The Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) is an Israeli think tank affiliated with Bar-Ilan University and supported by the NATO Mediterranean Initiative, conducting policy-relevant research on Middle Eastern and global strategic affairs, particularly as they relate to the national security and foreign policy of Israel and regional peace and stability. The center's mission is to contribute to promoting peace and security in the Middle East, through policy-oriented researches on national security in the Middle East. It is located at the Social Sciences Faculty of Bar-Ilan University. The center was founded by Thomas Hecht, a Canadian-Jewish leader, and was dedicated to Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, who signed the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, the first peace agreement ever signed between Israel and an Arab country.
About the BESA Center
BESA according to BESA
Professor Efraim Inbar describes the center's mission as follows: "Over the years, we have been the first to successfully place on the public agenda issues such as the problematic aspects of Palestinian statehood, the danger of Arab chemical and biological weapons and missile stocks, Israel's relations with key countries such as Turkey and India, and the abuse of international institutions in the attempt to delegitimize Israel. Today, the Center leads an attempt to introduce creative thinking about alternatives to the entrenched two-state paradigm in Israeli-Palestinian peace diplomacy, and an initiative to nourish U.S.-Israeli relations."[1]
The center is staffed with strategic thinkers, academic experts and "military men".[2]
Position and orientation
BESA normally takes a center-right and pro-military viewpoint on policy.[3][4] In 2009, Inbar's paper "The Rise and Fall of the 'Two States for Two Peoples' Paradigm" said that in light of Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip, the best solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict would be to repartition the country with Egypt governing Gaza, Jordan governing the West Bank, and Israel withdrawing from isolated settlements.[4]
Impact and status
In the University of Pennsylvania's 2014 Global Go To Think Tanks Report, the center was ranked the ninth best think tank in the Middle East and North Africa, behind the Carnegie Middle East Center (Lebanon), ACPSS (Egypt), Brookings (Qatar), EDAM (Turkey), INSS (Israel), Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, (AJCS) (Qatar), TESEV (Turkey), and GRC (Saudi Arabia).[5]
In 2017, some members of BESA split off to create the new Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS), which takes a similar approach to security issues.[6]
Funding
Both BESA and the Jerusalem Institute of Strategic Studies are funded by the Australian philanthropist Greg Rosshandler of Melbourne.[7]
Publications
- Perspectives Paper Archived 2013-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Mideast Security and Policy Studies
- Books
- News Bulletin Archived 2013-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
References
- ^ "American Friends of Bar-Ilan University: Strengthening Jewish and Zionist Values 'The BESA Center Ranked as One of the Three Top Middle East Think Tanks'"http://www.afbiu.org/about-afbiu/besa-center-top-ranked Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "BESA profile 2003" http://davidmweinberg.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Begin-Sadat-Center-for-Strategic-Studies-Corporate-Profile-2003.pdf
- ^ Daniel Estrin (2017-06-01). "Trump Delays Promised U.S. Embassy Move To Jerusalem". NPR.
- ^ a b "Benn, Aluf 'Head of right-wing think tank: Settlements must be evacuated; Prof. Efraim Inbar calls for repartition of Israel, with Egypt resuming control of the Gaza Strip.' (27 Jan 2009) Haaretz" http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/head-of-right-wing-think-tank-settlements-must-be-evacuated-1.268922
- ^ "The 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index". University of Pennsylvania. 2015-02-04. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
- ^ Ahren, Raphael. "New hawkish security think tank launched in Jerusalem". www.timesofisrael.com.
- ^ "On the launch of JISS". Jerusalem Institute of Strategic Studies. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2020.