FDD Morning Brief

CHINA, RUSSIA, AND THE MIDDLE EASTHEADLINE 1: The Shin Bet and Israel police foiled a plot to carry out a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. HEADLINE 2: A former Islamic Revolutionary Guard from Iran gave a rare interview with Israeli media. HEADLINE 3: Former Israeli hostage Tal Shoham gave an exclusive interview to Fox News.BONUS HEADLINE 4: A Syrian soldier was killed yesterday by a Hezbollah rocket.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Grant Rumley, who directs The Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

LEBANON, ISRAEL, AND THE GULFHEADLINE 1: The IDF carried out a strike in Damascus yesterday.HEADLINE 2: Qatar is preparing to supply natural gas to Syria.HEADLINE 3: The United Nations published a report accusing Israel of perpetrating “genocidal acts” in Gaza.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at FDD.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

A SECURE FUTURE FOR THE MIDDLE EASTHEADLINE 1: The IDF conducted a series of strikes in Syria.HEADLINE 2: The IDF has been busy dismantling terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank city of Jenin.HEADLINE 3: Iran, Russia, and China conducted joint naval exercises.HEADLINE 4: Israel and Lebanon are launching a series of talks to resolve outstanding issues.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Lianne Pollak-David, founding partner of the newly established Coalition for Regional Security.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

THE REVERBERATING IMPACT OF THE 1929 HEBRON MASSACREHEADLINE 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 Alexander. HEADLINE 3: The Trump administration has followed through on its threat to cancel federal funding to Columbia University, revoking $400 million due to the institution’s failure to respond to campus antisemitism.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with award-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated producer, and bestselling author Yardena Schwartz. Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

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 minister made a historic visit to the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or the OPCW.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Giran Ozcan, who serves as the executive director of the Kurdish Peace Institute.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM POST-OCTOBER 7HEADLINE 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." This documentary offers a powerful examination of the surge in antisemitism across college campuses, social media, and American streets in the wake of Hamas' October 7 massacre in southern Israel.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

TURKEY'S TIES TO SYRIA AND ERDOGAN'S DYNAMIC WITH TRUMPHEADLINE 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 situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Henri J. Barkey, the Bernard L. and Bertha F. Cohen Chair in International Relations at Lehigh University and adjunct senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

THE U.S.-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP FROM A DEFENSE PERSPECTIVEHEADLINE 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 conversation between Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD's Center on Military and Political Power, and Adam Tarsi of the Department of Defense's Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate. Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

ANTISEMITISM AND A NEW MIDDLE EASTHEADLINE 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 Damascus.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

THE HOSTAGE CRISIS: THE STORY OF ALON OHELHEADLINE 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 analysis, followed by a conversation with Idit Ohel, mother of 24-year-old Hamas hostage Alon Ohel.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief