Israeli-Gulf relations

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) poses beside Khalid Mashaal (C), the Hamas chief in exile, and Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh prior to their meeting in Ankara on June 18, 2013. Senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas met today in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss Erdogan's planned visit to the Gaza Strip as well as the situation in Syria, the source said on condition of anonymity. AFP PHOTO/ PRIME MINISTER PRESS OFFICE/ YASIN BULBUL == RESTRICTED T

Analysis

Will Turkey host Hamas leaders after consequential Qatar departure?

Pro-Muslim Brotherhood groups and leaders in Turkey enjoyed few restrictions on their activities in the past but are now seeing their activities curtailed.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: President Donald Trump (R) holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Saudi Arabia to pursue two-track approach for Trump presidency

Riyadh is likely to compartmentalize business dealings with incoming President Donald Trump separately from its foreign policy engagements, where there is likely to be disagreement.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

After UAE visit, Qatari PM holds talks in Iran as Hamas officials depart Doha

A Gulf political official told Al-Monitor on Wednesday that the Qatari prime minister's visit to the UAE is designed to communicate Doha's new policy toward Hamas, where it seeks to be more in alignment with them regarding the group.

Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi (C), Director the Security Agency Ronen Bar (C-R) and Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R).

Shin Bet chief discusses Gaza truce in Turkey: What we know

The Israeli official's travel to Turkey marks a dramatic development considering that Ankara has not played a part in these negotiations over the past year and Israel-Turkey relations have significantly deteriorated amid the Gaza war.

Latest News

MBS condemns Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza as Saudi frustrations mount

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives to attend a EU - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Brussels on October 16, 2024. Avoiding a "general conflagration" in the Middle East will be top of the agenda when European Union and leaders of countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, meet in Brussels on October 16, 2024. (Photo by JOHANNA GERON / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JOHANNA GERON/POOL/AFP via Get

Analysis

Beyond congratulations, Trump faces changed, eastward-looking Gulf

US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May smile during a family photo session at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

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Saudi-Israel normalization 'off table' until Palestinian statehood, FM says

Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud arrives at the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

As response looms, US tries to dissuade Israel from catastrophic attack on Iran

Italian F35 fighter jets take part in the "Blue Flag" multinational air defence exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 11, 2019. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Shaked

Israeli minister backs Moroccan claims to Western Sahara sovereignty

On a first official visit to Morocco, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said Israel recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, and stated Israel’s intention to enable Moroccans to work in Israel in the construction and nursing sectors.

US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, Aug. 27, 2021.

Israel’s coalition chaos won’t impact Biden visit

Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban tried to prepare Biden for his first visit to Israel as president, saying Netanyahu's return as prime minister could be problematic.

African Union Chief and President of Senegal Macky Sall (2-R) participates at the OECD Africa Forum in France, on June 10, 2022.

African Union chief says Israel has role to play in Africa

Participating at the OECD Africa Forum, African Union Chief and President of Senegal Macky Sall acknowledged Israel’s engagement in Africa, especially on the backdrop of the crisis generated by the Ukraine war.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrives for a Cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office, Jerusalem, March 27, 2022.

Israel’s Bennett advances 'regional architecture' in Abu Dhabi

The quick visit of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett June 9 to Abu Dhabi clearly demonstrates the Israeli-American strategy of creating a large regional alliance that would face the Iranian threat.

Kobi Gideon/GPO

After IAEA criticizes Iran, Israeli prime minister meets with Emirati leader

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a quick visit to the Emirates, where he met privately with Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

Soldiers carry the coffin of an Israeli who was killed in an Istanbul suicide bombing the previous day, upon its arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, March 20, 2016.

Israel warns nationals against possible Iranian attacks in Turkey, Thailand

Jerusalem tries distancing itself publicly from a series of strange deaths in Iran, while warning Israeli tourists in Turkey and in Thailand that Tehran could be targeting them.

Biden Bennett

Ahead of Biden visit, Israel redoubles efforts to isolate Iran

While continuing its creative campaign to isolate Iran, Israel’s leadership also puts efforts into constructing relations with Saudi Arabia and advancing an aerial-intelligence alliance in the region.

Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (2nd L) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R) chat with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani (R) and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L), in Sde Boker, Israel, March 28, 2022.

With free trade agreement, Israel hopes to triple trade with Emirates

Israel and the United Arab Emirates already established a large scope of bilateral trade, but officials and businesspeople on both sides are persuaded that this is only the beginning.

A general view shows office buildings at al-Raidah Digital City of the Saudi capital Riaydh on Feb. 28, 2022.

Israelis begin doing deals in Saudi Arabia

Following a change in Saudi Arabia’s entry requirements, dozens of Israeli businesspeople arrived recently to Riyadh and even closed deals there.

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli companies offer solutions for global wheat crisis

Israeli agritech companies are finding solutions for the growing global wheat crisis and others.

The Israeli Firkat Alnoor orchestra at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, May 21, 2022.

Israel seeks to double trade with Egypt

The visit to Egypt of the Israeli Firqat Alnoor Orchestra reflects a clear trend in the past year and a half of cultural, environmental and economic ties warming up between the two countries.

Moroccan Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation Minister Abdellatif Miraoui and Israeli Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen.

Israeli, Moroccan ministers of science and technology sign cooperation agreement

Israel’s Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen and Morocco’s Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation Minister Abdellatif Miraoui made history today, concluding a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in a vast field.