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United States Institute of Peace

Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen

Director, Israel, The Palestinian Territories, and the Region Program

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Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen is the director of the Israel, The Palestinian Territories, and the Region program at the U.S. Institute of Peace and frequently presents and publishes in a variety of media, policy and academic forums on political, diplomatic and civil society efforts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Arab-Israeli relations. She has published on Israeli and Palestinian religious peacebuilding efforts and is co-author of a forthcoming USIP/Cornell University press volume examining the diplomatic efforts of successive U.S. administrations toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Proficient in Arabic and Hebrew, Kurtzer-Ellenbogen has previously worked with the U.S. Department of State as an Arabic language specialist, and as the program officer for the Kennedy School of Government’s Middle East Initiative at Harvard University.

Publications By Lucy

Gaza at the G7: The Daunting Divide between Rhetoric and Reality

Gaza at the G7: The Daunting Divide between Rhetoric and Reality

Thursday, June 20, 2024

By: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Robert Barron

The ongoing war in Gaza was only one of several items on the agenda for last week’s summit of leading Western economies, known as the Group of 7 (G7). But, given the global attention on Gaza and coming on the heels of the Biden administration’s most recent push to achieve a cease-fire — including sponsorship of a U.N. Security Council resolution toward that end — questions around the prospects for a negotiated pause in fighting and hostage agreement dominated the discussions.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Plan for Gaza’s Future Highlights the Challenges That Lie Ahead

Plan for Gaza’s Future Highlights the Challenges That Lie Ahead

Thursday, February 29, 2024

By: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen

The document that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented to his security cabinet for discussion on February 22 may be his first formal articulation of a postwar plan for Gaza, but is largely a compilation of views that have been expressed publicly over the past few months. Accordingly, it offers few surprises, but could deepen tensions between Israel on one side and the United States and regional stakeholders on the other. 

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

What’s Next After Hamas’ Attack on Israel?

What’s Next After Hamas’ Attack on Israel?

Saturday, October 14, 2023

By: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen

A week after Hamas’ heinous attack in southern Israel, the grim reality of a protracted war has set in. As of this writing, 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, have been killed and Israeli officials believe as many as 150 hostages have been taken by Hamas. U.S. officials have said that 27 U.S. citizens were also killed. As Israel intensifies its operations in the Gaza Strip, 2,000 Palestinians have been killed. There are thousands of wounded on both sides. With Israel calling up 360,000 reservists, a cessation of hostilities seems a distant prospect.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Is a Saudi-Israel Normalization Agreement on the Horizon?

Is a Saudi-Israel Normalization Agreement on the Horizon?

Thursday, September 28, 2023

By: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Ambassador Hesham Youssef;  Robert Barron;  Adam Gallagher

In recent months, a drumbeat has built around the U.S. effort to negotiate a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The deal would be a tectonic shift in Middle East geopolitics, but also carries major implications for other actors beyond the three negotiating parties. Israel would, of course, benefit from normalized relations with the Saudis — long seen as the “holy grail” of potential normalization agreements for the country. The Saudis, in turn, would see their interests advanced through strengthened U.S partnership in key areas. But this deal could also have serious implications for the future of the Palestinian national movement and, further afield, for the role of China in the Middle East.

Type: Analysis

Peace Processes

Regional Actors Seek to Douse Flames Fueled by Jerusalem Tensions

Regional Actors Seek to Douse Flames Fueled by Jerusalem Tensions

Thursday, April 13, 2023

By: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Ambassador Hesham Youssef

The saying that history doesn’t repeat, but rhymes is no truer than in Jerusalem. Two years have yet to pass since the large-scale escalation that took root in the city morphed into deadly violence between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel and an Israel-Hamas military escalation that claimed the lives of over 200 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. Now, once again, events in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan have become proximate cause for a cascading series of violent events that have victimized Palestinians and Israelis, and opened another chapter of contested narratives and mutual recriminations.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

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