[READ TRANSCRIPT HERE]

There are very interesting developments occurring in the Middle East involving negotiations among the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia. While an Israeli-Saudi Arabia normalization agreement was, according to at least one leading expert, “on the two-yard line” prior to President Trump’s departure from office, President Biden put it on hold as he entered office with a hostile view of the Saudis. Now, in his third year in office, Biden has reversed course and his administration is actively pursuing a trilateral agreement between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia that would normalize relations between the two Middle Eastern countries and involve various security guarantees from America among other proposed terms which also include Saudi enrichment of uranium and possible concessions to the Palestinians. Furthermore, JINSA’s recent report, From Partner to Ally: The Case for a U.S.-Israel Mutual Defense Treaty, makes a compelling case to expand the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship from a close partnership to a formal alliance that in the words of JINSA President and CEO, Michael Makovsky, “addresses common threats, stabilizes the region, ensures Israel’s qualitative military edge and freedom of action, and advances U.S. global interest while mitigating the need for American boots on the ground.” Join us for an in-depth discussion of these important developments with Dr. Makovsky.

About the Speaker: Michael Makovsky since 2013 has been President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), a leading Washington, D.C.-based policy and educational organization focused on U.S. defense and national security issues in the Middle East. Makovsky has worked extensively on U.S.-Israel defense ties, U.S. policy toward Iran, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, the Persian Gulf, and the role of energy in U.S. national security policy, and the Eastern Mediterranean, Previously, Makovsky served as Foreign Policy Director for the Bipartisan Policy Center, special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, advising senior Defense, and an energy market analyst for various investment firms. Makovsky has written articles, op-eds, and editorials for various publications on U.S. national security issues primarily involving the Middle East as well as energy markets. He is also the author of Churchill’s Promised Land (Yale University Press), a diplomatic-intellectual history of Winston Churchill’s complex relationship with Zionism. Makovsky has a Ph.D. in diplomatic history from Harvard University, an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School, and a B.A. in history from the University of Chicago.