1) At the Alma Center, Tal Beeri looks at ‘The New Lebanese Government – Details and Implications’.
“Despite attempts to portray it otherwise, there is nothing new under the sun regarding Hezbollah’s participation and involvement in the new government. Similar to the previous government, the new government also includes five Shiite ministers, who were directly elected by the “Shiite Duo” (Hezbollah and Amal). As in the previous government, in the current government as well, the distribution of Shiite ministers is similar: 2 ministers on behalf of Hezbollah and three ministers on behalf of Amal.”
2) At WINEP, Aaron Y. Zelin discusses ‘The Status of Syria’s Transition After Two Months’.
“In short, the new government does appear to have a plan two-thirds of the way through the initial transition period. Yet its public declarations on these matters still lack specifics, so assessing how the process might play out is still difficult—a cause for concern in the many foreign capitals that want Syria’s transition to succeed.”
3) The Jerusalem Post covers a report by IMPACT-se on educational directives issued by Syria’s new Ministry of Education which were the topic of a BBC report last month.
“The findings highlight an intensifying religious discourse in the curriculum, with instructions mandating the elimination of secular scientific material, the removal of women’s images from educational materials, and the incorporation of content that portrays martyrdom as a divine pursuit.”
4) NGO Monitor reports on a ‘Hamas-linked Anti-Israel Parliamentary Lobby Network in Europe’ which has been active in the UK.
“A Turkey-based advocacy organization with ties to Hamas is attempting to recruit European politicians to support policies and actions that demonize and delegitimize Israel.
The League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds and Palestine (LP4Q), a political lobby network “of about 1500 parliamentarians, from all over the world,” describes itself as a “foundation established in October 2015 at the initiative of parliamentarians who support Palestinian rights.””
5) The CST has published its 2024 report on antisemitic incidents.
“CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2024, the second-highest total ever reported to CST in a single calendar year. This is a decrease of 18% from the 4,296 anti-Jewish hate incidents recorded by CST in 2023, which remains the record annual total ever reported, and was fuelled by responses to the 7 October terror attack by Hamas on Israel that year.”
