Neville Teller

Born in London and educated at Oxford University, Neville combined a career in the Civil Service with writing for BBC radio as dramatist and abridger. In addition, he has been commenting on the Middle East political scene for some 35 years, with five books published on the subject.

A DRONE VIEW shows destruction in Gaza City last week. In a poll conducted in May 2024, some 70% of Gazans approved of Hamas’s onslaught on October 7, 2023. One year later, that support had shrunk to 38%, the writer notes.

A narrow set of choices for Gaza: What’s the future for Hamas? - opinion

KING GEORGE V delivers the 1934 Royal Christmas Message on BBC Radio.

'Frequencies of Deceit': Propaganda broadcasting in the heyday of the radio age - review

A HAMAS TERRORIST stands guard in Khan Yunis last week. As of the end of last month, over a dozen new anti-Hamas armed groups had emerged, reflecting a virtual collapse of Hamas’s monopoly on territorial control and security, the writer argues.

Gang war in Gaza: Determining the future of Hamas's rule - opinion


'Moses Maimonides': A Cornell professor’s look at the Rambam - review

Images in the book include a responsum in Maimonides’s own hand, signed “Moshe” by him. It is one of many such documents discovered in the Cairo 'geniza,' a storage of Hebrew and Aramaic documents.

Engraving Maimonides in ‘Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum,’ 1744 by Blaisio Ugolino.

Keir Starmer’s Palestinian state recognition: Sacrificing principle to domestic politics - opinion

Faced with domestic pressures, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sacrificed principle for appeasement in recognizing a Palestinian state.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Palestinian leadership post-Gaza war: Who are the prospective leaders of the future? - opinion

Who are the prospective Palestinian leaders of the future?

THEN-MIDEAST envoy Tony Blair speaks at a news conference with then-PA prime minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah, 2008. Blair would no doubt support Fayyad as a candidate for the Gaza technocratic committee, says the writer.

Sweida’s crisis and the quiet path to a Syria-Israel security deal - opinion

The US is playing a mediating role in the Syria-Israel security discussions, and is also deeply involved in the agreement known as the 'Sweida roadmap,' publicly announced in Damascus.

People stand next to a destroyed tank turret, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 25, 2025.

Accentuating the positive: Mahmoud Abbas's UN address - opinion

Abbas discussed the Palestinian Authority’s reform agenda, which Western officials say can show whether the PA could oversee genuine statehood.

UK PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer hosts PA head Mahmoud Abbas at 10 Downing Street earlier this month. According to the last major poll of Palestinian opinion, about 81% of all Palestinians want Abbas to resign, notes the writer.

Is the Iranian regime on the verge of collapse? - opinion

So, despite Pahlavi’s wishful thinking, the Iranian regime remains deeply entrenched, and – unfortunately, in many people’s opinion – seems far from the verge of collapse.

 Iranian flags fly as fire and smoke from an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot rise, following Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025.

Disarming Hezbollah: The five-phase Lebanese plan is actually happening - opinion

The Lebanese military drew up a five-phase disarmament plan that is being implemented.

LEBANESE FOREIGN MINISTER Youssef Raggi heads to a cabinet meeting in Baabda, Lebanon, last month. He declared that within three months, the army will have fully disarmed Hezbollah in the area nearest the border with Israel, says the writer.

Despite Macron's efforts, France's influence on the Middle East counts for little - opinion

French presidents have aspired to be power brokers in the Middle East ever since France assumed its colonial role there after World War I.

SAUDI CROWN PRINCE Mohammed bin Salman meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Riyadh, last year. Ever resilient, Macron is about to have another try, says the writer.

Tony Blair: A fresh and positive presence on the Palestinian issue - opinion

Blair has been closely involved with the Israel-Palestinian issue for a quarter of a century. His experience of the Middle East is unrivaled.

THEN-QUARTET representative to the Middle East Tony Blair speaks during a meeting with Palestinian businessmen in Gaza City in 2015. He is a fresh and positive presence on the scene, the writer maintains.

Airstrikes, cautious diplomacy: Israel and Syria draw closer - opinion

Cautious diplomacy will continue to guide Israeli-Syrian relations.

SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER Asaad al-Shaibani attends the Munich Security Conference earlier this year. Reportedly, he has met more than once with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the writer notes.