Middle East Forum

12/29/2025

If you missed today’s Middle East Forum podcast, this one is worth your time.

Guest moderator Michael Rubin sits down with Peter Kurti (Center for Independent Studies; University of Notre Dame Australia) to unpack what the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre revealed about antisemitism in Australia — and what it signals for other Western democracies.

Kurti argues antisemitism functions as a “stress test” for liberal society: when institutions can’t name ideological threats, they default to euphemisms, delayed action, and policies that target speech instead of the drivers of violence. The conversation digs into Australia’s political response, the pressure points around immigration and vetting, and the growing tension between free expression and “social cohesion” as governments try to manage imported conflicts at home.

It’s direct, policy-minded, and uncomfortably relevant beyond Australia.

Watch the full episode now:
https://youtu.be/yQtT9TyGWt8

In this week’s Middle East Forum podcast, guest moderator Michael Rubin speaks with Peter Kurti, director of the Culture, Prosperity, and Civil Society Progr...

12/26/2025

🗓 Monday, December 29, 2025
⏰ 1:00 PM ET

Antisemitism is often treated as just another form of prejudice. But on the next MEF Podcast, legal scholar Peter Kurti argues it is something more dangerous: a stress test for liberal democracy itself.

In this timely conversation, Kurti explores how political complacency, moral ambiguity, and ritual condemnations can embolden hatred — and why democracies that fail this test pay a lasting price.

Register now:

The Bondi Beach terror attack exposed how deeply antisemitic attitudes have been allowed to take root in public life in Australia. Legal scholar and policy analyst Peter Kurti will argue that antisemitism functions as a critical stress test for liberal democracy. He will show how political ambiguity...

12/22/2025

Former U.S. diplomat Robert Silverman joined today’s Middle East Forum podcast to assess how power is shifting across the region as 2026 approaches.

Drawing on decades of experience across Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and beyond, he explains why U.S. leadership remains central, how Israel fits into emerging regional alignments, and what comes next for Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon.

Watch the full episode:

https://youtu.be/Yjq-QKKITgs

In this week’s Middle East Forum podcast, Lauri Regan speaks with Robert Silverman, a former U.S. diplomat with nearly three decades of experience across the...

12/22/2025

India and Israel have quietly built a strong security partnership grounded in intelligence sharing, defense cooperation, and counterterrorism.

That relationship now faces new pressure as Russia’s expanding role in the Middle East increasingly conflicts with Israeli interests, testing India’s long-standing doctrine of strategic autonomy, according to Abhinav Pandya.

Read more:

https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/will-indias-ties-with-moscow-damage-its-relations-with-israel

Putin Sees the Turmoil in the Middle East and the Rise of Anti-American Sentiment as an Advantage for Moscow

12/19/2025

A new Middle East Forum report raises serious questions about what Northwestern University’s Qatar campus is actually designed to do.

Rather than operating as an open academic institution, the report finds that Northwestern University’s Qatar campus functions as a selective credentialing pipeline for Qatar’s ruling families and elite.

Nearly one in five graduates since 2014 comes from a small circle of powerful clans that dominate the country’s government, media, and economy.

The overlap between who funds the campus, who governs it, and who benefits from it challenges claims of academic independence — and highlights how American university brands can be leveraged by foreign power structures.

Read more:

https://www.meforum.org/mef-reports/how-the-qatari-royals-and-elite-conquered-northwestern-universitys-qatar-campus-in-doha

Northwestern/Qatar Operates as a Selective Training Ground for the Same Families Who Finance and Control the Campus

12/18/2025

What happened in Australia may be a preview, not an outlier.

Michael Rubin warns that rising antisemitism, combined with political appeasement in parts of Europe, is creating a dangerous environment for Jewish communities across the continent.

Ignoring early warning signs has consequences — and history shows how quickly rhetoric can turn into violence.

Read more:

https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/after-australia-will-jewish-people-in-europe-be-next

Australia Is the Canary in the Coal Mine, but the Real Explosion May Soon Come in Ireland, Norway, and Turkey

12/17/2025

Live at 3:00 p.m. ET — Israel Insider with Ashley Perry! 🎙️ If you want deeper context on the news from Israel and across the region, this episode is for you.

Register now:

👉

12/17/2025

X’s updated transparency rules have exposed a synthetic Gaza disinformation network — accounts amplifying recycled imagery and emotive text while masquerading as front-line sources.

Strengthening platform transparency, metadata standards, and third-party verification can help limit the influence of fabricated narratives while preserving open discourse.

Full analysis:

https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/xs-transparency-rules-expose-a-synthetic-gaza-disinformation-network

Accounts Falsely Presented Themselves as Civilians in Gaza, Posting Emotive Casualty Claims and Siege Narratives

12/16/2025

MEF analyst Eric Navarro joined Newsmax to assess the security implications of a deadly attack on U.S. forces in Syria—and what it reveals about America’s continued military engagement in the region.

He explains why the threat from ISIS and radicalized actors has not disappeared, why deterrence depends on action rather than rhetoric, and why a U.S. pullback would only allow threats to metastasize—endangering allies and the U.S. homeland.

▶️ Watch the full analysis:

12/16/2025

A new research initiative launches today at the Middle East Forum.

The Dhimmitude Institute will examine the historical and contemporary treatment of religious minorities under Islamic governance—an issue too often ignored or distorted in public debate.

By commissioning empirically grounded, policy-relevant research, the institute aims to clarify how legal, social, and economic systems of religious hierarchy have operated in the past and continue to shape realities today.

Read more:

https://www.meforum.org/press-releases/middle-east-forum-launches-dhimmitude-institute

New Research Initiative Honors Pioneering Scholars Bat Ye'or and David Littman While Addressing Modern-Day Religious Oppression

12/16/2025

You cannot police every beach, café, or public walkway.

On Fox News, Jim Hanson explains why terror groups target iconic locations like Bondi Beach, how extremist narratives spread unchecked, and what governments must do to stop attacks before they happen.

Read more:
https://youtu.be/JWCjxoSGJ04

MEF Chief Strategist Jim Hanson spoke with FOX News about the deadly attack at Bondi Beach where Islamist terrorists attacked Jews at a ceremony celebrating ...

12/15/2025

Egypt’s security environment is shifting fast — from Houthi attacks on maritime traffic to instability across the Horn of Africa.

Starting in 10 minutes, Egyptian Member of Parliament Mohamed Farid joins our podcast to explain how Cairo is responding: the impact on Suez navigation, Ethiopia’s Red Sea push, cooperation with Somalia and Eritrea, and the consequences of the civil war in Sudan.

Don’t miss this timely strategic briefing — register now:

https://www.meforum.org/podcasts/december-15-2025-egypts-security-challenges-in-the-red-sea-and-africa-with-mohamed-farid

How is Cairo responding to ongoing instability in the Red Sea and in Africa? Mohamed Farid, recently elected to Egypt’s parliament, will share his views on Cairo’s stance toward ongoing Houthi attacks and their impact on Suez Canal traffic, as well as Egypt’s broader approach to the Horn of Af...