FDD Morning Brief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/

ERDOGAN'S NEO-OTTOMAN AMBITIONS HEADLINE 1: The Palestinian Authority is still paying money to terrorists. HEADLINE 2: The Trump administration continues to heap financial pressure on Iran. HEADLINE 3: A construction project in Gaza seems to be in the works. --- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Turkey Prog...

HEADLINE 1: Iran wants to buy anti-ship missiles from China. HEADLINE 2: India's prime minister touched down in Israel today. HEADLINE 3: In case you missed it, Syria recently transferred thousands of ISIS prisoners to Iraq.  -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Erin Molan, former television presenter for Sky N...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

AN ANCIENT CITY'S MODERN DIVIDE HEADLINE 1: Iran and Russia held joint naval exercises in and around the Gulf of Oman. HEADLINE 2: T he European Union officially designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. HEADLINE 3: Israel carried out a large counterterrorism operation in the town of Hebron this week. --- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely s...

HEADLINE 1: More countries are planning to contribute troops to the International Stabilization Force in Gaza. HEADLINE 2: The Lebanese government provided an update on disarming Hezbollah. HEADLINE 3: Qatar is taking some heat right now from an unlikely place: the Israeli left. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Steve Hayes, CEO and editor of The Dispatch. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

HEADLINE 1: The United States smuggled thousands of Starlink internet terminals into Iran. HEADLINE 2: Remember the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? A security firm based in North Carolina called UG Solutions helped secure the group’s aid distribution sites. Well, UG Solutions might be coming back. HEADLINE 3: Israel successfully completed new tests with its David’s Sling missile defense system. -- F...

HEADLINE 1: Turkish forces aren’t leaving Syria anytime soon. HEADLINE 2: Israel indicted two more individuals for allegedly spying on behalf of Iran. HEADLINE 3: Indonesia is planning to participate in the International Stabilization Force in Gaza. -- FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversat...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA Iranian-targets officer and current FDD resident scholar. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

HEADLINE 1: Even with talks this weekend, Iran continues to escalate in the Middle East. HEADLINE 2: Israel continues to even the score from October 7. HEADLINE 3: And I really don’t like this: Egypt and Turkey signed a military cooperation agreement in Cairo. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ghaith Al-Omari, s...

HEADLINE 1: UNRWA is back in the news. And that’s generally not a good thing for the UN’s most corrupt agency. HEADLINE 2: Earlier this week, the IDF dropped some sort of non-toxic chemical substance near the Blue Line. The Israelis have been consistently clearing greenery to ensure unhindered lines of sight. UNIFIL was outraged. HEADLINE 3: Lebanon’s army chief headed to Florida this week for mee...

IS THIS THE END OF UNRWA? HEADLINE 1: The Islamic Republic of Iran has designated every European military as a terrorist organization.  HEADLINE 2: Looks like the EU Commission has fired a senior official after a scandal involving Qatari influence and lavish gifts. HEADLINE 3: Hamas claims that it has killed several members of Israel-backed paramilitary groups operating in Gaza. HEADLINE 4: The Is...

HEADLINE 1: Turkish authorities detained six people suspected of spying for Iran. HEADLINE 2: The Saudis are in town, led by the crown prince’s brother. HEADLINE 3: South Africa reportedly is moving ahead with investigations into naval drills that took place in early January. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FD...

HEADLINE 1: A delegation of Hamas officials arrived on Monday in…wait for it…Turkey. HEADLINE 2: This is not a parody: Hamas wants to be part of Gaza’s new government. HEADLINE 3: The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in Middle Eastern waters yesterday. AND BONUS HEADLINE 4: The IDF is still hammering Hezbollah in Lebanon. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and an...

FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a pre-recorded conversation between Jonathan Schanzer and Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. For all episodes: https://bit.ly/4qHfzNp

IS VENEZUELA CHINA'S REALITY CHECK? HEADLINE 1: Israel banned 29 Turkish individuals from entering the country. HEADLINE 2: Iran is reportedly turning to cryptocurrency to resuscitate its economy. HEADLINE 3: The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on a network of nonprofits tied to Hamas. HEADLINE 4: Israel is still schwacking Hezbollah in Lebanon. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer pro...

HEADLINE 1: Israel began demolishing UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem. HEADLINE 2:  U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, who also serves as Trump’s Syria envoy, thinks that things are going well in Damascus. HEADLINE 3: The IDF began a sweeping counterterrorism operation in the West Bank city of Hebron. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Steven A. Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for MENA at the Council on Foreign Relations. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/

THE NEW SYRIA AND ISRAEL'S SECURITY HEADLINE 1: Argentina is going after the Muslim Brotherhood. HEADLINE 2: The U.S. Treasury Department rolled out a new sanctions package in support of the Iranian people.  HEADLINE 3: It’s official. Phase two of the Gaza ceasefire has begun. HEADLINE 4: Things are still going boom in Lebanon. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational...

HEADLINE 1: The Trump administration designated three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations yesterday. HEADLINE 2: More than a year has passed since the assassination of Hamas mastermind Yahya Sinwar. You’ll recall he was the man primarily responsible for the 10/7 slaughter. HEADLINE 3: The Kurdish National Army — which is the military wing of the Kurdistan Freedom Party —...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD's Iran Program. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

HOW ARE DOMESTIC POLITICS SHAPING ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SECURITY? HEADLINE 1: A big Gaza announcement is expected. HEADLINE 2: The Lebanese Armed Forces said it completed the first phase of its plan to deploy across south Lebanon and disarm non-state groups. HEADLINE 3: An Iranian hacking group claimed it identified an Israeli agent coordinating Mossad operations inside Iran. -- FDD Executive Dire...

HEADLINE 1: Five years after the Abraham Accords, Israel and Morocco are still going strong. HEADLINE 2: Over in Paris, Syria and Israel resumed security talks. And it looks like they might have made a breakthrough. HEADLINE 3: Gidon Saar has landed in Somaliland. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Carine Hajjar,...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI). Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief