All Policy Analysis by Michael Herzog

While Israel views the core security issues in a broad regional context, the Palestinians tend to perceive them in strict bilateral terms, so creative solutions will be needed to help close this strategic gap.

The following is the executive summary of a new BICOM study by Brig. Gen. Michael Herzog, IDF (Res.), The Washington Institute's Milton Fine International Fellow and former head of the IDF's Strategic Planning Division. Read the full report on the BICOM website. Two years after the last round of armed

Although political tools to address Gaza's basic maladies are unfortunately limited at the moment, many existing economic tools could help right away, including initiatives related to power plants, water supplies, desalination, housing reconstruction, laborer permits, and more.

Israel and Washington should jointly address the perceived lack of U.S. deterrence against persistent Iranian and proxy threats, conclude the ten-year military assistance package as soon as possible, and launch a strategic high-level dialogue under the next administration.

Assess how the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement with Iran, has affected various U.S. interests one year after its announcement on July 14, 2015.

The recent flurry of international and regional activism may ultimately result in parameters and UN resolutions that dictate the agenda for the next U.S. administration, so Washington and other actors should weigh each initiative carefully.

Lasting reform will have to come from within Middle Eastern societies, a panel of American, Israeli, and Saudi experts said at an Asia Society forum.

Normalization negotiations seem closer than ever to conclusion and should be encouraged, but significant differences remain, especially on Gaza, Hamas, and Egypt, and they will likely prevent a return to past bilateral intimacy.

As the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 goes into effect with the announcement of Implementation Day and the lifting of major international sanctions, the huge challenge of making it work still lies ahead for the international community. While the deal's prospects will primarily be determined by Western deterrence

The former head of the IDF's Strategic Planning Division discusses how Israel is prioritizing threats from Iran, the Islamic State, and Hezbollah, and outlines specific, immediate military steps the West can take in Syria instead of banking on containment or elusive political solutions.

The IDF's first-ever public strategy paper highlights the complex challenges posed by substate actors in a fast-transforming landscape, and it could serve as a basis for U.S.-Israeli security dialogue on the Iran nuclear deal.

Israelis fear that the deal will legitimize Iran as a nuclear threshold state, embolden its highly destabilizing role in a volatile Middle East, and trigger nuclear proliferation and a conventional arms race in the region.

Complacency could put regional security at greater risk, so the international community must not drop its guard against an emboldened regime.

If the United States and its partners do not stand firm in the coming days and years, Israelis feel they may be left alone to face the ayatollahs.