Peter Lerner

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Peter Lerner

Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Peter Lerner is a crisis communications consultant, he served for 25 years in the IDF as a spokesperson and a liaison officer to international organizations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.Twitter: @LTCPeterLerner

Israeli soldiers at a roadblock in the West Bank, March 2017.

Opinion It's Not So Simple for Israel to Just 'End the Occupation'

There are no instant solutions at hand, and easy, self-righteous slogans don’t help. This is why Israel can't just walk away from the West Bank

A poster of the U.S. President Donald Trump is set on fire during the annual anti-Israeli Al-Quds, Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran, Iran. June 8, 2018

Opinion Trump's Hardball Policy on the Palestinians Will Blow Up in Israel's Face

Israelis shouldn't celebrate the Trump administration's decision to slash funds for the Palestinians. It's a radicalizing gift for terrorists - and a ticking time bomb for Israel's security

FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gives a statement after delivering a speech on disarmament and denuclearisation at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24, 2018.

Opinion The UN's Insanity on Gaza

When the UN chief ignores Hamas and highlights another one-sided mandate focused only on Palestinian civilians, he once again makes the body he represents irrelevant for Israel and dangerous for Palestinians

Internally displaced people from Deraa province ride on a back of a truck near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Quneitra, Syria June 30, 2018

Opinion Should Israel Open Its Borders to Desperate Syrian Refugees?

Thousands of Syrians, fleeing Assad's airstrikes, are taking refuge on Israel's northern border. Israel must base its response not only on its national security interests, but on the moral imperative to aid desperate people on our doorstep

Smoke and fire from an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City during the last round of sustained conflict between Israel and Gaza. July 29, 2014.

Opinion Israel Has to Talk to Hamas. Otherwise, It's War

Israel can fight Hamas but it can’t retake Gaza militarily; the human cost would be appalling. The PA can't retake Gaza politically. For the sake of both Gaza and Israel’s south, we can no longer bypass Hamas

A Palestinian demonstrator hurls stones at Israeli troops during clashes near Khan Yunis by the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip. March 23, 2018

Opinion Brute Force, Tear Gas and Tanks Can't Be Israel's Only Answer to Palestinian Marchers

Israel's flagged the drones, tear gas, sniper fire, even tanks it will employ against thousands of Palestinians planning to approach the Gaza border. But confronting a PR campaign with the language of force invites disaster

Palestinian protesters use slingshot during clashes with Israeli security forces following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Ramallah. Dec. 29, 2017

Opinion Less American Aid to Palestinians Means More Violence Against Israelis

A review of the UN agency tasked with serving Palestinian refugees work is long overdue. But the U.S. president's threat to weaken UNWRA means hurting Palestinian society's weakest members, and that isn't in Israel's interest – or America's