Until now, American support for Israel has often been understood through a party lens: Democrats were becoming more critical, while Republicans remained reliably supportive. That framework is no longer sufficient. Older pro-Israel assumptions are weakening not only among Democrats, but also within parts of the Republican coalition. Views of Israel are increasingly shaped by religion, generation, nationalism, and competing ideas about America’s role in the world. Israel therefore needs a more segmented approach to American Christians...
The war in Iran and the subsequent worsening economic crisis have accelerated the ongoing erosion of the country’s middle class, which has been particularly hard hit by high inflation, the impact of sanctions, declining purchasing power, and a growing employment crisis. In recent months, Iranian scholars and commentators have warned of the downward mobility of large segments of the middle class into lower socioeconomic strata and of their increasing dependence on government assistance, undermining their ability to sustain the...
The memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran marks the end of the military campaign, but not the end of the challenge posed by the Iranian threat. The document is not a new nuclear agreement, but rather an interim framework designed to halt the fighting, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the naval blockade, and enable negotiations on a final agreement within 60 days. Trump will be able to present the memorandum as an achievement: ending the war, stabilizing energy markets, and securing an Iranian commitment not...
To survive in a hostile environment, the Houthi movement has had to learn and adapt from the start. The Zaydi revivalist youth movement of the early 1990s, the guerrilla force fighting government troops in Saada in 2004, and the semi-state that now rules most of Yemen’s population are three very different organizations. The group has changed in what it is, what it does, and how it reads its own interests. These changes have been driven by domestic upheaval and by shocks to its strategic environment: the Houthi seizure of Sanaa in...
This article examines Russia’s position toward the Iranian nuclear program, as reflected in its official responses to strikes against Iran in June 2025 and March 2026, as well as during the discussions at the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in April–May. Under the current circumstances between the United States and Iran, Russia has no need to introduce drastic changes to its policy regarding the Iranian nuclear issue and can continue to maintain the position it has formulated in...
Fatah’s eighth conference convened last month following internal struggles, criticism of the organization’s leadership, and the departure of senior activists, all of which cast doubt on the ability to hold it. Yet its outcomes indicate that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, with the help of his loyalists and institutional mechanisms, succeeded in convening a conference with a larger number of participants than in the past, conducting elections, and incorporating new and younger figures into the organization’s central...
This article examines the issue of dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip by the IDF as a proactive, preemptive measure and a necessary prerequisite for implementing the “Twenty-Point Plan” for stabilizing and rehabilitating the Strip. The working assumption is that without a fundamental solution to the issue of military power in Gaza, any attempt to advance political or economic rehabilitation processes is doomed to failure. A lack of progress means the strengthening of Hamas, the rebuilding of...
The Israeli strike in Beirut following Hezbollah’s rocket fire on northern Israel, and the subsequent round of exchanges between Israel and Iran, illustrate both the complexity of the American effort to curb escalation and Israel’s challenge of separating the Lebanese arena from Iran. The Trump administration sought to advance a renewed agreement between Israel and Lebanon, strengthen the Lebanese government, restrict Hezbollah’s freedom of action, and preserve maneuver space regarding Tehran. However, it failed to prevent an...
As the war between Israel and Hezbollah drags on, mounting signs suggest that its severe impact on Lebanon’s Shiite population is beginning to erode support for the organization. This is particularly due to the heavy price being paid by the Shiite population — and Lebanon as a whole — as a result of Hezbollah’s war in service of Iranian interests. While Hezbollah still enjoys broad support within the Shiite sector, cracks in that support weigh heavily on the organization as it fights a war of survival under intense military,...
Since the outbreak of Operation “Roaring Lion,” and even more so against the backdrop of the escalation in Lebanon in recent weeks, the perception emphasizing Hezbollah’s importance as a strategic component of Iran’s security doctrine has grown stronger in Tehran. Hezbollah’s decision to join the campaign alongside Iran was perceived in Tehran as an expression of its commitment to the pro-Iranian axis in the region and of the continued relevance of Iran’s proxy strategy—which appeared to be eroding following the...
Since the outbreak of the war with Iran in February 2026, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz which led to a decline in global oil supply, the demand for solar energy has grown at an unprecedented rate. In March, at the height of the war, China exported solar panels with a total rated capacity of 68 gigawatts (GW) — twice China’s solar exports in February, and 49% higher than the previous record set in August 2025. Oil-dependent countries around the world are accelerating their renewable energy programs, and in the Middle...
Recently, Ukraine has been emerging as a more prominent and assertive actor in the Middle East. While this trend does not suggest that Kyiv has become a system-shaping power in the region, it does indicate that its role is no longer limited to merely seeking aid and political solidarity. Against the backdrop of the war in Iran, Ukraine is offering regional states practical and unique operational experience in confronting the Russian-Iranian aerial threat. At the same time, Kyiv is increasing pressure on Russian interests in maritime...
