Israel Turkish Relations

Academic Exchange
Aspen Institute Italia
Yitzhak Rabin Center

Turkey-Israel Relations
Rome, Aspen Institute Italia
(Piazza Navona, 114)
October 25-26, 2012

Agenda

Wednesday, October 24

• Opening Dinner (8 pm)

Thursday, October 25

• Conference Overview and Goals (9:30-9:40)— Angelo Maria Petroni andCharles Kupchan

• The Deterioration of Turkey-Israel Ties: How Did We Get Here? (9:40 – 12:30, with coffee break at 11)
A discussion of the political, diplomatic, economic, and ideological factors that have buffeted the bilateral Turkey-Israel relationship. What factors and sequence of events best explain the estrangement? Was it inevitable or avoidable?
Speakers: Soli Ozel, AlonLiel
Moderator: LucioCaracciolo

• Lunch (12:30-1:30)

• Turkey and Israel in a Changing Middle East (1:45-3:15)
An examination of the shifting political landscape in the region.Where do Turkish and Israeli interests overlap and differ in a changing Arab world? Where are their opportunities for cooperation? Where are the likely areas of tension?

Speakers: KadirUstun, Amos Harel
Moderator: Audrey Cronin

• Turkey, Israel, and Iran (3:30-5:00)
A discussion of policy toward Iran.What are the sources of different Turkish and Israeli threat perceptions of Iran’s nuclear program? From Turkish and Israeli perspectives, what are the pros and cons of containment versus preventive action, and what is the appropriate role of the United States and EU?

Speakers: Ephraim Sneh, GokhanBacik
Moderator: Bruce Jentleson

• Dinner(8 pm)

Friday, October 26

• Where Do We Go From Here? (9:30-12:30, with coffee break at 11)
A moderated brainstorming session on how to overcome the crisis in Turkey-Israel relations. What can Turks, Israelis, Americans, and Europeans do to help repair the relationship?

Facilitator: Brian Katulis

Closing Lunch(12:30-1:30)

Ideology, Religion, and the Prospects for Peace

March 3-4, 2011

RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA

Thursday March 3

12:30-1:30: Arrival and lunch

1:30-1:45: Welcoming remarks: Dalia Rabin, Rabin Center and Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

1:45-3:15: The political landscape of Israel’s nationalist right

Speakers:

Uzi Landau, Member of Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and Minister of National Infrastructure

Moshe Arens, Former Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz

Moderator:

Sharon Baradaran, Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation

3:15-3:30: Break

3:30-5:00: Israeli religious and settler voices: Is compromise possible?

Speakers:

Nicolas Pelham, The Economist

R. Meir Soloveichik, Shalem Center

Moderator:

Gidi Grinstein, Founder and President of the Reut Institute

6:30: Cocktails and Dinner (Brentwood, CA)

Friday, March 4

8:30-9:00: Breakfast

9:00-10:30: Hamas: understanding its beliefs and politics

Speakers:

Khaled Hroub, University of Cambridge

Nathan Brown, George Washington University

Taghreed el-Khodary, Journalist and visiting fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Moderator:

Brian Katulis, Center for American Progress

10:30-10:45: Coffee Break

10:45-12:15: Hizballah: a nationalist, religious or ideological agenda?

Speakers:

Rob Malley, Program Director for North Africa and the Middle East, The International Crisis Group

Nicholas Blanford, Journalist based in Beirut

Moderator:

Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

12:15-1:15: Lunch and concluding remarks

Nachum Braverman, Academic Exchange
Charles Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations/Georgetown University

One Year On:

American-Israeli Relations in the Obama and Netanyahu Era

May 13-14, 2010

RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA

Thursday May 13

1:30-1:45: Welcoming Remarks: Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Rabin Center and CONTACT _Con-409912741 \c \s \l Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

1:45-3:00: The Peace Process from the Israeli View: An Ongoing Crisis in US-Israeli Relations?

Chair: Etel Solingen, UC Irvine

Speakers:
Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz
David Makovsky, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Asher Susser, The Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University

3:00-4:15: The Peace Process from the Palestinian View: Is Progress Possible?

Chair: Michael Barnett, University of Minnesota

Speakers:
Robert Malley, International Crisis Group
Ghaith Al-Omari, The American Task Force on Palestine
Pini Meidan-Shani , Former Senior Israeli Intelligence Official

4:15-4:30: Coffee Break

4:30-5:45: American Domestic Politics and Israel: The Changing Landscape

Chair: Edward Mansfield, University of Pennsylvania

Speakers:
Alon Pinkas, Former Israeli Consul General and foreign affairs analyst, Fox News
Peter Beinart, CUNY
Daniel Levy, New America Foundation

7:00: Depart for Dinner, Albert Dwoskin residence, McLean, VA

Speaker
Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic

Friday, May 14

8:30-9:00: Continental Breakfast

9:00-10:30: Converging or Diverging? American and Israeli Strategic Interests in the Broader Middle East

Chair: Stephen Krasner, Stanford University

Speakers:
Aaron David Miller, Woodrow Wilson Center
Shai Feldman, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University
Martin Kramer, Shalem Center

10:30-10:45: Coffee Break

10:45-12:30: Iran Inside Out: Domestic Politics, Diplomacy, and Deterrence

Chair: Nina Tannenwald, Brown University

Speakers:
Suzanne Maloney, Brookings Institution
David Menashri, Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University
David Aaron, The RAND Corporation
Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, former Chief of Staff, IDF

12:30-2:00: Roundtable Lunch Discussion with AE Alumni

Chair: Miles Kahler, UC San Diego

2:00-2:30: Closing Remarks

Nachum Braverman, Academic Exchange
Charles Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations/Georgetown University