Despite the severe manpower crisis in the IDF as well as the profound lack of officers at the captain and major rank levels, the military is being forced to "fire" dozens of officers for whom there are no replacements. 

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This is due to an agreement reached with the Finance Ministry that came into effect in 2016, according to which career officers now have to pass through two organizational gateways before they are awarded permanent tenure, which guarantees them eventual retirement with a bridging pension.

Video: IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi stresses the importance of unity. Credit; IDF

The first gateway comes at the age of 28 and the second at the age of 35. A process of performance appraisal is conducted at each organizational gateway for the specific career officer, and then subsequently a decision is made whether or not to enable that officer to continue serving or to let him go. 

A career officer reaching the second organizational gateway, who has not attained the rank of lieutenant colonel or above, is then required to leave the military. In other words, the army de facto dismisses him. 

However, there is a clear anomaly here, as the IDF is required to release those officers even though it does not have other officers to take their place due to the mass departure of officers in recent years.

As part of the agreement reached by the Finance Ministry and the IDF, it was agreed to approve some 900 positions of professional officers with the rank of major, with the ministry not approving the military's request to increase the number by an additional 350 positions. 

As a result of the lack of positions, numerous functions in the army are either unmanned or manned by young and inexperienced officers.

We should recall that the IDF is currently facing one of the largest manpower crises in its history, and in the last two years has had to contend with a constant stream of officers deciding to leave. 

In February, Israel Hayom revealed that 613 officers with the rank of major left the IDF of their own volition in 2022 – a 70% increase compared to 2020.

According to new figures obtained by Israel Hayom, despite the current rifts within Israeli society, during the first half of 2023 only a minor decline was recorded in the number of officers deciding to leave the army on their own initiative compared with 2022. 

In the first six months of 2022, the number stood at 217 officers with the rank of major, while in the same period in 2023, it was "only" 180. Traditionally, however, most officers tend to leave during the second half of the year.

According to the updated forecasts in the IDF Manpower Directorate, by the end of the year, some 540 officers with the rank of major will have left of their own volition. However, the forecast was written before the so-called reasonableness law was passed in the Knesset and prior to the declarations by thousands of reservists that they will cease their volunteer duty.

As such, there is grave concern within the IDF that the trend of career officers leaving will only get worse. It is safe to say that career officers will not make any public announcements but will simply not extend their service contracts. 

As mentioned above, when senior officers leave en masse, the army either remains with unmanned positions or ones that are manned by inexperienced officers, which poses a considerable inherent danger that with time, the IDF will gradually become a mediocre military.

The manpower crisis is grave regardless of the government's recent steps to push ahead with the judicial reform and career officers are reluctant to remain within the system in view of the low salaries they earn relative to the endless hours they put in, the hostile public attitude towards them, their inability to lead a reasonable family life and the fact that the army can simply decide not to extend their service if they fail to pass through the organizational gateways.

 The shift from the budgetary pension model to the cumulative pension has also greatly contributed to the exodus of officers as although it reduces the public cost of the career officers' pensions it also decreases the extent to which they are invested in the system.

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Over the last year, the IDF has adopted a number of measures to curb this trend, and among others, has granted bonuses to the serving officers and has sent them to take part in a variety of educational and promotional activities. Having said that, even when there is a distinctly severe lack of officers – and there are many who are prepared and even willing to remain in the system – at the end of the day it is the red tape that beats everything.

Just a few days ago, the IDF General Staff Forum – led by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi – held a special one-day seminar dealing with the manpower issue. 

Halevi said the matter was of utmost importance and one that genuinely needs to be addressed in his new Ma'alot multiannual plan.

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's efforts to stop Israelis from going abroad and stop the flow of inbound tourists through new restrictions have caused an uproar among travel agents and others in the tourism industry, with some lamenting that the government was acting capriciously.

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Due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, government and health officials call on Israelis almost daily not to travel abroad unless absolutely necessary and again delayed the date of entry for vaccinated tourists into the country.

"We are postponing the date of entry for tourists; it is not going to happen on Aug. 1," Health Minister Director-General Nachman Ash announced in a press conference on Sunday, without setting a new date.

Kobi Karni, Chairman of the Association of Travel Agencies, issued a letter accusing Bennett and the government of making decisions without taking the needs of the industry into account.

"The travel industry is in an unprecedented crisis and economic struggle, and it operates only at 20% capacity compared to pre-pandemic times. This is the result, among other things, of the government imposing restrictions on Ben-Gurion International Airport.

"We were shocked when the prime minister called on the public for the second time not to travel abroad, not to book tickets, and even said that some flights might be canceled. From the moment Bennett made his announcement, we were flooded with thousands of phone calls and requests to cancel the already few reservations that had been booked, which is destroying our ability to keep the industry afloat during the crisis," he continued.

According to Karni, the agents are not against the efforts to battle the pandemic but are against what they see as an irrational approach.

"We would like to note that we do not oppose the move itself, but the prime minister cannot simply undermine our livelihood without taking immediate responsibility for the people whose livelihoods are directly affected by his decisions."

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Lebanese troops deployed in the northern city of Tripoli early Sunday taking positions around major state institutions after a night of protests and riots against worsening living conditions left several protesters and 10 soldiers injured.

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Sporadic protests were reported throughout Lebanon on Saturday as the country's 20-month economic crisis worsened. The World Bank described the crisis as one of the worst the world has witnessed in 150 years. It is coupled with a political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a government since August.

The largest protests were in the southern port city of Sidon and in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city and most impoverished. Sporadic protests and road closures took place in the capital Beirut.

Lebanon has been suffering severe shortages of vital products including fuel, medicine and medical supplies, angering the public.

Lebanon's currency hit a record low Saturday, reaching 18,000 pounds to the US dollar. The pound has lost more than 90% of its value since the crisis began.

In October 2019, protesters called for the removal of the political class that has run the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war and has been blamed for corruption and mismanagement that has ruined the country's economy.

The army said rioters on motorcycles threw stun grenades at troops in Tripoli injuring nine soldiers, while another was injured when hit by a stone. Protesters attacked several state institutions in the city.

State-run National News Agency said Tripoli and other cities in Lebanon were quiet around noon Sunday.

The situation in Lebanon is not expected to improve as political bickering between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has delayed the formation of a government since Hariri was named to the post in October. Talks with the International Monetary Fund over the economic crisis have been suspended since last year.

The World Bank said Lebanon's gross domestic product is projected to contract 9.5% in 2021, after shrinking by 20.3% in 2020 and 6.7% the year before.

Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs since late 2019 in the tiny country of 6 million, including a million Syrian refugees. More than half the population lives in poverty.

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Lebanon's severe economic and financial crisis is likely to rank as one of the worst the world has seen in more than 150 years, the World Bank said in a report released Tuesday.

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The World Bank said that since late 2019, Lebanon has been facing compounded challenges, including its largest peace-time economic and financial crisis, the spread of coronavirus and a massive blast at Beirut's port last year that is considered as one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history.

The crisis has worsened in recent months with political bickering between rival groups delaying the formation of a new government, after the cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned days after the Aug. 4 blast. The explosion in the Port of Beirut killed 211 people, wounded more than 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods.

"Policy responses by Lebanon's leadership to these challenges have been highly inadequate," the report said. "The economic and financial crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century."

It said the country's gross domestic product is projected to contract 9.5% in 2021, after shrinking by 20.3% in 2020 and 6.7% the year before. Lebanon's gross domestic product plummeted from close to $55 billion in 2018 to an estimated $33 billion in 2020, while GDP per capita fell by around 40% in dollar terms, the report said.

"Such a brutal contraction is usually associated with conflicts or wars," the World Bank said.

For decades, Lebanon has been dominated by the same political elites, many of them former warlords and militia commanders from the civil war. Corruption has been widespread over the past decades, bringing the tiny country to near bankruptcy.

In March 2020, Lebanon defaulted on paying back its debt for the first time in its history as the local currency lost more than 85% of its value. Tens of thousands have lost their jobs while many others left the country seeking opportunities abroad. Nearly half the country's 5 million people live in poverty.

"Lebanon faces a dangerous depletion of resources, including human capital, and high-skilled labor is increasingly likely to take up potential opportunities abroad, constituting a permanent social and economic loss for the country," said Saroj Kumar Jha, the World Bank regional director.

"Only a reform-minded government, which embarks upon a credible path toward economic and financial recovery" can reverse further sinking of Lebanon, he said.

In recent weeks, with foreign currency reserves dwindling at the central bank, Lebanon has been witnessing a severe shortage in medicines as well as fuel, with people having to wait in line at gas stations to fill their cars. Electricity cuts last more than 12 hours a day.

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At a time when the upcoming election is starting to look like a referendum on the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis and politicians in Israel are having a hard time deciding whether the pandemic is an electoral asset or a millstone around their necks, the number of dead now exceeds 5,000.

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The public is tired, engulfed by depression. Many people are at the end of their rope. By the end of March, Israel's COVID death toll is projected to reach 6,000, about the same number the Jewish Yishuv lost in the 1948 War of Independence. Of course, there are major differences between the two situations, but there is also at least one common denominator.

Then, like now, the public is looking toward the leadership, expecting it to conduct itself in a way that overcomes personal interests and immediate political calculations. The demand that politics and the pandemic be kept as separate as possible might sound naïve, not to mention detached from the cynical political reality. But when an election coincides with a situation of crisis and chaos (both of public health and economics) the like of which we haven't seen since the state was founded, the leadership needs to communicate with the citizens in a way that is totally different from what is taking place today.

The public longs for leadership that will give it strength and hope, and most of all, give meaning to the price they paid and the sacrifices they have been asked to make for nearly a year. It longs for a leadership that will talk to them and tell them the truth, even when the truth is hard to hear. It is asking for leadership that will share its difficulties and deliberations, demonstrate strength and faith, and be honest enough to point out vulnerabilities and weaknesses. The public wants success, but expects its leaders to be honest enough to admit to failures. These are the ABCs of rebuilding trust between society and the government – any government that is elected – when it comes to COVID.

Serving the nation

Only a few months ago, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem published a study that is relevant to the kind of rectification that is so needed now. Roy Katz and Professor Tsfira Grebelsky-Lichtman found that countries with female leaders stood out for handling COVID well. It turns out that female leaders connected to the public gently rather than aggressively, in a sharing, accepting way and not through threats and warnings and scare tactics. More distant history shows us that male leaders can do the same thing. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a figure that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admires greatly, took the same approach at one of the darkest times in human history.

Psychologist Nachi Alon once analyzed how Churchill's speeches managed to "create hope at a time of collective depression." It was a different era, of course, but also similar to what the Israeli public and many others in the world are experiencing because of COVID. In a long article that should be required reading for modern leaders, Alon describes how Churchill inspired and comforted his people, how he "gave them a sense of meaning and power, inspired them to enlist and take action." He did so, Alon says, "without playing down the dangers and awoke noble feelings of solidarity without sparking hatred. He appealed to every person without appealing to the most base common denominator, encouraged without flattery, and inspired pride without condescension. He was able to express the suffering of millions of people without glorifying it, and managed to show the good in humanity without denying the evil."

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Alon writes that Churchill spoke little about himself, and when he did, he described himself as the spokesman of the nation and its servant. Rather than speaking in the first person, he used the uniting language of "we." In contrast to the screamed addresses of Britain's enemies, Churchill spoke quietly, in measured tones, as if he were talking with friends. He did not hide past failures but did not dwell on them, either.

Going against the DNA of politics

With all the differences, this is the approach we need today. World War II and Churchill are history, but the war on COVID is still going strong. It's different. This isn't a war between countries, but a war of all countries. And here in Israel, the discourse doesn't unite or bring us closer or embrace us, it is a multi-party battle of hatred and divisiveness and isolationism, as well as slander and accusations. "I," not "we," stand in the center.

The enormity of the crisis demands a different kind of dialogue. At a time like this, the leadership must first of all lift the public's spirits and not exploit its weakness in order to build on it politically. A responsible leadership would first tell itself and then the public that there is meaning to the difficulty and suffering they are experiencing; that these difficulties are part of the sacrifices we make because of our commitment to one another; that they are part of the war to keep people alive; that we're all in it together, especially for the sake of the weaker and more vulnerable.

The Israeli political leadership can't do that without a personal example. It's not just a matter of politicians forgoing their salaries (which came far too late), or making sure that social distancing rules are enforced equally, but also a matter of going out among the people. Just like it sounds. Outside. Face to face, looking people in the eye – at outbreak hotspots, in retirement homes, in hospitals, at soup kitchens, at closed-down shopping centers and malls. At the unemployment offices and job centers, with teachers and students and social workers, passengers on buses and trains, in Bnei Brak and in Mitzpe Ramon, in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona and Eilat.

Talk to the public, but mostly – listen. Go out to salve their wounded, not to score political points. Talk about what the various sectors have in common, not what differentiates them. Talk about the here and now, but also about the future. Lead the public, don't let them lead you, even if politically and in the short term it benefits you less to do so.

This kind of behavior might go against politicians' DNA in an election, but this is first and foremost a pandemic, with everything that entails. To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, who suggested that the public not ask what the country can do for them, but what they can do for their country, it would be appropriate if our own politicians were to stop asking themselves what they should do to get elected and start asking themselves what they should be doing. 

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The Jewish world in the age of coronavirus – A special Israel Hayom project

Part XVII: Coping with mental health in the Haredi world

The ultra-Orthodox community has had many challenges to tackle since the coronavirus pandemic erupted. It has affected family life, study, prayers, and more.

But it succeeded in breaking taboos about one more significant challenge: mental health.

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Take Haredi Rabbi David Cohen, for example. He is a world-renowned Torah scholar and leader of the Gvul Yavetz community in Brooklyn.

Last April, Cohen permitted the use of a special helpline on Shabbat and holidays for community members who struggled with mental issues and were in need of assistance.

Cohen based his ruling on the words of famous Talmudic scholar Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, who used to say, "I am not lenient with the rules of Shabbat, I am stringent when it comes to saving a life."

These words spread around the community and led to a fundamental change.

"There was an unprecedented jump in the number of inquiries – 10 times more than on normal days," said New York psychologist Dr. Shlomi Zimmerman.

Zimmerman volunteers with the board of directors of the local NGO Amudim, which helps fight various addictions in the Haredi community.

"Two hours before Passover began, we received a flood of inquiries, and we quickly recruited all of our volunteers. I have never seen anything like this. There were calls from everywhere – California, New York, New Jersey, Britain, and Israel. The community has come to realize that mental health is just as important as physical well-being," he said.

Zimmerman expressed hope that these events would lead to a change in the discourse, or lack thereof, about mental health in Haredi society.

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Oil tanker traffic passing through the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz has become the focus of a US-Iranian standoff since Washington pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions to strangle Tehran's oil exports.

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After explosions that damaged six oil tankers in May and June and Iran's seizure of a British-flagged tanker in July, the United States launched a maritime security mission in the Gulf, joined by Britain in an effort to protect merchant vessels.

Zarif, in interview remarks cited by Qatar-based Al Jazeera, said that the Strait "is narrow, it will become less safe as foreign [navy] vessels increase their presence in it."

"The region has become a matchbox ready to ignite because America and its allies are flooding it with weapons," he said.

Zarif, who arrived on Sunday in Doha, met on Monday with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for talks to convey that message, Iranian state-run media reported.

Qatar, which hosts one of the biggest US military bases in the Middle East, is trying not to be drawn into the escalating conflict between Washington and Tehran.

Iraq, which maintains good relations with both Washington and Tehran, cautioned on Monday that the deployment of Western forces was fueling regional tensions.

"The states of the Gulf can together secure the transit of ships," Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim said on Twitter.

"Iraq is seeking to reduce tension in our region through calm negotiations. … The presence of Western forces in the region will increase tension," he said.

Last month, Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the British tanker Stena Impero near the Strait for alleged marine violations, two weeks after Britain seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar, accusing it of violating sanctions on Syria.

The tanker dispute has tangled Britain in the diplomatic dispute between the EU's big powers – which want to preserve the Iran nuclear deal – and the United States which has pushed for a tougher policy on Iran.

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The most recent provocations began late last week, when Iran announced that it had seized a British tanker. Following the seizure, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani offered a deal to swap the British tanker for its own tanker being held in Gibraltar, which was seized by the United Kingdom on suspicion that it was delivering oil to Syria in violation of current sanctions.

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In response to Iran's continued threat in the Gulf, both American and Britain announced potentially significant moves to counter the threat.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on other nations to join a maritime force to guard oil tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

"I am confident that we will all form a collective defense," he told conservative radio host Ben Shapiro. "The United States is calling it our maritime security initiative, and we have asked countries from all across the world to participate in that to assist in the defense of the waterways through the Gulf and through the Straits of Hormuz."

The Strait of Hormuz lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

At the same time, the UK Royal Navy announced that it will now accompany British oil tankers in the region. Newly appointed US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has already said that the United States will escort American-flagged ships.

Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told JNS that Iran's strategy here is "practicing brinkmanship, threatening to stop the energy flow from the Gulf."

Adding to this, Iran also recently breached the 2015 nuclear deal (officially Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) a second time and brought its low-enriched uranium limit over the agreed thresholdת from 3.7% to about 4.5%.

Iran is trying to "free itself from the limits imposed by the JCPOA," said Inbar, adding that the Europeans "are unlikely to say or do something. It is Trump who must react."

He warned that if Trump focuses only on the economic arena, the world "will end up with an Iran very close to the bomb."

And if it reaches that dangerous point, Inbar said it is then that Israel "will have to decide what to do."

'A Message to the Europeans'

Emily Landau, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, told JNS that she views Iran's provocations in the Gulf in past several months and its violations of the nuclear deal "as a message to the Europeans."

She said that while Iran's steps so far have been "measured," it's a message meant to jolt the Europeans, as well as an effort to get sanctions off Iran's back. "This is Iran's main goal," she said.

"The European response is very important here, and unfortunately, what we've heard so far from the Europeans—despite the fact there was initially harsher rhetoric regarding the consequences if Iran breached the JCPOA—once Iran actually did breach it, the reaction was not significant," explained Landau.

In political terms, Iran's moves are indeed significant, as are Europe's reactions.

Landau agreed with Inbar that the Europeans "mainly want to play this down and not make a big deal about it."

Nevertheless, Tehran sees its strategy is working, and as such, will most likely take it another step further. Europe needs to stand together with the Americans with the understanding that Iran is not going to negotiate a better deal unless it is pressured into doing so.

Landau pointed out that that the Obama administration was under the illusion that after the JCPOA was achieved, talk could move to other issues, such as ballistic missiles.

"This was nonsense," she said. "There was no basis for thinking Iran would ever do that if there was no longer any pressure."

She insisted that "Iran cannot get the message that these [provocative] steps are acceptable."

Pointing to the subterfuge and deceitful games Iran is playing, Landau warned that America must stand firm and "not relent." She said the Trump administration needs to understand "how the Iranians play this game, how they twist things, making it seem there are concessions when there are absolutely no concessions at all."

Landau warned that "this is the kind of bargaining stance that the US cannot accept; it cannot fall for the kinds of games that the Iranians are playing," and it must think of strategies to effectively counter them.

"Overall", Landau said, "things are moving in a non-linear, messy way to the negotiations, but it is going to be a really tough bargain, and I hope the Americans are up to it."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The event was hosted by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, which presented its recent study delving into the legal, security and cultural implications of the crisis, titled "The Migration Wave into Europe: An Existential Dilemma."

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Session chairwoman Fiamma Nirenstein, who edited the study, told Jewish News Syndicate that "the crisis is indeed existential for Europe, and this is precisely why ambassadors are searching for answers." The Jewish state, she said, "deals with many of the same challenges, yet has prevailed in maintaining a clear national identity," while at the same time securing its own security interests.

Nirenstein, a former Italian parliamentarian who immigrated to Israel in 2013 and is now a senior fellow at the JCPA, said that "Israel has proven that it can export its knowledge on how to deal with difficult problems such as terrorism. Europeans recognize this and are now inclined to hear whether Israel can provide useful insights into this new problem, which threatens the very nature of Europe as a continent with Western ideals."

Discussion at the event was comprehensive, but calm – unusually so for a topic that has become hyper-charged across the European Union. Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, director of JCPA's Project on Regional Middle East Developments and former head of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate's Research Division, addressed the security implications of the immigration wave.

Kuperwasser called out European governments for not properly dealing with the extremist organizations already operating in their countries, noting that indoctrination toward violent extremism is rampant in Islamic education in Europe, in the European prison system and among converts to Islam.

"We must improve intelligence and counterterrorism practices," he said, though noted that "much has been accomplished here already."

Kuperwasser also warned against turning a blind eye to what he called "soft" radicalism. Issues that might not seem problematic now, he said, could become much more so in the future.

"Europe must say that it rejects all forms of radicalism, whether terrorism or softer forms of radicalism," said the Mideast expert. As an example, Kuperwasser noted that many Muslims adhere to an Islamic doctrine that calls for them to be less aggressive while living under the sovereignty of non-Muslims, with the belief that they will later become rulers themselves.

"Just because they currently live as a minority in Europe," he said, "does not mean that Muslims have given up the idea that Islam should one day be in the majority."

Ethical principles at stake

Dr. Lars-Uwe Kettner, the legal counselor to the German Embassy to Israel, said that Germany's open policy on immigration is based on humanitarian considerations. "We took a strong stand towards human dignity," he said. He noted, however, that the challenges Germany's approach involves make it "very important that we stay in discussion with each other on these issues."

Germany has been among the most liberal European countries in its approach to immigration and has encouraged other European countries to share the immigration burden. This policy has angered many nations, particularly those in Eastern Europe who have been less eager to open their borders, and has led to political backlash.

Hungarian Ambassador to Israel Levente Benkő noted that this phenomenon can be seen all over Europe.

While it is difficult to maintain "politically correct discourse on this issue," he said, the inability of European governments to come up with suitable answers is giving rise to political extremism in Europe. This, he said, has been one of the unexpected byproducts of the immigration issue.

"There are parties coming out of nowhere with controversial answers that do not contribute positively to this problem. If the mainstream is unable to deal with this issue, that will give rise to parties on the extreme Left and the extreme Right," said Benkő.

Ambassador Martin Stropnicky of the Czech Republic said the problem is arising in large part not only because of the sheer number of migrants, but because "most of the people that are immigrating [to Europe] now do not want to accept our cultural milieu, but want us to accept theirs," he said. "And that is not acceptable."

According to Israel Prize laureate Professor Asa Kasher, co-author of the IDF Code of Ethics and a JCPA fellow, there is an ethical principle at stake when it comes to the preservation of national identity.

Kasher addressed the need to maintain "proportionality" when deciding how many migrants to accept. He insisted that nobody should be "indifferent to human suffering," including the suffering of migrants, yet at the same time, he said states have a national, cultural and sometimes religious identity that should be preserved.

"States have a right to maintain their identity," said Kasher. "That means they have a right to stop others from taking steps that jeopardize that identity."

Given that European countries cannot absorb unlimited numbers of refugees without jeopardizing their own identities, Kasher suggested that a more appropriate humanitarian approach might be to invest effort and money in the countries migrants are fleeing.

"We can spend a lot of money on naval forces stopping them from coming" to Europe, he said, "but maybe it is more effective to spend the money building a hospital or a school that will help encourage those who are suffering to stay and not to immigrate."

Sharing security concerns

From ethical and moral considerations, the discussion turned to the legal aspects of the crisis.

According to former legal adviser and director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry Alan Baker, while there may be moral and ethical reasons to accept migrants, there is "zero legal obligation" to do so under international law.

"There is a dichotomy between the legal obligations of sovereignty and the moral issue of permitting freedom of movement between one country and another," said Baker.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations and current JCPA president Dore Gold praised the working session, noting that issues such as terrorism and migration are "changing the way people look at the relations between the Middle East and Europe."

In particular, Gold noted that "Israel and Europe are now sharing the same set of security concerns they did not have before."

Superior Israeli intelligence on Islamic State, he added, as well as the natural-gas resources discovered off Israel's coast in recent years, are positively impacting the way European nations look to and rely on Israel.

"Israel must be prepared for a new paradigm of relations with Europe," said Gold.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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