What Does the Latest Wave of Violence in Israel Portend? A Conversation with George Deek

The latest eruption of violence in Israel has left many worried observers wondering whether a third intifada will soon get underway. Mass shootings, random stabbings, and other deadly attacks on Jewish civilians have again become commonplace—and are being celebrated not just by extremist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but by senior officials of the mainstream, U.S.-allied Fatah movement. Worse yet, some of the perpetrators have been Arab citizens of Israel. And not all the victims have been Jews—as this month’s “mistaken identity” mob-reprisal attack on an Eritrean asylum seeker made clear.

Can the violence be contained? Does a two-state solution with the Palestinians remain possible in its wake—and can Israel preserve its political and social coherence as a nation in which Jews and Arabs live together peacefully?

On October 29, Hudson Senior Fellow Lee Smith and his special guest, George Deek—a man uniquely positioned to address the current situation from a multi-layered point of view, discussed these and other aspects of the conflict. Attorney George Deek is a Palestinian Arab from a Christian Orthodox family; a native of Jaffa and Israeli citizen; and a veteran diplomat, having served his country throughout the world, with postings as Israel’s Chargé d'Affaires in Norway and Deputy Chief of Mission in Nigeria, among others. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs named Deek its outstanding diplomat of the year in 2014, and he has since become a frequent and celebrated public speaker—and a postgraduate Fulbright Scholar in international law at Georgetown University.