MEF Wires

Middle East Forum Wires are summary accounts and audio recordings of MEF speaking events.

Wires are written by MEF staff and (when summary accounts) are generally not reviewed by the speaker.

To see a listing of forthcoming MEF events, please click here.

Audio, Video and Transcripts
Gregg Roman Testifies Before the Knesset on the Cost of Redeeming Hostages
The Mishnah Warns Against Redeeming Captives at Exorbitant Prices—Not from Callousness, but from Wisdom
December 24, 2025
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Eastern Mediterranean Contributions to Middle East Security
The Middle East Forum participated in a high-level panel on “Eastern Mediterranean Contributions to Middle East Security” at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece.
April 18, 2025
Audio, Video and Transcripts
The Middle East: Harris and Trump Policies Explained
November 4, 2024
 · 
Ahnaf Kalam
Fluttering Israel flag on crimson red sky with smoke pillars background. Israel problems concept.
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Israel’s Crucible: Forging a New Security Paradigm
Navigating Complex Threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Beyond in a Shifting Middle East Landscape
October 6, 2024
 · 
Gregg Roman
Winfield Myers
Audio, Video and Transcripts
The Counter-Erdoğan Coalition: Taking on Turkey’s Strongman
May 17, 2023
Winfield Myers
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Salvaging Our Universities in an Era of Intellectual Decadence
May 17, 2023
 · 
Winfield Myers
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More from MEF
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has effectively paved the way for the resurgence of a radical Kurdish Islamist network that seeks to establish a sharia-based independent Kurdish state spanning territories in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, after Turkish courts quietly dismantled key terrorism convictions of members of the group and reframed years of organized militant activity as ordinary criminal conduct.
Middle East Forum Online
Erdoğan’s Turkey Has Enabled the Comeback of Kurdish Islamic Terrorist Network
The Erdoğan Government’s Behind-the-Scenes Interventions Reversed the Legal Characterization of the Organization
May 23, 2026
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt
Trump, speaking to Fox News, professed himself in no hurry for diplomatic progress, saying that "We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want."
Middle East Forum Online
The Only Iran Deal Trump Can Get Is No Better than Obama’s ‘Horrible’ JCPOA
Iran Is Perhaps Willing to Make Some Limited Concessions on Enrichment
May 23, 2026
 · 
Lazar Berman
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in October 2025.
Middle East Forum Observer
Are Turkey’s Courts Eviscerating Erdoğan’s Opposition?
Courts Have Weighed in on Party Matters Before, but They Rarely Step in to Overturn the Results of an Internal Congress
May 23, 2026
 · 
Nicoletta Kouroushi
European Union Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen (center) with European Council President António Costa and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
Middle East Forum Observer
Europe’s Diplomatic Asymmetry Toward Israel and Iran
Europe Treats Israeli Conduct as a Matter Requiring Correction but Treats Iranian Conduct as a Problem Requiring Management
May 23, 2026
 · 
Aaron J. Shuster
An aerial view of Modena, Italy, where a Moroccan-born driver injured eight pedestrians. Prior to the attack, the driver authored anti-Christian hate emails and social media posts praising Allah surfaced following the attack.
FWI News
Car Attacker Penned Hate Mail Labeling Italians ‘Christian Bastards’
Italian Investigators Emphasize Mental Illness, Downplaying Vehicular-Jihad Angle
May 22, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
A Ukrainian soldier readies a drone in Donbas.
Middle East Forum Observer
When Ukraine’s War Reaches the Mediterranean
A Difficult Question Emerges for the West: How Far Can Support for Kyiv Expand Before It Brings New Complications?
May 22, 2026
 · 
Nicoletta Kouroushi
Sudan faces the largest internal displacement and hunger crisis in the world, caused by an ongoing civil war.
Middle East Forum Observer
Israel Should Deport European Flotilla Activists to Sudan
Jerusalem Should Deliver the Self-Described Human Rights Activists and Their Symbolic Aid to a State with Far Greater Crises
May 21, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a 2019 photo.
Middle East Forum Observer
Did the U.S. and Israel Plan to Install Ahmadinejad? The Conspiracy Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test
Factions Within Tehran’s Power Structure May Have an Interest in Encouraging Such Conspiracy Theories
May 21, 2026
 · 
Mardo Soghom
United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a file photo.
Middle East Forum Observer
India Doubles Down on the United Arab Emirates
New Agreements Elevate Bilateral Ties to More Structured Collaboration and a Growing Security Partnership
May 21, 2026
 · 
Imran Khurshid
A view of Spain across the Gibraltar Bay from the Upper Rock.
Middle East Forum Observer
Israel-Morocco Partnership Exposes Spain’s Gibraltar Hypocrisy
Madrid Denounces Colonialism and Insists on Strict Adherence to International Law, While Shielding Its North African Holdings
May 21, 2026
 · 
Jose Lev Alvarez