Photo source: Haaretz By Naveed Qazi Editor, Globe Upfront When the most right-wing government in Israel’s history took power through Netanyahu again, the coalition put forward legislation that severely restricted the judiciary. Due to this, thousands of protestors gathered in Tel Aviv and beyond in January 2023 to rally against what they believe is a grave risk to their institutions. This happened at a time when Israelis, as new settlers, were attacking Palestinians. That’s why the pretence of peace is slowly getting evaporated as protests have gained momentum. As far as Netanyahu’s cabinet goes, it’s filled with far-right extremists such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister who has been given a role to supervise settlement policy. The Israeli protests of 2023 are a culmination of long-term forces that have created flaws and weaknesses in Israeli democracy, with many calling them structural flaws. The political struc...

  Photo source: Bahrain Mirror By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront In 2020, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait started a process of de-escalation with Iran. But it all changed with the creation of Negev Summit in 2022. When it comes to Saudi Arabia, it  held five talks with Tehran through mediation with Iraq, while UAE and Kuwait both returned their ambassadors to Iran after six years.  Bahrain has also unexpectedly shown no desire for reconciliation with Iran as well. It is not even showing any hints. Bahrain, as a nation, is marred by divisive internal politics and is facing somewhat unique challenges for diplomatic extensions. As around seventy per cent of Bahrain’s population is made up of Shia Muslims, and since Iran considers itself the leader of Shias all over the world, the population tends to support its political demands. Having said that, human rights groups have long said that there exists systemat...