A Reuters report this morning attempts to cut through the noise of Israel’s heavily polled January 22 election, emphasizing that the race remains largely stable despite fluctuations within Israel’s center-right and center-left blocs. The analysis is in tension with coverage from Israeli political analysts to the effect that the Likud is...

Russia is increasing its efforts to mediate a solution to the Syrian conflict, and is calling on its Damascus allies to engage in dialogue with opposition groups seeking to overthrow the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. The Kremlin has also extended an invitation for talks to the Syrian National...

Fears that Egypt is sliding into Islamist autocracy are deepening as the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government continues to crack down on critics. In just the last 24 hours, reports have emerged that Cairo has opened treason investigations against opponents of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-linked President Mohammed Morsi, and that civil servants have...

Washington, Dec. 28 – Iran launched on Friday what international media outlets are describing as a “massive” six-day military exercise in the Strait of Hormuz. The exercises appear aimed both at demonstrating Tehran’s military capabilities in general, and saber-rattling specifically in the context of rising tensions between Iran and its Arab neighbors....

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud/Beiteinu political slate lost ground again this week, ahead of the upcoming January 22 general election which will decide the makeup of Israel’s 19th Knesset. The results were published as part of an Israel Radio poll released Thursday. The survey, which carries a 4.5 percent margin of error,...

Iranian media is conveying government boasts over new surface-to-surface missiles available to Tehran’s navy. The announcement comes on the eve of naval exercises, which include a range of Iranian assets including destroyers and homegrown drones, and which involve surface combat, subsurface combat, and electronic warfare. Analysts have expressed concern over...

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is shifting his focus to Egypt’s economy, according to a speech the Muslim Brotherhood-linked President gave in the aftermath of the country’s constitutional referendum. Egyptians affirmed the constitutional draft last weekend, roughly a month after it was hastily approved by the country’s Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly, and...

An Israeli anti-terrorism think tank has issued an update in its ongoing project chronicling Hamas fighters who were publicly classified as civilians killed in Israel’s recent Operation Pillar of Defense. The report, from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, outlines how the Iran-backed terror group lists its fighters as civilian...

Nearly 64 percent of Egyptians voted to approve a new constitution over the weekend that had been criticized for emphasizing Islamic law and failing to adequately protect the rights of women, religious minorities, government opponents, and others. The constitutional draft had been rushed through passage by the country’s Islamist-dominated constitutional...

Turkey has reportedly lifted long-standing objections that have kept Israel from participating as a partner in NATO activities, albeit non-military ones. Ankara has prevented Israel from participating in NATO activities since May 2010, and has reportedly been under extreme pressure from other NATO members, especially the United States, to reduce...