Arab-Israeli Relations

Hosting Prince Khalid is a good look for the bilateral relationship, but discussions may prove difficult given complications over defense sales, Israeli normalization, OPEC infighting, and continued fallout over the Khashoggi affair.

The military particulars of the clash between Hamas and IDF doctrines reveal much common ground with potential future conflicts involving the other members of Iran’s “axis of resistance.”

In this episode of the Middle East PolicyCast podcast, Grant Rumley & Neri Zilber share their assessments of the factors that sparked and escalated the May 2021 Gaza conflict and share advice for policymakers who seek to prevent the renewal of major violence between Hamas and Israel.

Even if the consensus-based coalition is sworn in, the big question mark hanging over Bennett and Lapid is whether Palestinian developments or Netanyahu’s relentless opposition will produce irreconcilable internal differences.

The administration should take a three-track approach: provide a formula of reconstruction with no rearmament, bolster the PA through assistance conditioned on reform, and broker Arab outreach to open the horizon.

Fatah and Hamas have tried every conceivable power-sharing mechanism to no avail, and many Palestinians now feel alienated from both brands of authoritarianism.

The Biden administration cannot solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem today, but it can shrink the conflict by helping both sides take small steps toward a two-state solution.

The May 20 Gaza protest in Baghdad saw the Tansiqiya speak in the notable absence of any Asaib Ahl al-Haq members, and the event was conspicuously ignored by AAH channels.

The latest round of fighting may have come to an end, but the broader regional struggle over issues such as Sunni political Islam, normalization, and Iranian encroachment will continue for the long term.