Iran’s Global Terror Network Lurks Behind Its Threats of Vengeance

Iran’s repeated threats to avenge the reported assassination of its chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was shot dead outside Tehran in November, raise the likelihood of Iranian armed action against Israeli targets. The threats also serve as a reminder that Iran has a long history of both sponsoring terrorism and actively engaging in it with its own personnel, and that it has spent decades building a global, highly active Shiite terror network.

Why Hasn’t Anyone Attacked Iran’s Nuclear Sites?

The recent killing of Mohsen Fakrizadeh, the “father of Iran’s nuclear program,” is another in a long series of attempts to disrupt Tehran’s dogged drive for nuclear weapons. These strikes, which have ranged over decades, have included the killings of Iranian nuclear scientists, cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear program, and mysterious explosions at the regime’s nuclear sites. Yet no one, including the US, has conventionally attacked Iran’s nuclear sites despite the clear and present danger posed by a nuclear Iran to American national interests and general international security. Why not?

Germany’s Battles Between Light and the Darkness of Antisemitism

Reports of antisemitic incidents continue to rise in Germany. Problems concerning Jews, Israel, the perception of the Holocaust, and other related issues still plague the culture 75 years after the end of the attempted destruction of the Jews. One way to analyze this phenomenon is to view it as a clash of viewpoints within the generation of Germans whose grandparents participated in the Holocaust: those descendants who look toward the light, and those who continue to live in the darkness of antisemitism.

Erdoğan’s Reckless Gambit: It’s Payback Time

US CAATSA sanctions on Turkey’s defense industry are now official. The costs to Turkey of its S-400 deal with Russia have been enormous, both strategically and economically. Those costs will continue to rise exponentially and will push Turkey further into the Russian orbit.

Hamas’s Maneuvers Are Defensive—For Now

Hamas, along with 11 other terrorist organizations working together under a “Joint Operations Headquarters,” recently conducted an exercise involving coordinated extensive rocket and drone launchings. Hamas said the exercise was defensive, but stressed that it remains committed to “liberating” “Palestine.” Israel’s policy of economic pacification is serving to enhance Hamas’s capabilities against it.

Implications for Israel of the Joint Terrorist Military Exercise in the Gaza Strip

Omer Dostri
January 8, 2021
Paper No. 1874

The first joint military exercise of the Gaza terrorist organizations was a milestone for Hamas, which wishes to unite these organizations in order to strengthen its control over the Strip as well as its “ambiguity strategy” vis-à-vis Israel. The exercise has implications for Israel at both the strategic and the operational levels as it prepares for a possible conflagration in Gaza.

Cautious Optimism in Ramallah Regarding Biden

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has a long wish list for the Biden administration, but its initial approach will be restrained and realistic. It is understood among the Palestinian leadership that the new administration will not address the Israeli-Palestinian issue in the short term. Regardless, Israel must establish reliable channels to President-elect Biden, and the sooner the better.

Three Months After the Abraham Accords, the Palestinians Have Lost the Arab Street

The relative complacency with which the “Arab street” received the Abraham Accords, which might have seemed an aberration at the time of signing, has now faded. Former Israeli Arab MK Jamal Zahalka, who is only two years away from a lavish government pension, is now pining for the emergence of a modern-day Saladin to destroy the Jewish State and the Arab traitors.

BESA’s Top Ten of 2020

BESA Center
January 6, 2021
Paper No. 1871

During 2020, the BESA Center consolidated its position as the globally most widely read Israeli think tank in its field, with page views growing twofold to nearly 3.5 million. Below are the ten most widely read articles published in 2020. The selections reflect strong reader interest in the COVID-19 pandemic and its origin, great-power rivalries, and Israel’s national security and relations with the Arab world.

Whither the Iran Nuclear Deal?

The incoming Biden administration is keen to return to the nuclear deal with Iran, provided it contains “some amendments.” This is in contrast to the Europeans, who are mostly willing to return to the agreement as it stands. The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is demanding that a new nuclear agreement be signed, or at least that the previous agreement be changed in such a way as to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear break-out.

Perspectives Papers