Israel’s Foreign Think Tank Problem

Al-Ittihad, UAE, June 14

Israel is now experiencing a shift away from the political and strategic think tanks that have defined its governance for many years. These include the Begin-Sadat Center, the Institute for National Strategic Studies, and the Herzliya Forum, among others. These institutions have been responsible for many initiatives, such as Israel’s unilateral separation plan which led to a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, as well as ideas to divide territorial lands between Egypt and Israel. Moreover, governments in the early 1990s pushed scores of economic peace projects, with many of them now being recycled and regenerated. Recently, the Kohelet Forum, an international policy think tank with strong connections to a variety of current and former Knesset members, has put forward a judicial reform plan that has been met with ongoing protests by the Israeli public. Kohelet’s figureheads, who are primarily US-based, intended to affect the government’s policy through research and lobbying in Israel. Sadly, this decision led to a state of political and security unrest, prompting ongoing calls for the plan to be rescinded. The question arises: Has Israel become overly reliant on think tanks, mostly American ones, in dictating its policy? Does Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intend to convey a message to domestic political, military, and economic experts, letting them know that they have been replaced by their American counterparts? The reality is that this shift toward American research and lobbying institutions is on an upward trajectory around the globe. This is what’s occurring in Israel, which explains the current level of discord in the nation. Some in the Israeli military and diplomatic circles find the current development concerning. It puts Israel’s national security, policies, and intelligence approaches at risk, especially since the role of the Kohelet Forum in shaping Israeli policy is still unclear. Many of the policies adopted by the current Israeli government have been devised and designed not by domestic institutions and experts but rather by American strategists working for private consulting firms and think tanks. This type of outside interference can have unintended consequences on the function of Israel’s national security, and we are already seeing indications that it is weakening the Israeli economy. —Tarek Fahmy (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)