Israel Policy Forum
Israel Policy Forum is an American Jewish organization that works to promote a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict though advocacy, education, and policy research. The organization works with American policymakers, Jewish communal institutions, and a network of young professionals in support of this goal. Israel Policy Forum staff produce research and analysis for publication on the organization's website and have also written for outlets including The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Haaretz, The Forward, JTA. The organization was founded in 1993.
The organization's Chair is Susie Gelman and its Executive Director is David A. Halperin.
Mission
The stated mission of Israel Policy Forum is to shape the discourse and mobilize support among American Jewish leaders and U.S. policymakers for the realization of a viable two-state solution. Israel Policy Forum believes that a two-state solution to the conflict will "safeguard Israel’s security and future as a Jewish and democratic state."History
Israel Policy Forum was founded in 1993. In 1997, it absorbed Project Nishma, a Washington-based organization that specialized in mobilizing Israeli military authorities who argued that the peace process was in Israel's security interests.Israel Policy Forum trains advocates to promote a peaceful resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through educational programs. Israel Policy Forum holds an annual Leadership Event to support key figures who promote peacemaking efforts. Previous speakers at the Leadership Event include President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator Joseph Biden, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, then-Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon.
During the Clinton Administration, Israel Policy Forum served as a base of influential American Jewish support for the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, and President Clinton publicly announced the "Clinton Parameters" at an Israel Policy Forum event in his last address on the subject before leaving office.
In the wake of the violence of the second intifada, Israel Policy Forum garnered broad support for the Gaza disengagement plan as a step toward renewed Israeli–Palestinian negotiations and hosted Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a landmark speech that signaled his forthcoming political transformation. Israel Policy Forum subsequently delivered policy recommendations endorsed by top diplomats to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in support of the Arab Peace Initiative and the Annapolis international peace conference.
More recently, Israel Policy Forum has convened hundreds of community leaders across the political, denominational, and generational spectrums behind timely messages that have expressed concern about unfettered Israeli settlement activity, opposition to Palestinian incitement and violence, and support for American efforts to bring the parties to negotiate an historic compromise.
Today, Israel Policy Forum's analysis, commentary and educational initiatives are providing essential background and information to community leaders and policy makers with regard to how Israel's security can be enhanced while preserving and advancing the goal of a lasting two-state solution.
Activities
Israel Policy Forum's work is focused though a number of projects.Two-State Security
Israel Policy Forum's is an in-depth educational initiative and interactive web resource that thoroughly examines Israel’s security needs in the pursuit of a two-state solution.Israel Policy Exchange
Israel Policy Forum's is an outlet featuring written commentary and analysis from the organization's in-house experts on Israeli politics and society, Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, and the US-Israel relationship.Briefings
Jewish leaders, legislators, and the media and provides timely resources, information, commentary, and analysis.Koplow Column
Israel Policy Forum Policy Director Michael Koplow’s weekly provides nuanced commentary on Israel, peacemaking, and the American Jewish community.IPF Atid
IPF Atid is Israel Policy Forum's national young professionals network, with branches in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Launched in 2017, IPF Atid's inaugural program featured Grant Rumley of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Amir Tibon of Haaretz for a discussion on their new book, The Last Palestinian: The Rise And Reign of Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, IPF Atid organizes briefings with policymakers and experts for supporters aged 22 to 40, including in-person meetings and video calls. Featured speakers for such programs have included Member of Knesset Ksenia Svetlova, Journalist Tal Shalev, Maj. Gen. Amnon Reshef, Obama administration sanctions official Richard Nephew, and others. IPF Atid also launches quarterly initiatives, online educational programs offering a focused batch of content on a specific topic. Initiative subjects have included Russia in the Middle East, Palestinian leadership, and the politics of Israel's Knesset. Each initiative recruits a set of featured experts to participate in podcasts, briefing calls, and answer questions from IPF Atid supporters. Past featured experts have included Israeli authors and journalists Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez, Al-Monitor Russia-Mideast Editor Maxim Suchkov, Professor Brent E. Sasley, and others. IPF Atid is led by a national director and a group of volunteer lay leaders.Two-State Security
Israel Policy Forum's Two-State Security project is an in-depth educational initiative and interactive web resource that thoroughly examines Israel’s security needs in the pursuit of a two-state solution. The project was released in June 2016. The project consists of private and public briefings in communities nationwide as well as TwoStateSecurity.org, a unique online resource providing interactive maps and visual renderings of detailed research conducted by teams of Israeli and American former military officials.This project derives from two unique studies published in early June, 2016. The studies, which were facilitated and coordinated by the Israel Policy Forum, were developed by the Center for a New American Security, an independent nonpartisan research institution, and Commanders for Israel’s Security, a coalition of some 200 former senior members of the IDF, Shin Bet, Mossad and police forces who advocate in support of a two-state solution.