The helicopter crash on May 19 that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will likely have no tangible effect either in Iran or in the Middle East. Iran’s internal and external policies are tightly managed and controlled by its hardline supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in tandem with the Islamic […]
Seven months into the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel still has a long way to go before it achieves one of its main objectives — the destruction of Hamas’s military capabilities. Israeli forces have reportedly degraded 18 of its 24 battalions, yet Hamas remains unbowed and undefeated. In the meantime, Hamas can still call […]
Shortly before the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on May 10 declaring that the Palestinians qualify for full membership and are eligible for further rights as an observer state, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, claimed that a vote for Palestinian statehood would usher in “a state of terror” and reward “terrorists” […]
Israel and the United States are alarmingly at odds over Israel’s current military operation in Rafah that the Israeli government correctly considers crucial to the success of its protracted air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration, having registered its disapproval of it, has delayed the delivery of 3,500 bombs to Israel, […]
Israeli forces have entered the eastern quarter of Rafah and seized a critical border crossing through which international aid flows into the Gaza Strip. Although its armored incursion falls short of its long-anticipated invasion of Rafah, Hamas’ last urban stronghold in Gaza, the movement of Israeli troops and tanks into that city has already triggered […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pro-Palestinian proclivities have once again driven him to downgrade Turkey’s bilateral relations with Israel. On May 2, the Turkish Ministry of Trade announced that “export and import transactions in relation to Israel have been stopped, covering all products.” Turkey said its trade suspension will remain in place until Israel allows […]
The massive intelligence failure that enabled Hamas hordes to penetrate Israel’s high-tech border fence along the Gaza Strip on October 7 and kill roughly 1,200 civilians and soldiers in an unprecedented rampage has claimed the first major figure in the Israeli armed forces. On April 22, on the eve of Passover, General Aharon Haliva, the […]
As Iranian missiles and drones hurtled toward Israel on April 13 during Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack, a coalition of nations united in a show of force to intercept 99 percent of the incoming projectiles. They were shot down by Israel, the United States, Britain and Jordan in a coordinated effort that must have infuriated […]
It appears that Israel and Iran have stepped back from the brink of a regional war, but they are still on a collision course that could destabilize and upend the Middle East. Responding to Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13, the first from its own territory, Israel launched a very limited […]
Just days after Iran upended the Middle East with its unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel on April 13, the Israeli government is carefully pondering what do do next at this moment of peril in the region. The war cabinet has met several times to consider its options, but diverse views have emerged and […]