Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
2 May 2025 | 14:40 CAT
3 min read

The Middle East is going through major political and social shifts, with Israel’s hardline stance on Gaza, youth movements shaping U.S. policy and Arab countries reconsidering ties with Israel amid growing international legal scrutiny.

Speaking on our Middle East report, Dr James M. Dorsey, award-winning scholar and journalist, unpacked recent developments in the region, beginning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firm position on the Gaza blockade. This comes despite growing international calls for increased humanitarian aid.

“In the last ten to two weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump said that food and medicine needed to be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip, that he was pressuring Netanyahu to do so,” said Dorsey. He noted that this was followed by the final day of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is considering whether Israel is legally obligated to work with UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

“In response to all of that, Netanyahu has hardened his position. He has reiterated that there would not be a withdrawal from Gaza. He has reiterated or actually for the first time clearly said that military rule of Gaza was not ruled out. That was something he would consider,” Dorsey explained.

Netanyahu has also rejected the idea of Hamas or the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority playing any role in post-war governance in Gaza. Whether or not Trump will act on his words remains uncertain, as he has shifted focus to domestic celebrations and other foreign policy matters. “He has really pushed Gaza to the side-lines in the last week or two. So we are going to have to see whether his trip in May to Saudi Arabia may make a difference,” he said.

Dorsey also addressed the role of far-right Zionist youth movements like Betar, which has historical ties to Netanyahu’s political background, and its influence on U.S. policy responses to pro-Palestinian protests. “Betar today, particularly its U.S. branch, together with the other two U.S. organisations, has been giving thousands of names of students and others, but primarily students, who allegedly are anti-Semites because they have participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and manifestations or have been tweeting or otherwise publishing in favour of the Palestinians,” he said.

Dorsey said that the U.S. administration has admitted to receiving these names and that some detained individuals appeared on these lists. “Mohsen Mahdawi, who was in the last few days released on bail, but also Mahmud Khalil and Rumseya Ozturk, the Turkish Tufts University PhD graduate, they were all on Betar’s list,” he said.

Dorsey noted there is a significant influence in this whole crackdown on academia, if you wish.

Turning to broader regional dynamics, Dorsey spoke about efforts to gain Arab recognition of Israel, with Algeria now seen as a potential target. “Algeria has long said that it would recognise Israel if Israel establishes a Palestinian state. In 1999, at the funeral of Moroccan King Hassan the Second, the then Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had a brief discussion with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in which Bouteflika very clearly said that he would support Barak’s peace plan,” he said.

He noted that Algeria is in a strategic bind, especially since its rival Morocco gained an edge by recognising Israel and securing support from the Trump administration. Morocco received U.S. recognition of its claim to Western Sahara, while Algeria supports the Sahrawi independence movement. “Much like India and to a degree also Vietnam, former client military clients of the Soviet Union and of Russia are switching their mainstay of weaponry primarily to the United States. That is something that Algeria also wants to do,” he added.

He highlighted that Algeria signed a military cooperation agreement with the U.S. in January and is now looking to strengthen ties. “Recognition of Israel, given Algeria’s greater interests, is starting to become more negotiable, if you wish,” he said.

On legal matters, Dorsey pointed out that Israel is not the only Middle Eastern country facing genocide charges at the ICJ. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is also facing accusations, this time from Sudan, for allegedly supporting armed groups in that country. “There is a bit of irony here, of course. Not only in the fact that the UAE is the only other Middle Eastern country being charged with genocide in the International Court of Justice. The UAE is also, for all practical matters, Israel’s closest friend in the Arab world today, eighteen months into the Gaza war,” he said.

Dorsey explained that the Sudanese case accuses the UAE of supporting the Rapid Support Forces, a rebel group in Sudan. However, the UAE case has not yet been accepted by the court. “The UAE has a greater chance of the court kicking the case out on technical legal grounds. There are limitations that the UAE imposed on its signature of the Rome Statute, which is what established the International Court of Justice. Those restrictions may mean that it would never be brought in front of the court,” he said.

“Even so, in my mind, it is a stain on the UAE’s reputation that it even was a case of genocide against it was brought to the court,” said Dorsey.

With shifting alliances, strategic positioning, and mounting legal pressure, the politics of the Middle East continue to evolve in complex and unpredictable ways.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Dr James M. Dorsey here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist, scholar, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. He is the author of ‘The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer’.