Arab-Israeli Relations

Arab-Israeli relations have deteriorated to their lowest point in a generation, with intensifying and widening violence. However, the severity of the problems may drive the parties to reconsider long-stagnant issues and create opportunities for new efforts to resolve the conflict. In order to seize on the prospects for renewing negotiations, USIP is conducting both policy-relevant analysis and innovative programming in support of local initiatives to build support for peace. Since 2000, USIP has published one dozen books and reports on Arab-Israeli relations and the role of the United States, provided about 70 grants totaling over $2.5 million to scholars and NGOs addressing various aspects of the conflict, and supported the work of more than 20 resident scholars and fellows on this subject.

The Institute seeks to present a balanced approach to its work relating to Arab-Israeli relations by supporting research, programs and grants that improve understanding, develop capacity and analyze the issues in ways that can be useful to all parties who are seeking peace.

USIP’s objectives in the region include:

• Educating the policy community on the role that the U.S. and the international community can have in influencing the Arab-Israeli conflict and on how to apply leverage to advance a peace process.
• Assessing the dynamics of the conflict and how political groups and key civil society actors, including Islamic movements, and how they affect efforts to initiate and sustain a peace process.
• Promoting understanding of "the other" and of techniques for managing conflict with "the other" through media, training, and the development of effective teaching tools for the classroom and the community. ("The other" is defined as an individual or group who has an identity, culture or beliefs that are different from one's own. We often generalize about others or dehumanize them without regard for individual differences.)
• Cultivating relationships within and between key sectors of Arab and Israeli society in a manner that creates an atmosphere supportive of improved relations and peaceful resolution of conflict.
• Understanding the religious dimensions of the conflict, particularly religion’s role as a mobilizing force in the politics of the region, and empowering key actors, such as religious leaders and local NGOs, to use religion as an instrument of peacemaking.

The Arab-Israeli Relations program draws upon the collective resources and integrated efforts of USIP's research, education, grant-making, fellowship, and professional training programs as well as its Centers of Innovation. The program is a part of USIP's Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution directed by David Smock.