Twenty JINSA officers, members and professional staff traveled to Israel in June for a unique week-long program planned to obtain the latest, accurate information on Israel's security and political situation. And to provide for the group an opportunity to participate in meetings similar to those conducted for the security professionals that travel on JINSA programs.

Prof. Martin Sherman, the 2009-2010 Hebrew Union College/University of Southern California Schusterman Visiting Israeli Professor of Security Studies and International Policy, writing in the latest JINSA Global Briefing, repudiates the claims that Israeli "occupation" and the Israeli settlements are to blame for Palestinian violence.

Recent test successes for Israel's Iron Dome defense system may have helped eliminate concerns about system’s ability to respond to short-range rocket threats, IDF leadership has indicated that ground operations would be still be necessary in the face of a large barrage of rockets. At the same time, an article by JINSA Research Associate Jacob Levkowicz reports, analysts continue to claim that the system's high cost may well prevent it from ever entering serial production.

On Friday in Washington, before an audience of Middle East policy analysts, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Shapiro said, “Bolstering Israel’s security against the rocket threat will not by itself facilitate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” And, “A two-state solution will not in and of itself bring an end to these threats.”