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President Barack Obama's relationship with Israel is garnering a warm assessment from an unlikely source: William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard who just two years ago started a group called the Emergency Committee for Israel.

Financial Times Middle East correspondent Michael Peel joins us to take a look at how Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has ruled his country and responded to the various crises in the region.

Marc Lynch, a.k.a. @AbuAardvark, professor and director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, editor of the Middle East channel at Foreign Policy, and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, talks about his new book, The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East.

At this weekend's conference of the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, President Barack Obama reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Israel's security. During his remarks to the pro-Israel lobbying group, the President restated that, with regards to ensuring Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon, all options are on the table. The President also said sanctions and diplomacy should be given a chance before further action is taken. Later today, the President will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting will be the latest installment in what has been an uneasy relationship between the two leaders.

Jeremy Scahill, National Security Reporter for The Nation magazine, talks about the United States’ increasingly unpopular counter-terrorism efforts in Yemen.

Less than two weeks ago, Anthony Shadid, a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, died in Syria from an acute asthma attack. Shadid covered nearly two decades of Middle East conflict, won the Pulitzer Prize twice, and authored three books. "House of Stone," his final book, goes on sale today. 

This morning we are heartbroken to report that Anthony Shadid of our partner The New York Times is no longer one of the survivors. The veteran Middle East correspondent for The Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe and long time voice on this program has died. A fatal asthma attack while he was reporting in chaotic Syria, working undercover. His body carried across the Syrian border and home by a colleague yesterday.

This morning we are heartbroken to report that Anthony Shadid of our partner The New York Times is no longer one of the survivors. The veteran Middle East correspondent for The Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe and long time voice on this program has died. A fatal asthma attack while he was reporting in chaotic Syria, working undercover. His body carried across the Syrian border and home by a colleague yesterday.

The escalating tension between Israel and Iran over the latter's nuclear program has been at the center of many foreign policy debates and diplomatic talks over the past decade. Proponents of an Israeli strike say it's needed for to preserve Israel's national security while detractors say such an attack would precipitate World War III. 

Over the past ten months, Syrian Security Forces have killed more than 5,000 protestors across the country. But this weekend, two key voices announced their calls to action: the Arab League will seek U.N. Security Council approval to peacefully end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would block financial aid and create trade sanctions against Syrian leaders involved in the crackdown.

Despite deep worries over the continuing stability of the Iraqi government, the U.S. is planning on selling $11 billion of arms and training to Iraq's military. The sale comes as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has attempted to marginalize Iraq's Sunni minority since the U.S. withdrew its forces earlier in the month, setting off concerns over civil war. The Obama administration hopes the sale, which includes tanks and fighter jets, will help Iraq build its military and secure its border with Iran. But some American officials worry Iraq's government will move to align itself with the Shiite theocracy in Tehran.

New York Times correspondent Michael Schmidt and Sam Dagher, Wall Street Journal reporter in Iraq, discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq this month, the state of the country nine years after the invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein, sectarian violence, and their thoughts about the future of Iraq.

On December 17, 2010, Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of his treatment at the hands of municipal officials. His act of desperation would become the catalyst for a full-scale revolution that would sweep across North Africa and into the Middle East in what would become known as the Arab Spring. This week has brought more violent clashes between protesters and police in Egypt, but the idea of such actions transpiring just a year ago would have been unfathomable. The year 2011 has seen democratic movements swell in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria.

On this week’s Underreported, Human Rights Watch researcher Nisha Varia describes abuses of migrant domestic workers in Asia and the Middle East, and why Cambodian women are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment in Malaysia. Plus, a look at efforts to implement international labor standards for domestic workers.

In Syria, tens of thousands of government supporters poured into the streets of Damascus and other cities on Sunday to protest the Arab League's decision to suspend Syria's membership. Angry supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad also attacked several embassies. In response to the unrest, Syria called for an emergency Arab summit. 

Simon Sebag Montefiore looks at how did the small, remote town of Jerusalem became the Holy City, the “center of the world,” and the key to peace in the Middle East. Jerusalem: The Biography tells the city’s story through the wars, love affairs, and revelations of the kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem.

The White House is planning to boost its military presence in the Middle East when the final troops leave Iraq at December's end. The new plan comes in light of the Iraqi government's refusal to allow American forces to remain in the country after the previously agreed-upon deadline, which goes into effect at year's end. The additional combat units would be stationed in Kuwait, and the U.S. views them as a hedge for stability in the event of a collapse in security in Iraq or a move of aggression by Iran.

Ariel Sharon served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006, but Sharon's long career in public service began with Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. Sharon suffered a stroke in 2006, leaving him in a coma-like state. While he is now immobilized, Ariel Sharon leaves a legacy that will no doubt affect his country for decades to come. 

Gilad Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s youngest son, joins The Takeaway this morning to talk about his new biography of his father. A controversial and polarizing figure, Ariel Sharon dedicated his life to protecting Israel, but how best to preserve his country’s borders became a lifelong question. Sharon lived a life of contradictions. As Minister of Defense in 1982, he was found to be indirectly responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Lebanon by Lebanese Christians. As prime minister, violence between Israelis and Palestinians skyrocketed. Yet his decision to relinquish control of Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 may yet define his legacy.

Col. Moammar Gadhafi was killed this morning in his birthplace of Sirte as forces of the National Transitional Council swept the city, according to the leader of the Tripoli military council. The reports have not been confirmed outside of the NTC. Martin Indyk, former U.S ambassador to Israel, and director of the Foreign Policy Institute at the Brookings Institution, comments on how Gadhafi's reported death will shake up international relations in the region.