Chuck Freilich

AP Photo

August 4, 2008

"After Olmert"

Op-Ed, Human Events

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"...In mid September, Olmert's Kadima party will hold primaries to elect his successor as party head, until which time he will stay on as premier. The two leading candidates are, Tzipi Livni, the current foreign minister and clear frontrunner among the public, and Shaul Mofaz, a former chief of staff and defense minister, now minister of transportation, the frontrunner among the party rank and file, who actually vote in the primaries...."

AP Photo

July 8, 2008

"Peace with Syria?"

Op-Ed, Human Events

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"...While it is clear that withdrawal is the price of peace, disagreement over the Golan's precise delineation is what led to the talks' failure in the past. Syria demands a return to the 1967 lines, Israel to the 1923 mandatory border.

Under the 1923 demarcation, the recognized basis for all Mideast negotiations, the Golan ends just meters east of the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee. Between 1948 and 1967, however, Syria encroached upon Israeli territory, with two enclaves along the Jordan and a strip on the lake’s northeastern shore. The 1967 lines would thus give Syria more than 100% of the internationally recognized Golan, a claim to the lake's water and end full Israeli access around it...."

AP Photo

June 25, 2008

"A Disastrous Attack on Iran?"

Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"...Only if the US proves to both domestic and world opinion that it has exhausted all diplomatic possibilities, will it gain support for major economic sanctions, let alone future military action. Iran will probably reject the offer, as it has all others, but we will only know if the option is pursued and it is a vital way station on the road to stronger measures. Talking to Iran does not imply acquiescence, or appeasement."

AP Photo

March 2008

"Six Ways Not to Deal with Hamas"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

How do you stop a foe whose tolerance for pain exceeds your willingness to inflict it?

Senior Fellow Chuck Freilich examines each of the alternatives.

AP Photo

February 20, 2008

"Disavowing the Iran NIE: Smoke Screens or Smoking Guns?"

Op-Ed, Human Events

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"US policymakers, too, will have to give increasing thought to the options for living with a nuclear Iran, as well as to Israel's considerations. How the US engages with Israel and others regarding the NIE, will have a major effect on crucial decisions they will have to make in the coming months, as well as the long term prospects for containing Iran's nukes."

AP Photo

February 18, 2008

"A Post-Annapolis Breakthrough Proposal"

Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"TO OVERCOME Palestinian skepticism, Israel would commit to a timetable for resettlement and a true settlement freeze in those areas to be resettled, contingent on Palestinian security measures. If packaged as Israeli concessions to Abu Mazen, this proposal would constitute an historic step that even Hamas would have trouble denying and, unlike the ill-fated measures now under discussion, would dramatically demonstrate the efficacy of the negotiated path Abbas represents."

January 7, 2008

"Bush's Mideast Trip"

Op-Ed, The Washington Times

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"Mr. Bush will also find an Israel stunned and feeling betrayed by the recent U.S. National Intelligence Estimate which concluded that Iran has suspended its military nuclear program. Israel's security establishment remains convinced that Iran is actively pursuing this option, while the public, long used to viewing Iran as an existential threat, is totally bewildered by this abrupt change."

December 2007

"Speaking about the Unspeakable: U.S.-Israeli Dialogue on Iran's Nuclear Program"

Policy Brief

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

Despite the longstanding and ever-evolving "special relationship" between the United States and Israel, the two allies do not appear to have engaged in substantive discussions on key facets of their most pressing mutual concern, the Iranian nuclear threat. Specifically, there has been little if any dialogue on the possibility of military action if the diplomatic route comes to a dead end, nor on the possible means of living with a nuclear Iran should both countries decide to refrain from military action.

October 15, 2007

"Extreme Do-Over May Unify Iraq"

Op-Ed, The Boston Herald

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

Just as the U.S. has repeatedly rethought its military strategy in Iraq, it is time to recognize that the political process has failed and to change course.

Instead of sitting on the sidelines as sectarian influences rip Iraq asunder, the U.S. should announce a do-over and craft a new constitution designed to counter Iraq’s centrifugal forces.

July 10, 2007

"Teheran's War by Proxy"

Op-Ed, Human Events

By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program

"One cannot win a war against an aggressive, expansionist adversary, simply by fighting a limited war against its proxies."