Join the Israel Policy Forum, the Z3 Project and the ICC@JCC for a timely and thought-provoking conversation featuring Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian voices, offering grounded, firsthand insights into the region they all call home.
This candid discussion will examine the path forward for a post-Hamas Gaza, the unifying threat of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the deepening tensions between Egypt and Israel amid a prolonged military campaign along a shared border. From security and humanitarian crises to prospects for regional normalization, this conversation will explore how shared interests and pragmatic U.S. diplomacy can help guarantee the stability required to ensure a better tomorrow for all peoples - and Israel’s future as a secure, Jewish and democratic state.
About our speakers:
Neomi Neumann is a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Palestinian affairs. She formerly served as head of the research unit at the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Neumann recently began her doctoral studies at Tel Aviv University.
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib leads Realign For Palestine, an Atlantic Council project that challenges entrenched narratives in the Israel and Palestine discourse and develops a new policy framework for rejuvenated pro-Palestine advocacy. Realign For Palestine aims to cultivate a new generation of Palestinian voices committed to a two-nation solution, nonviolence and radical pragmatism. Alkhatib serves as a resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs, where he writes extensively on Gaza’s political and humanitarian affairs, is an outspoken critic of Hamas and promotes a radically pragmatic approach to peace and Palestinian statehood as the only path forward between Palestinians and Israelis. His writing and opinions have been published and featured across the US, Israeli and international press, and his views are prominently featured across social media platforms. Alkhatib holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Intelligence and National Security Studies. He grew up in Gaza City and left Gaza in 2005 to attend college in the United States as an exchange student. Much of Ahmed’s experience is influenced by having grown up in Gaza during the Oslo peace process—and during the difficulties resulting from Oslo’s failure—and the rise of Hamas and Islamism in Gaza.
Haisam Hassanein is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he analyzes Israel’s relations with Arab states and Muslim countries. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Washington Institute, where he focused on Egyptian-Israeli relations and U.S. policy toward the Middle East. He has published in The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, the Hill magazine, the New York Daily News and The Jerusalem Post, to name a few. Hassanein earned his M.A. in Middle Eastern & African history from Tel Aviv University. He was the first Egyptian to be named a graduate school valedictorian by an Israeli academic institution. Haisam knows Hebrew, Arabic and English.
David Halperin is the CEO of Israel Policy Forum, an organization committed to educating community leaders and mobilizing policymakers in support of pragmatic proposals to advance the goal of a viable two-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, consistent with Israel’s security. He was instrumental in the rebirth of Israel Policy Forum’s work in 2012, expanding the organization’s work by creating innovative partnerships with an array of policy and communal organizations nationwide. He has previously worked as a Middle East Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress and as a reporter for Ha’aretz English Edition in Israel. He has an MPA with a focus on International Relations from Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he was a member of the International Fellows Program (IFP). He is a founding board member of the Salla Treatment and Research Foundation. He has a BA in Political Science and Judaic Studies from the University of Arizona. Originally from Phoenix, AZ, he now lives with his wife and two kids in Riverdale, NY.
Bagels and coffee will be served at 10:00 AM PDT. The program will begin at 10:30 AM PDT.
This event is sponsored by IPF, Daryl Messinger and Jim Heeger.