Israel Program

Israel is America’s most valuable, reliable, and vulnerable ally in the Middle East. The world’s only Jewish state faces an onslaught of threats across multiple domains. The vast majority of Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies. Fortunately, Washington has no more capable or determined partner than Israel when confronting shared adversaries, most notably the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terror network.

Despite inflicting serious damage on the regime in Iran and its regional proxy network, Israel remains on a war footing. The Gaza ceasefire remains unstable at best. A mosaic of Islamist extremist groups is plotting attacks in the West Bank. Jordan and Egypt are grappling with domestic Islamist terror threats that can easily spill across their borders into Israel. Lebanon’s government has failed to disarm Hezbollah. And while Iran has received significant blows, it remains a volatile and persistent threat to regional stability.

The Muslim Brotherhood-aligned countries of Qatar and Turkey continue to advance an anti-Israel agenda while waging a potent influence campaign in Western capitals.

Israel’s adversaries also seek to delegitimize Israel through lawfare and boycotts, while toxic multilateral organizations disproportionately target and defame Israel.

FDD’s Israel Program leverages FDD’s regional and subject-matter expertise and centers on American power to produce actionable research and develop policy options that address the threats facing Israel while encouraging the expansion of historic normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab world.

FDD’s Israel Program team includes fellows and analysts with a wide range of backgrounds — among them Middle East and regional experts, foreign language specialists, legal practitioners, and veterans of government, military, intelligence, finance, and technology. The program encompasses a broad range of efforts, including strengthening security cooperation, countering military and illicit finance threats, energy security, and normalization and integration efforts.