The Hamas-Iran Relationship

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh meets with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, June 22, 2023. Photo credit: SalamPix/ABACA via Reuters Connect.

In the weeks since the Hamas massacre on October 7, pundits have debated whether or not Iran helped Hamas develop the plan for the terrorist assault and if Iran had foreknowledge of the attack. Citing a Hamas source, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iran helped plot the attack and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard […]

Iran’s “Controlled Insurgency” against the US in Syria and Iraq

US soldiers in eastern Syria, 2019. Photo credit: ABACA via Reuters Connect.

In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th and during Israel’s counter-offensive into Gaza, Iranian proxy militias in Iraq and Syria have escalated attacks on US positions in both countries. Fully 60 such attacks have taken place against US forces since October 7. 56 American personnel have suffered injuries in these attacks […]

Three Weeks of Ground War in Gaza

IDF troops in Gaza, Nov 12, 2023. Photo credit: EYEPRESS via Reuters Connect.

On Saturday, November 18, Israel’s war in Gaza reached its 43rd day and the ground offensive in Gaza has now reached its three-week mark. This war, Israel’s leaders say, is going to be long. But we are beginning to see the ground offensive reach a new phase. >> Reports from the Gaza Front: Read more from Seth […]

China’s Turn Toward Antisemitism

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo credit: Kyodo via Reuters Connect.

“The United States as a nation has been severely kidnapped by political and other forces derived from Jewish capital,” thus said Dong Manyuan, the former Vice president of CIIS, the Chinese foreign ministry’s think tank, in a TV interview on November 1, in response to the interviewer claim that Jews “manipulate and control” 70% of […]

Petting Hamas While Killing Kurds, The Double Game of Turkish President Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdoğan during the “Great Palestinian Rally” in Istanbul, October 28, 2023. Photo credit: REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya.

“We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are preparing for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal,” said Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdoğan during the “Great Palestinian Rally” that took place in Istanbul on October 28, exactly three weeks after Hamas murdered over 1400 Israeli and other citizens, […]

Initial Lessons From the October 2023 War

Israeli soldiers operate inside the Gaza Strip, November 2023. Photo credit: Israeli Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS.

As these lines are being written, the war is ongoing and may yet intensify. It is perhaps too early to posit conclusive lessons at this stage. Therefore, I would qualify all of the findings below by suggesting that they must be put to the test of systematic criticism – alongside many of our military and […]

Latin American Views on the Gaza War Are in Flux

People hold signs reading "Gaza Free" and "Long live Palestine, beautiful, free and sovereign" at a pro-Palestinian march in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 3, 2023. Photo credit: REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta

In the days and weeks after the October 7 terrorist attack and Israeli military response, some Latin American nations have distanced themselves politically from Israel. While views of the conflict are evolving, the Latin American public’s reliance on social media for news reports, amid relentlessly negative images of suffering in Gaza, has contributed to widespread […]

Video Interview with Yair Golan

A transcript of the video is below. I’m Yair Golan, a former general in the Israeli Defense Forces until 2017. I was the Deputy Chief of Staff. Since then I became a politician in leftist parties and I served as a member of the Knesset from 2019 to 2022. Q: What did you do on […]

The Ground War in Gaza Begins

IDF soldiers take position in the Gaza Strip, November 4, 2023. Photo credit: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS.

The week of fighting on the ground that began on Saturday, October 27 was tough. There were Israeli military casualties and Gazan civilian casualties. The worst incident for Israel came when a Namer armored personnel carrier was hit with a missile and eleven soldiers were killed. A well-known tank commander, Salman Habaka, who had played a key role […]

The Price of Greatness is Responsibility

US President Joe Biden during his visit in Israel, October 18, 2023. Photo credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein.

Usually, history’s turning points are invisible to the living.  Forks in the road are spotted by historians only long after events and their immediate repercussions have faded. But sometimes history visibly shifts for its participants onto a new course. We are now living through one of those turning points in history.  2023 was the year that […]