Ilan Goldenberg is the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Previously, he served as chief of staff to the special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, supporting Secretary of State John Kerry’s initiative to conduct peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. From 2012 to 2013, he served as a senior professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 2009 to 2012, he was first a special advisor on the Middle East and then Iran team chief in the office of the undersecretary of defense for policy.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, left, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence listen as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting at the Pentagon on Jan. 18, in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
A Hezbollah supporter displays a picture of Iran's late Ayatollah Khomeini, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 1. (Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump walks to the White House in Washington, DC, on August 30, 2017 upon his return from Springfield, Missouri, where he spoke about tax reform. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
An Iranian man stands in front of placards showing a caricature of US President Donald Trump being punched by a hand wearing a bracelet of the Iranian flag during a rally marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution on February 10, 2017, in the capital Tehran.
Millions of Iranians marched on the anniversary day in what President Hassan Rouhani described as a response to the new US administration and a rejection of "threatening language". / AFP / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)
A Palestinian covered with national flag walks on top of the Israeli controvertial separation wall separating the West Bank city of Abu Dis from east Jerusalem, during clashes with Israeli security forces, on November 2, 2015. AFP HOTO / AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump speaks during the Arab Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 15: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) shake hands following a joint news conference at the East Room of the White House February 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted Prime Minister Netanyahu for talks for the first time since Trump took office on January 20. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - SEPTEMBER 16: In this handout image supplied by the Palestinian Press Office (PPO), Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas makes a speech to confirm that the Palestinian Authority will request full membership at the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes next week, on September 16, 2011 in Ramallah, West Bank. President Abbas will formally submit the application for Palestinian statehood to the 66th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 20th. The Palestinians and the Israelis are taking part in global diplomatic lobbying to win support for their differing positions on statehood. The Palestinian bid arises from two decades of on-and-off peace talks that have failed to produce a deal. The ultimate goal of the Palestinian Authority is to end Israeli occupation and to establish a sovereign and independent state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. (Photo by Thaer Ganaim /PPO via Getty Images)
US Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster looks on as US President Donald Trump announces him as his national security adviser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2017. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
US House Speaker Paul Ryan addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, DC, on March 27, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad hangs alongside the colours of the Russian flag during a pro-regime rally in Damascus on April 12, 2012, as a UN-backed ceasefire went into effect. Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shot dead a civilian in the central province of Hama, a monitoring group said, hours after a deadline to implement a ceasefire aimed to end 13 months of bloodshed.
AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gestures as he talks to journalist from a balcony of the Palais Coburg hotel where the Iran nuclear talks are being held in Vienna on July 10, 2015. Iran accused major powers on Friday of backtracking on previous pledges and throwing up new "red lines" at nuclear talks, after the deadline to reach an agreement in time to receive expedited scrutiny from the U.S. Congress expired with no deal. AFP PHOTO / POOL / CARLOS BARRIA (Photo credit should read CARLOS BARRIA/AFP/Getty Images)
