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Diplomacy

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday described Qatar as aligned against the bulk of the Arab world and emphasized that Cairo would not be returning its ambassador to the Gulf state, on the same day that three Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain – withdrew their own envoys from...

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Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday to the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, calling on Palestinian leaders to “stand with Israel and the United States on the right side of the moral divide, the side of peace, reconciliation and hope.” Israel’s left-leaning Ha’aretz headlined its coverage of the speech “Netanyahu: Israel prepared to...

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Palestinian Affairs

The Wall Street Journal assessed on Monday that a series of initiatives designed to bolster the Palestinian economy had – per the outlet’s archly written headline – been “slow to show” any benefits. It’s been more than half a year since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced an ambitious economic plan...

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Featured

Analysts, journalists, and lawmakers on Tuesday continued to unpack the geopolitical consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – both in general and specifically in the context of Middle East crises the White House is scrambling to contain – with evaluations building on assessments that the impending U.S.-Russia chill will badly complicate the Obama administration’s strategy...

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MidEast

An Egyptian court on Tuesday outlawed all activities by the Palestinian Hamas faction inside the country, the latest move in a campaign to isolate the terror group, which has been waged by Egypt’s army – and later by the country’s army-backed government – since well before the July 2013 overthrow of the country’s...

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Featured

Reports began to trickle out of the Middle East early Wednesday morning that elite Israeli commandos had stopped and boarded an Iranian vessel in the Red Sea carrying a massive arms shipment to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. A video quickly published by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) – and embedded...

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Diplomacy

The Pew Research Center on Monday evaluated recent polling on American sentiments regarding the peace process in general, and administration efforts to pursue a U.S.-backed framework agreement between the parties in particular, as President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in the Oval Office to discuss issues ranging from the...

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Global Affairs

Iran is making moves to bring Western investors into the country’s energy sector, with Iranian media reportedly detailing efforts by the Iranian Oil Ministry to hold a conference next July that will include “experts from Europe and the United States.” Morteza Behrouzi, the secretary-general for the conference, told the Fars News Agency...

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Diplomacy

The White House’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is being read by Middle East hands against the backdrop of the ongoing crises in Syria and Iran, with both the Obama administration’s credibility and its ability to substantively address those issues both at stake. The administration had very publicly and very explicitly embraced...

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Diplomacy

Bipartisan House and Senate letters sent to President Barack Obama in recent days are being read as a reassertion of Congressional prerogatives in the context of negotiations with Iran, after weeks in which the White House was widely perceived to have largely marginalized skeptics on the Hill via among other...

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