China’s Dubious Palestinian-Unity Deal
More than a dozen Palestinian factions—including bitter rivals Fatah and Hamas—recently signed a national unity deal…
EYE ON THE MIDDLE EAST
Is Israel Too Dependent on the U.S.?
The Biden administration’s decision to cut off weapons supplies to Israel during the war in Gaza has raised concerns that…
Iran Wants Jordan
Iran is stirring up anti-government sentiment in Jordan, with the goal of toppling King Abdullah II and replacing his regime with one led by Hamas…
The Return of the Two-State Solution
It’s back. Hamas’s October 7 slaughter of more than 1,200 Israelis and Israel’s military response to the slaughter have revived…
Yemen’s Houthis Target Israel
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are posing a growing threat to Israel. Since the October 2023 outbreak of the…
Russia is No Friend of Israel
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s robust support for Hamas after its October massacre of more than 1,400 Israelis…
U.S. Release of Iranian Assets Creates Conundrum for Israel
Critics are accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of succumbing to extortion…
Is Israel’s Gaza Policy Working?
The recent round of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip has sparked a debate over Israel’s…
Understanding the Iran-Saudi Reconciliation Agreement
Historical archrivals Iran and…
UN Seeks to Brand Israel as Occupier
The United Nations General Assembly recently asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to provide a…
Iranian Drones in Ukraine: Warm-up for Israel?
Russia’s use of Iranian-made, unmanned drones in its war against Ukraine is…
The Israel–Lebanon Maritime Agreement
Israel and Lebanon, two long-time adversaries that are technically at war, recently reached an agreement on…
Radical PIJ Is Moving In
Recent clashes between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have underscored Iran’s…
Israel, EU Sign Gas Deal
The European Union (EU) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel that eventually could see…
Can a Leopard Change its Spots?
Israeli President Isaac Herzog recently visited Turkey in a bid to normalize bilateral ties after more than a decade of…
A Win for Turkey and Russia at Israel’s Expense
The Biden administration recently withdrew its support for the…
UN Rewrites Temple-Mount History
The UN General Assembly recently passed a resolution that calls Jerusalem’s Temple Mount by its Muslim name only…
Israel Prepares to Strike
The Israeli government recently allocated 5 billion shekels ($1.5 billion) to prepare the Israel Defense Forces to strike…
Has Ecoterrorism Hit Israel?
The February 2021 oil spill that polluted nearly half of Israel’s shoreline highlighted the country’s acute vulnerability to…
New Precision Weapon Could Devastate Israel
Iran is continuing to provide high-quality weapons to Hezbollah, including one that could give the terror organization…
Nuclear Iran Looms Large
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz recently estimated Iran is a year or two away from building a nuclear bomb…
The Win-Win Infuriating Iran
Morocco recently established full diplomatic relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, an effort by the United States…
Israel, Lebanon Talk Maritime Borders
Israel and Lebanon recently initiated groundbreaking negotiations to resolve a long-standing maritime border dispute…
Erdoğan’s Move Toward an Islamic Caliphate
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently declared that his decision to…
Report Tells Israel, ‘Beware of China’
A Chinese company, Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, recently lost a bid to build a $1.5 billion water desalination plant…
Annexation Now Looms Large
The coalition agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Blue and White party leader…
ICC Invents Palestinian State
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, recently announced that…
The Tightening Turkey-Hamas Connection
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently invited Hamas leader Ismail…
EU’s Bias Shines Brightly
The appointment of Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs…
Dispute Over Temple Mount Intensifies
Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan recently called for changing the status quo on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount…
Innovative Companies Love Israel
More than 500 multinational corporations (MNCs) representing 35 countries are now active in Israel, according to a landmark study of multinational activity…
Understanding the Powerful IRGC
The Trump administration’s recent designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization” is part of a…
Proposed Pipeline Would Bring Israeli Gas to Europe
Israel has reached an agreement with Cyprus, Greece, and Italy to begin work on an underwater pipeline…
The Gaza Problem
The Israeli cabinet’s decision to accept a cease-fire with the Islamist terror group Hamas after Palestinians fired more than 450 rockets and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into Israel within a two-day period set off a heated debate…
The Plan to Hitch Israel to Saudi Arabia by Rail
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Israel Katz have announced a historic plan to establish a rail link between Israel and Saudi Arabia…
The Flap Over Israel’s Nation-State Law
The Knesset recently enacted a new law that declares Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and that they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it…
U.S. Quits UNHRC ‘Cesspool’
After more than a year of warnings, the Trump administration has followed through on a pledge to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), calling it a “cesspool of political bias…”
The Emerging Realignment
Saudi Arabia recently granted Air India permission to fly over its territory on new routes to and from Israel. The decision to open Saudi airspace to commercial jets bound for the…
Is Iran Forcing Israel Into War?
In a dramatic escalation of tensions along Israel’s northern border, an Iranian attack-drone recently violated Israeli airspace. Israel shot down the drone and then sent warplanes into Syria to take out the command center that launched…
The Saudi-Israeli Connection
In a recent interview with Army Radio, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz revealed Israel has been holding covert talks with Saudi Arabia amid mutual concerns over Iran’s…
Preparing for War
As tensions rise along the Lebanese-Israeli border, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has warned that the next war between Hezbollah and Israel will include Syria. “In anything that transpires, it will be one theater,” he said. Syria and Lebanon together, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and all…
No Longer Science Fiction
When a quadcopter from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel recently, the Israel Defense Forces released a brief statement saying it had taken it away for checks. The seemingly mundane incident is, in fact…
Iranian Threat Grows
As the war in Syria enters its end-game, Iran is closer than ever to achieving its long-term, strategic objective of establishing a land corridor for direct and unimpeded access to the Mediterranean Sea. The so-called Shiite Corridor—which…
The Same Old Same Old?
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has reversed himself on several important promises regarding Israel. On the campaign trail, he pledged to be a stalwart friend of the Jewish state but some of his initial policies actually mirror those of former…
End of the Two-State Solution
U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced he will not insist on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two. But honestly, if Bibi and if…
Israel Seeks Spot on UN Security Council
Israel is stepping up diplomatic efforts to win a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2019–2020 term. The move marks a proactive shift in longstanding Israeli policy: After years of spurning the UN…
UNESCO’s Propaganda War on Israel
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has approved a resolution that denies a Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Advanced by the Palestinian Authority (PA), with the help of Algeria, Egypt…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2016
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin are working to repair bilateral relations. Long fraught with tension, ties between the geopolitical rivals reached a new low after…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2016
Representatives from 26 countries and international organizations met in Paris recently in an effort to relaunch stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But the initiative is doomed to fail…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2016
Israel has acquiesced to a plan to transfer sovereignty of two strategically important islands in the Red Sea from Egypt to Saudi Arabia as part of an informal, emerging alliance between…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2016
After nearly six years of discord, Turkey and Israel are working to repair bilateral relations. Reconciliation is said to be imminent. Analysts say Turkey is motivated by a desire to obtain access to Israeli natural gas in order to…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2016
The Israel Defense Forces recently detained 90 Birzeit University (BZU) students, teachers, and employees for association with terrorism. BZU, near Ramallah, probably the most prestigious and liberal of the…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2016
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has revealed why he believes so many Israeli Jews are being stabbed, slashed, and shot by Arabs. It is due, he said…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2015
Seventy percent of all the children living in the southern Israeli city of Sderot suffer from at least one symptom of post-traumatic stress, and 50 percent continue to relive…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2015
The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry in June released its 183-page investigative report into the 2014 Gaza war, blaming both Israel and Hamas for possible violations of…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2015
“It’s the economy, stupid!” That was the phrase coined by James Carville, chief strategist for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, to help his team focus on the recession…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2015
French and German leaders have criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying Europe is no longer safe for Jews and encouraging them to move to Israel.
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2015
In baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out. In Gaza, it’s three strikes and keep the money coming. In October, about 50 diplomats pledged $5.4 billion to rebuild Gaza. Strike one took place…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2014
Do a computer search for “ISIS” and “Christians” and prepare to gasp in horror. ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or simply Islamic State) is slaughtering Christians in the Middle East…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2014
It is no coincidence that Hillary Clinton’s book Hard Choices was released in June, two years before the American presidential election. She is without a government job, so the…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2014
It doesn’t matter what you’re doing––bathing your 2-year-old, fixing dinner, or sleeping. You have only 11 seconds to run for safety from an incoming rocket when the siren…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2014
Sometimes it boggles the mind to see who some of the people are who withhold support from the State of Israel. The controversy is starting to die down now, but New York City Mayor…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2014
When members of the American Studies Association (ASA) voted to boycott Israeli academic institutions in December 2013, they probably had no idea their plan would…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2014
“Iran poses absolutely no threat to the world or the region.” Or so Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani assured United Nations members in September 2013. His words may have impressed many…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2013
It was merely a handshake. But it was no ordinary handshake. It was one of a kind, seen by millions around the world. It was proclaimed as the event that sealed the deal that would alter the…
Eye On the Middle East Sep/Oct 2013
Though lacking the pizazz of typical rags-to-riches stories, the saga of the thousands of Ethiopians who have immigrated to Israel is one worth telling. In many ways, their experience is…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2013
Moral equivalence is a tricky device often used by people who want to remove the focus from an obvious wrong and put it somewhere else. Commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2013
How often have you seen a household appliance create an international commotion? Apparently, when an Israeli company manufactures it, people…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2013
In November 2012 the Czech Republic voted against a UN resolution to make “Palestine” a non-Member Observer State. It was the sole European…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2013
Going Up to Jerusalem with The Friends of Israel is never the same twice. I’ve been on our tour more than two dozen times, but our recent fall trip was unique. Here is a…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2012
In an attempt to comply with the U.S. State Department, an Israeli Knesset member has proposed legislation to let Christians and Jews pray on the Temple Mount. But the bill has ignited…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2012
Have you ever heard the expression “the elephant in the room”? It was used first in a 1959 New York Times article about school finance that pointed out how ignoring…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2012
Jive talk is slang for deceptive or insincere speech. Los Angeles Lakers basketball forward Metta World Peace (Ron Artest) was jive talking when he said in April, “It was unfortunate…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2012
According to a poll taken in November 2011 by the European Commission—the executive body of the European Union—15 European countries believe Israel is the greatest threat to world peace. The Organisation…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2012
For nearly all of its 64 years, the State of Israel has faced constant threats to its survival as a democratic, Jewish nation. The courage, tenacity, ingenuity, and determination…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2012
Did spring really come early for Arabs in the Middle East last year? Many believe so. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak was forced out after decades of ruthless rule…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2011
The late Golda Meir, fourth prime minister of the State of Israel, once said, “If Moses had turned right instead of left when he led his people out of the Sinai desert…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2011
A different atmosphere has emerged in Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak’s departure. The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Iran are no longer viewed with disdain; and Hamas has an office in Cairo.
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2011
There are 450 different theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks in the United States, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks. Disney, the largest and most recognized, has six…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2011
Students at Princeton University voted last fall on a referendum combining politics and cuisine. The issue raised by The Princeton Committee for Palestine wanted students to approve a boycott on hummus.
The Magic of Mahmoud
Like a diminutive political time bomb, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stalked the halls of the United Nations in September. He took his vitriol to the podium of the General Assembly…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2010
Here in the United States, citizens are befuddled about the meaning of the word illegal. A dictionary informs us it means “not according to or authorized by law.” Which says to most…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2010
Remember the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in 2008 and spent nine months in a Baghdad prison for his trouble? Well…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2010
A recent Arutz-7 headline read, “Ex-US Envoy Indyk: Bibi’s Refusal to Obama ‘Threatens Alliance.’” Martin Indyk apparently has left Israelis wondering just how much is actually at stake in Israel’s decision…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2010
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward (Ps. 127:3). This message from God’s Word is worlds away from the message of a Palestinian…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2010
An Islamist terrorist’s attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane over Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day set bells ringing across America and the Western world, and near panic ensued as officials…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2010
When Ya’akov Teitel was arrested for multiple criminal acts in Israel last fall, the Ortiz family in the town of Ariel in Samaria breathed a sigh of relief. For nearly…
Eye on Middle East Nov/Dec 2009
The Financial Times headline read, “US Attacks Israel Over West Bank Settlements.” Startling on the surface, the article merely confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruffled some feathers when he announced…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2009
In what, under the circumstances, some would think incredible, 100 people deplaned in June in Tel Aviv as new immigrants to Israel. They were the vanguard for thousands more scheduled to make…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2009
We hear much talk these days about carrots and sticks. Should U.S. intelligence officers attempting to pry information from captured terrorists use physical methods or persuasive conversation to convince the bad…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2009
As the preacher phrased it in Ecclesiastes, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (11:1). Well, there may be a twist on the truth…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2009
As 2008 slipped off the stage into history, former American President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter was off on a mission to aid Arab countries and terrorist organizations by monitoring elections…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2009
We often hear the famous words of the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan, trust and verify. They are repeated often in the heat of negotiations with world leaders who are less than scrupulous…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2008
Reading the dictionary can be an exhilarating experience. Not that an overwhelming number of young people might find it so. Nevertheless, it is an exercise in personal enlightenment that is well worth the time.
Eye on the Future
Two preachers were handing out tracts in England recently when a police officer threatened to throw them in jail for committing a hate crime. “They were warned that if they came back and were beaten
Israelis Prepare for the Worst
On April 1, sirens across the entire State of Israel sounded for a full 90 seconds, warning all citizens to head immediately for the shelters. This exercise was no April Fools’ Day trick.
Eleven Things Christians Should Know
“Bethlehem will become a town of churches devoid of Christians if you transfer the area to the Palestinian Authority,” predicted the late mayor of Bethlehem, Elias Freij, pleading—in 1993—not to transfer…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2008
A man identifying himself as a “missionary in Jerusalem” wrote a scathing response to an op-ed piece I wrote recently for The Jerusalem Post. The writer castigated me for my apparent lack of love…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2007
A recent report out of the Middle East could provide a formula for how not to run a war. Following the cease-fire that interrupted the battle between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in Lebanon…
Kissing Freedom Goodbye
For years realists on Middle East affairs said a Palestinian state would become a platform for radical Islamist terror and that the most dangerous merchants of death would populate the ministate…