Empowering Russia’s allies is not the answer to the energy crisis
August 31, 2022 | Oved Lobel
What seems like realpolitik is therefore counterproductive. There is simply no way to compartmentalise these countries; the energy networks are too intertwined. Easing pressure on any of them will result in empowering all of them.
Israel is increasingly part of a regional cold war against an Iran-Russia-China axis
August 26, 2022 | Ran Porat
What Russia’s critical attitude toward Israel’s efforts to undermine the PIJ’s capabilities reflects is that the clash in Gaza was not merely a local dispute. Rather, it was another front in the renewed regional, post-cold war conflict between the Western democracies and their allies, and authoritarian regimes affiliated with Russia and China.
Israeli political parties shuffle the deck ahead of election season
August 19, 2022 | Ahron Shapiro
Ahead of Israel’s next national election on November 1, Israeli political parties have been holding primaries to determine their allocation of seats depending on how many votes they receive on Election Day, and discussing or implementing party mergers or splits ahead of the September 15 deadline for submitting lists for the election.
Bolton and Pompeo assassination plot reveals Iran’s malign intentions and poor capabilities
August 12, 2022 | Oved Lobel
Rather than aiming for sophisticated plots, the exposed plots indicate that the IRGC-QF and MOIS seem to be throwing as many impromptu plots at the wall as they can to see if any stick. While they may eventually succeed by this method, the constant revelations of their failures should be an embarrassment for the Iranian regime.
Iran’s nuclear weapons threats are actually a sign of weakness
August 5, 2022 | Ran Porat
Talks between Iran and the other signatories of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) nuclear deal resumed in Vienna on August 4, in a last-ditch attempt to restore that flawed agreement. Yet in recent weeks, top Iranian officials have been trying to raise the stakes, trumpeting the message that they are just one decision away from possessing nuclear weapons.
Afghanistan and Iran after the assassination of Zawahiri
August 3, 2022 | Oved Lobel
The relationship between Zawahiri’s pre-al-Qaeda Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Lebanese branch Hezbollah, began as early as 1991, eventually evolving into a deep partnership between al-Qaeda and Tehran.
Iran riding the tide of Latin America’s “Pink Wave”
August 1, 2022 | Oved Lobel
The current wave of left-wing governments sweeping Latin America bodes extremely ill for the Jewish citizens of these countries as well as for both the US and Israel politically and security-wise. Reducing Venezuela’s isolation automatically translates into more Iranian power on the continent.
Israel successfully neutralising Iran’s global terrorism apparatus
July 20, 2022 | Oved Lobel
While Israel can’t bring back the AMIA or Burgas victims, it has effectively ensured that such transnational attacks against Israelis and Jews remain, for the time being, extremely unlikely, with only one such successful attack in over two decades – all while striking blow after blow against this terrorist network.
Iran’s material support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must have consequences
July 14, 2022 | Oved Lobel
Both the Europeans and the US must make clear to Iran that any material aid to Russia’s invasion will have severe economic and diplomatic consequences. This is not only necessary to deter or at least punish any substantial Iranian weapons transfers to Russia, but also to head off the potential for the IRGC eventually establishing an operational military presence near US and allied forces in Europe.
