Soeren Kern

Map of the Middle East.

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…

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Radical PIJ Is Moving In

Recent clashes between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have underscored Iran’s…

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Israel, EU Sign Gas Deal

The European Union (EU) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel that eventually could see…

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Israel Prepares to Strike

The Israeli government recently allocated 5 billion shekels ($1.5 billion) to prepare the Israel Defense Forces to strike…

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Has Ecoterrorism Hit Israel?

The February 2021 oil spill that polluted nearly half of Israel’s shoreline highlighted the country’s acute vulnerability to…

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Nuclear Iran Looms Large

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz recently estimated Iran is a year or two away from building a nuclear bomb…

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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…

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Annexation Now Looms Large

The coalition agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Blue and White party leader…

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EU’s Bias Shines Brightly

The appointment of Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…”

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…