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Eyal Zisser

Eyal Zisser is a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University.

The United States could soon discover that while leaving Syria is easy, the Syrian problem—not to mention the ISIS problem—isn’t going to disappear.
Israel must do away with the obsolete paradigm guiding its analysis of Iran. As the recent attack on Saudi Arabia proves, Tehran has moved from proxy warfare to direct confrontation.
When Israel’s Arab voters went to the polls last week, they sent a message: We want to integrate. Now the Zionist parties must step up to the plate.
Reports of the Islamic State’s death have been greatly exaggerated. ISIS is an idea, not an organization, and ideas are hard to kill.
Joint Arab List leader Ayman Odeh’s willingness to join a center-left government sent shock waves through the Israeli political system, but he’s simply falling in line with a growing trend.
The preemptive Israeli strike near Damascus was a great military and intelligence success, and sends the message to Iran that we will always uncover its terrorist plots.
Syrian refugees who fled to neighboring Arab and Muslim countries have begun wearing out their welcome, yet fear returning. The world, much like before, is largely apathetic.
Hamas takes on jihadist groups in Gaza when they threaten its rule, but when they take aim at Israel or Egypt, it turns a blind eye.
Despite disconcerting trends, which the next government must tackle, the fight for Bedouin hearts and minds is not yet lost.
The new reality of rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world is driving the Palestinians mad. They are losing their leverage and taking their outrage out on peace-seeking individuals.
Zionist parties must return to the Arab street and incorporate Arabs in their Knesset lists, not just to earn votes come election day, but to make them legitimate and long-term political partners.
It’s possible the world is on a collision course with Iran, but by taking the initiative and adopting an uncompromising approach the breadth and scope of a future conflict can be mitigated.