Paul Foer, JNS.org Tiny Bahrain consists mainly of a 34-mile island connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, but aside from having modest oil and gas reserves, a booming market-based economy and lots of tourism, it also happens to be the home of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet that patrols the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea. Bahrain’s strategic military location is complemented by its symbolically important place in the Arab world for a relatively liberal and tolerant society despite its …More

Naim Reuven was only eight when he left Baghdad more than 50 years ago, but he still remembers going with his father to catch fish in the Tigris River. His dad worked in a laundromat, a middle-class father of six and one of Iraq’s more than 100,000 Jews. Baghdad’s Jewish community suffered a pogrom in 1941, but Reuven, born a year later, has only fond memories of his childhood there -- until Israel declared independence in 1948. “When Israel was established it began, there was hate,” said …More

Reporters Without Borders expressed concern about the disappearance of a pro-Israeli journalist working in Iraqi Kurdistan. "We fear the worst and we urge the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government’s authorities to do everything possible to find Mouloud Anfand,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement issued Wednesday. “And we therefore call for an immediate investigation into this journalist’s disappearance.” Anfand edits Kurd-Israel, which promotes closer ties between …More

Americans consider Iran to be the United State’s top enemy, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. The data showed that 32 percent of US residents named Iran the biggest enemy facing America, up from 25 percent last year. Iran has topped the list of enemies on Gallup’s poll since 2005. Gallup attributes the top ranking to Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities, which threatens top American ally Israel and could disrupt the flow of oil out of the Middle East. America’s negative view …More

In an attempt to dispel misconceptions about Israel through direct dialogue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in a live Facebook chat with Arab journalists from around the region on Monday. People from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Gulf States, the Palestinian territories and the Israeli Arab sector responded to Netanyahu’s offer to answer questions about the Jewish State. Much of the discussion focused on the Arab Spring and Palestinian-Israeli relations. The Prime Minister said that he is …More

The June 1981 Israeli air strike against the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq completely surprised the US Department of Defense. Files released Thursday by Britain’s National Archives showed that both the US and Britain had now foreknowledge when Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the attack to prevent Saddam Hussein from building a nuclear weapon. Britain's ambassador to Washington, Sir Nicholas Henderson, was with US Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger when news of the attack arrived. He cabled …More

As the last US combat troops left Iraq on Sunday, bringing the nine-year conflict to a close, Jewish war veteran Ilya Bratman reflected on his time in the country. The former US Armored Corps serviceman, who is in Israel for a Limmud FSU leadership summit, remembered the highs and lows of his military career and his near brush with death. “We were taking off from Baghdad International Airport in a Hercules C-130 when the pilot began maneuvering wildly,” he said. “It’s a cargo plane – …More

Former Secretary General of Arab League, Adnan Omran, argued that a dangerous Cold War is brewing in the Middle East during an interview with RT. Drawing an analogy with the unpredictable spring weather in the region, Omran warned that it is too soon to evaluate the progress of democracy in the Middle East. Slogans employed before elections are no guarantee that the winner will actually practice democracy. When asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prediction that the Arab …More

As tensions continue to grow in the Middle East, many are speaking out against a potential Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Former Russian Prime Minister Evgeny Primakov told an interviewer from Russia Today that Israel “is driving itself into international isolation.” “That shows in many ways. One, and perhaps the most dangerous, aspect is the escalation of tensions and even preparations of an attack on Iran,” he said. “I really hope it never happens, but it may …More

President Obama announced today that the United States will withdraw nearly all of its troops from Iraq by the end of the year, effectively ending a nine-year war that has cost the country more than $800 billion and claimed the lives of over three thousand American soldiers. "After nearly 9 years, America's war in Iraq will be over," said Obama in a press conference. He added that American troops will depart Iraq "with their heads held high, proud of their success." "Our troops are finally coming home," he …More

An Anglican priest here says he's working with the U.S. Embassy to persuade the handful of Jews who still live in Baghdad to leave because their names have appeared in cables published last month by WikiLeaks.The Rev. Canon Andrew White said he first approached members of the Jewish community about what he felt was the danger they faced after a news story was published last month that made reference to the cables."The U.S. Embassy is desperately trying to get them out," White said. So far, however, only one, a …More

Israeli author Amos Oz has discovered - to his delight - a bootleg Kurdish translation of his wildly popular book, "A Tale of Love and Darkness." "The Arabic publisher of 'A Tale of Love and Darkness,' who published it just over a year ago in Beirut, was on a trip in northern Iraq and found the book in a bookstore," Oz told Haaretz yesterday. "He bought a copy and sent it to my agent in London, who sent it to me." "A Tale of Love and Darkness," originally published by Keter in 2002, has sold more than a million …More