The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is at a complete standstill, with many questioning the viability of a solution. Dan Meridor, former deputy prime minister will discuss ways to reconstitute a meaningful approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dan Meridor is the Lamont Visiting Lecturer at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence in the Israeli government from 2009-2013. From 2004-2006, Mr. Meridor was appointed by the Minister of Defense to be Chairman of the Committee on Israel's Defense Doctrine. Mr. Meridor served as Chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation from 2003-2008 and was a Senior Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Additionally during this period, Meridor served as Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
From 2001-2003, Mr. Meridor served as a Minister in the Israeli government in charge of strategic affairs, and was a member of the Inner Cabinet. From 1999-2001, he served as the Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Mr. Meridor was Israel’s Minister of Finance from 1996-1997. In this role, he initiated sweeping reforms in the economy through massive budget cuts, liberalization and privatization. From 1988-1992, Mr. Meridor was Israel’s Minister of Justice. He promoted human rights legislation, and enacted Israel's first (and so far - only) constitutional laws on human rights, creating the "constitutional revolution," empowering the Supreme Court with judicial review over Knesset laws. From 1982-1984, Mr. Meridor served as the Secretary of the Cabinet under Prime Minister Menahem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir. In the Knesset, Mr. Meridor served on the Committee of Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Committee of Constitution, Law & Justice, and the Ethics Committee.
Mr. Meridor is presently the Chairman of the Board of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and President of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations.
Robert M. Danin is a non-resident senior fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project. He is also a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining CFR, he headed the Jerusalem mission of the Quartet representative, Tony Blair, from April 2008 until August 2010. A former career State Department official with over twenty years of Middle East experience, Dr. Danin previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs with responsibilities for Israeli-Palestinian issues and Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. He also served at the National Security Council for over three years, first as Director for Israeli-Palestinian affairs and the Levant and then as acting Senior Director for Near East and North African affairs. A recipient of the State Department's Superior Honor Award, Dr. Danin served as a Middle East and Gulf specialist on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, and as a State Department senior Middle East political and military analyst. Prior to joining the State Department, he worked as a Jerusalem-based journalist covering Israeli and Palestinian politics. He has served as a thought leader for the World Economic Forum since 2012.
Dr. Danin has published widely, including in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Atlantic. His commentary has also been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and TIME; and hehe has been a frequent guest on a wide range of television and broadcast media, including the PBS Newshour, Charlie Rose, CNN, BBC, MSNBC, NPR, as well as Turkish, Arabic, and Israeli television and radio. He is a contributing author of Pathways to Peace; America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan 2012), and Iran: The Nuclear Challenge (CFR, 2012).
Dr. Danin holds a BA in history from the University of California, Berkeley, an MSFS degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and a doctorate in the international relations of the Middle East from St. Antony's College, Oxford University.
