Daniel Levy, a senior fellow and director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative at The Century Foundation and the Middle East Initiative at the New America Foundation, will discuss “Israel and the Palestinians: Peace or Oblivion,” at the Nott Memorial Monday, March 1 at 5:30 p.m.
His talk, free and open to the public, is part of the “Pizza and Politics” series sponsored by the Departments of Political Science, History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies, and Hillel, Minerva Programs and Ethics Across the Curriculum.
“We hope to continue the dialogue on the Israel-Palestinian conflict that began with the invitation (last month) of ex-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,” said Political Science Professor Tom Lobe. “Daniel will offer an alternative point of view in discussing Gaza, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, possible paths towards a two-state solution, and the U.S. role in creating a climate for serious negotiations.”
Levy was the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative. Before joining The Century Foundation, he directed policy planning and international efforts at the Geneva Campaign Headquarters in Tel Aviv.
In 2003, he worked as an analyst for the International Crisis Group Middle East Program. During the Barak Government, he worked in the Prime Minister's Office as special advisor and head of the Jerusalem Affairs unit under Minister Haim Ramon.
From March 2000 to March 2001, as senior policy adviser to former Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin, he was responsible for coordinating policy on peace negotiations, civil and human rights, and the Palestinian minority in Israel. He was a member of the official Israeli delegation to the Taba negotiations with the Palestinians in January 2001, and served on the negotiating team to the "Oslo B" Agreement under Prime Minister Rabin.
Levy received a bachelor’s and master’s with honors from King’s College, Cambridge, where he was awarded prizes in Social and Political Science and was Scholar of the College. He served as world chairman of the World Union of Jewish Students in Jerusalem from 1991 to 1994 and as projects director for the Economic Co-operation Foundation, a policy planning think-tank in Tel Aviv.