IsraelCast Episode 178

In the wake of the unprecedented, unprovoked, and horrific attacks by Hamas from Gaza on civilian communities in Israel, Host Steven Shalowitz sits down with Middle East expert Jonathan Schanzer, author of Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel, and Eleven Days of War, the history of Hamas and its conflict with other Palestinian factions, and the future of policymaking regarding Israel and Hamas. The two discuss Israel’s intelligence failure, Iran’s fingerprints and its Ring of Fire strategy to strangle Israel, the broader regional picture and what this may mean to the conversations with Saudi Arabia, and what to look for in the coming days and weeks, especially vis a vis the possibility of a multi-front conflict.

Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he oversees the work of the organization’s experts and scholars. Schanzer previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. He has previously held research positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum. Schanzer is also the author of several books on the Middle East, including Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel, and Eleven Days of War; Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine; and Al-Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror.