Ksenia Svetlova

Ksenia Svetlova is a member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union and an expert on Middle East affairs.

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), his wife, Sara Netanyahu (L) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talk during a visit to the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad on January 17, 2018

Here's why Israel should care about the Modi-Trump meeting - opinion

 TURKISH PRESIDENT Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference in Germany, this past week. While Erdogan calls on Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners, there are said to be over 38,000 Kurdish prisoners held in Turkish jails

Between Barghouti and Ocalan, releasing prisoners for hostages -opinion

 THEN-PRIME minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks as his wife Sara receives flowers from Russian President Vladimir Putin as they meet in Moscow, in 2020.

Israel must not let election results undermine foreign policy - opinion


By threat or raw power, Russia is determined to get its way in a post-Soviet world - opinion

Putin would prefer to advance his goals through sophisticated tactics that combine the threat of force, psychological warfare and a war of information.

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin meets with members of the Russian Security Council via a video link on Friday.

Here is what the future holds for Israel-Egypt relations - opinion

Israeli-Egyptian relations withstood several crises resulting from regional storms since they signed the peace agreement.

 PRIME MINISTER Naftali Bennett meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh in September.

The Middle East rediscovers the Jews - opinion

Israel’s relations with Arab states have been slowly changing since the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

KUWAITI ACTORS Mohammed Jaber (left) and Hayat Al Fahad film ‘Umm Haroun’ in Dubai, UAE, in January.

Initial policy recommendations for Foreign Minister Ashkenazi – opinion

A Mitvim Institute task team developed a set of recommendations for initial policy messages that Ashkenazi can deliver:

THE FUTURE of Israel’s foreign policy.

Strengthening international systems, lesson learned from coronavirus

Extreme situations of pandemics, natural disasters or man-made disasters require a free flow of information.

After the virus is defeated, we must ensure information flows from one society to the other

No preelection gifts from Arab leaders to Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu seems to truly believe the Arab world has despaired of the Palestinians, gotten on with its business and all obstacles to cooperation with Israel have now been lifted.

NO ISRAELI leader present. Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are seen during a welcome ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

A new type of peace in the Middle East

From peace between leaders to peace between peoples

‘ISRAEL HAS been awash in recent years in reports heralding a new era in relations with the Arab world.’

Recommendations for restarting Israel-Jordan relations

We present a list of key recommendations the next Israeli government can take to restart the relationship with Jordan.

AN IDF soldier patrols the border area between Israel and Jordan at Naharayim, as seen from the Israeli side on October 22.

The democracy component in Israel’s relations with Arab states

Given the absent progress in negotiations with the Palestinians and the deep freeze in efforts to resolve the conflict, the displays of hostility toward Israel have not vanished.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his office

Israel-Jordan 25 years of peace

Israeli officials, researchers or politicians hardly ever come to Jordan anymore, our interlocutors told us.

A view of Amman, Jordan from the Citadel atop Jabal al-Qal'a