Israel Policy Forum

Mission

The stated mission of Israel Policy Forum (IPF) 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

Throughout its history, Israel Policy Forum has mobilized prominent Jewish leaders and American policymakers in support of pragmatic approaches to advancing Israel’s security alongside the pursuit of a lasting, negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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.

IPF trains advocates to promote a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through educational programs. IPF 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, IPF 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 IPF event in his last address on the subject before leaving office.

In the wake of the violence of the second intifada, IPF 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. IPF 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, IPF 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, IPF’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

Through educational initiatives such as the Two-State Security Project, written commentary and analysis, public events, briefings with politicians and thought leaders, and private meetings with government officials and policymakers, we are building a diverse network of influential individuals in support of pragmatic and realistic pathways toward two states. By providing and disseminating cutting edge research and ideas and highlighting an array of thinkers across the ideological, political, and generational spectrums, we are the intellectual home for supporters of a two-state solution.

IPF’s team of advocates and leaders—which includes members of Jewish, philanthropic, academic and political organizations—imparts policy messages to American and international leaders. IPF also regularly holds conference calls and educational training in major U.S. cities.

Two-State Security

IPF’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.

Matzav Blog

IPF’s Matzav Blog is a collaborative effort providing analysis and commentary from a variety of experts focusing on Israeli politics and society, Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, and the US-Israel relationship.

Briefings

IPF convenes Jewish leaders, legislators, and the media and provides timely resources, information, commentary, and analysis.

Koplow Column

IPF Policy Director Michael Koplow’s weekly Column provides nuanced commentary on Israel, peacemaking, and the American Jewish community.

Two-State Security

IPF’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 (Israel Security Agency), Mossad and police forces who advocate in support of a two-state solution.

Security Now

Israeli measures that can be taken immediately to improve the security environment – in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank—endorsed by a network of over 215 former IDF Generals and their counterparts from the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the police forces.

Security Long-Term

A robust security framework in the context of a two- state agreement, developed by former American and Israeli officials from the Pentagon, State Department, IDF and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.