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Decision Points

Decision Points is the podcast that gets beyond the noise on tough choices in the Middle East. Hosted by David Makovsky of The Washington Institute, the show brings together top policymakers and experts from Washington and the region for candid conversations about the forces and factors driving Middle East policymaking.

Season Six tackles the toughest U.S. foreign-policy debates, from the brink of war in Iran to the painful aftermath in Gaza and the new government in Syria. In each episode, Makovsky sits down with top American, Israeli, and Arab policy experts and former officials to clarify the options and understand the stakes. This season asks: Is the Middle East headed for more war and uncertainty? Or could America help the region move toward greater security and progress?

David Makovsky directs the Washington Institute’s Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations and is a leading expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S.-Israel relations. He served as a senior advisor to the special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at the U.S. Department of State in 2013-14 and is the author of four books on Arab-Israeli relations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Latest Episodes:

What's Next for Hamas, 3 Years After October 7th? Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

Almost three years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, the Palestinian jihadist group has been battered but not destroyed. Hamas has consolidated its control over the most densely populated portion of Gaza. Meanwhile, President Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza remains stalled, and Israel holds the bulk of the Strip. U.S. presidential envoy Jared Kushner recently met directly with Hamas leaders, even as the new Board of Peace is struggling to make progress toward Hamas's disarmament and Gaza's reconstruction.

Will Hamas really disarm, or is it just stalling? Could Hamas ever transform itself into a widely accepted Palestinian political party, as Turkey and Qatar urge? And is there a way toward a better new chapter for Palestinians in Gaza?

Host David Makovsky sits down with former U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials, Matthew Levitt and Neomi Neumann, to discuss the future of Hamas and Gaza.

Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and the director of its program on counterterrorism and intelligence. He served in 2005-07 as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Neomi Neumann is an adjunct fellow at The Washington Institute. She formerly served as the head of the research unit at Israel’s Shin Bet domestic-security agency and with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Are Israel and Turkey on a Collision Course? With Tamir Hayman and James Jeffrey Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

The recent NATO summit in Ankara raised the already high temperatures between Israel and Turkey, two major regional powers. President Trump says he's considering selling U.S. F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey despite the opposition of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Israel and Turkey remain at loggerheads over Turkey's support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas even as Israel and Turkey compete for influence in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean. As Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan jockey for favor with President Trump and face rising criticism from Congress, are two key American allies headed for a collision?

Host David Makovsky discusses the increasingly tense Israeli-Turkish relationship with Tamir Hayman, a former head of Israel's military intelligence service, and James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey.

Tamir Hayman, a major general in the reserves of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is executive director of the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank in Tel Aviv, Israel. He served as chief of the IDF's Intelligence Directorate from 2018-21.

James F. Jeffrey is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute and a former U.S. ambassador to both Turkey and Iraq. He served as U.S. special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the first Trump administration and as a deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration.

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Can Gaza Have a Brighter Future? With Ghaith al-Omari and Shira Efron Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

The Gaza war is over, but the misery on the ground continues. Reconstruction in the Gaza Strip has stalled; Hamas refuses to disarm; and the world's attention has moved on to the Iran war and other issues. Gaza remains bitterly divided: Hamas retains its grip on Gaza's densely populated coast, and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently said that he had directed Israel's military to seize 70% of the strip. With President Trump's 20-point peace plan stalled, Palestinians in Gaza continue to endure appalling humanitarian conditions.

Host David Makovsky sits down with former Palestinian Authority peace negotiator Ghaith al-Omari and American-Israeli security expert Shira Efron to discuss ways to make progress in postwar Gaza.

Ghaith al-Omari is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a former advisor to the Palestinian Authority's negotiating team during the 1999–2001 permanent-status talks with Israel.

Dr. Shira Efron is RAND Corporation's distinguished Israel policy chair and has also worked at Israel Policy Forum, the Center for American Progress, and other think tanks.

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The Aftershocks of the Iran War, with Amb. Barbara Leaf and Kirsten Fontenrose Jun 22, 2026

Show notes

The conflict may be over, but the shockwaves of the Iran war are still spreading. The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states endured Iranian drone and missile strikes; Iran withstood weeks of bombardment from the U.S. and Israel, which have perhaps the world’s two strongest air forces; and leaders across the region have been left wondering if they can rely on the U.S. for security. Gulf countries face a choice between uniting against Iran or accommodating the increasingly IRGC-dominated regime in postwar Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fears that President Trump will blame Israel for the war’s shortcomings and constrain Israel’s ability to act against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Lebanese government will struggle to resist Iran and Hezbollah’s efforts to sideline Beirut and scuttle its peace talks with Israel. Host David Makovsky sits down with former top U.S. Middle East diplomat Barbara Leaf and former National Security Council official Kirsten Fontenrose to understand the regional fallout of the war.

Kirsten Fontenrose served in 2018 as senior director for the Gulf at the National Security Council and is now a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Ambassador Barbara Leaf served from 2022-25 as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, from 2014-18 as U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and from 2013-14 as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Arabian Peninsula. She is now senior international policy advisor at the law firm Arnold & Porter.

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The AI Race in the Middle East, with Avner Golov and Grant Rumley Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly central to U.S. strategy in the Middle East. AI has played a pivotal role in the current Iran war, even as the U.S. is deepening its AI investments in the region. Israel and the Gulf are also jockeying to become key partners in the regional AI landscape. Host David Makovsky sits down with two top analysts, former Israeli National Security Council aide Avner Golov and former Pentagon official Grant Rumley, to understand the opportunities and pitfalls that AI poses for American policymaking in the Middle East.

Avner Golov is vice president of research and alliances at MIND Israel, a Tel Aviv-based strategic-advisory firm, and a former senior director for foreign policy on Israel's National Security Council.

Grant Rumley is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, where he directs the program on great power competition. From 2018-21, he served on the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy's Middle East team in roles including deputy chief of staff, Israel director, Jordan director, and Syria director.

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What the U.S. and Israeli Militaries Have Learned So Far From the Iran War with Eliot Cohen and Amir Eshel May 26, 2026

Show notes

Conflicting statements from President Trump leave open the question about whether the Iran war is any closer to being over or whether the significant impasse over the nuclear program remains an impediment.

Regardless of the outcome of the conflict, the Iran war has highlighted extraordinary and unprecedented coordination between the U.S. and Israeli militaries even as Iran has throttled the Strait of Hormuz.

What do both US and Israeli militaries learn from this war?

The allies’ special relationship is coming under increasing scrutiny from segments of both major American political parties, and leaders from both the U.S. and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are talking openly about tapering down American military aid to the Jewish state. Are we witnessing the peak of this longstanding military partnership?

To discuss military lessons learned from the war until now, host David Makovsky sits down with Amir Eshel, former head of the IDF air force and Eliot A. Cohen, former Counselor at the Department of State.

Amir Eshel, a major general, is the former commander of the Israeli Air Force, former head of IDF Planning and Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Eliot A. Cohen is a military historian, the author of 11 books, and a columnist at The Atlantic. He served as Counselor of the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and is a former dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

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Will Israel Vote Out Netanyahu? with Gili Cohen and David Horovitz May 11, 2026

Show notes

One of Israel’s most important election cycles is underway. Opposition parties see a rare chance to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who now heads the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history. Amid the echoes of the wars in Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon, Israeli voters’ choices may shape their country—and the Middle East—for decades to come.

This will be Israel’s first election since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault, Israel’s subsequent wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the 2025 and 2026 Iran wars. Netanyahu’s supporters say he deserves reelection for leading Israeli successes on several military fronts since October 7th, including fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S. against Iran. Yet Israelis will vote as their country has become increasingly isolated, including a striking plunge in Israel’s standing in U.S. public-opinion polls. Israelis are also arguing about an independent investigation into the failures of October 7th, rising settler violence in the West Bank, drafting ultra-Orthodox Israelis to serve in the country’s military, and Netanyahu’s ongoing push to slash the power of the Israeli judiciary. Could the 2026 elections be Netanyahu’s last stand?

Host David Makovsky sits down with two veteran Israeli journalists, Gili Cohen and David Horovitz, to understand how Israel’s looming elections will shape the country’s politics and policies.

Gili Cohen covers the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office for Kann News, an arm of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

David Horovitz is the founding editor of The Times of Israel.

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Can Israel and Lebanon Move from War to Diplomacy? with Fouad Makhzoumi, Robert Satloff and Sarit Zehavi Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Lebanon and Israel held diplomatic talks for the first time in decades after Israel's months-long campaign against Hezbollah. But the ceasefire is shaky: Israel displaced close to a million Lebanese civilians amid fighting with Hezbollah and northern Israelis, with memories of weeks in bomb shelters, fear returning to normal life with Hezbollah still armed.

Host David Makovsky sits down in back-to-back conversations with Lebanese lawmaker Fouad Makhzoumi, Israeli analyst Sarit Zehavi, and Middle East expert Robert Satloff to unpack what’s at stake--and what’s possible-- in Lebanon.

Fouad Makhzoumi is a leading Lebanese member of parliament representing many Sunnis in Beirut.

Dr. Robert Satloff is the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute, an independent, nonpartisan Middle East policy think tank.

Sarit Zehavi is the founder and president of Alma, an Israeli institute specializing in security challenges along the Lebanese border. She served for 15 years in the Israeli military's Intelligence Corps and later with its Northern Command.

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Who’s Calling the Shots in Iran? With Suzanne Maloney and Raz Zimmt Apr 13, 2026

Show notes

After nearly six weeks of war, the U.S. and Iran agreed on April 8 to a fragile two-week ceasefire. But Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan Sunday after 21 hours of high-level talks with the Iranians without making progress toward a deal to end the war. President Trump then threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil-shipping route that Iran has throttled. However uncertain the road ahead may be, one thing is increasingly clear: in a postwar Iran, the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps looks set to further dominate the regime’s complex policymaking structure. Host David Makovsky sits down with two leading Iran experts, Suzanne Maloney and Raz Zimmt, to explore how decisions may be made in Tehran during the ceasefire and beyond.

Dr. Suzanne Maloney is vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a former member of the State Department's Policy Planning staff.

Dr. Raz Zimmt is the director of the Iran and the Shiite axis research program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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Is the Iran War Bringing Israel and the UAE Closer Together? With Amir Hayek and Nadim Koteich Mar 30, 2026

Show notes

As part of Iran’s retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli war, Tehran has targeted the United Arab Emirates with more than 2,000 ballistic missiles and drones. Senior Emirati officials warn that their confrontation with Iran won’t be fleeting and will strengthen their relationship with Israel, including deeper security coordination. But if Iran’s regime emerges from the war intact and vengeful, the Gulf states may have to take a warier stance.

Amir Hayek was Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Nadim Koteich is a columnist at Asharq al-Awsat and the former general manager of Sky News Arabia.

"Decision Points" is produced by David McGuffin with Zack Apt and Nava Goldstein.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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