Principal Research Associate, Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies
Principal Research Associate at the Institute for National Security Studies, and former Political Analyst at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, at Tel Aviv University in Israel
Israel Strikes Gaza for Third Day Israel's three days of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip is its most ferocious attack on Palestinians in decades, leaving some three hundred dead and more than six hundred wounded. Questions are being raised about whether Israel intends to launch a ground offensive as well. Israel is targeting Hamas strongholds to stop the Islamic Palestinian group from launching rockets into southern Israel. But the Gaza Strip is a tiny, densely crowded area, and civilians who live and work close to Hamas institutions have been caught in the fire. The International Red Cross has appealed that urgent humanitarian assistance be allowed to enter Gaza and tens of thousands of people have protested in the streets of Arab capitals. What role do upcoming parliamentary elections play in timing of Israel's military actions? How are Arab nations responding? What impact will the strikes have on the way President-elect Obama shapes his foreign policy agenda?
Israel Strikes Gaza for Third Day Israel's three days of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip is its most ferocious attack on Palestinians in decades, leaving some three hundred dead and more than six hundred wounded. Questions are being raised about whether Israel intends to launch a ground offensive as well. Israel is targeting Hamas strongholds to stop the Islamic Palestinian group from launching rockets into southern Israel. But the Gaza Strip is a tiny, densely crowded area, and civilians who live and work close to Hamas institutions have been caught in the fire. The International Red Cross has appealed that urgent humanitarian assistance be allowed to enter Gaza and tens of thousands of people have protested in the streets of Arab capitals. What role do upcoming parliamentary elections play in timing of Israel's military actions? How are Arab nations responding? What impact will the strikes have on the way President-elect Obama shapes his foreign policy agenda?
After Southern Lebanon, What about the Palestinians? UN Security Council Resolution 1701 stopped the fighting in southern Lebanon with the promise that France would help enforce it by leading a 15,000 member peacekeeping source. Today, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that France is scaling back to a "symbolic" contingent of 10 officers and 200 engineers. Meantime, as Hamas and the Palestinian Authority talk about forming a "unity government, there's a threat to dissolve all civil institutions and demand that Israel keep order in the West Bank and Gaza. Has the success of Hezbollah emboldened militants or will it lead to diplomacy in the region's oldest conflict? What about Israel's plan to pull out of the West Bank? We get an update from the UN and the Palestinian territories, where events have been out of the limelight because of the fighting in Lebanon.
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?