Tony Badran
Tablet Magazine
Belzoni, MS, United States
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Past articles by Tony:
Bibi Wins!
Israel’s political iron man inherits a hatful of tsuris → Read More
America’s Regional Integration Scheme Benefits Iran
The Obama-Biden doctrine means that our Mideast allies don’t have to like the Iran deal. They just have to pay for it. → Read More
Who Started the Gaza War?
What caused the latest Gaza war between Israel and Hamas? If you’re a consumer of U.S. media, the answer neatly follows an established plot of one of the longest-running TV dramas in America: the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” According to this storyline, a simmering decadeslong local property dispute over three homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah exploded into a bloody war in… → Read More
Schanzer, Badran: Why we must steer clear of the Lebanon aid trap
Nearly everyone in the U.S. government wants to help this tiny and embattled country on the Mediterranean Sea. But exactly how to help is where opinions diverge. → Read More
Rock, Paper, Scissors in the Middle East Peace Process –
President Donald Trump has finally unveiled his 180-page vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which came as a sweet balm to Washington think-tankers and Middle East opinion writers, who had been slumbering like Rip Van Winkle, waiting for a chance to rise and display their dilapidated peace-processing expertise. As if no time had … → Read More
Malley in Wonderland –
Last month, Robert Malley, the former senior White House official who served as point man for President Barack Obama’s realignment strategy, published an essay in Foreign Affairs titled “The Unwanted Wars: Why the Middle East Is More Combustible Than Ever,” in which he laid out what he sees as the future of Obama’s foreign policy … → Read More
Any Way You Slice it, Hezbollah Had a Very Bad Month –
After a period of relative calm on Israel’s northern border, the past two weeks have seen a sudden spate of attacks and counterattacks between Israel and Hezbollah. The escalation began on Aug. 24 when Israeli Defense Forces thwarted a planned Iranian and Hezbollah drone attack from the Golan Heights. The IDF’s strike killed two Iranian-trained … → Read More
Hezbollah Isn’t Broke. So Why Is Everyone Claiming Otherwise? –
“Terrorist groups like Hezbollah are withering on the vine as Iran sanctions take effect,” Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted last week, voicing what has now become a consensus in Washington. In this age of polarization, the unanimity of this take is all the more remarkable, as it is shared by the Trump administration, Middle Eastern analysts, … → Read More
Hezbollah’s Deadly Lies –
It took more than 10 years, but the United Kingdom has finally designated the entirety of Hezbollah as a terrorist group. The U.K. had already designated Hezbollah’s so-called military wing in 2008, and now, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said, Britain is “no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political … → Read More
Iranian Revolution: Arafat and the Ayatollahs –
This week, Tablet looks back on 40 years of the Iranian Revolution. *** When Yasser Arafat arrived in Tehran on Feb. 17, 1979, the first “foreign leader” invited to visit Iran mere days after the victory of the revolution, he declared he was coming to his “own home.” There was some truth in Arafat’s flowery words. … → Read More
Trump reversal on Syria policy means big gains for Iran
A U.S. withdrawal from Syria poses a serious challenge to President Trump’s strategy — Iran is poised to take advantage of the American withdrawal. → Read More
The Curtain is Falling on Bibi’s Lebanese Belly-Dance –
For seven years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stridently warned Israel’s citizens and the world of a multi-pronged Iranian threat to his nation’s security and strategic position. And there is no shortage of evidence to suggest that the Iranian threat, which Netanyahu often speaks of in openly apocalyptic terms, is as real as it … → Read More
Standing With Saudi Arabia: Trump's Foreign Policy in the Middle East –
This week the Senate will vote on and likely pass a resolution of disapproval calling for the United States to cease activities related to the Yemen war. The resolution is essentially a call to cut off Saudi Arabia, which, in turn, would signal that the United States does not care if Iran, the other party … → Read More
How Hezbollah Ritually Humiliates the UN –
In what is becoming a yearly ritual, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2433 end of August, extending the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for another year. The usual actors played their familiar scripted roles: Hezbollah restated its red lines through its habitual threats. Hezbollah’s little helper, “the Lebanese government,” demanded … → Read More
The Myth of an Independent Lebanon –
Western intelligence sources have revealed that in July and August Iran used a civilian airliner to fly arms to Hezbollah directly through Beirut International Airport. That would be right after the United States completed the delivery of light attack aircraft to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in June, and right before a high-ranking CENTCOM delegation … → Read More
Iran’s Two-Front Strategy –
Israel is about to face two active fronts on its borders: one in Gaza, and the other in the Golan Heights. As factions in Gaza fired rockets at Israel, an offensive of the alliance backing the Assad regime was underway in southern Syria, which is likely to reach the Golan soon. While this might appear as random coincidence, … → Read More
After an Iranian Missile Attack on the Golan Heights, Israel Strikes Syria –
Last night, Iranian Qods Force operatives fired 20 Grad and Fair 5 rockets at Israeli forward military positions in the Golan Heights. According to the IDF, none of the rockets resulted in any casualties or damages. Four of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome system. The IDF unleashed a strong response lasting several hours, during which … → Read More
Lebanese PM Sa’ad Hariri Cancels His Deal With the Devil, Leaving Lebanon in the Hands of Iran –
On Saturday, Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation in a televised speech from Saudi Arabia. In the speech, Hariri cited Iran’s control of Lebanon through Hezbollah as the reason for stepping down. Hezbollah, Hariri said, “has come to control the seams of the state and has... → Read More
American Policy in Lebanon Isn't Policy. It's Poetry. –
The commander of Lebanon's Armed Forces (LAF), General Joseph Aoun, was in Washington on an official visit this week. The visit came shortly after Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the LAF as “inextricably linked to Hezbollah,” and as having “become an integral part of Hezbo... → Read More
Unless It Is Changed, UNIFIL's Mandate Makes It a Boon for Hezbollah –
Last month, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2373, renewing the mandate of UNIFIL for another year. In a statement following the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley rightly commented that “the status quo for UNIFIL was not acceptable, and we did not accept it.” However... → Read More