Israel & Zionism

Achieving Israel’s war aims is necessary but not sufficient. What is missing is the cognitive defeat of the Palestinian national movement, a lasting change in its belief that Israel can be beaten.
Middle East Forum Online
To End the War, End the Palestinians’ Hope of Victory
Disarm Hamas, Demilitarize Gaza Completely, and Keep Security Control in Israeli Hands
October 28, 2026
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Gregg Roman
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks in Osasco, Brazil; July 5, 2022.
Middle East Forum Online
Brazil and Serbia Seal Black Day for Israel Allies
These Twin Electoral Outcomes Effectively Closed Vital Pathways That Could Have Expanded Israel’s Strategic Depth in Both Latin America and the Balkans
October 28, 2026
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Jose Lev Alvarez
Large columns of smoke billow above residential neighborhoods following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Tehran, Iran, on March 12, 2026.
Press Releases
New MEF Report: Bombs Have Weakened the Iranian Regime, but Only Politics Can Replace It
Seth D. Kaplan Maps a Path to Replacing the Islamic Republic with a Stable, Democratic, and Internationally Integrated Iranian State.
October 28, 2026
Burning cars, barricades, and fires in streets of Paris at night during rioting by adherents of the red-green alliance; October 17, 2026.
Middle East Forum Online
Paris Calls, Jerusalem Responds. The Head of Israeli Intelligence Is in Paris to Lend a Hand
France Is Currently One of the Nations Most Critical of Israel
October 28, 2026
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Giulio Meotti
Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya swiftly categorized the fatal shooting as an extremist terrorist attack, while King Abdullah II (above in 2025) vowed the harshest penalties for those responsible.
Middle East Forum Online
Karak Church Attack Tests Jordan’s Response. Israel Has a Stake in the Outcome
Jordan’s Sovereign Stability Remains the Ultimate Strategic Buffer Preventing Extremist Chaos from Engulfing the Jordan Valley
October 28, 2026
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Amine Ayoub
The most significant aspect of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting is, of course, the US president’s proposal itself. If implemented, it would represent Israel’s most direct path to victory in Gaza. Photo: At the White House, April 7, 2025.
Middle East Forum Online
After Months of Threats by Trump, Resumption of Iran War Now Seems Inevitable
Israel Seems to Be Champing at the Bit to Resume the Fight Against Iran
October 27, 2026
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Lazar Berman
Libya’s eastern parliament has endorsed a controversial maritime deal with Turkey, raising concerns for Israel, Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt over disputed waters, energy exploration, and regional influence and prompting calls for coordinated diplomacy.
Middle East Forum Online
Israel Faces New Mediterranean Challenge as Libya Endorses Turkey Deal
The Agreement Matters to Israel Because the Maritime Dispute Touches Its Ties with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt
October 26, 2026
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Amine Ayoub
France is home to approximately half a million Jews, the largest Jewish community in Europe and one of the most important in the world. It is a well-established community with deep ties to Israel. Yet in recent years, the reality surrounding it has been changing. Image: The Bordeaux Synagogue, France.
Middle East Forum Online
France’s Crisis Is a Historic Opportunity, but Israel Is Missing It
Israel Can Begin Building a Process Today That Could Ultimately Bring at Least 200,000 Jews from France to Israel
October 25, 2026
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Zvi Hauser
The three antisemitisms meet at one point: the demand that the United States step back from Israel. Image: An anti-Israel protest in New York City, May 15, 2021.
Middle East Forum Online
Three Antisemitisms; One Beneficiary
The Three Antisemitisms End at the Same Roll Call, and Tehran Is Counting the Votes
October 23, 2026
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Gregg Roman
A long coastline, a weak central government and a position between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa have repeatedly made Yemen a relay station for militant movements, a place where ideas, money and weapons arrive from outside, where fighters are trained and organized, and from which capability is sent onward across the water.
Middle East Forum Online
The Yemen–Horn of Africa Corridor: Houthi Expansion and the Gap in American Red Sea Strategy
Iran’s Proxies Now Have Proxies of Their Own
October 22, 2026
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Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
As the Eastern Mediterranean becomes more popular, many Europeans, Turks, and Israelis flock to Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus in search of a bargain. Image: Aerial view of the city center of Famagusta in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus; May 21, 2025.
Middle East Forum Online
Sanction Foreigners Purchasing, Developing Land in Occupied Cyprus
No One Will Take the Restoration of Cypriot Unity Seriously So Long as People View Turkey’s Occupation More as an Opportunity than Outrage
October 22, 2026
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Michael Rubin
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is shown in a 2015 file photo.
Middle East Forum Online
The Fragile Keystone: Egypt’s Mismanagement, Israel’s Security, and the Post-Election Middle East
The Root of Cairo’s Vulnerability Is Fundamentally Economic
October 22, 2026
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Amine Ayoub
As the first Israeli election since the 2023 Hamas attack looms, a topic of great significance has been thrust back into the limelight — the question of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s responsibility for the October 7 disaster.
Middle East Forum Online
Settler Violence Harms Israel’s Interests, but for Netanyahu, Halting It Could Spell Political Trouble
The Prime Minister Has Downplayed the Attacks and Cast Doubt on Reports of Them, Even Going So Far as to Contradict the IDF
October 22, 2026
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Lazar Berman
On March 15, 2026, two weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran’s regime, Alireza Doostdar, an associate professor of Islamic Studies in the Divinity School, told his followers on X that he was reading Yahya Sinwar’s prison novel The Thorn and the Carnation for his course “Liberatory Violence” and found it “remarkable how good it is as sociological commentary.”
Research
The Great Satan Comes to Hyde Park
UChicago’s Former Middle East Center Director Teaches Sinwar and Roots for Tehran’s Missiles
October 21, 2026
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Gregg Roman
More than three years after Hamas, during a ceasefire, launched an invasion of southern Israel to rape, torture, kidnap, and slaughter Jews, there is no doubt that criticism of Israel’s military response has gained traction among the young, ignorant, and antisemitic. Image: Anti-Israel march in New York City, May 15, 2021.
Middle East Forum Online
Is It Right to Panic over the Targeting of Israel?
Among Americans, Opposition to Close Ties with Israel Is Growing
October 20, 2026
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Michael Rubin
Hamas does not need a geographic sanctuary in Gaza to threaten American hemispheric security; it only needs the financial and documentary pathways that Latin America has carelessly left open. By treating this southern front as a distant echo rather than an active threat, Washington and Jerusalem are effectively subsidizing the next major failure of Western intelligence.
Middle East Forum Online
Hamas’s Footprint in Latin America
The Islamic Republic of Iran Has Methodically Built a Hamas Foothold Across Latin America
October 19, 2026
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Jose Lev Alvarez
Hamas believes it is winning the long game, and the diplomatic calendar gives it little reason to think otherwise. Image: A silhouette of an Israeli soldier, a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is captured during a night operation in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip; January 30, 2024.
Middle East Forum Online
The War Ends When the Palestinians Lose
A Settlement Built on Anything Less than Genuine Palestinian Acceptance of Israel’s Permanence Will Not Hold
October 19, 2026
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Meir Ben-Shabbat
Reports
Shattering the Palestinians’ Hope of Defeating Israel
Crushing the Palestinians’ Hope of Imposing Their Will on Israel Is the First Condition for Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
October 19, 2026
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Meir Ben-Shabbat
Press Releases
Former Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat: No End to War if Palestinians Hope for Victory
‘Shattering the Palestinians’ Hope of Defeating Israel’ Argues That Israel’s Military Achievements Since October 7 Are Necessary but Not Sufficient
October 19, 2026
The Star of David hexagram window at the top of the Intercontinental Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin.
Middle East Forum Observer
Israel Should Evacuate Jews from Ireland
Irish Politicians Openly Demonize Jews, and Growing Indulgence in Antisemitism Makes Bloodshed Inevitable
October 17, 2026
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Michael Rubin