BICOM Podcast

BICOM Podcast: Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg on the Israeli economy

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:45:31 +0000

Professor Manuel Trajtenberg is a leading Israeli economist and key economic advisor to Finance Minister Yair Lapid. In 2011 he led a committee appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to draw up proposals in response to Israel’s social protest movement. In this interview with BICOM Senior Research Fellow Alan Johnson, he discusses Israel’s budget deficit and income gaps, the problem of curbing defence spending, and the impact of new found gas resources on the Israeli economy. He also discusses a new Israeli scholarship scheme to increase Arab-Israeli enrollment in higher education, in his capacity as chair of the Budgeting and Planning Committee of Israel’s Council for Higher Education.

Toby Greene discusses the issue of an academic boycott of Israel

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:12:18 +0000

With the news that Prof Stephen Hawking has withdrawn from speaking at the President’s Conference in Jerusalem, BICOM Director of Research Dr Toby Greene was interviewed on BBC Radio 4′s Today Programme on 9 May 2013.

Michael Herzog assesses reported Israeli airstrike in Syria

Sun, 05 May 2013 07:54:02 +0000

Following reports of Israeli airstrikes against targets in Syria in recent days, BICOM Senior Visiting Fellow Brig. Gen. (ret.) Michael Herzog shared his assessment of the development in a interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, on 5 May 2013.

BICOM Podcast: Shlomo Brom on the regional implications of the Syrian conflict

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:42:24 +0000

On 1 May 2013, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shlomo Brom briefed journalists on the impact of the conflict in Syria on its neighbours, the status of Syria’s chemical weapons and the question of Israeli involvement in any international intervention. This podcast is an edited recording of his briefing.

Shlomo Brom is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, a former head of the Strategic Planning Division of the IDF and a veteran of Israeli negotiations with the Palestinians and Syrians.

BICOM Podcast: David Makovsky and Michael Herzog on Obama’s visit

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:21:06 +0000

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Michael Herzog in Jerusalem and David Makovksy in Washington briefed journalists on a BICOM conference call on the agenda and goals of Obama’s visit to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. This podcast includes their opening remarks.

Michael Herzog is Senior Visiting Fellow at BICOM as well as being an international fellow of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He is a former head of the strategic planning division in the IDF, a former chief of staff to four former ministers of defence, and in 2009-10 served as special envoy on the peace process.

David Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute. He is a widely published journalist and writer and is coauthor, with Dennis Ross, of the 2009 Washington Post bestseller Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East (Viking/Penguin).

Prof Asher Susser discusses the future of the Two-State Solution

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:31:18 +0000

In this Podcast Professor Asher Susser of Tel Aviv University argues that direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are unlikely to achieve a final status agreement. As such, Prof. Susser proposes what steps both sides should take and targets that should be set before the resumption of peace talks. The briefing was given in February 2013. An edited transcript is available here.

Fathom Interview: Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:57:17 +0000

This interview is from the February 2013 issue of BICOM’s quarterly journal Fathom. Emanuele Ottolenghi was interviewed by Fathom’s assistant editor Jules Robinson.

Emanuele Ottolenghi is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. His most recent book, The Pasdaran: Inside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was released in September 2011. Ottolenghi spoke to Fathom Books Reviews Editor Jules Robinson about the Pasdaran – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary organization responsible for the regime’s political repression and international terrorism activities. He also addressed the development of the Iranian nuclear threat, the impact of the sanctions regime that seeks to halt it, and the regime’s support for the Assad regime in Syria.

Dr. Emily Landau on the coming P5+1 talks with Iran

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:51:31 +0000

Dr. Emily Landau is Director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University. On 18 February, a week ahead of scheduled P5+1 talks with Iran in Kazakhstan, Dr. Landau briefed a forum in BICOM’s London office on the diplomatic options facing the international community in addressing the Iranian nuclear programme. Dr. Landau argued that economic and diplomatic sanctions had to be applied in conjunction with the credible threat of military force in order to stop Iran’s drive for nuclear weapons. Read Emily Landau’s article on this subject in the November 2012 issue of BICOM’s Fathom Journal.

Matthew Levitt on Hezbollah’s threat and EU response following the Burgas investigation

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:12:48 +0000

Matthew Levitt, director of the Washington Institute’s Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, assesses the results of the Bulgarian investigation which ties Hezbollah to the bombing of an Israeli tourist bus in Burgas last July, and the implications for EU policy towards the Lebanese group. An edited transcript is available here.

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shlomo Brom on the suspected Israeli attack on a Syrian arms convoy

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:16:51 +0000

On 1 February 2013, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shlomo Brom briefed journalists on a BICOM conference call on the suspected Israeli air strike on a weapons convoy in Syria, believed to be en route to Hezbollah, which took place on 30 January. Shlomo Brom is a former head of the Strategic Planning Division in the IDF, and a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies. This podcast is edited highlights of his remarks.