This Briefing was one of thousands that the CIJR has circulated since its founding in 1987, following the start of the first Intifada in Israel. Our primary function has been to provide in-depth analysis of the significant events unfolding in the Middle East, particularly as they impact Israel, the only Jewish state.
We had also expanded our scope by situating events in Israel within a broader geopolitical context, which involved highlighting significant developments in the U.S., China, Russia, Iran, and other major world players.
Additionally, we have kept a keen eye on Canada’s evolving relationship with Israel, which currently seems to be at an all-time low, with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s declaration that Canada would recognize a nonexistent Palestinian state in September, a move that many say rewards terrorism.
The Briefing also focused on issues of deep concern to the worldwide Jewish community, including cultural, historical, and religious matters. For instance, some of our Friday Briefings were dedicated to Great Jewish Minds – Jews from every field who have made significant contributions to the development of Western culture, such as novelist Saul Bellow, psychologist Sigmund Freud, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan.
Unfortunately, many of our Briefings dealt with the subject of antisemitism, a constant problem, which has since October 7th escalated worldwide.
We also shone a spotlight on the writings of our Baruch Cohen interns. These young individuals have spent the summer researching a variety of topics with Jewish and/or Middle Eastern orientations. Their dedication and hard work have been truly outstanding, resulting in articles of publishable quality that not only appeared in our Briefings but also in CIJR’s unique student magazine, Dateline: Middle East.
Moreover, we were incredibly pleased to see the number of openings for our Briefing increase significantly over the years; its percentage of openings was vastly higher than those of similar types of Briefings, and the feedback from many of our readers was overwhelmingly positive.
The Daily Briefing, the brainchild of historian and CIJR founder Prof. Frederick Krantz, has documented Jewish history as it evolved over the past four decades. Here is a summary of some of the events we covered that directly concern Israel:
1987 – 2000
- Eruption of the first intifada
- Mordechai Vanunu’s conviction and imprisonment
- Madrid Peace Conference
- Problems with Hezbollah
- Signing of the Oslo Accords — Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Israel/Jordan peace deal
- Kidnapping of Nachshon Wachsman
- Island of Peace Massacre
- Hebron Agreement
- Signing of the Wye River Memorandum
- Camp David 2000 Summit
- Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount
- Ramallah Lynching
2000 – today
- 2nd Intifada; bus bombings erupt, suicide bombers
- Muhammad al-Dura incident
- Taba Summit
- Construction of Israel’s security barrier
- The Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is sentenced to five life sentences after being convicted by a civilian Israeli court on charges of murdering Israeli civilians and membership in a terrorist organisation.
- Tragedy of the Space Shuttle – Israel’s Ilan Ramon dies.
- Gaza disengagement
- Ariel Sharon’s coma and eventual death
- Lebanon War
- Hamas takes over the Gaza Strip
- Netanyahu and Obama – uneasy relationship
- Palestine Papers
- Gaza Wars – “mowing the grass”
- Trump elected: Abraham Accords
- Coronavirus in Israel
- Judicial reform demonstrations
- October 7th, Israel’s response, hitting Iran and Hezbollah; global antisemitism escalates
Since 2018, as CIJR Publications Editor, I have had the great privilege of working with Prof. Krantz and our esteemed group of academics, including Professors Ira Robinson and Julien Bauer, among others. Our dedicated staff members, Office Manager and Bookkeeper Hilda Ibarra, and social media and Website Manager Megan Shapiro, have done an outstanding job of keeping the Briefing, webinars, and other CIJR activities running smoothly. Their commitment and hard work are truly appreciated. A special thanks, as well, to Bernard Bohbot, who, together with Prof. Bauer, compiled the weekly French-language Communique, and to web designer Vincent Demers and Digital Media designer David Stambler for their commitment to CIJR’s mission, their professionalism, and outstanding contributions to CIJR.
Above all, the CIJR would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to our loyal supporters, many of whom have been with us since the Institute’s founding. In these challenging times for Israel and international Jewry, we must unite, despite our political differences, in fighting the scourge of antisemitism by continuing to educate ourselves on the political and cultural realities facing Israel and World Jewry to counter the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda promulgated so effectively on social media and elsewhere.
Praying for better times, and with warmest regards,
Machla Abramovitz
CIJR Publications Editor