactions, has pursued negative measures
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The “price” Israel will pay for the embassy move appears to be continued restraint in construction and an occasional building freeze in Jerusalem.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The Egyptian government is concerned that the events of the Hamas “Return March” in Gaza may spill over into Egyptian territory.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
{Originally posted to the JCPA website} The events at Israel’s border with Gaza reflect a deep division between some of the NGO organizers of the Return March, led by Ahmed Abu Artima, and Hamas. Abu Artima, described by the British Guardian as a 34-year-old “activist and journalist,” opposed Hamas’ plan to hold a “Friday of […]
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The “return march” is a cynical exploitation of Palestinian refugees and a publicity stunt that has no political benefit.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The avowed tactical objectives of the Gaza “March of Return” on March 30, 2018, are opposition to the policies of the U.S. administration and the “deal of the century,” the U.S. initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
The demonstrations presently rocking Iran are the most widespread demonstrations in Iran since the suppression of the protests that followed Ahmadinejad’s reelection as president in 2009
By JCFA- Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs
According to the UN Charter, General Assembly resolutions are simply recommendations and are not legally binding. Only resolutions adopted by the Security Council may be obligatory. Thus, Resolution 181 cannot in any manner be considered to be a basis for a Palestinian claim to statehood.
July 10, 2026 
