About
Natan Sachs
Expert

Natan Sachs

Natan Sachs is the director of the Center for Middle East Policy and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings.

He has taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Department of Government and its Security Studies Program. Prior to joining Brookings, Sachs was a Fulbright fellow in Indonesia, a visiting fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Dayan Center for Middle East and African Studies, and a Hewlett fellow at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

Sachs is an expert on Israeli foreign policy, its domestic politics, and on U.S. policy toward the Middle East. His writing has appeared in such publications as Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The New York Times Global, Yediot Ahronot, and Haaretz. His forthcoming book describes the aftermath of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the dangers of both a one-state agenda and “anti-solutionism,” and recommends policy for promoting a more peaceful and just relationship among Israelis and Palestinians.

Sachs has provided testimony before Congress and has offered expert commentary to the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, and many other publications. He has appeared on TV and radio with CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the BBC, Bloomberg, Israel Channel 12, Haaretz, and Galei Tzahal, among others.

Sachs is a graduate of the Amirim Excellence program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He received his master’s and doctorate in political science from Stanford University.

  • Areas of Expertise

    • Israeli politics and society
    • Arab-Israeli conflict
    • Politics of religion and identity
    • Indonesia
  • Past Positions

    • Hewlett Pre-doctoral Fellow, Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
    • Fulbright Fellow, Indonesia
  • Education

    • Ph.D. and M.A., Stanford University
    • B.A., Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Mentions and Appearances

New York Times June 5, 2024

It is wrong to see this [cease-fire] proposal as more than a stopgap. Most important, this plan doesn’t answer the fundamental question of who rules Gaza after the conflict. This is a..."

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New York Times May 23, 2024

Israelis have been living and reliving the horrors of [the October 7 attack] — but also with an eye toward the possibility that it could one day be repeated. That fear is a key driver..."

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Plain English April 30, 2024

As protests spread around the world, Natan Sachs joins The Ringer’s “Plain English” podcast to discuss what is currently going on in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

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New York Times April 16, 2024

Biden deserves big credit … [But] we’re still on the edge because the circumstances are extraordinary and the crisis could escalate any day.

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Politico April 15, 2024

He’s proven, once again, his bona fides in standing by Israel, and for many Israelis his leadership contrasts with the lack of leadership from Netanyahu. Politically speaking, this..."

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NPR April 14, 2024

On NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” Natan Sachs explains how Israel is likely to respond to the overnight attack by hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles.

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New York Times March 16, 2024

In the case of the Hamas attack, there is nothing that [former President Donald Trump’s] administration could or would have done differently from the Biden administration.

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Politico March 13, 2024

I don’t think that over time Israel will forgo going after the remaining Hamas troops and leadership underground in Rafah, but they may wait and conduct a more targeted, and perhaps..."

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New York Times March 6, 2024

There are deep disagreements between Biden and Netanyahu and there is a clear change of policy…There are always politics at play, but these differences are not purely politically driven.

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Financial Times February 19, 2024

The damage the far right is inflicting on US-Israel relations is clear…[Ben-Gvir and Smotrich] represent, in so many ways, politically abhorrent trends for many Americans, and..."

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