Israel is on a long-term (albeit messy) trajectory to set its final borders, which it did not have at birth, when Arab states accepted them only as "cease fire" lines. Israel's southern border was finalised in 2 phases: Peace with Egypt (1979) and Disengagement from Gaza (2005).
The northern border was effectively finalised in two phases as well: Retreat from Lebanon in 2000 to the official line and US recognition in 2019 of the 1981 Israeli annexation of the Golan heights. Most of the eastern border was finalised in the 1994 peace agreement with Jordan.
Feb 29, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
הקורונה היא איום מאד רציני. מי שאומר לכם "סתם שפעת עונתית קשה" מנותק מהמציאות (אלא אם הוא מתכוון לשפעת של 1918). כל המומחים לאפידמיולוגיה בקונצנזוס מלא על חומרת המגפה. אם אנחנו לא כולנו מתגייסים לעצור את זה, תוך זמן קצר נגיע להמוני חולים קשים שיציפו את בתי החולים, ומתים רבים:
על-פי הערכות הידועות כרגע, כשהאוכלוסייה מתנהגת רגיל כל אדם נגוע מדביק בממוצע שניים וחצי אנשים אחרים עד שהוא מחלים (מקדם הדבקה 2.5). אם נחיל את האמצעים שהופעלו בסין כמה שיותר מוקדם, נוכל להאט את ההפצה ולהגביל מאד את מספר הנפגעים. ובעיקר לקנות לנו זמן עד לפריצות דרך תרופתיות:
Feb 20, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
A thread on Jews, Arabs, Israelis, the Jewish People, and the Israeli people: In the state of Israel there are two main national/linguistic/ethnic groups or peoples: the Jewish people and the Arab/Palestinian people. They are all citizens of the state of Israel.
The Jews of Israel generally view themselves part of the greater Jewish people around the world and have a sense of collective belonging and solidarity. The Arabs/Palestinians of Israel generally view themselves as belonging to a greater Palestinian and Arab collective.
Nov 19, 2019 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Four empirical proofs settlements are not the reason we do not have peace: 1) Prior to 1967 Jordan and Egypt controlled the West Bank and Gaza, there were no settlements, and yet the Arab world still rejected Israel while Palestinians demanded to violently “liberate Palestine”;
(2) Two Prime Ministers, Ehud Barak (2000) and Ehud Olmert (2008) put forth peace proposals that would have created a sovereign Arab Palestine in effectively all of West Bank and Gaza (with land swaps) with no settlements at all. Arafat and Abu-Mazen still walked away.
Sep 24, 2019 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Honored to have spoken on behalf of @UNWatch in Geneva. Here is the text of my 90 second speech on UNRWA: ״In the 20th century, as empires collapsed and new states and borders were established, tens of millions of people fled or were expelled in the course of war...
Muslims and Hindus, Greeks and Turks, Poles, Ukrainians, Germans and Jews moved on to build new lives, some aided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. @Refugees. None of them, nor their hundreds of millions of descendants, claim to be refugees today...
