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

A picture taken on June 25, 2019, shows the Bahraini capital Manama skyline. - Co-host the United States is holding out the prospect of $50 billion of investment to the Palestinians and their neighbours, but the Palestinian Authority is boycotting the conference, believing that the United States and Israel are trying to buy them off and impose political solutions. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Bahrain sentences 51 accused of Iran-linked terror plots

Investigators said the defendants received orders from Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to stage attacks in Bahrain.

UAE's first kosher restaurant reflects growing Israeli-Arab ties

Just days after Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalized relations, a kosher restaurant has opened up in Dubai.

Israeli farm workers harvest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for Bazelet HaGolan winery, beneath wind turbines constructed between vineyards and fruit orchards as part of a wind farm, near El Rom settlement in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights by the border with Syria, on October 5, 2020. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel boycott movement furious at UAE over deal to import wine from occupied Golan Heights

The United Arab Emirates signed a deal with Israel to buy wine produced in the settlements of the occupied Golan Heights, prompting a wave of anger among Palestinians and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

United Arab Emirates

An Israeli policewoman stands guard at an entrance of the al-Aqsa compound, leading to the Dome of the Rock mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 18, 2020, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. - Israel began to ease its month-long coronavirus nationwide lockdown, allowing citizens to venture further than 1km (0.6 miles) away from their home with preschools, daycare centres and places of worship reopening to all, under some restrictions. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUN

New normal takes shape for Israel, Palestinians, UAE

Israelis and Emiratis throw themselves into their new relationship and Palestinians are throwing Gulf visitors out of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

United Arab Emirates

Pentagon chief visits Israel, Bahrain with little fanfare

The quiet visit came less than a week after the defense secretary said the United States would like to see regional security cooperation with Israel to deter Iran.

Tourists gather at Abu Dhabi sea front before a heavy rain storm on March 9, 2016.
Schools in the United Arab Emirates were ordered to shut after rare heavy rain hit the desert Gulf state, causing flights to be suspended and flooding roads.

/ AFP / STRINGER (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Why Israelis flock to the Emirates

The normalization agreement with the Emirates was signed just a few weeks ago, but Israeli businesspeople, athletes and tourists are already flocking there.

United Arab Emirates

Erel Margalit, founder and chairman of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), visits with members of Israeli high-tech delegation the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on October 27, 2020. - Israel's government gave final approval to the normalisation of ties with the United Arab Emirates, an official statement said, after lawmakers ratified the pact earlier this month. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel-Emirates peace: An inside look

Crisscrossing Dubai, journalist Ben Caspit says that his four-day visit to the emirate this week reveals the intense potential that lies in the recent outing of Israel’s covert relations with the United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates

IN FLIGHT, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 08: An F-35B combat aircraft from the Royal Air Force refuels from an RAF Voyager aircraft over the North Sea on October 08, 2020 in flight, above Scotland. The first air-to-air refuelling of F-35Bs from the newly-formed Carrier Strike Group took place as part of Operation Joint Warrior. Flying from HMS Queen Elizabeth, the RAF, RN and USMC Pilots (USofA) were demonstrating the operational capabilities of NATO and the UK for current and future threats. Operation Joint Warrior t

Gantz, Netanyahu split again over US F-35 sale to UAE

Defense Minister Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of withholding knowledge of US-Emirates negotiations on the sale of F-35 stealth jets.

United Arab Emirates

Would Mideast leaders prefer Trump or Biden to deal with Iran?

Whoever wins the election, a new Iran deal would require a regional consensus and some tough diplomacy with Putin.

Israel will not oppose US sale of 'certain weapon systems' to United Arab Emirates

The announcement likely refers to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

United Arab Emirates

Israel, UAE agree Emiratis can stay without visas for 90 days

Diplomats from the two Middle East countries also struck agreements on investment and aviation.

United Arab Emirates

Israel, Bahrain sign air travel agreement

The two countries agreed to establish weekly passenger and cargo flights between each other. It follows a similar arrangement between Israel and the UAE.