What Stands Behind the Recent Israel-Iran Escalation and Where Is It Headed? A few notes on theater linkage, escalation dominance, deniability, and the U.S.-Israel good-cop/bad-cop dynamic. By Dan Feferman AI generated photo of Bibi Netanyahu and Mojtaba Khamenei On June 7, Iran launched an unprovoked missile strike on northern Israel, ostensibly in response to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah positions in Beirut. The attack prompted Israeli reprisals against Iranian targets, fol

By Dr. Walid Phares AI photo with the flags of Israel, Lebanon and Iran As Israel intensifies military pressure on Hezbollah in Lebanon, a strategic question is emerging across the region: could ongoing negotiations with Iran eventually limit Israel's campaign against Tehran's most powerful regional proxy? While Washington and Jerusalem remain aligned in their opposition to Hezbollah, recent developments suggest that their priorities may not be identical. For Israel, prevent

Is Israel Annexing South Lebanon? Or has it devised a new strategy to defeat Hezbollah and Hamas? By: Dan Feferman Map of the current Israeli buffer zone in southern Lebanon On April 19, nearly 2 months after Hezbollah launched missile and drone strikes on Israel, in defense of its patrons in Tehran, the IDF issued a map showing its new “forward defense line”, a buffer zone some 8-10 kilometers into South Lebanon. Contrary to claims by Hezbollah propagandists and apologists,