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

Israel issues travel warning involving several Middle Eastern states

The Israeli government wants Israelis to avoid travel to the UAE, Turkey and other countries following the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

UAE responds to criticism from US senators on F-35 sale

A group of bipartisan senators has introduced legislation rejecting the Trump administration's planned sale of the advanced fighter jet to the United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli, Jordanian foreign ministers meet, with plenty of issues on their agenda

Israel's normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Israel’s apparent rapprochement with Saudi Arabia worry Jordan, especially when it comes to its special custodian status in Jerusalem.

Bahraini minister comments on Israeli settlements products label controversy

Commerce Minister Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani said Bahrain "has no issue with labeling or origin" of Israeli products during a visit to Israel, which angered Palestinian officials.

'They always accuse us': Netanyahu responds to killing of Iranian nuclear scientist

Israeli Prime Minister also doesn't deny reports that he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Bahrain trade minister on three-day trip to Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi each met today with Bahrain Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, who arrived in Israel leading a delegation of 40 businesspeople.

Netanyahu, alone at the top, makes a friend on the beach

Having distanced aides and security chiefs he no longer trusts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a very lonely leader.

Jared Kushner is seen at the Royal Court after US President Donald Trump received the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Kushner to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar to try to mend Gulf rift

Jared Kushner's planned trip to the Gulf comes after the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist and a high-profile visit between Israel and Saudi Arabia's leaders.

Palestinians radio silent on Netanyahu’s visit to Saudi Arabia

The Palestinian Authority keeps mum on the alleged visit of Benjamin Netanyahu to Saudi Arabia, as it does not wish to get on the wrong side of Riyadh.

(L to R) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani give a press conference after their trilateral meeting in Jerusalem on November 18, 2020. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Netanyahu planning to visit Bahrain 'soon'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement followed his phone call with Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Tuesday.

Demonstrators chant slogans with signs depicting Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock and flags of Palestine during a protest in Yemen's third city of Taez on August 21, 2020, against the US-brokered deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalise relations. (Photo by AHMAD AL-BASHA / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-BASHA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel, Gulf rapprochement could worry Yemen, Iran

Israel is concerned over growing Iranian entrenchment in Yemen, not unlike the way Iran operates in Syria.

Israel's El Al to begin daily flights to Dubai

The news follows Israel's flagship airline signing a cooperation agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi.