Dr. Daniel Wajner, Dr. Roee Kibrik and Dr. Aviad Rubin
The research and policy group "Israel in the Mediterranean Basin" is a project established by the Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University, the Mitvim Institute and the National Security Institute at the University of Haifa. The directors of the group are Dr. Roee Kibrik, on behalf of Mitvim, Dr. Aviad Rubin, on behalf of Haifa University, and Dr. Daniel Wajner, on behalf of the Davis Institute. Within the thirty participants are leading researchers in the field, former MKs, former Ambassadors and officials of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, trade union officials, among others.
The group's rational lies in the current development of political, economic, security and social processes in the Mediterranean basin, which have drawn increasing attention from regional powers and states. The political, economic and social developments in the Mediterranean are ongoing and constantly evolving, and new economic opportunities and geopolitical developments are contributing to this trend and are turning the region into a central tenet of Israel’s foreign policy. Together with regional alliances and bilateral relations that Israel is advancing in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Israeli public has also begun to perceive the area as a new space for regional belonging. The region’s consolidation offers many opportunities and challenges for Israel and is accompanied by both cooperation and struggles over the region’s desired characteristics, the regional institutions that should be established, common values, geographic boundaries, and each member state’s role and political power.
To assess possible developments, identify opportunities and challenges, and thus discover the necessary political actions, it is first necessary to understand the arena and identify trends, processes, different issues at stake, and active players and their various interests. To this end, this group attempts to better understand the Mediterranean arena and Israel’s place therein, to formulate guidelines and policy recommendations, and to promote political dialogue with various regional actors. More specifically, we focused on geo-political processes in the Mediterranean basin (changing relations between the countries of the region and the involvement of international powers in it); Israel's foreign policy towards the Mediterranean; the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the reality in Gaza on the Mediterranean; how Mediterranean countries can help one another in promoting conflict resolution; the institutionalization of regional relations; as well as common opportunities and challenges in the area of democracy, energy, refugees, law, regulation and the environment.
