Bonus Episode: Previewing Israel’s First Post-October 7 Election
Israel is preparing to hold what may be its most consequential election in decades. On October 27, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face his first electoral test since October 7, 2023. In this bonus episode of Middle East Focus, we present the audio from a recent MEI webinar, hosted in Israel on the eve of the vote. Senior Fellow Natan Sachs is joined by Dr. Shira Efron, Distinguished Chair for Israel Policy and senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, and Neri Zilber, veteran journalist and Financial Times correspondent. They explore what’s at stake in this historic election and how different outcomes could reshape Israel’s domestic politics and the wider region.
Israel Was Built on Hope. This Election May Be Our Last Chance to Save It
Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, means “the hope.” Israel is not just another country, but the culmination of a 2,000-year-old dream of national redemption. The rebirth of the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, just three years after the Holocaust, was a miraculous triumph of hope over all odds.
Today, that hope has been shattered and the elections on October 27 have become the most consequential in Israel’s history.
One striking thing about US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this past week is how isolated he was in making this call. The Israeli Prime Minister has become a widely detested figure worldwide following Israel’s war in Gaza—where Israel committed war crimes. This disdain was clearly on display in New York in September when dozens of diplomats streamed out of the hall during Netanyahu’s speech.
Since 1967, Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been a contested feature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ultimate disposition of the settlements and ongoing activity related to their growth have repeatedly defied agreement in negotiations over a resolution to the conflict.
The Houthis are a political-military faction and Zaydi religious movement founded in northwestern Yemen in the 1980s. A key member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance with links to other militant organizations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the group has continued to pose a threat to Western interests on a global scale.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a proposed multinational infrastructure initiative aimed at upgrading connectivity between the three regions through integrated trade, energy, and digital networks. Announced at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023, IMEC is envisioned partially as a counterweight to China’s international infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.
After a decade of post-Arab Spring isolation, Turkey’s leaders have recognized that their ambition to position the country as an agenda-setter on the world stage requires active engagement in all directions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of executive authority has centralized foreign policy decision-making and tied it to his domestic political priorities, transforming the country’s revisionist approach to one shaped primarily by personal and pragmatic interests.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Paramilitaries Make Further Gains in Western Mosul
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces today seized nine villages around al-Qairawan region in western Mosul from the Islamic State, the Iranian media reports. According to a P.M.F. statement, the paramilitary forces “managed to reach the Sinjar mountains and block the road that connects Sinjar to al-Ba’aj.
The Iranian defense minister today claimed that the country has achieved self-sufficiency in the field of producing military hardware, particularly ballistic missiles, the Iranian media reported.
The Destabilizing Role of Missiles in the Middle East
The destabilizing role of ballistic and cruise missiles in the Middle East has stood out since the end of the Second World War: more than 90 percent of the well-over 5,000 missiles fired in combat have taken place in the Middle East.[1] Moreover, because offensive missiles have become so prominent a feature of wars in the Middle East, missile defenses have begun to play a major role in countering growing offensive missile arsenals.
IranObserved: Presidential Election and Foreign Policy
May 23, 2017 – Ahmad Majidyar, director of the IranObserved project at the Middle East Institute, joins host Paul Salem to discuss Hassan Rouhani’s reelection as president, the election’s implications for U.S.-Iran relations during the Trump presidency, and Iran’s broader strategy in regional conflicts.
I.R.G.C. Unveils New Underground Missile Production Factory despite U.S. Warning
The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) Aerospace Force today revealed that the country has recently built a third underground ballistic missile production factory, the
Iran Paper: Are New U.S. Sanctions a Declaration of War against Iran?
The U.S. Senate Relations Committee today approved a new set of sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile program, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Groups Marching ahead in Western Mosul
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) have seized eight villages from the Islamic State in western Mosul, the Iranian media reports. According to Iraqi officials, the paramilitary forces have also launched operations in northern Ba’aj and have secured the control of the main road linking al-Adaniyah district and the two of al-Ba’aj. According to a P.M.F.
Worries in Tehran about Close U.S.-Arab Partnership to Contain Iran
The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) said that President Donald Trump’s statements at the Riyadh summit was only a confession to Iran’s superior power in the region. “50 world leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia and their only word was that Iran enjoys an uncontrollable power, and it is an honor for us (Iran),” Brigadier General Hossein Salami stressed. He warned that any actions against Iran would have dire consequences.
The election of Emmanuel Macron is certainly bad news for terrorist organizations in the Middle East. At the same time, it is unlikely that France will modify its attitude in regards to larger regional challenges, for instance, the ongoing Syrian civil war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or the cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Iranian-Backed Forces Advancing to Southeast Syria despite U.S. Warning
The U.S. air strike last week targeting Iranian-led forces in southern Syria signaled escalating tension between Washington and Tehran over the six-year conflict in Syria. The U.S. military said it carried out the raid because an Iran-directed convoy was advancing toward a “de-confliction zone” near the al-Tanf region, where the U.S. military is training Syrian opposition forces to fight the Islamic State. The militia forces reportedly did not respond to U.S. warnings. The air strike – the first such action by the U.S.
Foreign Powers Should Push for Compromise in Libya
Whenever power is contested in a country—any country—the political fight over who will ascend to the helm provides opportunities for foreign powers to intervene, and in some cases, influence the outcome of the political process.
Such behavior can carry short-term rewards when a new leader, put into power with the help of the foreign government, tilts favorably toward the sponsor; but it also can be counterproductive.
Bahrain-Malaysia Relations Set to Reach New Heights
On May 3, 2017, King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa concluded a four-day trip to Malaysia, the first visit by a Bahraini monarch since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1974 and the initial leg of a tour that also included stops in Brunei and Thailand. This essay takes a brief look at the development of economic ties between Bahrain and Malaysia in recent years, and considers the prospects for their continued growth in light of the outcome of King Hamad’s visit.
Senior Iranian Official Visits Moscow to Discuss Syria War Plan
The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani today met with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow to discuss the conflict in Syria, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The two sides pledged to continue support for the Bashar al-Assad regime against armed opposition groups.
Rouhani Defends Hezbollah and I.R.G.C.’s Role in Regional Conflicts
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump’s designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and defended the Lebanese group and its role in both Lebanon and Syria.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Militias Seize Strategic Town in Western Mosul
Iran-supported units within the Hashd al-Shaabi, the Iraqi paramilitary forces called Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), have seized the al- Qairawan region in western Mosul from the Islamic State, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported today.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
