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

Mohamed Ramadan hugging Israeli singer Omer Adam

Hamas says some Arab dramas promote normalization with Israel

An Egyptian series starring Egyptian actor Mohamed Ramadan angered Hamas for portraying the Gaza Strip as a drug den in the 1940s; Hamas also is critical of Ramadan over issues involving Arab states' normalization of relations with Israel.

Senior adviser to Donald Trump Jared Kushner listens as national security adviser Robert O'Brien (not seen) speaks during a press briefing at the White House on August 13, 2020, in Washington, DC. Kushner appeared with Trump earlier today as Trump announced a new peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Jared Kushner founds organization to further Israeli normalization deals

The Abraham Accords Institute for Peace will focus on boosting ties between Israel and the Arab countries that signed the Abraham Accords.

Meir Ben Shabbat and Jake Sullivan

Intel: US, Israel to cooperate against Iran’s missiles and drones

Biden White House avoids row with Israel over nuclear negotiations with Iran, offers to help counter Tehran's ballistic and cruise missiles.

Washington Pulse

In this handout image provided by Albatross, the Tamar drilling natural gas production platform is seen some 25 kilometers west of the Ashkelon shore in February 2013 in Israel.

Israeli company sells shares in natural gas field to Emirati group

In a demonstration of the economic dividends of the Abraham Accords, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Petroleum is buying Israeli Delek Drilling’s shares in the Tamar natural gas field.

The Bahraini, Israeli and US flags are pictured attached to the Boeing 737 aircraft of Israel's El Al, adorned with the word "peace" in Arabic, English and Hebrew, ahead of the flight to Bahrain's capital, Manama, at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2020.

Bahrain's Gulf Air to offer direct Israel flights starting in June

The announcement comes less than a year after the two countries agreed to establish formal ties as part of the Abraham Accords.

Foreign ministers on the Cyprus coast

Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Emirates hold strategic meeting

Top foreign affairs officials of Israel, Greece, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates meet in Cyprus.

Rabbi Levi Duchman leads more than 200 local Jewish residents and tourists in celebrating Passover at the Address Hotel Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 27, 2021.

Israel celebrates Independence Day with taste of peace

Israelis experience peace with Emiratis, Bahrainis and Moroccans, the way they never experienced it with their Egyptian or Jordanian neighbors.

This picture taken on Jan. 16, 2020, shows an EgyptAir Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet parked on the tarmac at Cairo International Airport outside the Egyptian capital.

EgyptAir seeks additional flights to Tel Aviv

Israeli media outlets hailed EgyptAir’s decision to operate and increase the number of flights to Tel Aviv as a sign of a boost in Israel-Egypt ties.

Sudanese businessman Abu al-Qassem Bortoum

Sudan’s Cabinet votes to repeal 1958 Israel boycott

Once approved, the move could further open economic ties with Israel.

WAM Hebrew service

Emirati, Israeli media outlets sign cooperation agreement

Emirates News Agency also launched a Hebrew-language website.

Senior adviser Jared Kushner and US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin listen while Donald Trump announces an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize diplomatic ties, the White House August 13, 2020, in Washington, DC.

Senators introduce bill to strengthen Israeli-Arab normalization agreements

Both Democrats and Republicans signed on to the legislation, which would mandate more action on fighting Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and boosting Israeli-Arab exchange programs, among other things.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, where he is ramping up his mission to foil an emerging White House-backed nuclear deal with Iran, in Washington, March 2, 2015.

Chances for Israeli alliance with Saudis against Iran fading

Saudi Arabia is reluctant to showcase any cooperation with Israel, including security cooperation against the Iranian regional threat.