American and Israeli Panelists Align Perspectives on Middle Eastern Tensions

In the midst of escalating tensions in the Middle East, panelists at the JFK Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics Wednesday evening said that the American and Israeli governments remain aligned in their international policies.

The panel, entitled “America and Israel: On the Same Page Regarding Regional Challenges?” was moderated by Harvard Kennedy School professor Meghan O'Sullivan and brought together four experienced politicians from both the United States and Israel to discuss past, present, and future endeavors in Arab countries.

Panelists—including Robert B. Zoellick, former President of the World Bank, Michèle A. Flournoy ’83, former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Dan Meridor, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, and Major General Amos Yadlin, Director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies—spoke to an engaged audience composed of students, faculty, community members, and an “esteemed contingent of Israelis and Americans” who are currently present at the IOP this week for a private dialogue, O’Sullivan said.

The general sentiment of Wednesday’s event was that America and Israel are in almost complete agreement on how to approach tension in the Middle East.

“There’s probably an 80-90 percent alignment on issues,” Zoellick said.

The event began with O’Sullivan asking the two Israeli politicians in the room to give the audience a sense of the region from the Israeli perspective, to which Yadlin responded promptly, “I’m still an optimist.”

“We’re in the middle of a stormy ocean, but on a quiet island,” Yadlin added.  He took a moment to look back 40 years prior, when Israel was engulfed in the heated war against a coalition of Arab States, led by Egypt and Syria.

Yadlin elaborated that in Israel’s short history, the country has often faced more dismal political circumstances than those in the present.

Still, Meridor stressed the “need to be very cautionary and modest.”

“We have seen Egypt in a worse situation a year ago” Meridor said, referring to the Egyptian revolution that culminated in the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The American speakers appeared warier of the present situation overseas.

“I’m usually an optimist by nature…[but] when I look at the region I see some very fundamental shifts and changes that will likely take the next generation to play out,” Flournoy said. “I hate to be the dark cloud after [Yadlin’s] optimism, but I think the region is in deep turmoil.”

The conversation was generally well-received by audience members.

“I feel like I learned quite a bit,” said Yoav Shaked ’17.  “All the speakers were amazing and they spoke very well.”