This program is part of the Asia Society Policy Institute's (ASPI) series entitled “Coronavirus, Asia, and the World.” ASPI presents web-only programs twice weekly to analyze the scope of the ramifications from the novel coronavirus across the Asia-Pacific region and the world. For information about future events in this series and for ASPI’s additional coronavirus content see here.

Israel has succeeded in reducing the number of new COVID-19 infections through a series of aggressive measures, including social distancing and quarantines.  The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process has praised Israeli and Palestinian authorities for their cooperation on the coronavirus. 

In the midst of the pandemic, and after more than a year of political stalemate which saw three inconclusive elections, political rivals Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz agreed to form a “national emergency government.”  The agreement will likely spare Israel from a fourth consecutive election.  At the same time, it opens the door this summer for possible Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank – a move which would have significant implications for the region and the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Asia Society Policy Institute Senior Fellow Puneet Talwar will be joined by former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro to discuss Israel’s response to COVID-19, the political situation in the wake of the coalition government deal, the debate over annexation, and the latest tensions in a volatile region.

SPEAKERS

Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro was named Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Institute of National Security Studies (INSS) in March 2017, following a diverse career of over 20 years in senior foreign policy and national security positions in the United States government. He is a frequent commentator on Middle East affairs in the U.S. and Israeli media, and his writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Washington Post, Wall St. Journal, CNN, NBC, NPR, Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, and more. He was appointed by President Obama to be United States Ambassador to Israel, a position he held from July 2011 until the end of the Obama Administration. He won praise from leaders of both countries for his deft management of the U.S.-Israel relationship during Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, the Iran nuclear agreement, regional instability, and periods of significant bilateral tension and disagreement. He previously served as Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council, in which he served as a member of Special Envoy George Mitchell’s team, led U.S. diplomatic efforts in Syria and Lebanon, and advised President Obama through the early months of the upheavals in Arab states in 2011. In addition to his work at INSS, Shapiro also serves as a Senior Advisor to ION Crossover Partners, an Israeli investment fund focused on late-growth-stage, pre-IPO Israeli technology companies. He is a Principal with WestExec Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic advisory firm, and he serves as a consultant to various Israeli companies working to expand their presence in the United States, and to American companies and organizations doing the same in Israel. He holds degrees from Brandeis University and Harvard University and is living with his wife, Julie Fisher, and their three daughters, in Raanana, Israel.

Puneet Talwar (moderator) is a Senior Fellow with the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington, DC. Mr. Talwar is a former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs (2014 to 2015) and a former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at the National Security Council for the Gulf States, Iran, and Iraq (2009 to 2014). He played a central role in the backchannel diplomacy that produced the Iran nuclear deal. Prior to working in the White House, Talwar was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff for twelve years and a top advisor to then-Senator Joe Biden. He served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff from 1999 to 2001 and was a foreign policy advisor in the House of Representatives in the early 1990s.