Meir Ben Shabbat: Washington’s first objective in any arrangement with Iran must be to prevent the regime from recovering quickly. Any agreement should include sanctions and diplomatic isolation of Iran, as well as removal and destruction of the enriched uranium, but also a ban on enrichment at any level on Iranian soil.

Trump put something on the table as a theoretical, it got exactly the desired end state which is, the attempt at negotiations would serve multiple purposes, not least of which is it demonstrates his willingness to pursue a negotiated diplomatic settlement. At the same time, strikes continue.

Published in The Daily Signal, March  24, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Prof. Kobi Michael noted that despite Israeli control over Gaza’s borders, Iran was still giving significant aid to Hamas. Even recently, the Iranians were trying to smuggle weapons and money to the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and to Hamas abroad. Hamas understands that if this regime collapses or is weakened to the degree that it will not be able to continue supporting Hamas, they are in big trouble. The assault on Iran was explicitly designed to target this infrastructure, with multiple IRGC commanders responsible for collaboration with Palestinian terror groups being neutralized in the early days of the campaign. Outlining the strategic intent behind destroying these networks, U.S. President Donald Trump explained in a briefing in early March that the military campaign ensures that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.

The full interview was published in JNS on March 22, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Prof. Kobi Michael explains that the IDF aims to remove Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon to establish a “political horizon” of mutual recognition and potential peace with the Lebanese government.

He further details the conflict’s transition into an “energy war” against national infrastructure, emphasizing the necessity of American pressure and support to effectively weaken Hezbollah and Iranian influence.

The interview took place on ILTV on March 19, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Prof. Kobi Michael: The new leader is an empty entity. Mojtaba Khamenei does not appear in public, but we also have reliable information that he does not control or lead the regime or what has been left of the regime.

The current Iranian leadership is broken, confused and is almost misfunctioning.

Published in Fox News, March  19, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Asher Fredman: If you look at the numbers, trade between Israel and Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain — even Egypt and Jordan — is up across the board.

Instability in the Strait of Hormuz has renewed interest in the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a proposed overland trade route connecting India to Europe through Gulf states, Jordan, and Israel. As maritime insurance goes up and uncertainty grows, the economic case for this overland route grows as well.

Published in Daily Wire, March  19, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Meir Ben Shabbat: The idea is that the internal struggle that is supposed to bring about regime change will occur when the regime has been battered and destabilized, its command-and-control system reduced to only partial functioning, its mechanisms of repression damaged, its legitimacy at a low point, its proxies weak, and its economic hole deep. These are conditions that would enable citizens who oppose the regime to finish the job and take advantage of the rare opportunity. It is true that the outcome cannot be guaranteed, but it is clear that without these prior steps, there is no chance of it happening.

Published in The Free Press, March  19, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Meir Ben-Shabbat: His status and influence extended far beyond any formal position he had. Since Khamenei’s death. Larijani managed the fight against Israel and served as the chief coordinator of Iran’s security bodies.

Right now, it’s not at all clear who’s running things. Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was selected as Iran’s third supreme leader, but he is believed to have been injured in the airstrike that killed his father, and hasn’t been seen since.

The strikes continue the process of severing and dismantling the chain of ideological, political, and operational command and control of the Iranian regime, placing it in an unprecedented crisis.

Published in Times Of Israel, March  18, 2026.

Meir Ben-Shabbat: Erdoğan’s Turkey does not conceal its ambition to expand its regional influence. Erdoğan is pursuing an assertive foreign policy that combines military power with active diplomacy in order to position Turkey as a central actor in several arenas of conflict.

Turkey views itself as a patron of the Palestinian cause. It seeks to play a major role in the reconstruction of Gaza after the war and in a potential international stabilization force.

Erdoğan’s ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and with Hamas provide these organizations with meaningful political and logistical backing, making it more difficult for Israel to isolate them on the international stage. His alignment with Qatar on some of these issues further amplifies their influence and increases the challenge of confronting them.

Published in JNS, March 18, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Prof. Kobi Michael: This is not a new phase, but a continuing effort and a very successful and impressive one and a crucial component of the strategy meant to weaken the Iranian regime. This is to the degree that it will not be able to reconstitute itself and/or to become again a severe threat and destabilizing player in the broader Middle East.

At the very same time, by weakening the regime and paralyzing its capacities generally speaking and its domestic control specifically, the U.S. and Israel are facilitating the required conditions for the Iranian people to topple the regime.

Published in Fox News, March  18, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.

Meir Ben Shabbat: Defining some communities as safe could encourage Iran to target them. Easing restrictions anywhere could be misinterpreted by the public as a lowering of the threat level everywhere, eroding preparedness.

Published in the New York Times, on March 16, 2026.

*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.