Israeli, Palestinian and American experts will share insights on the Israel-Hamas war, hostage/cease-fire negotiations, and their regional and international repercussions. After more than 200 days, the war triggered by the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel has caused tens of thousands of casualties with few conclusive results. 133 Israeli hostages remain in captivity, more than a million Palestinians and tens of thousands of Israelis remain displaced, combat continues on multiple fronts, and protest movements grow in Israel and abroad while leaders cling to power. Is there an endgame to this protracted crisis? 

Speakers

Eyal Hulata is a senior international fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

From July 2021 to January 2023, Eyal served as Israel’s national security advisor and head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Yair Lapid. 

Ghaith Al-Omari is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He is the former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine, former Director of the International Relations department in the office of the Palestinian Authority President, and member of the Palestinian delegation during the 1999-2001 permanent status negotiations with Israel.

Laura Blumenfeld is a senior fellow at the The Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. She previously served as a senior policy advisor on the State Department’s Israeli-Palestinian Negotiating Team. Blumenfeld was an award-winning reporter for The Washington Post for twenty years, covering the Middle East, national security, and presidential politics.

Ned Lazarus of GWU's Elliott School of International Affairs will moderate.