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Author: Karmon, Ely (Dr.)

Hamas' Terrorist Attack on Israel

The Goals of Hamas’ Terrorist Attack on Israel from Gaza

The strategic surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, on 07 October 2023, needs a thorough analysis to understand all its intelligence and operational failures aspects and their impact on Israel, on the regional arena, and beyond. This paper will evaluate the strategic goals of Hamas

Cover art for the article Belgium's Deal with Iran

Belgium’s Shameful and Dangerous Deal with Iran

Recently Belgium reached a shameful deal with Iran: an innocent Belgian aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, held for 455 days in Iran on fake charges of spying, was swapped for an Iranian intelligence officer, Assadollah Assadi, convicted to 20 years in prison for orchestrating together with

ISIS Bandwagons the Palestinian Wave of Terror

The below ISIS video seems an attempt by the organization to bandwagon the present Palestinian wave of terrorism in Jerusalem and the West Bank without any special effort. For the moment, while ISIS is under combined but not coordinated attacks by the United States coalition,

From State Chemical Warfare to Chemical Terrorism

On the backdrop of French and Belgian leaders expressing their worry concerning a chemicals terrorist attack in the aftermath of the Paris 13 November ISIS attacks in Paris please see below my presentation at the panel on “Chemical Warfare at 100” at The 4th EU

The Syrian Conundrum: Where is Saudi Arabia?

“Why Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not Part of Syrian Ceasefire Deal?” titled an article on the official RussianSputnik news agency, referring to an agreement achieved in late December in Moscow by Russia and Turkey as its co-guarantors and Iran as part of it. There

The Chemical attack near Idlib

In my previous post, I argued that it is of major interest to know if the murderous chemical Syrian air attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Iblib province has been approved or coordinated with the Russian air-force active in Syria. The Russian position

The Amman Shooting Incident at the Israeli Embassy

The deputy security chief of the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital of Amman was wounded Sunday night, July 23, after being stabbed by a Jordanian man who was subsequently shot dead. A second Jordanian was also injured in the incident and later succumbed to

The killing of Qassem Soleimani

The killing of Qassem Soleimani, the most powerful Iranian military commander, the long-serving head of Iran’s Quds (“Jerusalem”) Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), will have a major impact on the conflict between Iran and the United States and the situation in the Middle

ISIS’s al-Qurashi’s declaration of war on Israel

On January 27, 2020, ISIS released a new audio speech by its spokesman Abu Hamzah Al-Qurashi, produced by its media arm Al-Furqan and distributed on social media. Al-Qurashi delivers a defiant message: ISIS is not only surviving, despite the declarations by consecutive U.S. presidents that

Analysis: Does Syria want peace?

Against the background of Syria’s invitation to the Annapolis conference and the eagerness with which politicians and the defense establishment have supported its participation, we should try to analyze the Syrian leadership’s strategic considerations vis-à-vis a peace process with Israel.

Israel: hope for the best, prepare for the worst

First published as “Israel: hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” Longitude, The Italian Monthly on World Affairs, May 2011, pp. 59-66. Not often does Israel finds itself a passive bystander amid Middle East turmoil. But as history shows, whether or not the Jewish state is

Should Israel apologize to Turkey? And to Egypt?

In recent days, there has been heavy American pressure at the highest level on Israel to apologize to Turkey for the deadly results of the May 2010 “humanitarian” flotilla led by the Turkish Islamist organization IHH, in which nine Turkish citizens were killed during their

Hamas Opts for the Hezbollah Model

Time will tell if this is a new strategic blunder of the United States, similar to the one which compelled Israel and the Palestinian leaders to accept Hamas’ participation at the 2006 elections.

Can Hamas be Defeated?

The best alternative would be for the Palestinian Authority, with Egyptian support, to retake control of Gaza First published by the Jerusalem Report

Iran and Hezbollah Bandwagon Hamas’ Fight

Last year, after deserting the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” and positioning itself in the Sunni coalition against the Assad regime in Syria, Hamas lost the backing of the short-lived Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt and incurred the bitter enmity of the new military rulers in

Hezbollah Terrorism Returns to Latin America

On February 26, 2014 and March 13, 2014, General John F. Kelly, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), presented SOUTHCOM’s 2014 posture statement to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees respectively. Kelly maintained that “Iran’s involvement in the Western Hemisphere is a matter for concern”

Iran is arming West Bank terrorists

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting on December 28, said Iran was increasing its efforts to arm the Palestinians in the West Bank, a move, he emphasized, was encouraged by the Palestinian Authority envoy to Tehran. First published in Times

Jihadi Terror in Europe

Is Europe now ready to take the necessary political, legal and operational decisions to counter the terrorists? First published in the Jerusalem Report

The complex situation on Israel’s Syrian border

My article “The Strategic Imperative to Deny an Iranian/Hezbollah Base on the Golan Border” dealt with the attempt by Iran and Hezbollah to build a new strategic base in the northern Syrian Golan Heights and was posted on my Times of Israel blog at

Who is Behind the Embassy Bombings

For the moment there are no real clues leading to the group or organization responsible for the murderous terrorist attacks in Kenya and Tanzania against the American embassies, which took the lives of so many innocents–Africans and Americans.

Iran’s Policy on Terrorism in the 1990s

The US Department of State’s report “Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1997,” released in April 1998, states that “notwithstanding some conciliatory statements in the months after President Khatami’s inauguration in August 1997, Iran remains the most active state sponsor of terrorism [from a list of seven

Bin Ladin is out to get America!

Numerous critics in the Arab world have blamed the recent anti-American terrorist attacks on America’s support for Israel, and its “double-standard” with regard to the Middle East. However, a closer look at the ideology and strategy of Osama bin Ladin and his followers shows clearly

Syrian Support to Hizballah: The Turkish Lesson

Over the past few years the public discussion of the problem of terrorism from Lebanon has centered only on two options: a Israeli unilateral withdrawal without prior security arrangements; or a withdrawal in the framework of a general settlement, which would enable Syria to reap

Terrorism Pays: Ask Assad, Khamane’i, and Arafat

With all the uproar over the calls to indict Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes, it is ironic that it is the Hamas weekly newspaper that recently called for the indictment of the “real culprits” in the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

Are the Palestinians Considering Biological Weapons?

An article appeared in the 13 August edition of the Lebanon-based Palestinian weekly, Al-Manar, stating that there is “serious thinking” among the Palestinians about obtaining biological weapons, according to a special dispatch by The Middle East Media Research Institute.

Israel’s War on Terrorism

The last wave of coordinated suicide attacks by Hamas did not come in revenge for the killing of Hamas leader Mahmoud Abu Hanoud or the accidental death of five Palestinian children. These terrorist acts must be considered in the context of America’s war on terrorism,

The Iraqi Regime’s Links to Terrorism

The leader of the ANO, the infamous Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal (Sabri al-Banna), died violently last week in Baghdad. But his death is not as extraordinary as the subsequent press conference given by Iraqi intelligence chief Taher Jalil Haboush. This press conference was the first