Decision Points

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly central to U.S. strategy in the Middle East. AI has played a pivotal role in the current Iran war, even as the U.S. is deepening its AI investments in the region. Israel and the Gulf are also jockeying to become key partners in the regional AI landscape. Host David Makovsky sits down with two top analysts, former Israeli National Security Council aide Avner Golov and former Pentagon official Grant Rumley, to understand the opportunities and pitfalls that AI poses for American policymaking in the Middle East.Avner Golov is vice president of research and alliances at MIND Israel, a Tel Aviv-based strategic-advisory firm, and a former senior director for foreign policy on Israel's National Security Council.Grant Rumley is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, where he directs the program on great power competition. From 2018-21, he served on the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy's Middle East team in roles including deputy chief of staff, Israel director, Jordan director, and Syria director.

Conflicting statements from President Trump leave open the question about whether the Iran war is any closer to being over or whether the significant impasse over the nuclear program remains an impediment.Regardless of the outcome of the conflict, the Iran war has highlighted extraordinary and unprecedented coordination between the U.S. and Israeli militaries even as Iran has throttled the Strait of Hormuz.What do both US and Israeli militaries learn from this war? The allies’ special relationship is coming under increasing scrutiny from segments of both major American political parties, and leaders from both the U.S. and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are talking openly about tapering down American military aid to the Jewish state. Are we witnessing the peak of this longstanding military partnership?To discuss military lessons learned from the war until now, host David Makovsky sits down with Amir Eshel, former head of the IDF air force and Eliot A. Cohen, former Counselor at the Department of State. Amir Eshel, a major general, is the former commander of the Israeli Air Force, former head of IDF Planning and Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Eliot A. Cohen is a military historian, the author of 11 books, and a columnist at The Atlantic. He served as Counselor of the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and is a former dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

One of Israel’s most important election cycles is underway. Opposition parties see a rare chance to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who now heads the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history. Amid the echoes of the wars in Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon, Israeli voters’ choices may shape their country—and the Middle East—for decades to come. This will be Israel’s first election since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault, Israel’s subsequent wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the 2025 and 2026 Iran wars. Netanyahu’s supporters say he deserves reelection for leading Israeli successes on several military fronts since October 7th, including fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S. against Iran. Yet Israelis will vote as their country has become increasingly isolated, including a striking plunge in Israel’s standing in U.S. public-opinion polls. Israelis are also arguing about an independent investigation into the failures of October 7th, rising settler violence in the West Bank, drafting ultra-Orthodox Israelis to serve in the country’s military, and Netanyahu’s ongoing push to slash the power of the Israeli judiciary. Could the 2026 elections be Netanyahu’s last stand?  Host David Makovsky sits down with two veteran Israeli journalists, Gili Cohen and David Horovitz, to understand how Israel’s looming elections will shape the country’s politics and policies. Gili Cohen covers the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office for Kann News, an arm of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.David Horovitz is the founding editor of The Times of Israel.

Lebanon and Israel held diplomatic talks for the first time in decades after Israel's months-long campaign against Hezbollah. But the ceasefire is shaky: Israel displaced close to a million Lebanese civilians amid fighting with Hezbollah and northern Israelis, with memories of weeks in bomb shelters, fear returning to normal life with Hezbollah still armed.Host David Makovsky sits down in back-to-back conversations with Lebanese lawmaker Fouad Makhzoumi, Israeli analyst Sarit Zehavi, and Middle East expert Robert Satloff to unpack what’s at stake--and what’s possible-- in Lebanon.Fouad Makhzoumi is a leading Lebanese member of parliament representing many Sunnis in Beirut. Dr. Robert Satloff is the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute, an independent, nonpartisan Middle East policy think tank.Sarit Zehavi is the founder and president of Alma, an Israeli institute specializing in security challenges along the Lebanese border. She served for 15 years in the Israeli military's Intelligence Corps and later with its Northern Command.

After nearly six weeks of war, the U.S. and Iran agreed on April 8 to a fragile two-week ceasefire. But Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan Sunday after 21 hours of high-level talks with the Iranians without making progress toward a deal to end the war. President Trump then threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil-shipping route that Iran has throttled. However uncertain the road ahead may be, one thing is increasingly clear: in a postwar Iran, the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps looks set to further dominate the regime’s complex policymaking structure. Host David Makovsky sits down with two leading Iran experts, Suzanne Maloney and Raz Zimmt, to explore how decisions may be made in Tehran during the ceasefire and beyond. Dr. Suzanne Maloney is vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a former member of the State Department's Policy Planning staff.Dr. Raz Zimmt is the director of the Iran and the Shiite axis research program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel.

As part of Iran’s retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli war, Tehran has targeted the United Arab Emirates with more than 2,000 ballistic missiles and drones. Senior Emirati officials warn that their confrontation with Iran won’t be fleeting and will strengthen their relationship with Israel, including deeper security coordination. But if Iran’s regime emerges from the war intact and vengeful, the Gulf states may have to take a warier stance.Amir Hayek was Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Nadim Koteich is a columnist at Asharq al-Awsat and the former general manager of Sky News Arabia."Decision Points" is produced by David McGuffin with Zack Apt and Nava Goldstein.