Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change

Charles Freilich, former deputy national security adviser in Israel, will discuss Israeli security concerns and his blueprint for an Israeli security strategy. Dr. Freilich is the author of multiple books, including "Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change" (Oxford, 2018) and the forthcoming "Israel and the Cyber Threat: How the Startup Nation Became a Global Cyber Power," and has taught political science at Harvard, NYU, Columbia and Tel Aviv universities.

Thursday, July 23, 2020
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Click the link above to register and join the online event.

After registering, you will be emailed a meeting link and ID information to join us virtually via Zoom on your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you prefer, you can also call into the event on your phone. You must register first to receive this information.

Event co-sponsored by the UCLA Department of Political Science, UCLA Department of Public Policy, and the Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative. Note: This live webinar will be recorded and posted online afterwards for later viewing on the Y&S Nazarian Center's videos page.

About the Talk

National security has been at the forefront of the Israeli experience for seven decades, with threats ranging from terrorism, to vast rocket and missile arsenals, and even existential nuclear dangers. Yet, despite its overwhelming preoccupation with foreign and defense affairs, Israel does not have a formal national security strategy.

In Israeli National Security, Freilich presents an authoritative analysis of the military, diplomatic, demographic, and societal challenges Israel faces today, to propose a comprehensive and long-term Israeli national security strategy. The heart of the new strategy places greater emphasis on restraint, defense, and diplomacy as means of addressing the challenges Israel faces, along with the military capacity to deter and, if necessary, defeat Israel's adversaries, while also maintaining the resolve of its society. By bringing Israel's most critical debates about the Palestinians, demography, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, US relations and nuclear strategy into sharp focus, the strategy Freilich proposes addresses the primary challenges Israel must address in order to chart its national course.

The most comprehensive study of Israel's national security to date, this book presents the first public proposal for a comprehensive Israeli national security strategy and prescribes an actionable course forward.

About the Speaker

Professor Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel and long-time senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center, teaches political science at Columbia, NYU and Tel Aviv universities. His primary areas of expertise are the Middle East, U.S.-Middle East policy, and Israeli national security policy. Dr. Freilich is the author of Zion’s Dilemmas: How Israel Makes National Security Policy (Cornell Press, 2012); Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change (Oxford Press, 2018); and Israel and the Cyber Threat: How the Startup Nation Became a Global Cyber Power (forthcoming, 2020). He has published numerous academic articles and over 150 op-eds, and appears frequently as a commentator on U.S., Israeli and international television and radio stations.

Freilich holds a Ph.D. and M. Phil in International Relations from Columbia University, and M.S. and B.A. degrees from Tel Aviv University and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, respectively.

Sponsor(s): Department of Public Policy, Political Science, Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative