PALESTINIANS AND THE REGION

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Palestinian research program has been significantly influenced by the events of October 7, prompting a comprehensive reevaluation of the Israeli-Palestinian paradigm across various domains. This includes emphasizing the need to ensure Israel’s security while acknowledging that military efforts alone are insufficient and require additional civilian elements to stabilize the arena. As Israel seeks normalization with the Arab world, its policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians are often a cause for contention and public debate.

The program seeks to stabilize the region by confronting the burning issues in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while working to garner positive regional support. To this end, we work to promote an updated Palestinian Authority that is able to govern effectively, counter terrorism, provide law and order, stop incitement and subscribe to the evolving regional alliances. Thus far, the program developed and promoted a roadmap for ‘the day after’ the war in Gaza, formulated a Palestinian component for Saudi normalization plans, and continues to engage in a comprehensive plan for the region’s future that promotes Palestinian viability.

Program Director

Noa Shusterman Dvir

Researcher

Keren Ben Gal

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Program Director

Noa Shusterman Dvir

Researcher

Keren Ben Gal

“We assess that it will be possible to address the security issues, first through a side letter with the U.S. administration, which would later be translated into understandings between the United States and regional partners participating in the process. These understandings could preserve Israel’s security interests and enable freedom of action to prevent the strengthening of Hamas and the realization of a ‘Hezbollah model.’”

Source: MIND position paper on the President's Trump's "20-Point" plan for the Gaza Strip (October 2025)

“MIND Israel calls for abandoning the humanitarian city plan, which constitutes an unfeasible and immoral solution that carries a heavy cost for Israel—security-related, diplomatic, and economic. It requires enormous resources, impossible timelines, and infrastructure conditions that do not actually exist—for a solution that, in order to meet basic Jewish and international norms, must necessarily be temporary and short-term.”

Source: MIND position paper on the Israel's plan to establish a humanitarian city in the Gaza Strip (July 2025)

“The war presents Israel with opportunities to promote change in Palestinian society, which is not homogeneous in its views of support for Hamas and the armed resistance, and is largely a result of the lack of proper political leadership and the absence of a political and economic horizon. Realizing the opportunity requires Israel to change its policy towards the PA, which is struggling for internal legitimacy.”

Source: MIND insights on public opinion trends in the Palestinian arena, one-year post October 7th (December 2024)

"We must work with the incoming Trump administration to continue leading a solution that includes an Arab-Western coalition for a transitional period and to prevent the resurgence of Hamas. This is an opportunity for the administration to create a regional move of great importance that will prepare the ground for the implementation of the Deal of the Century and normalization with Saudi Arabia.”

Source:MIND policy paper on the implications of the next Trump administration on the Palestinian arena, and potential disagreements with the Israeli government (November 2024)

RECENTLY IN THE MEDIA

“The plan provides Israel with a strategic opportunity to strengthen its vital alliance with the United States, its most important and only ally. It is appropriate to leverage the American aspiration for a deal in order to upgrade relations with Washington.” (1.10.2025)

Amos Yadlin & Noa Shusterman Dvir

"Israel’s primary failure lies in understanding Hamas’s political ambitions. The organization, which holds the hostages, has become the dominant Palestinian actor with whom Israel is forced to engage—even if indirectly. The more Israel rejected proposals for a comprehensive deal and insisted on gradual arrangements, the more opportunities Hamas was given to demonstrate its power—not only in front of Israel, but also before the Gazan public that dared to rise against it." (14.5.25)

Noa Shusterman Dvir

“The apparent policy change, if it proves to be more than smoke and mirrors, has many implications for the Authority's economic future, and may signal its readiness for a broader policy change.” (2.3.2025)

Noa Shusterman Dvir &

Keren Ben Gal

“This is an opportunity for Israel to link the implementation of a comprehensive hostage deal—leaving no hostage behind—with the establishment of an alternative governing authority in the Gaza Strip. Israel must work with the United States, Europe, and its Arab partners to create a new local administration in Gaza that will operate under an international coalition, thereby pushing the remaining Hamas militants out of the centers of power.” (22.12.24)

Noa Shusterman Dvir