July 14 2025
​​
Q. Have the IDF’s recent military achievements, culminating in the blows inflicted on Iran, enhanced Israel’s relations with its neighbors?
​
A. That depends which neighbors, and what the circumstances are. Certainly not the Palestinians, with whom the situation gets worse and worse.
But let’s come back to that later. Instead, we can start with Israel’s veteran peace partners, Egypt and Jordan. Quite a few Israelis stranded abroad by the 12-Day War’s freezing of commercial aviation to and from Israel returned home overland without incident via Egypt and Jordan. Moreover, the Israel Air Force overflew Jordan unhindered on its way to and from Iran. And Jordan’s air defenses were activated repeatedly against Iranian UAVs headed for Israel.
All this strategic interaction is not exactly new to the countries involved. But it appears to have been upgraded last month when Israel needed it.
​
Q. The IAF also overflew Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon repeatedly, unhindered, on its way to bomb Iran. What does this tell us about Israel’s relations with these countries?
​
A. Damascus and Beirut recently witnessed dramatic leadership changes that installed anti-Iran forces in power. Then too, neither country has an air force that might conceivably oppose IAF overflights. But this is not the case with Iraq, whose regime is Shiite-dominated and broadly pro-Iranian. That Iraqi aircraft and air defenses did not oppose the IAF speaks volumes about the Arab perception of the evolving balance of forces in the region and the need to adjust, pragmatically.
​
Yossi Alpher's Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat and Three Fateful Days in March
"Anyone seeking to understand how Israelis and Palestinians traded the hopes of Oslo for something approaching hopelessness is well-advised to read this book. With penetrating analysis and elegant prose, Yossi Alpher has told the gripping story of three days nearly two decades ago that continue to haunt would-be peacemakers. Yossi’s faithful readers will not be disappointed with his latest effort."
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College
"A riveting account of the crucial days in March 2002 when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was profoundly changed for the worse. The peace camp has never recovered from those wrenching days, and we live now without any hope of a just settlement. Alpher is a highly respected expert who has spent decades studying this conflict from both sides."
Bruce Riedel, Director of the Brookings Intelligence Project
"A critical assessment of a key period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict never before presented in such detail. The best and most capable players at the executive and political levels proved unable to forge any resolution, final or partial, because both parties continued to maintain an insurmountable gulf between themselves. This is a MUST read for anyone daring to tackle the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Israel-Arab relations in general."
Efraim Halevy, former Head of the Mossad (1998-2002)
Oraib Khader and Avi Bar-On are youngish Palestinian and Israeli bachelors with security experience, readiness to do business with one another, a shared fondness for women and money, and total cynicism about the lack of peace between their two peoples.
Oraib and Avi can never become true friends: the cultural and political gaps are too wide. But as they confront a failed peace process and a bleak peace future, they readily become business partners: shady business that exploits a lot of naïve international peace aspirations.
As Oraib sums up on a visit to Sarpsborg, Norway, where the ultimately-failed Oslo peace talks were held, “There is a lesson here for those who still doggedly and hopelessly pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East. Get smart. Get out of the Israeli-Palestinian peace business. Step back and let the Jews and Arabs screw one another while making money.”