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Innovation Over Instability: How Israel Can Use Its Economy to Anchor a New Middle East
October 7, 2023, marked a turning point. Israel’s deterrence doctrine fractured in full view, exposing the limits of even the most advanced security systems. But within weeks, another reality emerged. The response was swift, coordinated, and tech-enabled. Intelligence, cyber capabilities, and precision operations operated in sync. The message was unmistakable: Israel’s innovation infrastructure works under pressure.
This credibility matters, not only for defense — but for diplomacy. In a region where conventional alliances are fragile and shared interests are often transactional, innovation has become a stable common ground. Countries across the Middle East are turning to technology to solve challenges that transcend borders, such as water scarcity, food security, energy efficiency, and health system resilience. Israel, despite geopolitical complexity, is positioned as a reliable source of operational solutions.
Across the region, Israeli technology is already embedded in transformation efforts. Fintech pilots in Bahrain, health tech systems in Morocco, and climate-tech deployments across the GCC countries are proving that technological collaboration can outpace political tension. These systems are already in production, shaped by practical needs and delivered by teams that know how to move quickly. Innovation diplomacy doesn’t rely on treaties; it relies on execution and offers regional players a tangible benefit from collaboration. This is what stability through technology can look like.
The global competition around AI has introduced a new kind of strategic map. Nations are no longer measured only by military assets or resource reserves, but by their ability to develop, deploy, and manage AI infrastructure. Compute power now determines who can build foundational models, launch autonomous systems, and influence the frameworks that govern global technology.
Israel has something few countries in the region can claim: the capacity to make meaningful contributions to this landscape. With over 7,000 active tech companies and more than 430 multinational R&D centers, Israel brings depth and maturity to emerging technology domains. Its startup engine operates on a global scale, supported by a talent base shaped by elite military units, top-tier academic institutions, and a proven track record of commercial execution.
While regional players are investing heavily to build capacity, Israel is already delivering. Although it may not house hyper-scale data centers, it generates the intellectual property, core algorithms, and system architectures that make those centers useful. This embedded value gives Israel strategic leverage in the AI economy without having to own the infrastructure outright.
GCC nations are rapidly transitioning from extraction-based economies toward digital infrastructure, including cloud computing, AI, and digital healthcare systems. This creates an opportunity for regional cooperation grounded in shared goals. Israel brings technical maturity and a track record of delivery, while Gulf states bring capital and scale. Together, they can co-develop platforms that support regional resilience, spanning public health, agriculture and energy. This is a future that is already unfolding. The Abraham Accords opened a channel for cooperation, and the demand for pragmatic, tech-first partnerships is accelerating it.
At Startup Nation Central, we connect global stakeholders to Israel’s innovation ecosystem. And we have seen the result of these efforts: trust builds when solutions are delivered consistently and visibly. This is a moment of strategic realignment across the region. Political dynamics are evolving, and economic priorities are shifting toward sustainability, productivity, and technological independence. Israel can be a central partner in this transition. But leadership will depend on investment, coordination, and focus.
The Middle East is being reshaped — and the region’s future will belong to those who build platforms, deploy solutions, and deliver value. Israel has the tools to help lead this transformation, and the region is ready. The moment is now.
Yariv Becher is the vice president of partnerships at Startup Nation Central and a former commercial attaché representing Israel’s Ministry of Economy, helping Israeli technology companies access foreign markets.
The post Innovation Over Instability: How Israel Can Use Its Economy to Anchor a New Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Says Hamas ‘Didn’t Want to Make a Deal,’ Now Likely to Get ‘Hunted Down’

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – US President Donald Trump on Friday said the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas did not want to make a deal on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.
“Now we’re down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said.
The comments followed statements by Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the effect that Israel was now considering “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending the terror rule of Hamas in the coastal enclave.
Trump added he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down.”
On Thursday, Witkoff said the Trump administration had decided to bring its negotiating team home for consultations following Hamas’s latest proposal. Witkoff said overnight that Hamas was to blame for the impasse, with Netanyahu concurring.
Trump also dismissed the significance of French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris would become the first major Western power to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Macron’s comments, “didn’t carry any weight,” the US leader said.
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Italy’s Meloni: Recognizing Palestinian State Before It Is Established May Be ‘Counterproductive’

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 26, 2022. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognizing the State of Palestine before it is established could be counterproductive.
“I am very much in favor of the State of Palestine but I am not in favor of recognizing it prior to establishing it,” Meloni told Italian daily La Repubblica.
“If something that doesn’t exist is recognized on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn’t,” Meloni added.
France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September drew condemnation from Israel and the United States, amid the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
On Friday, Italy’s foreign minister said recognition of a Palestinian state must occur simultaneously with recognition of Israel by the new Palestinian entity.
A German government spokesperson said on Friday that Berlin was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term and said its priority now is to make “long-overdue progress” towards a two-state solution.
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Syria, Israel Agree to Further Talks on De-Escalating Conflict, Ekhbariya TV Reports

A drone view shows the remains of a destroyed tank, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
Syrian and Israeli officials agreed to meet again after no final accord was reached in US-mediated talks in Paris on de-escalating the conflict in southern Syria, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Saturday, citing a diplomatic source.
The source described the dialogue as “honest and responsible,” in the first confirmation from the Syrian side that talks had taken place.
On Friday, US envoy Tom Barrack said officials from both countries spoke about de-escalating the situation in Syria during the talks on Thursday.
Representatives from the Syrian foreign ministry and intelligence officials were in attendance, Syria’s Ekhbariya reported.
Hundreds of people have been reported killed in clashes in the southern Syrian province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killings of Druze by government forces.
Last week’s clashes underlined the challenges interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in stabilizing Syria and maintaining centralized rule, despite warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
The diplomatic source said the meeting involved initial consultations aimed at “reducing tensions and opening channels of communication amid an ongoing escalation since early December.”
The Syrian side held Israel responsible for the latest escalation, saying that the continuation of such “hostile policies” was threatening the region, according to the source. The Syrian delegation also said that Damascus would not accept “imposing new realities on the ground.”
The post Syria, Israel Agree to Further Talks on De-Escalating Conflict, Ekhbariya TV Reports first appeared on Algemeiner.com.