FDD Morning Brief

THE REVERBERATING IMPACT OF THE 1929 HEBRON MASSACRE HEADLINE 1: Israel will allow Syrian Druze, along with Circassians – another ethnic minority in Syria – to work in the Israeli Golan Heights. HEADLINE 2: Recent meetings in Qatar between top Hamas terrorists and Adam Boehler, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, are focused the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexand...

WHO ARE THE KURDS, AND HOW DO THEY FIT INTO THE MIDDLE EAST PUZZLE? HEADLINE 1 : The U.S. Air Force conducted a joint exercise with the Israeli Air Force on Tuesday. HEADLINE 2 : Clashes broke out in Syria between Assad loyalists and the new government’s security forces. HEADLINE 3 : The Trump administration is getting creative with its maximum pressure campaign. BONUS HEADLINE 4 : Syria’s foreign...

CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM POST-OCTOBER 7 HEADLINE 1: The State Department designated the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. HEADLINE 2: Russian missile experts travelled to Iran twice last year. HEADLINE 3: Turkey and Iran are at loggerheads. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Wendy Sachs, director of "October 8.&#34...

TURKEY'S TIES TO SYRIA AND ERDOGAN'S DYNAMIC WITH TRUMP HEADLINE 1: The IDF says it is ready to defend an endangered Druze community in Syria. HEADLINE 2: Lebanese authorities detained a man at the airport in Beirut on Friday. HEADLINE 3: The Trump administration is expediting the delivery of some $4 billion in military aid to Israel. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely...

THE U.S.-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP FROM A DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE HEADLINE 1: The Iran sanctions keep on coming. HEADLINE 2: Israeli authorities arrested yet another Israeli citizen accused of spying for Iran. HEADLINE 3: A car-ramming attack unfolded at a bus stop near the Israeli city of Caesarea yesterday. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a...

ANTISEMITISM AND A NEW MIDDLE EAST HEADLINE 1: The Trump administration escalated its maximum pressure campaign on Iran with a new round of sanctions. HEADLINE 2: Things are getting hairy between Syria’s new leadership and the Israeli government. HEADLINE 3: Speaking of Syria, an Israeli journalist uncovered troves of classified intelligence from the fallen Assad regime at Iran’s embassy in Damasc...

THE HOSTAGE CRISIS: THE STORY OF ALON OHEL HEADLINE 1: Israeli authorities have arrested 10 people suspected of smuggling arms from Jordan into Israel. HEADLINE 2: The IDF deployed tanks to the West Bank city of Jenin. HEADLINE 3: The IDF carried out a series of airstrikes in Lebanon ahead of Nasrallah’s funeral. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analys...

SOUTH AFRICA'S MALIGN TIES WITH AUTHORITARIANS HEADLINE 1: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was in Iran this week. HEADLINE 2: Arab leaders are meeting in Riyadh today to discuss alternatives to President Trump’s vision for Gaza. HEADLINE 3: Iran executed a record number of people in 2024. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, follo...

ABRAHAM ACCORDS, 10/7 WAR, IRAN HEADLINE 1: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Saudi officials in Riyadh. HEADLINE 2: Israeli troops remain in "buffer zone" in Lebanon to enforce the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. HEADLINE 3: The European Union plans to weigh in on the postwar Gaza discussion. -- FDD Executive Direc...

STARTUP NATION, ISRAEL AND THE GULF, AND THE ABRAHAM ACCORDS HEADLINE 1: Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel over the weekend. HEADLINE 2: On Friday evening, Hezbollah supporters attacked a UN peacekeeping convoy. HEADLINE 3: The IDF was hard at work in Gaza over the weekend. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversatio...

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation between Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD's Center on Military & Political Power (CMPP), and IDF Major General (Ret.) Tal Kelman, who was tasked with overseeing Israel's "Iran file" during his service. Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ed Husain, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor at Georgetown University. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Newsweek Senior Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Professor Eyal Zisser, Middle East expert and Vice Rector of Tel Aviv University. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Former IDF International Spokesperson and FDD Senior Fellow Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus delivers timely situational updates and analysis on headlines out of the Middle East, followed by a conversation with Rageh Omaar, ITV News' International Affairs Analyst. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/

RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, fills in for Jon Schanzer on the FDD Morning Brief. He delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with retired U.S. Air Force General Mike Minihan. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Senior Fellow David Daoud delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Seth Frantzman, Senior Middle East Correspondent and Analyst at The Jerusalem Post and an FDD adjunct fellow. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Gidi Grinstein, founder and president of Reut Group and Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM). Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, an author, Tel Aviv University professor, and one of the world's foremost experts on Turkey. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF). Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Oded Ailam, former head of the Terrorism Division at Mossad. Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Senior Fellow and former IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Brigadier General (Ret.) Amir Avivi. The pair discuss the emerging Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and its implications for the wider region. Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Research Analyst Mariam Wahba fills in for Jon Schanzer on the FDD Morning Brief. She delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Middle East scholar and author Samuel Tadros. The pair will be traveling west of Israel to analyze the latest news relating to Egypt. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber Technology and Innovation (CCTI), fills in for Jon Schanzer on the FDD Morning Brief. He delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Isaac 'Ike' Harris, adjunct fellow at CCTI and retired commander in the U.S. Navy. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief