MIDDLE EAST EXPERTS POINT TO IRAN AS MAIN THREAT TO WORLD SECURITY AT JOINT BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY AND YESHIVA UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE

“A nuclear Iran would threaten the world’s oil supply, destabilize neighboring powers such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and establish a Shiite corridor in the Middle East that could partner with China in an anti-American coalition,” warns Prof. Efraim Inbar of Bar-Ilan University’s renowned Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies. Inbar was speaking last week at the U.S.-Israel Relations: In the Era of Obama and Netanyahu international conference in New York, which was organized by Bar-Ilan University (BIU) and Yeshiva University (YU). 

Inbar added, “Radical Islamists led by Iran are such a danger to moderate Arab states that they are willing to do business with Israel.” He also said that “at this time, the two-state solution will not work. The Palestinians have failed to meet the main test of what it takes to be a nation state, which is to have a monopoly over force. Right now, every Palestinian with a gun is a king.” 

Inbar was part of a group of leading Middle East scholars, strategists and diplomats who spoke to the over 300 people who attended this conference on September 14th at YU’s Geraldine Schottenstein Cultural Center in Manhattan. The event was sponsored by the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan University, the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University (AFBIU), YU’s Center for Israel Studies and Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center for International Affairs, The conference was made possible by a grant from the Dorothy and Harold Greenwald Foundation. 

Agreeing with Inbar’s assessment of the Iranian threat was Prof. Hillel Frisch, of the BESA Center, who said, “Iran is in the league of the former Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II as a threat to world.” Frisch added, “If the United States confronts Iran, it will most likely turn to its imperial tradition not the current revolutionary one.” 

Picking up on this theme was Prof. Robert O. Freedman, of Johns Hopkins University, who said, “I believe Israel will bomb Iran regardless of what the U.S. wants.” 

In discussing “American and Israeli Public Opinion,” Prof. Eytan Gilboa, of the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan, said that President Obama has a “major problem with Israeli public opinion,” citing recent polls taken in Israel that show only a third of Israelis believe in President Obama’s policies towards Israel and the Middle East. 

Dr. Evan Resnick, assistant professor of political science at YU, said that a central challenge for the Obama administration is how to “perpetuate America’s special relationship with Israel as it embarks on a more conciliatory policy towards both countries’ shared adversaries in the region.” He added that the past efforts by the United States to reform adversaries through engagement “typically foundered on the shoals of domestic opposition to the policy at home, and/or duplicitous behavior by the adversary.” 

Prof. Shmuel Sandler, dean of the social science faculty at Bar-Ilan University and a senior associate at the BESA Center, said that “a new realism” has emerged in Israel. Sandler noted that with losses suffered and the passage of time that many Israelis have moderated their views on issues such as the settlements. “There is a realization that we can’t both hold onto all historic lands and attain peace,” he said. 

Sandler added that three areas where Israelis do have a strong consensus of opinion is that Jerusalem should remain united, there should be no return to the 1967 borders, which are viewed as indefensible, and refugees will not be allowed to return to Israel. 

One of the highlights of the day was a high-level intellectual roundtable discussion featuring Daniel Kurtzer, Professor at Princeton University and Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Bret Stephens, Foreign Affairs Columnist at the Wall Street Journal; and Asaf Shariv, Consul General of Israel in New York. This discussion was chaired by Prof. Stuart Cohen, of the BESA Center. 

Kurtzer said that “the peace process has been derailed by an overemphasis on the settlements.” He added, “it’s too early” in both administrations to predict what shape the U.S.-Israeli relationship will take.” Kurtzer said this is particularly the case since the “President’s priorities are now directed on domestic reform.” 

“If Israel and America have such a special relationship why can’t they get along?” was the provocative question asked by Kurtzer. In answering his own question, he said problems between the U.S. and Israel often stem from “a communications gap” caused by language misinterpretations or errors in understanding based on differing cultural backgrounds. 

According to Kurtzer, another problem that complicates bi-lateral relations is a multiplicity of voices speaking for each government. In recent years, he said, both the U.S. and Israel have named special envoys to take part in the peace process. The problem comes in because the envoys don’t always espouse the same positions, Kurtzer said. 

Shariv likened ties between Israel and the United States to a normal marriage. “I have a lot of arguments with my wife, but we still get along.” He added, “It’s true that we have arguments, but the relations are very close.” 

Six prominent analysts from the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan came from Israel to participate in this conference. The BESA Center gained global attention in June, when it hosted Prime Minister Netanyahu for his major diplomatic address (in which he outlined his now-famous five red lines for peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state). The BESA Center at Bar-Ilan is widely respected as Israel’s preeminent security think-tank.  

“It was gratifying to see the tremendous interest this conference generated. The success of the conference was proof positive that when the world’s two largest Jewish universities - Bar-Ilan University and Yeshiva University come together to sponsor an event, our entire community benefits. Events such as this reflect the commitment of both universities to enhance the public’s understanding of the critical issues facing Israel and the Middle East,” said Mark Medin, executive vice president & CEO of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University. 

To learn more about AFBIU’s work to support the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan and other University advocacy programs, go to http://www.afbiu.org/. 

Click here to see the Photo Gallery, Media and Audio Coverage.

U.S.-Israel Relations conference panelists discussing issues challenging the entire Middle East were, from left, Max Singer, a senior research associate at the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Evan Resnick, of Yeshiva University, Prof. Efraim Inbar, director of the BESA Center of Bar-Ilan University, David Pollack, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and session chair Prof. Reeva Simon, of Yeshiva University.