US President Donald Trump & the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
Join us on June 5th for a webinar discussion on the rapidly shifting US–Middle East relations.
Thursday, June 5, 202510:00 AM - 11:00 AM (Pacific Time)Webinar
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Co-organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.
About the Talk
Trump’s recent Middle East trip reveals rapidly changing alliances and shifts in foreign policy between the US, Israel, Syria and the Gulf States. What do these developments portend for each of the players, and the region as a whole? How could the war in Gaza be brought to a close, and what happens next to the territory? Where does Iran and a potential “new” Iranian nuclear deal fit into the picture? These and more key questions and latest developments will be discussed by a panel of experts from the US and the region.
About the Speakers
Micky Aharonson is a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, specializing in national security, international relations, and diplomacy. Her recent writings focus on international involvement in the Middle East and the impact on Israel’s national security; regional developments such as Russia’s evolving role in the Middle East and US–Russia relations. Prior to joining JISS, Aharonson concluded nearly a decade of service at the National Security Council in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office as Senior Director of the Diplomatic Secretariat. She holds an MA in diplomacy from Birmingham University and a BA in international relations and English literature from the Hebrew University.
David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations. He is also an adjunct professor in Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and president of the board for the National Library of Israel's U.S. affiliate (NLI-USA). In 2013-2014, he worked in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of State, serving as a senior advisor to the Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations.
Ambassador Hesham Youssef joined the European Institute of Peace in 2024. Previously, he was a career diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (2019-2024), focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other Middle Eastern conflicts. In 2014, Mr. Youssef joined the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as an Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs. He has written on Arab world reform and focused on humanitarian issues in the Islamic world, including Somalia, the Palestinian Territories, Chad, Niger, and Myanmar.
Professor Steve E. Zipperstein (moderator) is Associate Director of the UCLA Center for Middle East Development. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Zipperstein is a former US federal prosecutor and the former chief legal officer of Verizon Wireless and BlackBerry Ltd. He is the author of The Legal Case for Palestine: A Critical Assessment (Routledge 2025); Zionism, Palestinian Nationalism and the Law: 1939-1948 (Routledge 2022); Law and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Trials of Palestine (Routledge 2020).
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Sponsor(s): Center for Middle East Development, Burkle Center for International Relations