A recurring television advertisement by Klil, an Israeli interior design company, claims that the terrorists “who tried to break, destroy, and upend” Israeli life on October 7 “do not understand the strength…of this country.” It’s a quaint message that is doubtlessly meant to bolster the nation’s morale, battered in that day’s horrendous attack. But the
What lasting effect have Hamas’s October 7 attacks and Israel’s ongoing response in Gaza had on US strategy in the Middle East? The answer to this question is emerging, and recent days provided two windows into the Biden administration’s approach to the conflict and to Middle East and global security challenges more broadly. Hamas’s expected
As Israel expands its ground raids to hunt down Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Egypt—which shares its northern border with the enclave—is witnessing the ripple effects of the war and faces growing external and internal pressure to act in regard to Palestinian refugees. Since the start of the war, which erupted in retaliation
JUST IN “This is our second war of independence.” On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a “second stage” in Israel’s war against Hamas has begun. Ground operations in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces have two goals, Netanyahu said: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and the return of hostages
Just a few weeks ago, it finally seemed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had played a winning card after a few difficult months since the inauguration of his sixth government. In the wake of being shunned by the Joe Biden administration and having visits to Arab capitals indefinitely delayed, Netanyahu hoped to secure a grand
“You are not alone.” In Tel Aviv on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden shared this message of solidarity with Israel, a country at war with Hamas following harrowing attacks by the terrorist group on October 7. He had the US ally’s back in several ways: Biden pledged to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge and to
The size, scale, and brutality of Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel suggests that the group’s aim was to fundamentally change the strategic dynamic with Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and probably in the larger region, as well. Hamas may have believed Israel was weakened, distracted, and divided by its internal political turmoil over the
Whether or not Iran helped plan Hamas’s terrorist attack that killed at least 1,300 Israelis is needlessly distracting analysts and the media from the far more important conclusion that we already know: Iran is culpable for the attack. On Monday, Washington was set abuzz when the Wall Street Journal published a story claiming that Iran