Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent NJN's views and policy positions.

 

After the Deal: Hamas Plans to Beat Back All Contenders

Q. Why is the Gaza peace deal different from all previous Israel-Arab peace deals?

A. The Gaza deal is not just different. It is existentially and substantially different. And not because it is already being breached violently or because its godfathers, Messrs. Witkoff and Kushner, are coming to babysit it. That is all par for the peacemaking course between Israelis and Palestinians.

Rather, remember when Israel made peace with Egypt, then Jordan, even the PLO, and when it entered into ‘normalization’ agreements with United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco? Both government signatories to these deals, the Israeli and the Arab, were publicly and openly committed. Begin and Sadat, Rabin and King Hussein, embraced the peace. Remarkably, all these agreements are still in effect, having outlasted endless challenges, some very violent. There is logic in their stability...

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer.

Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent NJN's views and policy positions.

 

Legislative Round-Up (10-17-25)

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings & Markups
4. Selected Members on the Record
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

—————————

1. Bills & Resolutions

(FY26 NDAA – Senate) S. 2296: On 10/9/25, the Senate passed S. 2296, the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act, by a vote of 77-20For full Middle East/Israel-related provisions in the base bill, as well as Middle East/Israel-related proposed amendments, see my  previously published comprehensive analysis...

(DEFENSE APPROPS BILL – HOUSE) HR 4016: The FY26 Defense Appropriations bill, passed by the House 7/18/25 at 12:45am by a vote of 221 – 209. For Middle East-related details of the House-passed version, see the 7/18/25 edition of the Round-Up. On 7/14/25, a cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate; it failed by a vote of 50-44. NOTE: When the Senate does take up the HR 4016, it will amend the House version by replacing the full House-passed text with the text of S. 2572, subject to amendments on the Senate floor. The provisions in the two bills with respect to $500 million for Israeli military programs [Iron Dome, the Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense (SRBMD) program, and Arrow 3] are virtually identical.

(ANTI-PALESTINIAN HATE CRIME/MURDER) H. Con. Res. 57: Introduced 10/14/25 by Ramirez (D-IL) and 13 cosponsors (all Democrats), “Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, murdered as a victim of a hate crime for his Palestinian-Muslim identity, in the State of Illinois.” Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress.

 
 
 
 
 

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