Lawfare Archive: Natan Sachs on Israeli Anti-solutionism
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
From December 5, 2015: The show this week features Natan Sachs, a Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, who recently published an article in Foreign Affairs on anti-solutionism as strategy in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
During his conversation with Lawfare Editor-in-Chief Ben Wittes, Sachs argues that the apparent absence of a long-term strategy on the Israeli Right for dealing with the Palestinians is actually better described as a belief on the part of the Israeli Right that there are currently no solutions to the challenges Israel faces. Sachs call this policy “strategic conservatism,” noting that at times it has served Israel well, and at others has damaged the country's prospects for peace. Regardless of its effectiveness, Sachs explains that it is a philosophy U.S. policymakers need to better understand in order to make smart decisions about the problems in the Middle East.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising. |
| 0:04.4 | To access an ad-free version of the Lawfare podcast, become a material supporter of Lawfare at |
| 0:11.5 | patreon.com slash lawfare. That's patreon.com slash lawfare. |
| 0:18.2 | Also, check out Lawfare's other podcast offerings, Rational Security, Chatter, Lawfare No Bull, |
| 0:26.9 | and The Aftermath. |
| 0:44.3 | I'm Mary Ford, intern at Lawfare, with an episode for the Lawfare for June 28, 2025. |
| 0:47.3 | Almost two years into the Israel-Hamas war, the needle seems to have moved very little in the direction of a sustained peace, |
| 0:55.6 | with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing to favor conflict management over resolution. |
| 1:02.0 | This week, though, senior Hamas and Israeli officials have both indicated that they are |
| 1:06.8 | intensifying efforts to broker a new ceasefire and hostage deal. U.S. envoys to the Middle East, |
| 1:13.5 | Steve Whitkoff, appears to be hopeful, saying that an agreement between the two parties is, quote, |
| 1:19.0 | very close, unquote. These renewed efforts come after a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war. |
| 1:26.0 | For today's archive episode, I selected an episode from December 5th, 2015, in which |
| 1:32.2 | Lawfare Editor-in-Chief Ben Wittis spoke with Natam Sacks, a fellow in foreign policy |
| 1:38.2 | at the Brookings Institution, about anti-solutionism as a strategy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. |
| 1:45.0 | Wittes and Sachs talk about this strategy at length, as well as the need for American |
| 1:50.0 | policymakers to understand this philosophy better. |
| 1:53.0 | I'm Cody Poplin, and this is the Lawfare podcast, December 5, 2015. |
| 2:09.4 | That was the voice of Natanzax, describing anti-solutionism as strategy in the Israeli-Palestinian |
| 2:15.7 | conflict. |
| 2:17.0 | Sachs, a fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, |
| 2:20.3 | recently published an article in Foreign Affairs on the topic. |
... |
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