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Jan 15, 2025 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
Israel and Hamas' new ceasefire deal promises to bring much-needed relief to the region after 15 months of brutal conflict. But a series of uncertainties continues to loom large. Many pivotal questions remain unanswered, and their resolution will determine whether this ceasefire is a genuine step towards lasting peace or merely a temporary reprieve. Here are five of the most urgent. 1) Will Israel truly end the war in exchange for hostages?
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
Breathless media reports indicate that Israel and Hamas are nearing a ceasefire agreement that would, in two stages, end the Gaza war in exchange for the release of the 98 remaining hostages, dozens of whom are dead. Such a deal would be received in Israel, as well as in Gaza, with jubilation.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
I've appeared regularly on both Israeli and Arab media throughout the current war, but rarely have I experienced such complete whiplash as I did from two recent appearances on Qatar's Al Jazeera and Israel's I24 in Hebrew. The degree to which the perspectives I encountered during those spots clash beggars belief, even in our polarized and radicalized times.
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Jan 2, 2025 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
"The future is open," wrote the philosopher Karl Popper. "It is not predetermined and thus cannot be predicted."He had a serious point. Our world is an unruly beast, seldom tamed by the sharpest minds or most careful calculations. But, in full knowledge of the folly of my endeavor, here are my predictions for Israel in 2025. 1. The Middle East wars will wind down, thanks to a new U.S. administrationThe regional mayhem sparked by Hamas' Oct.
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Dec 23, 2024 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
Columnist Dan Perry December 23, 2024In Israel, there was recently growing hope of an imminent hostage deal that would free the 100-plus hostages held by Hamas - many of whom are presumed dead - and end the war in Gaza, as I wrote last week. Then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview to The Wall Street Journal and shattered those hopes, declaring any deal would be partial, and the war would grind on. He tried to make this point of view seem logical.
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Dec 20, 2024 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
Columnist Dan Perry December 20, 2024At 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, I was jolted awake by sirens echoing through my six-story apartment building in central Tel Aviv. Half-asleep, my neighbors and family trundled into the stairwell, a sort of safer space. Moments later, a thunderous explosion shook the city. We went back to bed assuming that it had been just another interception, a routine event in the reality we now live. Wrong.
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Dec 15, 2024 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
Columnist Dan Perry December 15, 2024There is an unmistakable sense emerging in Israel that a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas may be imminent. That's because the two players who have been delaying a deal - Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu - face a changed landscape. In the case of Hamas, this is a litany of failure; its cataclysmic decision to attack Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 has clearly backfired, to the point that a reset is needed.
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Dec 8, 2024 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
On Sunday morning, a lightning offensive by Syrian rebels ended with the dramatic fall of Damascus, marking the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime after 13 years of devastating civil war. This moment, one of the most consequential in the Middle East's recent history, was set in motion by a chain of events that few could have anticipated - least of all Israel, whose own military campaigns inadvertently played a pivotal role. The fall of Assad highlights a classic case of unintended consequences.
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Dec 7, 2024 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
The author spent 28 years as a correspondent for the Associated Press, many of them covering the Middle East. He was born in Israel and has lived in Tel Aviv with his family since 2108. TEL AVIV - My wife met four friends for lunch the other day, and returned with the following report: All four, successful and prosperous Israeli women in their 50s, were considering emigration. One had a professorship potentially awaiting in the Netherlands. Another has already bought a property in Greece.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
forward.com | Dan Perry
Columnist Dan Perry November 26, 2024Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to end the war in Lebanon through a U.S.-brokered ceasefire marks a rare moment of strategic clarity in his tenure. Now if only he would extend this type of rational thinking to Gaza, where he is apparently willing to sacrifice those of the 101 remaining hostages who are still alive, and IDF soldiers, in order to keep his far-right coalition intact.
