Dr. Shmuel Bar discusses Iran's nuclear aspirations

On Wednesday, 25 June 2008, BICOM held an interview with Dr. Shmuel Bar, Director of Studies at the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel.

Dr. Bar answered questions about the fading window of opportunity for effective sanctions, the seriousness of Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel rhetoric, and also offered his perspective on the ramifcations of a change in Israeli leadership for Israel's policy towards Iran. 

In addition to being Director of Studies at the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel, Dr. Bar is on the steering team of the annual "Herzliya Conference". He is also an adjunct Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and has been (2007) Distinguished Koret Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

For thirty years Dr. Bar served in the Israeli government, first in the IDF Intelligence and then in the Israeli Office of the Prime Minister. Since the mid 1980's he specialized in the ideology and operational codes of Islamic fundamentalist movements and particularly of the Jihadi movement that later evolved into al-Qaeda. During this period he also served as First Secretary at the Israeli Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands.

Since 2002, Dr. Bar has headed research projects - some of them for US government agencies - and published extensively on issues relating to the Middle East, including deterrence theory in the context of the Middle East, radical Islamic ideology, Iranian defense doctrine, leadership and negotiation behavior, Syrian leadership and the Ba'ath party, Jordan and the Palestinians. He holds a Ph.D. in History of the Middle East from Tel-Aviv University. 

Play Podcast

Gaza ceasefire: virtual symposium with Yoav Stern and Dr. Jonathan Rynhold

In light of yesterday's announcement of a Gaza ceasefire agreement, On 18 June 2008, BICOM held a virtual symposium conference call with two leading Israeli commentators to look at this development.

Yoav Stern and Dr Jonathan Rynhold each offered their perspective on the situation. Yoav Stern is a senior correspondent for Haaretz, focusing primarily on Palestinian affairs. He has won a number of international press awards. Dr Jonathan Rynhold, based at Bar-Ilan University, is a senior research fellow at the BESA Centre for Strategic Studies. He is a specialist on Israel and the peace process. Both spoke for ten minutes about the announcement of the ceasefire and the implications this holds for Israel's internal political scene, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and the region. 

Play Podcast

Exclusive BICOM Interview with Dr. Mark Heller

On Monday, 19 May, BICOM held an interview with Dr. Mark Heller, Principal Research Associate at the Institute for National Security Studies.

Dr. Heller answered questions on topics such as the Annapolis peace process, Hamas and its control over Gaza, Hezbollah and the current situation in Lebanon, and wider regional issues such as the stratgic threat posed by Iran and its nuclear programme.

Mark A. Heller is a Principal Research Associate at the Institute for National Security Studies. He is the editor of INSS Insight and was formerly the editor of Tel Aviv Notes. Dr. Heller is currently on sabbatical conducting research on the triangular relationship between Israel, the US, and Europe.

Dr. Heller received his B.A. in Political Science and Economics at the University of Toronto and completed his graduate studies at Harvard University, where he earned an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science. He has taught international relations at Tel Aviv University and at several American universities. He was Coordinator of Research at the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security in 1991, Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University in 1992, and Research Associate at the International Institute for! Strategic Studies in 1999.

Dr. Heller has written extensively on Middle Eastern political and strategic issues. His publications include A Palestinian State: The Implications for Israel; The Middle East Military Balance, which he edited and co-authored from 1983 to 1985 and again in 1996 and 1997; The New Middle Class and Regime Stability in Saudi Arabia (co-authored with Nadav Safran); No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (co-authored with Sari Nusseibeh); The Dynamics of Soviet Policy in the Middle East: Between Old Thinking and New; Europe & the Middle East: New Tracks to Peace?; IISS Adelphi Paper 335, Continuity and Change in Israeli Security Policy; and Israel and the Palestinians: Israeli Policy Options (co-edited with Rosemary Hollis). He has also published numerous monographs, book chapters, and articles in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Orbis, Survival, The Journal of Strategic Studies and other professional journals, and his op-ed articles have appeared in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and other leading newspapers.

Play Podcast

Mehdi Khalaji of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy talks to BICOM about the Iranian political system

On 14 April 2008, BICOM held an interview with Mehdi Khalaji, visiting fellow at The Washington Institute For Near East Policy. Mehdi Khalaji is an expert on the role of politics in contemporary Shiite clericalism in Iran and Iraq. A Shiite theologian by training, Mr. Khalaji has also served on the editorial boards of two prominent Iranian periodicals and produced for the U.S. government's Persian news service.

Play Podcast

Professor Asher Susser talks to BICOM about recent Israeli-Palestinian developments

Senior Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, Professor Asher Susser was Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University from 2001 to 2007, and was previously Director from 1989 to 1995. He is one of Israel's leading experts on Jordan and the Palestinians. Prof. Susser was the only Israeli academic invited by Prime Minister Rabin to join him and King Hussein at their historic appearance before the U.S. Congress. A graduate of Tel Aviv University, where he earned his Ph.D. (1986), Susser has been a Fulbright Fellow, a visiting professor at Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and Brandeis University.

Play Podcast

BBC Radio 4: Tim Franks reports from Sderot where life is becoming increasingly 'unbearable'

BBC Middle East Correspondent Tim Franks reports from the Israeli border town of Sderot, where residents suffer from a daily barrage of rocket attacks from militants in the Gaza strip.

Play Podcast

Amos Harel, Haaretz military correspondent, talks about imminent release of final Winograd Report

Play Podcast

World-renowned Syria and Lebanon expert Professor Eyal Zisser discusses the region

Play Podcast

Dan Meridor on the consequences of 1967 40 years on

Former Israeli minister Dan Meridor addressed senior UK journalists on the consequences and challenges posed by the 6 Day War at the latest BICOM Media Breakfast.

Play Podcast

Edna Caplan talks about her experiences during the 6 Day War

Edna Caplan was the volunteer coordinator on Kibbutz Zikim in 1967. Born in London, she joined the kibbutz in 1957 as a member of a group from England. Following the war in 1967, the kibbutz received a large number of volunteers from around the world. Amongst a group of 24 young English volunteers was Bob Hoskins. Listen to her exclusive interview with BICOM here.

Play Podcast

The View From Sderot

BICOM spoke exclusively with four residents living in and around under-fire Sderot. They spoke of the constant fear they live through under regular rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and how the lives of they and their families have had to change dramatically.

Play Podcast

Dr. Patrick Clawson on Iran

Dr. Patrick Clawson, Deputy Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and world renowned Iran expert talks to BICOM on the dangers of underestimating the threats posed by Iran.

Play Podcast

Robert Satloff on 'Sunnis, Shias and Holocaust Denial'

Robert Satloff is Executive Director of the influential Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Play Podcast

Hamas: Politics, Charity, Jihad: Dr. Matthew Levitt

On the 25th April 2007, Dr. Matthew Levitt, Director of the Stein Programme on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy delivered the following lecture in a joint Chatham House- BICOM event.

Play Podcast

Colonel David Raz speaks of his experiences during the 6 Day War

David Raz was a young intelligence and operations officer in the battle for Abu Agheila/Umm Katef. His battalion spearheaded the central axis of advance through the Sinai, later reaching the Suez Canal. Raz was born in Jerusalem, and grew up in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. He remained in the IDF for 27 years, reaching the rank of Colonel. In this exclusive interview for BICOM, Colonel Raz speaks of his experiences at the time and the hopes for peace that followed the conflict.

Play Podcast

Professor Asher Susser on the changing shape of the Middle East

Asher Susser is Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University.

Play Podcast