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Wednesday, May 07, 2025

05/07 Links Pt1: The Gaza Famine Myth; Police thwart Iranian plot to target London's Israeli embassy; 60 Service Members Were Injured during Biden's Gaza Pier Boondoggle

From Ian:

The Gaza Famine Myth
To help make sense of all this, I talked to Nicholas Haan, who designed the food-insecurity classification system that became the IPC. Haan serves as a volunteer on the FRC, was one of the authors of the report that rebuked the USAID analysis, and is the lead technical adviser in a UN effort to replicate the IPC in areas such as health, hygiene, and shelter.

Famine—like genocide, fascist, and dictator—is a word susceptible to rhetorical abuse that can dilute and even invert its meaning. “My goal was to take famine from being a rhetorical word and make it a technical term,” Haan told me. “When the IPC uses the word famine now, “we mean famine.”

IPC owes its success during the past two decades to the fact that it works. And because it works, nefarious governments and armed groups have tried to sabotage it. Reuters reported last year that when the ruling junta in Myanmar detained several food researchers, the IPC was forced to remove its reports about the country from the internet. In Yemen, Houthi forces hijacked the IPC process in 2023 to exaggerate food shortages and compel aid shipments that were then stolen by the Iranian-backed militia.

“Political actors, for their own reasons, will manipulate information. It’s a truism,” Haan told me. The best response, he said, is for the IPC to uphold its standards and the clarity of its messaging. “The most important, powerful, and necessary tool to achieve this is truth. When you give up truth, you’ve given up all moral standing to end suffering.” He wouldn’t comment on the famine declaration by Fakhri and the other UN officials.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza collapsed and Israel resumed its offensive, the UN’s undersecretary for humanitarian affairs has apologized to Gazans for being “unable to move the international community to prevent this injustice.” Over the weekend, the UN refused to accept a U.S.-Israeli plan to deliver aid directly to civilians. On Tuesday, a senior Hamas official accused Israel of waging a “hunger war.”

The famine storyline in Gaza is like the proverbial bell that cannot be unrung. In September, ProPublica inaccurately said, “The UN has declared a famine in parts of Gaza.” When I asked if the reporter who wrote the article had read the FRC’s reports from last summer, a ProPublica spokesperson said it stands by the reporting, citing statements by UN officials who aren’t part of the IPC process and an FRC follow-up report in November. But that report, like the others before it, warned of “a strong likelihood” of famine, not that famine had begun.

The New Yorker has published roughly 20 interviews that referred to famine or starvation in Gaza—and three that addressed the IPC system and the FRC’s authoritative role. In all that reporting, The New Yorker never mentioned the FRC’s rejection of USAID’s analysis or its no-famine verdict.

As Haan and his FRC colleagues wrote about USAID’s slippery numbers last year, “High uncertainty is compounded through several layers of assumptions.” So many unthinkable tragedies have occurred since Hamas’s massacre on October 7, 2023, but a famine in Gaza isn’t one of them.
How to solve the Iranian problem
If the United States and its allies are serious about preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, then one reality must be faced head-on: Dismantling the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is not enough. To secure a lasting peace and prevent Tehran from rearming, the regime itself must be removed. Only then can the threat be permanently neutralized, and only then can the Iranian people begin the long-overdue process of rebuilding their country.

America has already demonstrated its ineffectiveness at nation-building in places like Iraq and Afghanistan—countries that, while sharing some cultural and religious similarities with Iran, are far less complex civilizations. With its ancient history and uniquely sophisticated culture, Iran presents an even greater challenge. If U.S.-led reconstruction efforts failed elsewhere, why would they succeed in Iran?

The United States should abandon any notion of managing Iran’s internal recovery and instead focus on two achievable objectives: eradicating Iran’s nuclear program; and removing the fanatically anti-Western, anti-non-Muslim regime from power. Both goals are feasible and essential.

Destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities alone won’t stop the threat posed by the Islamic Regime. Steeped in regional strategies of endurance and deception, the regime would simply wait for the political tides to shift in Washington or Jerusalem. Then, under more favorable circumstances, it would restart its nuclear-weapons program, perhaps more clandestinely but no less determined. That’s why removing the regime is not a supplementary option but a prerequisite.

Some argue that removing the regime might unleash even more radical forces; evidence from inside Iran suggests otherwise. Time and again, when cracks in the regime’s power appear, Iranians pour into the streets in protest. These demonstrations are only crushed when the state reasserts its control through brutal force. The people cannot stand up to this machine on their own. But when the regime shows signs of weakness, the public responds with courage and hope.

So, what do the Iranian people want? All available signs indicate a desire to reintegrate into the international community; redirect resources from terrorism and repression to domestic development; and normalize relations, especially with the United States and Israel. These signals may not always be loud, but they are unmistakable to those who understand Iranian culture.
Police thwart Iranian plot to target London's Israeli embassy
The Israeli embassy in London was the target of an alleged Iranian terror plot, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday.

This report followed two separate operations in which eight individuals, seven of whom were of Iranian nationality, were arrested by UK Police on Saturday, in what Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described as "one of the biggest counterterror operations in recent years," The Telegraph added.

The Iranians were "hours from unleashing an attack" when they were arrested, the report adds.

One of the Iranian nationals arrested in the UK on suspicion of planning a terror attack has

close ties to the Iranian regime, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday, citing Iranian sources in the UK.

The suspect's family reportedly holds major businesses in the Islamic Republic, with the source saying he was “very well connected."

Detained under Section 27 of the National Security Act 2023
All the alleged terrorists were detained under Section 27 of the National Security Act 2023.

According to Arab media, the Iranian Foreign Minister denied reports of an attempt to attack the Israeli embassy in London.

The statement reads: "We categorically deny any involvement in reports of an alleged plot to attack the Israeli embassy in London."


Republican lawmakers seek to block Palestinian upgrades at UN
Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, joined by 19 Republican colleagues in the Senate and several House members, introduced legislation Tuesday to halt US funding to international organizations that offer expanded recognition to the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

The proposed No Official Palestine Entry (NOPE) Act is aimed at reinforcing and broadening existing restrictions that bar US support for bodies, such as the United Nations, that elevate the PLO’s status beyond that of a nonmember observer.

Risch, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated, “The United Nations is now a seat of antisemitism and in desperate need of reform. Israel is one of America’s greatest allies, and we cannot tolerate or fund any anti-Israel bias or favoritism for the Palestinian Liberation Organization at the UN.”

The bill arrives one day after Israel announced plans to intensify its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. It also follows Risch’s introduction of the Stand With Israel Act, which seeks to cut funding to UN agencies that diminish Israel’s participation or status.

The PLO has held nonmember observer status at the UN since 2012, a position the US and Israel have both opposed. Supporters of the NOPE Act argue that any upgrade in Palestinian representation would bypass direct negotiations and damage the prospects for a two-state solution.
Israel, US lobby UN to join proposed Gaza aid distribution mechanism - exclusive
Israel and the US are trying to persuade the United Nations to participate in a new humanitarian aid distribution plan for Gaza that is currently being developed, according to both Israeli and Western diplomats who spoke to The Jerusalem Post.

During a cabinet meeting this week, a new plan for distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip was approved.

The plan involves establishing distribution centers in specific areas that will be under the IDF’s control. Aid will be distributed directly to individual families, rather than through truck convoys as was previously done – a method that often resulted in the aid falling into the hands of Hamas.

In recent days, several meetings have taken place between Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories officials and representatives of the UN to present the new plan and explore possible methods for aid distribution under this new framework, sources told the Post.

US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on Wednesday briefed members of the UN Security Council regarding the details of the new plan. Two sources familiar with the discussions estimate that US President Donald Trump’s administration may consider cutting funding to the UN if the organization refuses to participate in the new humanitarian initiative.

Israel seeks UN cooperation for several reasons
While Israel would manage the distribution mechanism, the actual aid, primarily food, would be supplied by the same international organizations that have provided assistance in the past. Two sources said some of these organizations may be unwilling to cooperate without a UN endorsement. Israel also hopes that UN involvement will provide international legal backing for the plan.

A senior Israeli official said this week that, for now, there is sufficient aid in Gaza and that there is no immediate need to implement the new plan. So far, the UN has refused to cooperate.

A senior UN official told the Post: “We have been very clear that we would not participate in the humanitarian distribution system that does not respect our principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality.”


More Than 60 Service Members Were Injured While Working on Biden's Gaza Pier Boondoggle: Report
More than 60 U.S. service members suffered injuries while working on the pier that former president Joe Biden wanted to build off the coast of Gaza—far more than Biden officials had disclosed—according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.

The Pentagon inspector general said that 62 service members sustained non-combat injuries in support of the Gaza pier, contradicting the Biden administration's claim that only 3 people were hurt, Reuters reported. "Based on the information provided," officials could not "determine which of these 62 injuries occurred during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions," the inspector general added.

The revelation comes after the Biden administration already faced heavy scrutiny for spending $230 million to build the pier—only to dismantle it after only 20 days of operation. Biden began the project, which involved around 1,000 U.S. service members, to deliver aid to the Palestinians. Israel had blockaded Palestinian aid because Hamas routinely steals it to fund terrorism.

A Pentagon spokesman said last year that Gazan civilians had not received any aid unloaded from the pier, which in some cases was "intercepted by some people who took that aid off."

Before the pier's construction began last April, multiple staffers at USAID, the agency that disburses U.S. foreign aid, warned Biden about severe weather challenges, but the president decided to push it forward anyway, according to a Pentagon report in August. The pier was plagued by rough weather, one reason that the administration shuttered the project after 20 days.

The inspector general also revealed Tuesday that the military under the Biden administration failed to meet equipment standards for the pier project. "Nor did they organize, train, and equip their forces to meet common joint standards," the report said, according to Reuters.

Published under: Biden Administration , Department of Defense , Foreign Aid , Gaza
85 House Democrats say Israel must end ‘morally wrong’ Gaza aid cutoff
A group of 85 House Democrats have signed onto a draft letter to Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter blasting as both a moral and strategic failure Israel’s blockage of humanitarian aid moving into Gaza in recent months, based on the draft reviewed by Jewish Insider.

“We are deeply alarmed and dismayed by this blockade, which started on March 2 and has contributed to some of the worst humanitarian conditions in Gaza since October 2023,” the lawmakers, led by Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) and Ami Bera (D-CA), wrote. “Such a policy is morally wrong and runs counter to the shared democratic values between our two countries.”

The letter argues that the blockade is creating “staggering … new levels of despair for Palestinian civilians” and will “only hurt Israel’s international standing and long term security.” They called on the Israeli government to resume aid deliveries immediately.

“We are moreover concerned that cutting off or severely restricting aid to Gaza harms Israel’s long term security,” the letter reads. “It is a stain on Israel’s international reputation, that jeopardizes efforts to normalize relations with neighboring Arab states, who have condemned this action.”

The signatories argued that the aid blockade could also worsen conditions for the hostages still alive in Gaza, potentially create regional disease outbreaks and could fuel further anti-Israel radicalization.

“Leveraging humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas, as [Israeli] Defense Minister [Israel] Katz has stated is the Israeli strategy, is unacceptable and constitutes an act of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers said they share Israeli concerns about Hamas’ theft of humanitarian aid, and urged Israel to work with the United States and international organizations to address it. They further called for the release of hostages and said they were “tremendously disturbed by Hamas’ grotesque displays as they released hostages and the remains of those killed in captivity.”

They called for a renewed ceasefire and hostage release deal that would bring an end to the war, which they described as “the only option to alleviate the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians and put the region on a path towards security and stability.”


UAE mediating secret talks between Israel and Syria, sources say
The United Arab Emirates has denied setting up a backchannel for discussions between Israel and Syria, following reports from three individuals familiar with the situation, as Syria's new leaders seek regional assistance to manage a growingly tense relationship with their southern neighbor.

The indirect contacts, which have not been previously reported, are focused on security and intelligence matters and confidence-building between two states with no official relations, a person with direct knowledge of the matter, a Syrian security source, and a regional intelligence official said.

The first source described the effort, which began days after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the UAE on April 13, as currently focused on "technical matters," and said there was no limit to what may eventually be discussed.

Backchannel limited to security-related issues
According to a Western source to The Jerusalem Post: The discussions between Israel and Syria were indirect, with messages relayed through the Emirates between Israeli officials and Syrian President Sharaa. Some of these talks took place over the past month.

The source said that purely military matters, particularly those concerning Israeli army activities in Syria, fell outside the scope of the current channel.

The intelligence source said UAE security officials, Syrian intelligence officials, and former Israeli intelligence officials were involved in the mechanism, among others.

They spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Katz: ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ to last until Hamas defeat, release of every hostage
Israeli troops are set to “act with great force” until all war goals for Gaza, including the defeat of Hamas and securing the release of every hostage, are achieved, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday.

The entire population of the Gaza Strip will be evacuated to the southern part of the enclave during the fighting, and the Israel Defense Force will stay in “every area that is taken,” the defense minister said.

“The operation is intended to defeat Hamas and bring about the release of all the hostages. We will act with great force to destroy all of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities,” he told soldiers of the IDF’s 162nd “Steel Formation” Armored Division, which is expected to take part in the ground campaign, dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.”

“From the moment the maneuver begins, we will act with great force and will not stop until all objectives are achieved,” Katz continued.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Ronen Bar have approved operational plans for an expanded military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The approval followed a situational assessment held on Tuesday at IDF Southern Command headquarters, attended by senior members of the military’s General Staff Forum and led by Zamir. According to an official statement, the operation will involve intensified maneuvers in Gaza, with Israeli forces expected to maintain control of areas they capture.

The announcement comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli military operations in Gaza would escalate. In a video message posted on Monday, Netanyahu said the move followed a late-night Security Cabinet meeting on Sunday.

“We decided on intensified action in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “That was the IDF chief of staff’s recommendation—to move, as he said, toward the defeat of Hamas. He believes this will also help us rescue the hostages.”


IDF kills senior Hamas, Hezbollah terror leaders in Lebanon strikes
Israel eliminated senior Hamas operative Khalid Ahmad Ahmad via an airstrike near Sidon, Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military.

Ahmad served as head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon, and was directly involved in orchestrating terror attacks against Israeli civilians and military forces throughout the ongoing war, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

In recent weeks, Ahmad was engaged in weapons smuggling and planning further attacks on Israeli territory, the IDF said. The military described his activity as a “direct threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”

His elimination followed a series of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and personnel across Lebanon.

On Tuesday, a senior Hezbollah operative was killed in an airstrike on the Nabatieh region in Southern Lebanon, according to the IDF. He was identified as Adnan Muhammad Sadiq Harb, a commander in the terrorist group’s Badr Unit.

Harb played a key role in Hezbollah’s operations north of the Litani River and was responsible for the rehabilitation of the group’s terror capabilities, according to the IDF.

He was also actively involved in restoring Hezbollah’s infrastructure south of the Litani, the military said—a move considered a violation of the post-2006 war understandings between Israel and Lebanon.


Three Israelis injured in simultaneous Samaria, Judea terrorist attacks
Two people were seriously wounded in a suspected terrorist shooting attack near the Reihan Crossing along the security fence in northern Samaria on Wednesday night, Israeli medical authorities said.

The IDF confirmed it had received a report about the shooting at the crossing, which is located near the Palestinian terrorist hub of Jenin.

“A terrorist fired at an IDF force that was carrying out an operational activity in the area. IDF forces began a pursuit of the terrorist,” it said.

According to Israel’s Channel 14 News, the shooting attack was carried out from a passing vehicle. IDF medics treated the victims on the spot and evacuated them by helicopter to a nearby hospital for treatment.

“Both are sedated and on ventilators, suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper body, and are expected to undergo surgery in the coming hours,” a spokesperson for Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center said.

At the same time, the IDF said it received a report of a terrorist car-ramming in the Hebron Hills of the military’s Judea Brigade area.

The terrorist tried to ram his car into IDF soldiers stationed in the area. He subsequently exited his vehicle and attempted to stab the troops before being “neutralized,” it said. His condition was not immediately clear.
Israel’s Supreme Court Chides the IDF for Dragging Its Feet in the Fight on Terror
When Hamas launched the present war in 2023, it hoped that it could spark an intifada in the West Bank, allowing its operatives there to seize control from the Palestinian Authority, and pursue a two-front war on Israel. It hasn’t succeeded, but it has still managed to do much damage. In January, the IDF launched a new operation there called Iron Wall, about which Amit Segal writes:

Satellite images vividly tell this story. The Jenin refugee camp no longer resembles a crowded maze of homes stacked upon each other. The IDF has created broad, clear paths to allow tanks rapid access, significantly improving mobility and response time throughout the camp.

In an important ruling, Israel’s Supreme Court recently rejected an appeal by the governor of Jenin to halt these demolitions. . . . Justice Noam Sohlberg went even further, admonishing the military—but in a manner unprecedented in Israel’s judicial history: “Since no temporary injunction was issued, the IDF should not have delayed operations awaiting our decision. Given a clear and immediate military necessity, action could and should have been taken immediately. Judicial review conducted while battles are ongoing could, God forbid, endanger soldiers’ lives.”

It’s a remarkable scene: Israel’s Supreme Court essentially urging military forces to advance promptly with armored bulldozers.


Netanyahu says 21 hostages are definitely alive, but there is ‘doubt’ about 3 others
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday there is “doubt” as to whether three Israeli hostages held in Gaza are still alive, after comments by his wife and by US President Donald Trump had called into question Israel’s official estimate that 24 living hostages remain in the Strip.

“We know for certain that there are 21 [hostages] alive, about this there is no dispute,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted to his X account, but “there are another three who, unfortunately, there is doubt if they are alive.”

“We are not giving up on any of them,” he added.

Netanyahu’s comments came after Trump said Tuesday night that he had information indicating that only 21 of the hostages remained alive, fewer than the official Israeli figure.

Those comments came days after Sara Netanyahu also said the number of hostages thought to still be alive in Gaza was lower than 24.

Trump’s comments sent shockwaves through the families of the hostages, who demanded they be provided with any updates.

“The number of living hostages as is known to the families, provided to them by official sources, is 24,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement the same evening. “We demand again…if there is new intelligence being kept from us, pass it to us immediately.”

Following Trump’s comments, Israeli sources speaking to Kan news also indicated “grave concerns” over the lives of three captives.


Teen ex-hostage says Hamas captor would touch her, tell her he wanted to marry her
Former hostage Dafna Elyakim opened up on Tuesday about the sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of one of her Hamas captors during the duration of her captivity in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Elyakim, then 15 years old, was abducted from her father’s house in Kibbutz Nahal Oz along with her younger sister, Ela Elyakim, then aged 8. The two were released on November 26, 2023, during a weeklong truce brokered by Qatar and the United States.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Civil Advocacy Center’s TEEN SPIRIT conference, the older Elyakim sister shared for the first time that one of her captors would touch her inappropriately, and had even threatened to keep her in Gaza to marry her.

“We had one guard with us, one of the terrorists, who would touch me all the time, or tell me that I was going to stay there, that they would return Ela and everyone else, and only I would stay behind with him, and that we were going to have children together, and a house and all that,” she said.

“He would always tell me that he was coming with me to shower,” Elyakim continued, adding, however, that the threat never materialized.

Several other released hostages have previously spoken publicly about the sexual abuse they endured during their captivity. Ela (left) and Dafna Elyakim, who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from their father’s house in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Released on November 26, 2023. (Courtesy)

In March 2024, Amit Soussana became the first freed hostage to open up about her ordeal when she told The New York Times that she had been sexually assaulted at gunpoint and attacked by her guard, who forced her to “commit a sexual act on him.”

Then, in March of this year, survivor Ilana Gritzewsky told The Times that she was sexually assaulted during her abduction to Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and that her first memory from the Strip was waking up half-naked, surrounded by gunmen.
Gabe Groisman: Hamas Hostage Survivor Shares Shocking Survival Story
In this emotional episode, Gabe sits down with Aviva Siegel, survivor of not only October 7th, 2023, but also as a Hamas hostage victim and survivor. Aviva describes how Hamas overtook her beautiful village in Israel, and the horrors behind the 64 of her community members and friends who were killed. Aviva describes in great detail what it was like being captured by Hamas, what she saw, and what they did to her. She vows in this episode to never remain quiet about the horrors of Hamas.




In historic first, Huckabee prays in Shiloh as part of official visit to Samaria
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee paid an official visit to the Ancient Shiloh site in the Binyamin region of southern Samaria on Wednesday, a historic first for a current U.S. diplomatic envoy.

Huckabee traveled to the biblical site, which was the spiritual capital of the Jewish people for 369 years following Joshua’s conquest of the Land of Israel, at the invitation of the Yesha Council, the umbrella group of Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

During the visit to Shiloh, Huckabee and his wife, Janet, recited Hannah’s Prayer from the biblical Book of Samuel at the site of the tabernacle, praying for the safety of the hostages and IDF soldiers in Gaza.

Huckabee reportedly also viewed biblically pure red heifers that are being kept at the site, which are being raised to be used as part of a purification ritual after the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.

“I have never used any term other than Judea and Samaria,” the envoy said in remarks shared by the Yesha Council. He added, “It would be a historical injustice and a denial of the Bible to use other terms.

“You have sacrificed greatly to live in these places. You have paid in blood, sweat and tears. This place is a miracle. Only the existence of God can explain your presence here. I believe in the Bible, and I have no faith without you. I owe you a spiritual debt,” he told Israeli pioneers from Judea and Samaria.


What the West is missing about the Gaza war | Our Middle East
In this episode of “Our Middle East,” Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs, and Khaled Abu Toameh, Senior Fellow at JCFA and the Gatestone Institute, unpack why Gaza is no longer a local conflict—it’s a global flashpoint.

The hosts warn that failure to decisively defeat Hamas will destabilize not only Israel’s southern front but entire Arab regimes in Jordan and Egypt, empower the Muslim Brotherhood and embolden Iran’s terror proxies across the region—from Yemen and Syria to university campuses in the United States.

They also cover:
Why Jordan’s King Abdullah outlawed Hamas
How Muslim Brotherhood cells threaten Egypt and the Abraham Accords
The growing hybrid war of deception—from Al Jazeera to TikTok
Why Hamas support in the West is anti-Palestinian, not pro-Palestinian
What Washington must understand about the tribal dynamics of Gaza
Can Israel trigger a “Gaza coup” and replace Hamas with local clan leadership?

Diker and Abu Toameh argue this is a moment of truth for the West—either support Israel’s total military and strategic victory, or face the ripple effects of radical Islamism, propaganda warfare and collapsing regional alliances.


Ben Shapiro: Sen. Tom Cotton Reveals the Shocking Truth About Iran's Nuclear Plans Senator Tom Cotton joins Ben Shapiro to expose the truth about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the failures of Obama's deal, and what America must do next.



American isolationists have it wrong when it comes to Iran | Israel Undiplomatic
JNS senior contributing editor Ruthie Blum and former Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom Mark Regev—both former advisers at the Prime Minister’s Office—examine Israel's two-day operation in Yemen in response to a direct ballistic missile strike near Ben-Gurion Airport. But beyond the immediate headlines, they examine what this strike means for Israel’s long-range deterrence, Iran’s nuclear threat and the shifting fault lines in U.S.-Israel relations.

Blum and Regev explore how growing American isolationism, especially among parts of the “America First” right and progressive left, is undermining Western resolve in the face of Iranian aggression and proxy warfare. They unpack an antisemitic email received by Blum as a disturbing sign of how some in the U.S. now frame support for Israel as a liability—fueled by ignorance of Iran’s true threat to global security.

Key topics covered:
Israel’s Yemen operation as a dry run for potential strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure
The internal U.S. debate: isolationism vs. strategic engagement in the Middle East
Why Israel does not and has never asked America to fight its wars—but still needs U.S. support
The myth of a “good deal” with Iran and why diplomatic illusions are dangerous
How Iran’s proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza are testing Western deterrence
The collapse of Red Sea commerce and its global ripple effects
Why a secure, sovereign Israel is not just an Israeli interest—but an American and global one
This isn’t just about Gaza, Yemen, or Tehran—it’s a frontline conversation about the future of American power, Western civilization and the reality of confronting radical Islamist regimes.


Josh Hammer: Anti-Boycott Legislation Has NOTHING To Do With Free Speech
Josh Hammer analyzes another of this week's hot-button legal/political issues, the fate of the Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.)-introduced IGO Anti-Boycott Act.




GOP Rep. Cory Mills explains why he was married by a radical Islamic cleric
Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), a rising star in Republican circles and on TV news, told Blaze News he was married by a radical Muslim cleric but did not realize it at the time.

Mills rocketed to the heights of political celebrity over the past four years, thanks to his television appearances, several high-profile rescues of Americans from Israel, Afghanistan, and Haiti, and the support of President Donald Trump. Mills was an Army medic from 1999 to 2003 and a private subcontractor in Iraq and the Middle East from 2005 to 2009. He has represented Florida’s East Coast 7th Congressional District since 2022, when he rode Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “red wave” into office.

Running on a pro-Christian, America First platform, Mills’ website says: “Cory is a father, patriot, combat veteran, entrepreneur, foreign policy expert, and true American conservative.”

The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, has been linked to several individuals engaged in terrorism-related activities, resulting in scrutiny from law enforcement and the public.

Anwar al-Awlaki served as imam at Dar Al-Hijrah from January 2001 to April 2002. Initially viewed as moderate, al-Awlaki later became a prominent al-Qaeda propagandist and terror leader. He was later linked to the radicalization of individuals such as Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter who killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 in November 2009, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab — the Underwear Bomber — who tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. In 2010, President Barack Obama ordered al-Awlaki’s death by authorizing a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. He was killed on September 30, 2011.

Two of the 9/11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Hani Hanjour, also attended the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in early 2001. Other individuals associated with the mosque include Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a former Dar Al-Hijrah congregant, who was convicted in 2005 of plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush.

Mohammed Al-Hanooti, who officiated Mills’ wedding in 2014, is perhaps best known for being an unindicted co-conspirator in both the 2008 Holy Land Foundation Hamas financing trial and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing plot.

He served as imam at Dar Al-Hijrah from 1995 to 1999, drawing heavy scrutiny from the national security and counterterrorism communities. His sermons included radical calls for jihad. In a 1998 khutbah, he declared, "We have to do everything we can to help the Iraqi people from tyrannies. ... We all have to be ready for the jihad with our properties and our souls." He also stated, "Allah will rain his curse on the Americans and the British," and "the curse of Allah will become true on the Jews."

Al-Hanooti had deep ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. According to a 2003 FBI memo cited in reports by the Investigative Project on Terrorism and Global Muslim Brotherhood Watch, Al-Hanooti was believed to be a key fundraiser for Hamas in the United States. His associations, along with his rhetoric, cast a long shadow over the mosque even after his departure.


Senior Tories break ranks over Palestine recognition and on support for Israel
At least 13 Conservative MPs and peers have broken ranks with the official position of their party and have called for the immediate recognition of Palestine.

Meanwhile another Tory politician has spoken in the Commons to announce that he has “withdrawn” his support for Israel, saying he had previously backed the country “pretty much at all costs” for two decades.

In a letter, organised by the former educationminister Kit Malthouse, the group of MPs and peers wrote: “For decades, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement and systemic restrictions on their basic freedoms.

“Recognising Palestine would affirm our nation’s commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights. It would send a clear message that Britain stands against indefinite occupation and supports the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations.”

The letter, sent to Keir Starmer, continues: “Recognition should not be treated as a distant bargaining chip but as a necessary step to reinforce international law and diplomacy. Prime minister, we stand ready to offer our public support for this decision.

“This is an opportunity for Britain to show leadership, to be on the right side of history and to uphold the principles we claim to champion. More than 140 UN member states have already recognised Palestine – it is time for the United Kingdom to do the same.”

Signatories include the father of the house, Edward Leigh, MPs Simon Hoare, John Hayes and Desmond Swayne.

Meanwhile peers signing it include Hugo Swire, Nicholas Soames and Patricia Morris.

Support for Palestinian recognition has traditionally come from the Labour and Liberal Democrat benches in recent years, but there has been a significant shift in the stance of some Tory MPs since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.


The Netherlands moves to veto extension of Israel-EU cooperation agreement
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Wednesday that The Hague would veto any extension of the E.U.-Israel Action Plan, which implements the association deal between Brussels and Jerusalem.

“The situation in the Gaza Strip is rapidly deteriorating—it is dramatic, catastrophic. Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid is in violation of the laws of war,” Veldkamp told the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.

“Meanwhile, the [Israeli] War Cabinet is announcing a reoccupation of Gaza. Taken together, this is reason to draw a line in the sand,” he said.

In a missive to European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, Veldkamp accused Jerusalem of acting in violation of the 2000 E.U.-Israel Association Agreement, which states that relations between the Jewish state and the 27-member body are “based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”

The Netherlands will block European cooperation with Jerusalem until alleged rights abuses are investigated, he wrote to Kallas. Renewal of the program requires unanimous support from all E.U. foreign ministers.

Veldkamp, a former ambassador to Israel, said he would bring up the issue during a two-day E.U. meeting in Warsaw starting on Wednesday.

The E.U.-Israel Action Plan forms the basis for cooperation in areas like climate policies, policing, scientific research and global poverty relief. Brussels is Jerusalem’s largest trade partner, accounting for 28.8% of its trade in goods in 2022, according to official data published by the European Union.


Police ban Swiss Cottage protest after brief return to the area
The Metropolitan Police has blocked a hardline anti-Zionist demonstration from taking place in Swiss Cottage this Friday.

Public Order Act conditions now prohibit any protest in the area surrounding the north London neighbourhood, where weekly rallies led by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist (IJAN) have taken place since October 2023 until police intervened in February.

The demo was allowed to return last Friday but decisive action has now been taken, it was announced tonight.

The Board of Deputies and grassroots group Stop The Hate welcomed the decision, with Board vice-president Andrew Gilbert saying, “We are deeply grateful to the police for taking swift action to protect our community. The right to protest is part of a free society, but so is the right to worship in peace and safety.”

He added: “By deliberately holding demonstrations in close proximity to several synagogues and on Friday nights, when many Jews attend prayer services and walk to visit family and friends, IJAN has broken the delicate balance. They have chosen to distress and intimidate the local Jewish community with outrageous and at times directly threatening conduct.”

Swiss Cottage anti-Zionist demo
Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, the policing lead for Camden and Islington, said the “only way to prevent that level of disruption in this case is to use our powers to require the protest to take place elsewhere”.

He said the rallies had caused “fear and concern linked to a rise in antisemitic hate crime” and included “instances of hate speech and intimidating behaviour, including confrontation between this protest and counter-protest groups”.




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