N7 Initiative

In the wake of the Abraham Accords signed in September 2020, the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, in partnership with the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, launched the N7 Initiative to help accelerate and strengthen normalization between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries, and to drive bipartisan support in the US for normalization.

Experts

Past events

Latest analysis

TURKEYSource

Mar 9, 2022

With the Israeli president’s visit, are Israel-Turkey relations back on track?

By Atlantic Council IN TURKEY

The Atlantic Council IN TURKEY discusses the significance of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Turkey, the first state level bilateral visit since 2008 following over a decade of tensions between the two countries.

Geopolitics & Energy Security Israel

MENASource

Mar 2, 2022

The UAE education system is pushing for peace and religious tolerance. The rest of the region should follow suit.

By Marcus Sheff

Education is the key to fostering the development of peaceful and tolerant societies. However, it can also be a tool for political and religious radicalization, exploited by bad actors.

Education Israel

MENASource

Dec 17, 2021

Israel pumps up the volume on Iran

By Shalom Lipner

The commencement of multilateral talks in Vienna has brought various Israeli voices to a fever pitch, with the negotiations on a possible return to the JCPOA triggering a storm of undiplomatic pronouncements from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other senior Israeli officials.

Iran Israel

MENASource

Nov 18, 2021

Israel is becoming a cybersecurity guarantor in the Middle East. Here’s how.

By Islam Alhalwany

Israel is becoming more of a security guarantor in the cyber field against Iran and other regional threats by filling the vacuum resulting from the US’s increasingly passive attitude towards the changing security dynamics in the region.

Israel Middle East

TURKEYSource

Oct 12, 2021

Turkey has flipped the script on its regional isolation. But will it amount to real change?

By Karel Valansi

Over the past year, Turkey has launched efforts to normalize its strained relations with several states in the Middle East. While the countries have successfully managed to de-escalate tensions, doubts remain as to how far the efforts will lead.

Conflict Crisis Management

IranSource

Sep 1, 2021

An escalating Israel-Iran conflict could sink the JCPOA

By Sina Azodi and Mohsen Solhdoost

Rising tensions between Israel and Iran have reached an alarming stage in recent weeks. What used to be a shadow war of covert operations, sabotage, and proxy conflict is turning into a more direct military confrontation between the long-time regional adversaries.

Iran Israel

MENASource

Aug 31, 2021

Biden and Bennett turned the page on US-Israel ties. But not many were paying attention.

By Jonathan H. Ferziger

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s first visit to the White House on August 27 occurred just as President Joe Biden was absorbing the horror of the Kabul airport suicide bombing, lending poignancy to their efforts at resetting relations between the United States and its closest Middle East ally.

Israel Middle East

MENASource

Aug 13, 2021

It’s been one year since the Abraham Accords. Gulf-Israel ties are still far from normal.

By Jonathan H. Ferziger

One year after former President Donald Trump coaxed the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations, ties between the two countries and other signatories to the Abraham Accords have a distance to go before they can be considered an enduring success.

Israel Middle East

MENASource

Aug 12, 2021

Hezbollah walks tightrope between two opposing goals to deter Israel

By David Daoud

On August 5, an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon—targeting an open area from which rockets had been launched at Israel by unidentified militants in the third such incident since May 19—prompted Hezbollah’s rocket attack.

Israel Lebanon

MENASource

Aug 11, 2021

Rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel again. Another game of brinkmanship?

By Nicholas Blanford

While Lebanon descends into ever greater political, economic, and social turmoil, a new dynamic appears to be emerging along Lebanon’s simmering southern border with Israel. It potentially threatens the balance of deterrence that has helped prevent a major escalation of hostilities for fifteen years.

Israel Lebanon

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