This guidebook seeks to help Jews and non-Jews, in Israel and worldwide, understand the events that have unfolded since October 7 in historical and ideological context. These are difficult times – and this is no Six Day War. Months after absorbing the bloodiest terrorist attack in its history, Israel finds itself stuck on so many fronts. On Day 86, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared: “We are being attacked from seven different arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran.” Israel has invaded Gaza, defended itself successfully against an unprecedented Iranian attack, absorbed more than 5,000 Hezbollah rocket launches, and seen tens of thousands of its citizens displaced, north and south, for months. Parts of Gaza in ruins, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced and thousands killed.
Latest articles from CIE
Status of Israel’s Judicial Overhaul, January 2026
Efforts through a judicial overhaul to increase political control over Israel’s judiciary and civil service are simmering. In March 2025, the Knesset passed a controversial law to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee….
Aharon Barak, December 2025: Israeli Democracy Depends on Judicial Independence
December 4, 2025 Source (Hebrew): Conference of the Association for Public Law, https://www.maariv.co.il/news/law/article-1259010 Introduction Aharon Barak argues in a speech to the Israeli Association for Public Law’s conference in Haifa that Israeli democracy is being…
Israeli Supreme Court President Defends Judiciary Against Intentional Disruption (With Justice Minister’s Response), December 2025
Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit warns about the danger to the Israeli public and democracy of sustained political attacks on the judiciary and individual judges.
Explainer: A Short History of Hamas
Updated January 5, 2026; originally posted October 2023. By Ken Stein Hamas’ Origins The 1988 Hamas Charter and remarks by its leaders and other publications express hatred of Zionism, Israel and Jews. It is thus unmistakable that Hamas…
New Year’s 2026 Unrest in Iran and Its Context for Israel and the Middle East
January 2, 2026 A week of unrest in Iran does not guarantee a revolution even if 85-plus million Iranians are angry at the country’s autocratic, theological rulers. Iran is a security-clerical oligarchy where kleptocracy, cronyism…
#154 Contemporary Readings December 2025
Maya Rezak and Ken Stein, December 31, 2025 Yousef Algoos, “MBS in Washington: A new era of strategic tech-alliance,” Al-Arabiya, December 14, 2025. Thomas Albery, “A Crisis of crises: What is going on in Iran?”…
U.S.-Israel Meeting, December 2025: Trump, Netanyahu United in Threatening Hamas, Iran
In their fifth U.S. meeting of 2025, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu show unity on Gaza, Hamas, Iran and their mutual appreciation for each other but offer glimpses of differences on Turkey, Syria and the West Bank.
Secretary of State Baker Lays Out Israel’s Path to Madrid, Oslo in AIPAC Speech, 1989
Secretary of State James A. Baker III brings a realistic and prescient vision of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations and U.S. mediation to AIPAC early in the George H.W. Bush presidency.
U.S. Defense Law Focuses on Postwar Middle East, Israel, December 2025
The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act shifts U.S. military cooperation with Israel to a postwar focus, including support for neighbors facing Iranian proxies and a response to military embargoes of Israel.
