Update

In the wake of Iran's admission that its forces had accidentally shot down Ukrainian International Air flight 752 last Wednesday, the country has experienced yet another wave of unrest. This Update deals with the ability of the regime to cope with these repeated waves of protest and outside reactions to them.

This Update deals with the aftermath and implications of the US killing of top Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3, including the key Iranian responses to date. 

This Update takes readers around the world, to the UK, Israel and Iran, catching up on recent news and developments on three different news fronts: the British elections; the dissolution of the 22nd Knesset, putting Israel on the road to a third election in a year; while China is preparing to participate in joint military exercises with Iran and Russia.

This Update deals with some of the policy challenges - and potential mistakes - for other nations created by the unprecedently large mass protests in Iran, and the Iranian regime's attempt to violently suppress them. It also looks again at the threat of an Israel-Iran war. 

This Update features material on two separate subjects - the ongoing popular unrest against the regime within Iran, and the US Administration's announcement last week of a policy that "The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements is not, per se, inconsistent with international law.” 

This Update deals with the Israeli conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organisation in Gaza over the past few days, which saw 450 rockets and mortar shells fired into Israel from Gaza after Israel killed Baha Abu al Atta, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander responsible for multiple rocket and border attacks against Israel in recent months.

This Update asks the question, is a major military conflict between Israel and Iran its proxies inevitable in the next few years? Increasing numbers of knowledgable Israeli security analysts are arguing that it is, and this Update explores why. 

This Update deals with both the killing of Islamic State head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by US special forces last weekend and the ongoing mass demonstrations in Lebanon, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday. 

This Update deals with the consequences of the Turkish invasion of Kurdish-controlled northern Syria over the last few days, and its effective green-lighting by US President Donald Trump earlier this week. 

Yesterday, after Israel's election committee published its final results from the election last Tuesday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin gave incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu the first mandate to try and form a new governing coalition. This follows an intense but unsuccessful effort by Rivlin to broker a national unity government between Netanyahu and his chief rival, Benny Gantz.