Jonathan Spyer

Jonathan Spyer is a writer, analyst and journalist focusing on the Levant and Middle East strategic affairs. He is a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS), a fellow at the Middle East Forum and a freelance security analyst and correspondent at IHS Janes.

Spyer is the Executive Director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis (MECRA). He is the author of Days of the Fall: A Reporter's Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (Routledge, 2017) - an account of his field reporting in Syria and Iraq, and The Transforming Fire: the Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict, (Continuum, 2010).

Spyer's work is published in many journals, and he consults and advises for a wide variety of bodies in the governmental, NGO and private sectors.

LEBANESE ARMY soldiers patrol near the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier this month.

Hezbollah defies disarmament push as Israel maintains border buffer

BEHIND THE LINES: Lebanon's government faces mounting challenges in its faux attempt to dismantle Hezbollah's weapons, with no signs of real progress on the horizon.

AUGUST 30, 2025
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa looks on as he attends the “Aleppo, Key to Victory” celebration marking Syria’s liberation, in Aleppo, Syria May 27, 2025.

Sharaa's Islamist army fuels Syria's descent into sectarian slaughter

BEHIND THE LINES: In just eight months of Sunni Islamist rule in Syria, already three large-scale incidents of sectarian violence have taken place.

AUGUST 15, 2025
MEMBERS OF Houthi security forces patrol the site of a demonstration, attended by predominantly Houthi-supporting protesters, in solidarity with Palestinians, in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 11.

Iran's axis 'can be stopped here,' general of Yemen's anti-Houthi forces tells 'Post'

BEHIND THE LINES: Read about the Southern Transitional Council, based out of Aden in south Yemen, leading the fight against Houthi terrorists, primarily based in the north of the country.

JULY 26, 2025

The limits of Iran's proxy strategy: How Soleimani's vision failed in recent conflicts

BEHIND THE LINES: The flaw in Soleimani’s plan seems to be that he assumed that religious and ideological loyalties would win out over local self-interest.

JUNE 28, 2025
AN IDF SOLDIER stands next to the remains of an Emad ballistic missile, days after an attack by Iran on Israel, in October, 2024.

IRGC alive and well in Syria: Terror proxies could flourish after Damascus

BEHIND THE LINES: What terror group is trying to take control of the instability in Syria to harm Israel?

JUNE 19, 2025
IDF SOLDIERS work on the border fence with Syria in the Golan Heights in March.

Neo-Ottoman power: Erdogan positions Turkey as Israel's main Middle East challenge

MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: As Turkey builds its power and influence, its opposition to – and agitation against – Israel is continuing unabated.

MAY 31, 2025
TURKEY’S PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul, earlier this week.

How Islamist militant groups in Pakistan's foreign policy affected the Kashmir conflict

BEHIND THE LINES: The latest India-Pakistan confrontation underscores the strategic role of Pakistan's military and ISI in exacerbating Kashmir’s instability.

MAY 10, 2025
A GENERAL view of Muzaffarabad, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A Pakistani general described Kashmir as Pakistan’s ‘jugular vein,’ saying that Islamabad would ‘not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle.’

Escalate or concede defeat? US faces dilemma over Houthis in Yemen

BEHIND THE LINES | The Houthis are the only Iran-aligned force to have directed its attacks not at Israel alone but also at Western targets, including international shipping.

APRIL 25, 2025
In this handout image provided by Houthi Media Center, fuel vans burn in the wake of US airstrikes targeting the Ras Isa port complex on April 18, in Hodeidah province, Yemen.

Cutting off Hamas: 'Post' visits IDF's 'Morag Corridor' in Gaza

'Morag' is intended to drive a wedge between the Rafah and Khan Yunis brigades of Hamas, and then to destroy these formations.

APRIL 21, 2025
IDF soldiers operate in the Morag Corridor, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Collision course: Are Israel and Turkey headed for confrontation?

BEHIND THE LINES: With Turkey's backing of Hamas and disputes in Syria, the future of Jerusalem-Ankara ties look dim.

APRIL 11, 2025
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (L) shake hands as they hold a joint press conference after their meeting at Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye on February 4, 2025.

In its attacks on Houthis, the United States is missing the Russian connection

BEHIND THE LINES: The US administration appears to fail to notice the broader alliance taking shape behind these forces, and the interconnectedness of the current assault on the West.

MARCH 21, 2025
A US FIGHTER plane takes off from the deck of an aircraft carrier said to be for a sortie against the Yemen’s Houthis at an unidentified location, from a handout video released on March 18.

PKK ceasefire declaration: What it means for Turkey, Syria and the Kurds

If Ocalan's declaration does not by itself signal the conclusion of the PKK-Ankara war, what is it nevertheless likely to herald? And does the declaration have broader regional implications?

MARCH 8, 2025
A demonstrator holds a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a rally in Diyarbakir, Turkey, February 27, 2025

Is Israel preparing to strike Iran's nuclear sites?

Behind the Lines | With Iran's proxies weakened and its air defenses damaged, the time is ripe for Israel to act against Tehran's nuclear program.

FEBRUARY 21, 2025
AN ANNUAL military parade in Tehran last year displays the Jihad missile system.