A Policy-Oriented Think Tank Addressing Foreign Policy and National Security Issues for a Safe Israel

Professor Hillel Frisch

Expert on the Arab World

Hillel Frisch is professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University, Israel and former Senior Researcher in the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies. Amongst his latest studies are “Rethinking the “Arab Spring”: Winners and Losers,” Middle East Quarterly (2021) “The Palestinian Military, Two Not One,” Oxford Handbook on Military and Security Studies (2021), “Jordan and Hamas,” Handbook on Jordan, 2019, and “Assessing Iranian Soft Power in the Arab World from Google Trends,” The Journal for Interdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies 2019. 

הפגנה לשחרור החטופים

The Heavy Price of a Hostage Deal “At All Costs”

Moving on to the final stage of the hostage agreement will validate the path of jihad among Palestinians and the wider Muslim world, replenish Hamas’s leadership structure, and impose significant long-term military and economic costs on Israel.

Smoke and fire are seen after Lebanese rocket attacks in forests near Kiryat Shmona, Israel on June 3, 2024.

Yes to Victory; No to Containment and Defeat

Since 2002, we have seen repeatedly in Judea and Samaria, and again in 2005 with the disengagement from Gaza how going on the offense pays off, while containment in the hope of stability results in massive losses in lives and resources to the point of threatening Israel’s very existence. A comparison of eight months of war in the north and the south have hammered home this lesson once again.

Are You In?

Join 8,000+ Subscribers who enjoy our weekly digest