UKLFI Charitable Trust held a webinar on 7 October and the War of Return with Dr Einat Wilf and Dr Adi Schwartz and chaired by Natasha Hausdorff, on Monday 7 July, 2025.
In 2018 Dr Einat Wilf and Dr Adi Schultz wrote a seminal book, titled “The War of Return”, which identified the supposed “right of return” of Palestinian “refugees” to Israel as the fundamental obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Their analysis has had a major impact on the development of Israeli policy towards UNRWA. They have now updated and expanded their book, reflecting on the massacre of 7 October 2023 and arguing that it was carried out in the name of the Palestinian idea of “return”. The new edition is available in Hebrew under the title “שיבה באוקטובר” and an English translation is coming soon. The two previous webinars we have been privileged to hold with these authors were very popular and provided exceptional insights.
TO WATCH THE RECORDING PRESS HERE
More about the speakers
Dr. Einat Wilf is the author of eight books that explore key issues in Israeli society. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Adi Schwartz is a researcher and author specializing in strategy and international relations, with a particular focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He serves as a consultant to both governmental and non-governmental organizations. He is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ben-Gurion Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism in the Ben-Gurion University, and a Research Fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.
Natasha Hausdorff is a barrister at 6 Pump Court Chambers, and a frequent speaker on International Law. She has a law degree from Oxford University, qualified as a solicitor at Skadden, and subsequently gained an LLM from Tel Aviv University, focussing on public international law and the law of armed conflict. She clerked for Miriam Naor, President of Israel’s Supreme Court and was a fewllow at Columbia Law School’s National Security programme. Natasha is legal director of UKLFI Charitable Trust.
Natasha’s work explaining legal issues relating to Israel has been recognised this year by the American Jewish Committee’s award for moral courage and by the honour of lighting one of the torches on Har Herzl to mark Israel’s Independence Day.