INSS Insight

The confrontation between the United States and Iran surrounding the Strait of Hormuz has entered a more dangerous phase than before. The American move, which initially focused on targeting maritime and military infrastructure in the area of Bandar Abbas and applying concentrated pressure on Tehran, has expanded following the Iranian response against vessels, U.S. military bases, and the Gulf states. Washington seeks to combine cumulative military pressure with maintaining an open diplomatic channel; to deny Iran the ability to turn...

Since the outbreak of the “Swords of Iron” war, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has faced a severe fiscal and institutional crisis that has led to numerous assessments regarding its imminent collapse. Yet, as of July 2026, it continues to function and provide basic services. The PA’s survival, despite the dramatic blow to its clearance revenues and the suspension of Palestinian employment in Israel, has been enabled by a significant increase in foreign aid and alternative funding mechanisms. These developments...

The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to reject an amendment that would immediately end $3.3 billion in promised annual foreign military funding to Israel.  Approximately half of the Democratic Party—a plurality of the party’s members—voted in favor of the measure. Although the proposal to end the aid failed due to opposition from the Republican Party and the other half of the Democrats, the significant share of members who supported it reflects the deep rift in the Democratic Party’s relationship with Israel. This...

A year and a half after the fall of the Assad regime, Syria faces a profound paradox. On the external front, the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa has recorded significant diplomatic achievements: growing regional and international recognition and a wave of investment pledges from the Gulf states, Turkey, the United States, and Europe. On the domestic front, however, the picture is far more troubling: Syria faces ethnic tensions, security threats, ideological divisions, and a severe economic crisis that is becoming a central source...

The State Comptroller’s report highlights significant deficiencies in Israel’s preparedness to counter foreign interference in the digital sphere. These include the lack of a comprehensive national policy, coordination gaps, and only partial preparedness ahead of the elections. This article argues that these findings reflect a broader problem: the absence of an agreed-upon national concept regarding both the threat itself and the methods to address it. Accordingly, it proposes developing an integrated strategic approach...

The Democratic Party’s 2026 congressional primaries have become a major contest between its mainstream and progressive wings, with U.S. policy toward Israel and the role of AIPAC emerging as defining fault lines. Progressives — buoyed by high-profile upsets in New York, New Jersey, California, and Colorado — have made opposition to the U.S.-Israel alliance a de- facto litmus test. Their victories are concentrated in deep-blue districts and the higher-stakes question is whether their anti-Israel positioning proves to be an asset...

The establishment of Syria’s interim parliament marks a critical juncture in the country’s institutional transition, highlighting the inherent tension between the regime’s aspiration for political and international legitimacy and its tendency toward authoritarian centralization. For Damascus, the move is intended to signal a break from the Ba’ath legacy, but in practice, it reflects a sophisticated mechanism of co-optation: alongside the integration of a diverse range of representatives — from women and minorities to...

The increasing use of drones on the battlefield, particularly since the Swords of Iron war, has underscored Israel’s reliance on Chinese-made drones and components, as well as Chinese dominance in the industry’s supply chains. Despite their operational advantages, Chinese drones pose a range of security, technological, and geopolitical challenges for Israel, highlighting the need to strengthen the domestic drone industry while reducing dependence on foreign technology.

Azerbaijan’s conduct in the 2026 Iran war is better described as alignment tempered by restraint than as neutrality. Beneath an official insistence that it stood outside the conflict, Baku remained a close energy, arms and intelligence partner of Israel and a state whose strengthening ties to Washington — embodied in the U.S.-brokered Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which Tehran openly opposes — placed it on the side Iran was fighting. That alignment made Azerbaijan a target, as demonstrated in the Iranian...

In 2026, Israel is militarily stronger than it was in 2023. Yet despite its military achievements, as well as its economic resilience and the endurance demonstrated by the home front in the face of security threats, it finds itself at one of the lowest strategic points in its history. Israel is caught in what can be described as a “strategic limbo” — a prolonged state of stagnation in which impressive tactical military achievements, along with unprecedented military cooperation with the United States, are not translated into a...

The signing of the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon constitutes an important and positive development in relations between the two countries, reflecting their shared interest in working toward the disarmament of Hezbollah and the reduction of Iranian influence in Lebanon. At the same time, the implementation of the agreement is expected to be slow, prolonged, and fraught with challenges, and its success is not assured — primarily due to Hezbollah’s firm opposition and the weakness of the Lebanese army and state....

In light of an accelerated process of internationalization of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israel can no longer rely on a strategy of containment and preservation of the status quo. Instead, it must shift to an approach of “managed internationalization,” under which it takes diplomatic initiative to shape international and regional involvement, while maintaining coordination with the United States, in order to influence the security and institutional conditions of any future arrangement. Such an approach would enable Israel to...