August 4th marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating explosion in the port area of Beirut, Lebanon. Since then, the country has been crippled by an economic and humanitarian crisis.
Dr. Jacques Neriah and Dr. Elisheva Machlis will discuss Lebanon’s worsening situation, the growing internal criticism of militant group Hezbollah and its backers Iran, as well as the possible impact on Israel and the Middle East.
Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah is a researcher in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Dr. Neriah is a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Center’s blog on the upheavals in the Arab world, was formerly the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and was the Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.
Dr. Elisheva Machlis is a senior lecturer at Bar Ilan University, Department of Middle East Studies. Her research focuses on modern trends in Islam and particularly on understanding the contemporary Shi’a world and the relationship between religion and politics, focusing on Lebanon, Iran and Iraq.