Israel Policy Forum

The Israel Policy Forum (IPF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports a strong US-Israel relationship, in which the US will take strong diplomatic actions to resolve the Israel-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts. It is committed to a two-state solution with respect to Palestine. It also does not support the harder-line Israeli policies.

Formed in 1993, it was endorsed by the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It has not been supportive of Likud positions. In The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Mearsheimer and Walt called it moderate.

As part of the two-state solution, the settlement issue must be addressed. IPF hopes that meetings between Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell can "assuage the tension between Israel and the United States and reach a compromise on a settlement freeze." Nevertheless, it observed that six Israeli ministers were opposed to a temporary freeze, and believed it should be considered only in a "broader" context. IPF observes that Israel may be waiting for Saudi action, but the Saudis made it clear to Obama kingdom was not prepared to offer anything in advance of Israel living up to commitments it made not once, but several times. "Waiting for the Saudis is waiting for Godot. They are not coming-at least not until they see Israel take the steps it promised to take. The conflict is between Israelis and Palestinians. If Israel, or the United States, wants Saudi involvement, they can simply accept the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative and bring them in. Otherwise, the role of the United States should be to broker between Israelis and Palestinians and leave extraneous issues for later."

IPF favors engagement between Israel and Syria. It approves of the brokering now being done by Turkey, and the dispatch of Fred Hof, the Syria specialist of Obama Administration Middle East envoy George Mitchell, to talk separately with Israeli and Syrian officials.

With respect to Iran, the group says engagement is not appeasement. IPF considers it unrealistic that state will abandon uranium enrichment outside the context of negotiations, but it had considered a negotiated approach to nonproliferation critical. Iran's contested elections, however, raise concern that a nuclear program will accelerate. "...as was the case with the first Iraq war, Israel's direct involvement does not contribute to the solution. Israel, because of its history, is the last country that can solve this problem. Many, and not just in the Muslim world, view Israel's stance toward Iran as heavily influenced by its fear that a nuclear Iran by definition would make it impossible for Israel to do whatever it feels like doing in the region."