Research & Commentary Results

Over the past several months, the eyes of the world have been on the massive demonstrations in Israel against the Netanyahu government’s proposed judicial “reform.” Even though Palestinian citizens of Israel are likely to be the group most affected by the proposed changes, they have been notable for their absence, for the most part, from the protests. While Jewish citizens are worried about what the proposed changes might mean for Israel’s judiciary and the future of its democracy, the Supreme Court and the legal system more broadly have long failed to protect the rights of the country’s Palestinian citizens.

Monday, March 27 was supposed to be a red-letter day for the new far-right Israeli coalition government, when it planned to slide through the Knesset the central provision of its “judicial overhaul” bill, comfortably ahead of the Passover recess beginning on April 2. Instead, it ended up being one of the most extraordinary days in Israeli history. Spurred by the “firing” of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the evening before, the demonstrations against the overhaul, which had been building in intensity for over two months, became overwhelming.

Mohammed Mahmoud, Director of the Climate and Water Program at MEI, hosts a discussion on a variety of water resource challenges across the MENA region with Malak Altaeb, Megan Ferrando, Orestes Morfin, Youssef Wehbe, Zena Agha, and Andrei Covatariu. Questions on water availability, the relationship between water and conflict, future technologies, and more are addressed in the conversation.

As Israel’s hardline coalition government is ramming through legislation that would radically alter the country’s political character and system of government, alarm bells are finally ringing in Washington. Even President Joe Biden has finally picked up the phone and expressed his concern to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his anti-democratic agenda. The growing American apprehension, however, has yet to be translated into meaningful policy action.

Water resources are a key component of global sustainability, especially in light of the mounting environmental challenges posed by climate change. We asked some of MEI’s Climate and Water Program scholars to share their perspective on strategies and opportunities that could most readily alleviate the region’s water security concerns.

In addition to the terrible human and material toll, among the many casualties of the ongoing Israeli offensive in the West Bank is Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s leadership. Without outside intervention, Israel’s violent military crackdown is likely to fuel more violence while further undercutting Abbas’s already embattled leadership and whatever may be left of the PA’s domestic credibility.

As a major center for fossil-based energy production, the Middle East is key to global ESG developments. The region is currently at an early stage of ESG adoption, although holding COP27 and COP28 has provided some initial movement towards mainstreaming climate finance regulations.

There is an emerging solar technology that is more efficient than the current photovoltaic solar farms and which also helps to save water by reducing evaporation. Floating solar farms can play a significant role in addressing the Middle East’s clean energy needs as well as mitigating its water shortages. 

It was described as a “significant breakthrough” by a Jordanian official, while Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the agreement would ‘’de-escalate violence” if implemented, but just as the details of the one-day security meeting in Aqaba, on Feb. 26, were being announced, it became apparent once more that a rare attempt to bring Israeli and Palestinian officials together, in a bid to contain a spike in violence that was quickly getting out of control, was ill-fated.

The Gulf Arab states, while major oil and gas producers, can play a significant role in supporting global efforts to achieve net-zero goals. They are not only endowed with great potential for renewable energy resources as well as some of the world’s lowest carbon content fuels, but also with, to varying extents, sizable financial resources. Yet, to unlock such huge potential, the Gulf Arab states will need to systematically identify and address the various challenges in their path to net zero.

Although Germany and Israel maintain a close partnership, the German “Zeitenwende” has not yet been perceived there. Dr. Nimrod Goren outlines a German-Israeli partnership oriented towards democracy and peace.

Atmospheric rivers play an important role in the movement of water through the atmosphere and can release that water at magnitudes capable of producing extreme weather and flooding. But what are atmospheric rivers exactly? And how do they behave in relation to current climate change in the MENA region? MEI’s Mohammed Mahmoud and Raha Hakimdavar are joined by Dr. Amin Dezfuli to discuss these questions and more.

Given the risks associated with climate change in the MENA region, there is a pressing need to provide sustainable financing resources for climate adaptation and mitigation

Expert regional analysis by MEI scholars and contributors.

In the Middle East and North Africa, water is a scarce resource with uneven distribution, resulting in geo-environmental problems at the national level and conflicts between countries that share access to key rivers and water resources that straddle state borders. The stress on the region’s limited water resources is exacerbated by an increasing reliance on groundwater. In such context, monitoring precipitation — the sole renewable water source — is essential yet also challenging. But space-based monitoring can provide a promising technological solution.