Monday, June 16, 2025

06/16 Links Pt1: Eight Israelis killed in five Iranian missile strikes; The Ultimate Deception: How Trump and Bibi Outfoxed Iran; IAEA: All centrifuges at Iran main's enrichment plant severely damaged

From Ian:

Eight Israelis killed in five Iranian missile strikes
Eight Israelis were killed by Iranian missile strikes in five locations that occurred Sunday night and early Monday morning.

In the central Israeli city of Petach Tikva, five people were killed in a residential building, and in adjacent Bnei Brak, an 80-year-old man was found dead at the site of a missile strike.

Two of the people killed in Petach Tikva were inside their safe room, which was directly hit by a missile. Israel’s Home Front Command explained that safe rooms are built to protect from shrapnel, shards and shock waves, but not a direct hit, which is a rare occurrence. The Home Front Command emphasized that everyone else in the building who was in a safe room was not even injured. Petach Tikva Mayor Rami Grinberg said that the residence was struck by a ballistic missile carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

Tel Aviv sustained two direct missile strikes, one of which lightly damaged the U.S. Embassy Branch Office. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee clarified that “the minor damage to the property were from the shock waves … from the nearby blast … No injuries, thank God!”

Among the residents evacuated from buildings in Tel Aviv was a six-day-old baby, whose mother was found minutes later.

In Haifa, three people were found dead under the rubble of a burning building where a missile hit, and about 300 people were evacuated. The Israel Electric Corporation said that the strike damaged its power grid, and that “teams are working on the ground to neutralize safety hazards, in particular the risk of electrocution.” Maritime risk assessment company Ambrey reported a fire at the Haifa Port.

Israel continued to intercept Iranian and Houthi drones heading to Israel’s north on Monday morning.

About 50 Israeli fighter jets and aircraft struck some 100 military targets in Isfahan in central Iran overnight, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office said on Monday.

Among those targets were missile storage sites, surface-to-surface missile launchers and command centers. Israel has destroyed over 120 missile launchers since the beginning of the operation, about a third of Iran’s total launchers. In one strike overnight, the IAF identified an attempt to launch missiles towards Israel in real time and destroyed the cell and missiles.

The IDF confirmed on Monday that it killed the head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence Mohammad Kazemi and his deputy, Hassan Mohaqiq, on Sunday.

The IDF also struck a command center of the Quds Force, part of the IRGC, for the first time, according to the IDF spokesperson. The Quds Force “planned acts of terror against Israel through the Iranian regime’s proxies in the Middle East.”

Israel also reportedly struck near nuclear sites in Fordow. The Wall Street Journal reported that parts of the underground nuclear enrichment site in Natanz collapsed as a result of Israeli strikes.

The IAF struck Mashhad, in eastern Iran, on Sunday afternoon, destroying an Iranian refueling aircraft. Mashhad, some 2300 km (1429 mi) away from Israel, is the farthest Israeli fighter jets have flown in Iran, and, according to some experts, the farthest in any Israeli operation, ever.

The Israeli Navy used a new air defense system called Thunder Shield and LRAD long-range interceptors on Sa’ar 6 ships to intercept eight Iranian drones overnight. The seaborne systems, which have intercepted some 25 projectiles since the beginning of Operation Rising Lion on Thursday night, are able to intercept UAVs, cruise missiles, sea-to-land missiles and more.
Seth Mandel: The World Had 30 Years of Israeli Restraint and Failed to Stop Iran
Notice a pattern? Israeli leaders take steps for peace and then ask one thing of the West: to help prevent Iran from sabotaging the process before it can go any further.

In 2012, Shimon Peres—Israel’s “dreamer,” the only person as closely associated with the peace process as Rabin—was asked by CNN about Israel’s willingness to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program, even taking lethal action against those responsible for the program. Peres responded: “If you have enough information about a certain person which is a ticking clock that can explode a bomb that can endanger civilian life, clearly you have to prevent him from doing so.”

Meanwhile, plans for Iran’s nuclear program began back in the 1980s. These plans were put into action in the 1990s as Iran sought to build nuclear bombs within about a decade. Before that time was up, however, it’s illicit facilities were revealed and efforts were made to try to freeze the project. Iran ignored its diplomatic obligations and in 2005 was found to be noncompliant by the International Atomic Energy Agency. This happened again mere days ago. President Obama’s JCPOA was intended to delay Iran’s nuclear breakout beyond his presidency, but the deal itself foreclosed the possibility of reliable verification so mostly what it did was give Tehran relief from sanctions and enable it to set the Middle East on fire while still pursuing nuclear weapons.

In all those years, presidents of both parties engaged Iran diplomatically over its nuclear program. Such an offer of diplomacy remains on the table.

It is self-discrediting to ask “Why didn’t they try diplomacy?” It is self-discrediting to claim that this war is a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s “obsession.” The record is crystal clear: Thirty years of restraint were rewarded with violence and subterfuge. And so those 30 years of restraint have come to a close.
Seth Mandel: Israel-Iran Conflict Has Already Proved the Necessity of ‘Operation Rising Lion’
We don’t know how many missiles have been shot or how many have been intercepted, and some appeared to have failed to make the trip all the way to Israel and landed somewhere along the way. But as of Sunday there were 17 sites of impact, the New York Times reported. The missiles are being fired at population centers—while Israel is hitting military targets, the Iranians are simply launching war crime after war crime. The regime in Tehran has the advantage here of not coming under international pressure to avoid crimes against humanity, because their victims are Jews. Kenneth Roth, a preposterously cretinous anti-Zionist who used to run a pretend “human rights” organization and now teaches at Princeton, has even been out there justifying Iran’s strikes like the totalitarian regime mouthpiece he strives to be.

And missiles are hitting densely populated neighborhoods, the Times notes, just the shockwaves alone are damaging. One expert told the paper that Iran had fired one kind of missile at Israel for the first time: the Shahed Haj Qassem. It is a solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile that the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control identifies as one of the newer types that Iran likely intends to outfit with a nuclear warhead if the regime ever crosses that goal line.

To simplify: Iran is practicing nuking Tel Aviv.

Iranian firepower isn’t only a threat to Israel. Russia has relied on Iranian-made drones and ballistic and cruise missiles in its war on Ukraine. As CSIS notes, both Russia and China—Iran’s benefactors—have so-called firepower-strike strategies in their respective war doctrines. Every Iranian missile benefits all three, giving our European allies plenty of reason to stop complaining about Israel’s preemptive actions.

An Iranian nuclear umbrella would put the world at risk, and for that reason alone Israel deserves the full support of the West. But from Israel’s perspective, the buildup of a large-enough ballistic-missile stockpile to overwhelm Israeli defenses is absolutely a threat that must be eliminated, and soon.
John Spencer: Redefining Shock and Awe: What We Can Learn from Israel’s Opening of Operation Rising Lion
Imagine if Operation Overlord in World War II began with the elimination of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the German High Command; Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS; Field Marshal Erwin Rommel; numerous other senior generals; and the destruction of all of Germany’s air defenses, before a single Allied soldier landed on the beaches of Normandy. That’s not an exaggerated hypothetical. It’s a near-parallel to what Israel just did to Iran.

Israel’s war against Iran is still ongoing. But what has already unfolded will be studied for decades.

Israel's current military operation against Iran is officially called Operation Rising Lion, launched on June 13, 2025, with a sweeping and precise preemptive strike. The operation was not just historic. It was transformational. It redefined what shock and awe can look like in the 21st century.

This was not merely a strike. It was a campaign—a layered, synchronized demonstration of modern operational art, built on deep intelligence, strategic deception, and the innovative fusion of old and new tools of war. Here's what it teaches us.

1. Surprise as a Core Element of Operational Art
Israel’s campaign against Iran is a textbook case in modern operational art. It wasn’t just an airstrike. It was a synchronized, multi-domain offensive that combined cyber, human intelligence, electronic warfare, airpower, special operations, and psychological operations.

Israel achieved surprise at the highest level. It launched a campaign that disrupted Iranian defenses before the first fighter jet even crossed the border. This is not warfare of the past. This is what large-scale, intelligence-driven combat looks like in 2025. The decisive moment in war often arrives long before the first bomb drops.

2. Deep Intelligence Penetration and Human Terrain Dominance
Perhaps the most stunning revelation is the depth to which Mossad and Israeli intelligence had penetrated Iran’s inner military and nuclear circles. They not only knew where nuclear scientists and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders were located. They manipulated meeting schedules and lured multiple top generals into the same underground facility to be eliminated simultaneously.

Confirmed kills include:
Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri
IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami
Khatam al-Anbia HQ Commander Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid
IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh
Nine nuclear scientists

These were not replaceable figures. Many had served for decades and had no peer backups. Their loss was not just symbolic. It decapitated Iran’s ability to coordinate large-scale retaliation.

Additionally, Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani was struck, along with over 20 senior commanders targeted and eliminated in the first night alone. This wasn’t just a blow. It was a beheading of Iran’s strategic brain trust.


The Ultimate Deception: How Trump and Bibi Outfoxed Iran
If the 1973 Yom Kippur War provides the template for understanding the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7, 2023, the 1967 Six-Day War might—as Luttwak suggests—provide the model for the present phase of the conflict between Israel and Iran. Iran was unprepared militarily for the assault on its nuclear installations that Israel has been threatening for over a decade, despite the facts that it has no air force to speak of and that Israel destroyed its most important air-defense capabilities in October—while demonstrating that IDF jets had the ability to strike Iranian territory. And not only that, Michael Doran writes, but its leading generals

knew—without the slightest illusion—that Israel had the capability and resolve to kill them. [They] saw the Israeli air force bury Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah in his bunker, hundreds of meters beneath the streets of Beirut. They saw the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vaporized in a presidential guesthouse—in Tehran, no less. Yet on Thursday night, they came home as usual and went to sleep—unguarded, unworried, carefree. Like insurance salesmen and bank tellers following their daily routines, it never occurred to them that they might not wake in the morning. But they didn’t.

In 1967, Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser made a similar mistake.

Doran goes on to explain how the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was lulled into complacency:
When in history had an American president not succumbed to the temptation to negotiate with Iran rather than apply military pressure? Experience had taught Khamenei that the redlines of American presidents were invitations to begin haggling. Americans can be led around like trained animals, always chasing the mirage of a deal.

The Iranians’ analysis was, in nearly every respect, correct. They saw the gap between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. They understood that Trump wanted a deal and was restraining Israel. They calculated that Israel could not act alone.

They were right about all of it. Except for one thing: Trump meant what he said. Netanyahu took everything the Iranians understood—everything that was true—and used it to hide the two truths that mattered: Trump will not let Iran get the bomb; and Netanyahu was prepared to act boldly on that knowledge.

The heart of the deception was not a lie and not even a misdirection—it was the absence of deception entirely.
How Trump and Bibi Outfoxed Iran
Early Friday morning, as Iranian generals who’d spent years threatening Israel with destruction still slept, Israel launched a surprise attack. Its precision strikes damaged nuclear facilities and killed military officials deep within Iranian territory. Soon after, we heard stories of Mossad agents and Israeli drone bases hidden behind enemy lines.

So how did they do it?

Why did these seasoned Iranian officers—veteran warriors, intelligence chiefs, regime survivors—lower their guard so completely? Did Benjamin Netanyahu read Donald Trump better than the Iranians? How did Israel achieve strategic surprise? And can it achieve lasting victory?

Join Bari Weiss and Michael Doran, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, as they delve into these questions—and take yours.


'Strategic Decapitation': Israel Expands Operations, Targeting Iranian Political Institutions as Netanyahu Taunts 'Weak' Regime in Tehran
Israel pummeled hundreds of targets across Iran on Sunday, hitting Tehran’s military leadership, government buildings, and weapons depots—significantly intensifying operations meant to cripple the Islamic Republic’s nuclear infrastructure and destroy its hardline regime. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said "it’s possible" the United States could enter the fray.

Israel bombed multiple Iranian energy sites overnight, settling ablaze fuel depots the regime uses to feed its military and lucrative commercial oil industry. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit Iran’s foreign ministry compound along with the Islamic Republic’s defense ministry and other operational outposts central to the regime’s planned retaliatory strikes.

Israel has demonstrated through these operations that it is willing to target the Iranian regime’s centralized ruling architecture, not just its contested nuclear sites.

The strikes on Tehran’s leadership outposts are likely aimed at destabilizing an Iranian regime that is already on the defensive following Israel's successful opening salvo. That regime could soon face mass unrest if its fragile governing systems break down, and while the hardline government has for years quelled protests against it, the added pressure of a full-scale Israeli assault brings complications.

"It could certainly be the result because the Iranian regime is very weak," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday after Fox News's Bret Baier asked whether "regime change" was part of Israel's war effort. "They certainly don't have the people. Eighty percent of the people would throw these theological thugs out. I mean, they murder them, they oppress them for 46 years, they yearn for freedom."

The Jewish state has already assassinated more than 20 senior Iranian military leaders, constituting "the entire top tier of Iran’s military command," according to Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "This is not just retaliation—it’s strategic decapitation."

Among those killed are Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s second-in-command and chief of staff of its armed forces; Maj. Gen. Gholamali Rashid, a deputy chief of staff; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami; IRGC aerospace force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh; IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani; and Ali Shamkhani, a senior Khamenei adviser and onetime secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, according to Dubowitz.

Reports from inside Iran suggest that around five cars simultaneously exploded in Tehran, killing nuclear scientists and regime hardliners. Israel is believed to have killed around 14 Iranian scientists since hostilities broke out early Friday morning.

IAF planes also struck around 10 targets "related to Iran’s weapons system—the final stage in the nuclear program," according to Israeli media.
Israel Had No Choice but to Strike Iran
While I’ve seen much speculation—some reasonable and well informed, some quite the opposite—about why Jerusalem chose Friday morning to begin its campaign against Iran, the most obvious explanation seems to be the most convincing. First, 60 days had passed since President Trump warned that Tehran had 60 days to reach an agreement with the U.S. over its nuclear program. Second, Israeli intelligence was convinced that Iran was too close to developing nuclear weapons to delay military action any longer. Edward Luttwak explains why Israel was wise to attack:
Iran was adding more and more centrifuges in increasingly vast facilities at enormous expense, which made no sense at all if the aim was to generate energy. . . . It might be hoped that Israel’s own nuclear weapons could deter an Iranian nuclear attack against its own territory. But a nuclear Iran would dominate the entire Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, with which Israel has full diplomatic relations, as well as Saudi Arabia with which Israel hopes to have full relations in the near future.

Luttwak also considers the military feats the IDF and Mossad have accomplished in the past few days:
To reach all [its] targets, Israel had to deal with the range-payload problem that its air force first overcame in 1967, when it destroyed the air forces of three Arab states in a single day. . . . This time, too, impossible solutions were found for the range problem, including the use of 65-year-old airliners converted into tankers (Boeing is years later in delivering its own). To be able to use its short-range F-16s, Israel developed the “Rampage” air-launched missile, which flies upward on a ballistic trajectory, gaining range by gliding down to the target. That should make accuracy impossible—but once again, Israeli developers overcame the odds.


Why Israel struck first – and what the world refused to see
One of Elie Wiesel’s best-known aphorisms remains among his most evergreen: “When someone says they want to kill you, believe them.”

Even since its revolutionary origins in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ruling clerics have remained singularly hellbent on Israel’s annihilation. The rhetoric has not been ambiguous, nor has it been metaphorical. It has been unequivocally genocidal.

From former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s infamous statement in 2005 that Israel was a “disgraceful blot” that should be “wiped off the face of the earth” to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s prediction in 2015 that Israel would cease to exist within 25 years, the threats have been clear and consistent.

Anyone with an internet connection today can see that the Iranian regime’s appetite for Israel’s destruction has not abated. Search for Tehran’s “Palestine Square” on Google Maps, and you’ll find a massive digital clock ticking down with chilling precision to what the regime hopes will be Israel’s demise. It’s not underground. It’s a state-sanctioned, institutional source of pride.

However, the Islamic Republic didn’t simply fantasise about Israel’s destruction. It prepared for it. For years, Israel has watched on – often alone – as Tehran built a clandestine nuclear weapons program, enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, assembled a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles and led international nuclear inspectors down a path of opaque obfuscation.

At the same time, Tehran’s leadership cultivated a web of terrorist proxies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza — that surrounded Israel from nearly every border.

What Iran-backed Hamas terrorists did on 7 October, 2023, as they butchered, raped, pillaged and kidnapped their way through southern Israel, was unspeakable. The deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and the bloodiest in Israel’s history. Imagine what the Islamic Republic would have done with a nuclear warhead.

But Israel did not have to imagine. Years of intelligence gathering revealed a concrete, imminent plan from Tehran to wage a war of extermination — another, more destructive 7 October emanating from all sides of Israel’s border. Faced with this existential threat, Israel launched Operation “Rising Lion”, a targeted, pre-emptive strike against key nuclear and military facilities across Iran. Unlike Israel’s surgical strikes, the Islamic Republic has responded in the past 48 hours by launching over a thousand missiles and suicide drones directly at major population centres in Israel, from Haifa to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Bat Yam.

Crucially, Israel’s operation was not an act of war against the Iranian people. The Iranian people are not Israel’s enemies. They have suffered unbearable repression at the hands of the same violent, kleptocratic theocracy that has threatened Israeli lives.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu exclusive interview with ABC News

Israel wants to help Iranian people achieve freedom -Prime Minister Netanyahu
In a special interview with Iran International, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the goal of his country’s air offensive is to defeat Iran’s clerical rulers — a goal he said aligns with the will of the Iranian people.

Netanyahu added that the ruling system's days were numbered.

"A light has been lit—carry it to freedom,” Netanyahu told anchor Pouria Zeraati on Monday.

“This is the time,” he said. “Your hour of freedom is near—it’s happening now.”

Netanyahu cast the Islamic Republic as an enduring threat to Israel through its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.


Iran said to seek ceasefire via Gulf states as Trump urges deal ‘before it’s too late’
Following reports that Iran has been sending urgent messages to Washington and Jerusalem through Arab intermediaries expressing desire to end the conflict with Israel and resume nuclear talks with the United States, US President Donald Trump said Monday that Tehran is seeking to discuss de-escalation and should do so “before it’s too late.”

“I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a G7 summit in Canada.

The comments followed earlier reports on Monday that Iran has been signaling through other Arab states that it wants to end its conflict with Israel and return to the negotiating table. Tehran is reportedly seeking a ceasefire as a condition for reengaging in diplomacy, while Gulf states urge Washington to help de-escalate the crisis.

As Israel and Iran continued to exchange blows following the Israel Defense Forces’ surprise assault on Iranian nuclear and military sites early Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Tehran has been telling Arab officials that it would consider restarting dialogue provided that the US does not join the offensive, citing Middle Eastern and European officials.

Arab officials cited in the report said that Persian Gulf nations — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman — have been urging the US to push Israel to halt the fighting, warning that without a return to negotiations between the warring countries, the conflict could escalate, endangering energy infrastructure across the Gulf and potentially disrupting oil markets and the broader global economy.

Reuters later reported that Tehran had asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Trump to influence Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in return for Tehran’s flexibility in nuclear negotiations, citing two Iranian and three regional sources.
Trump Refuses to Sign G7 Statement on Iran; Wants Total End to Nuclear Enrichment
President Donald Trump rejected the G7’s proposed statement on Iran because it called for monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities, rather than an outright halt to Iran’s program of nuclear enrichment.

The Trump administration has been demanding that Iran halt all uranium enrichment, since enrichment past a certain level has no purpose other than developing the unique isotope necessary for nuclear weapons.

Iran has refused to agree, leading to the impasse in nuclear talks — and leading Israel to attack Iran last Friday rather than face the prospect of an imminent Iranian nuclear weapon.

The Telegraph reported:
The Telegraph learnt that a draft document was circulated that called for both sides to protect civilians and for tight monitoring of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

That was unacceptable to Mr Trump, who is demanding that Iran is not allowed any uranium enrichment activity and who has been one of the most outspoken of Israel’s supporters.

“I can confirm that he did not sign on to the statement,” said a senior US official.

As for “both sides” protecting civilians, Israel has targeted legitimate military and government sites, and has given civilians advance warning to evacuate, while Iran has launched ballistic missiles at civilian population centers, with no legitimate military objective.

Trump told reporters at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, that Iran should talk “immediately” about compromising on its nuclear program.


Fetterman Urges Israel To Take Out the Ayatollah: 'No Mercy'
Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) is calling on Israel to show "no mercy" and take out Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Fetterman told the Washington Free Beacon Israel should use its successful campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon—which culminated with the assassination of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah—as a model for how to deal with Iran.

"Yes, just like Nasrallah," Fetterman replied when asked whether the Jewish state should target Khamenei. "In fact, it should have been when Israel began to dismantle Iran."

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Monday interview with ABC News refused to rule out a strike aimed at eliminating Khamenei. Fetterman, for his part, said he believes Israel should brush off criticism of a potential attack against the supreme leader.

"Israel has fully earned the right to do whatever to finish off Iran," he said. "Consider what Israel has accomplished: crushed Hamas, same with Houthis, and neutered Hezbollah. Syria fell. All of the so-called experts were absolutely wrong. Iran turned out as the ultimate paper tiger and needs to be put away."
Sen. Kaine files resolution to block U.S. military action against Iran
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a war powers resolution on Monday that aims to block the U.S. from taking military action against Iran in support of Israel’s ongoing operation against the regime.

The resolution would bar military action against Iran unless directly authorized by a congressional vote, or in order to defend the United States from an “imminent attack.”

The legislation comes as Israeli leaders are reportedly pushing the United States to support Israel’s military operations, particularly to target the deeply entrenched nuclear site at Fordow that Israel is believed to lack the capabilities to destroy on its own.

War powers resolutions are privileged under congressional procedures, meaning that Kaine can force a vote on the legislation. Kaine told Jewish Insider on Monday that the resolution could be called up, at earliest, late next week, depending on other timing issues.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announced that he plans to introduce a similar war powers resolution in the House.

“The question of whether United States forces should be engaged in hostilities against Iran should be answered following a full briefing to Congress and the American public of the issues at stake, a public debate in Congress, and a congressional vote as contemplated by the Constitution,” the resolution reads.

Kaine warned in a statement that the Israeli-Iranian conflict “could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict.”

“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine said. “The American people have no interest in sending servicemembers to fight another forever war in the Middle East. This resolution will ensure that if we decide to place our nation’s men and women in uniform into harm’s way, we will have a debate and vote on it in Congress.”
MTG post against Israel’s operations in Iran unites far right, far left
A tweet by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) opposing U.S. support for Israel’s ongoing campaign against Iran is bringing into sharp relief the convergence between the far left and far right in opposition to the Israeli operation.

Greene, posting on X on Sunday, lambasted “fake” America First leaders, arguing “the list of fakes are becoming quite long and exposed themselves quickly. Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA. Wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting.”

She went on to claim that a regional war or global war, which would likely overwhelm the Middle East, BRICS and NATO, is inevitable and that “countries are required to take a side.”

“I don’t want to see Israel bombed or Iran bombed or Gaza bombed,” Greene said. “And we do NOT want to be involved or required to pay for ANY OF IT!!!”

The Georgia Republican went on to deny that Iran was close to attaining a nuclear weapon and suggested that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was not particularly significant because “more countries than is public have some sort of nuclear capabilities.”

Greene also repeatedly denied that she was antisemitic.

That post has won plaudits from prominent far-left figures, including Code Pink activist Medea Benjamin and Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim.

“You don’t have to agree with [Greene] on everything to applaud her incredibly strong anti-war position!” Benjamin wrote. “Yes, we are sick and tired of foreign wars. All of them. And yes, we don’t want to be forced to pay for them.”
U.S. Military On The Move: Strike Group En Route To Middle East Amid Israel’s Iran Offensive
A United States aircraft carrier strike group is on its way to the Middle East, following a large number of refueling aircraft that arrived in Europe amid Israel’s ongoing offensive against Iran.

The U.S. Navy’s USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group is heading to the Middle East from the South China Sea, according to Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin. The strike group is equipped with nine squadrons flying F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, C-2A Greyhounds, and MH-60R/S Sea Hawks, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

On Sunday, several social media accounts tracked the flight movements of multiple KC-135 and KC-46 refueling aircraft, showing they were en route to Europe. Two American officials said the aircraft were being repositioned to provide President Donald Trump with additional options, according to Reuters.

The Nimitz, which is the oldest aircraft carrier in the world and set to be decommissioned next year, was scheduled to replace the USS Carl Vinson, which is currently in the Arabian Sea, but is now coming ahead of schedule. The two aircraft carrier strike groups will reportedly be present at the same time as the only United States carriers in the Middle East.

A reception scheduled for the Nimitz in Vietnam on June 20 has reportedly been canceled.

Griffin notes that the USS Nimitz’s presence amid Iran’s conflict with an American ally is significant, as it was also deployed in 1980 to help rescue American hostages held at the United States Embassy in Tehran during the failed Operation Eagle Claw.

Aircraft tankers are essential in refueling aircraft for long-range strikes.


Strength even under fire: The Israeli Stock Exchange demonstrates impressive stability
Last Thursday, when security tensions skyrocketed following threats from Iran, the Israeli capital market responded accordingly. The TA-35 index recorded a sharp decline of approximately 1.5% on a relatively high trading volume of 2 billion NIS, and market sentiment appeared to fluctuate in step with the security situation.

But when the stock market turns green and a wave of gains sweeps through Tel Aviv, one of the fundamental truths about the local capital market becomes clear: even during times of conflict, even when citizens are sheltering in safe rooms, and even when institutional and private investors hesitate over their next moves—the Israeli capital market proves once again its ability to rebound swiftly and decisively.

We should not underestimate this. This is a strategic event involving a regional power, and the concerns were real and justified. Still, a sharp correction on Sunday morning sent a clear message to investors: the Israeli market is alive, resilient, and kicking.

A day of success
Amid calls from many to shut down the stock exchange due to escalating security developments, the decision by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israel Securities Authority Chairman Adv. Sefi Zinger to keep trading open as usual proved to be not only brave, but rational and correct. The stock exchange—not for the first time—did more than withstand the pressure: it responded with strength. The TA-35 Index ended the trading day with a gain of approximately 0.5%, on a trading volume of 1.1 billion NIS—a relatively high figure for a Sunday, which typically sees lower volumes. At its intraday peak, the index climbed as high as 1.18%, and other indices posted gains as well—surprising even seasoned market veterans.

The message is clear: while the Israeli market may be small in size, it is large in character. Despite redemptions on Thursday and despite the damage to property and life over the weekend, investors voted with their feet and left the security concerns behind.

Even against the backdrop of credit rating downgrades throughout the "Iron Swords" war and a persistent sense of uncertainty, the Israeli stock exchange continues to symbolize not only the resilience of the local economy but also the hope, determination, and belief among Israelis that tomorrow can and will be better.


Two more victims of Bat Yam missile impact named, one thought to still be under rubble
Meir Vaknin, 56, and Michael Nahum, 61, were named by authorities Monday as two of nine people killed in a missile strike on a Bat Yam residential high-rise early Sunday.

According to Hebrew media, Vaknin was a father of three, and Nahum was a father of four. Both were Bat Yam residents.

Belina Ashkenazi, 94, and Efrat Saranga, 44, were earlier named as victims in the attack.

The missile impact also killed an 8-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy.

Five of the victims, including the three children, were Ukrainian nationals. Bat Yam has a large community of Jews from the former Soviet Union.

Nine people are believed to have been killed, and nearly 200 injured, when a ballistic missile directly impacted the Bat Yam apartment building.

Search and rescue efforts at the site continued Monday, as one person remains missing following the early morning strike. The scene of an apartment building destroyed by an Iranian ballistic missile impact, in Bat Yam, June 15, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Separately, Avraham Cohen, 75, was identified as the person killed in an Iranian attack a day later, after he was pulled out of a building in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, that was damaged by a missile that directly impacted a local school, leaving the latter in ruins.

Four people were also killed in Petah Tikva, and three in Haifa, during that barrage, which came just after 4 a.m. on Monday. Their identities had not been released as of Monday afternoon.

The three dead in Haifa were killed by an impact at the Bazan oil refinery complex, authorities permitted for publication. The attack caused “localized damage” at the oil facility, according to the authorities.

Rescuers had attempted for hours to reach the three missing people, who were buried under rubble during the attack on the northern city. A fire also broke out at the location, complicating rescue operations.

The Health Ministry said 287 people were hospitalized nationwide as a result of the barrage — one person in serious condition, 14 moderately injured, and the rest only lightly injured or suffering acute shock.


Israel launches rescue operation to bring close to 150,000 stranded Israelis home
Israel's Transportation Ministry will launch Operation 'Safe Return' to bring close to 150,000 Israelis stuck abroad back home, Transport Minister Miri Regev announced Monday.

According to Regev, private airlines and the Israeli Mano Maritime shipping company will be mobilized to bring between 100,000 and 150,000 Israelis stranded across the globe home by air or by sea.

Regev noted that the operation will be carried out in accordance with the Defense Ministry. She said the Transport Ministry had initially requested helicopters and aircraft, but was unable to receive them due to constraints within the Israeli Air Force.

Therefore, Regev said, Israelis trapped abroad may be brought back on landing crafts. The Transportation Ministry will launch a specialized body to monitor the safe return of Israelis, in coordination with officials from the IDF's Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority (RAHEL).

Furthermore, Israel will take steps to evacuate non-citizens staying in the country, including teenagers on Birthright trips and tourists, because "they do not need to be here."

Regev noted that "we will do everything to bring Israelis home," but stressed that "it will take time, it will not happen overnight." She also told Israelis stuck abroad that they "have nothing to worry about - you are abroad, enjoy."


Israeli opposition leader’s son’s home damaged by Iranian missile
The Tel Aviv apartment of Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid’s son sustained light damage in an overnight Iranian missile barrage on Sunday, the Yesh Atid Party leader revealed on Monday afternoon.

“This is my granddaughter’s bedroom—she’s 13 months old. This is the glass, which fell where her head usually rests,” the opposition leader said in a video recording from the scene released by his office.

“They weren’t here at night, thank God. I call on everyone: Follow the Home Front Command instructions, go to the protected spaces. Don’t take risks. The girl could have died if she would have been here.”

Eight people were killed and nearly 300 wounded in the early hours of Monday by Iranian ballistic missiles targeting Israeli population centers in the central and northern parts of the country.

Four of the deaths took place in the greater Tel Aviv area—four in Petach Tikvah and one in Bnei Brak. Three people who were initially reported as being trapped in Haifa were declared dead, while a 30-year-old woman was rescued and hospitalized in serious condition.

Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcaster reported that the Petach Tikvah home of Likud Party lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky sustained damage.

The Yesh Atid Party led the Zionist opposition factions in the Knesset on Monday afternoon in helping to defeat a motion of no-confidence in the government submitted by the Arab Hadash, Ta’al and Ra’am factions.


IAEA: All 15,000 centrifuges at Iran’s main enrichment plant likely ‘severely damaged’
It is very likely all the roughly 15,000 centrifuges operating at Iran’s biggest uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were badly damaged or destroyed because of a power cut caused by an Israeli strike, the UN nuclear watchdog chief told the BBC on Monday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Rafael Grossi had previously said the centrifuges at the underground enrichment plant at Natanz may have been damaged as a result of an airstrike on its power supply, even though the hall housing the plant itself did not seem to have been hit.

“Our assessment is that with this sudden loss of external power, in great probability the centrifuges have been severely damaged if not destroyed altogether,” Grossi said in an interview with the BBC.

“I think there has been damage inside,” he said, going further than in an update to an exceptional meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors hours earlier.

Power cuts pose a threat to the fragile, finely balanced machines that spin at extremely high speeds.

Earlier on Monday, Grossi told the IAEA board that there was a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination within the Natanz facility.

The radiation caused by the damage posed a significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested, he said, but the risk could be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the facilities.

“The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact to the population or the environment from this event,” he said.
UN nuclear agency warns of contamination inside Iran’s Natanz site after IDF strikes
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said Monday that there is a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination within Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz following Israeli strikes, although radiation levels outside the complex are presently normal.

Israel bombed the site on Friday during the first wave of major strikes to start its shock campaign against Iranian military and nuclear sites, in a move it says was needed to thwart an immediate existential nuclear threat.

The radiation caused by the damage to the Natanz facility poses a significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

The risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the facilities, Grossi said.

“The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact to the population or the environment from this event,” he said.

Grossi was addressing an urgent session of the IAEA’s board in Vienna that was convened at the request of Russia to discuss Israeli attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities. He said that there apparently was no additional damage at Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear research site since Saturday.

He said that the main concern inside the Natanz facility is the chemical toxicity of a gas called uranium hexafluoride, which is the result of fluorine mixed with the uranium during enrichment. It’s extremely volatile, will quickly corrode, can burn the skin and is especially deadly if inhaled, experts say.

“Amid these challenging and complex circumstances, it is crucial that the IAEA receives timely and regular technical information about the facilities and their respective sites,” Grossi said.

Without information, the UN agency “cannot accurately assess the radiological conditions and potential impacts on the population and the environment and cannot provide the necessary assistance.”

Grossi said that UN inspectors would remain present in Iran and inspect the nuclear facilities “as soon as safety conditions allow.”


Iranian citizen reveals why Islamic rulers built no shelters for airstrikes
An Iranian citizen claims the Islamic Republic didn’t build shelters for airstrikes because residents are expected to tough through the bombings and “enjoy martyrdom.”

While Israelis have a plethora of public bomb shelters to help weather the storm of attacks from Tehran, Iranians claim that not only is their infrastructure lacking, but there is also a “culture of martyrdom” that keeps them from seeking refuge.

“In this society, going to the shelters when there is a jet fighting or looming [airstrike] around it indicates you’re chicken-hearted,” an Iranian journalist told the BBC’s Global News Podcast. “So you should [be] brave and brace for the bombardments and enjoy martyrdom.” Israel will continue its strikes until Iran’s capabilities are ‘sufficiently degraded’

To this point, Iran has yet to officially shut down any businesses despite the escalating attacks from Israel and Tehran officials repeatedly stating that the nation is at war.

The reporter, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said the best people can hope for is to hide in their own basements due to the lack of public shelters.

People also have the option of hiding out in Tehran’s subways, “but subways are not open to the people after 10:30 [p.m.],” the journalist pointed out.

The problem goes further as citizens in Tehran told the British outlet that they’re still expected to commute to work amid the attacks between Israel and Iran, with many people having no idea where and when the attacks will come.

The Israeli military, which sent out evacuation orders for all civilians to leave military sites, has offered no help either, residents claim.

“How are we supposed to know where a military site is and where isn’t?” one person living in Tehran told the BBC.

“I can’t just leave Tehran. I can’t leave my elderly parents who can’t travel far and long and leave the city myself,” another resident said. “Besides, I need to show up to work. What can I do now?”

Despite the culture in place, some Iranians have decided to flee the capital and head to the rural north, with the widespread evacuation creating gridlock out of the city on Sunday, according to local reports.


IDF strikes Iranian state broadcaster HQ after evacuation orders
The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday it attacked military targets in Tehran, as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting propaganda channel confirmed that its headquarters was hit by airstrikes.

“The Iranian regime’s propagandist and inciting broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF following the wide-scale evacuation of nearby residents,” Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed on social media.

“We will strike the Iranian dictator wherever he may be,” Katz added.

According to the IDF, the strike targeted a “communication center that was being used for military purposes by the Iranian Armed Forces.”

The building was used by the regime “under the guise of civilian activity, covering up the military use of the center’s infrastructure and assets,” it said, noting that the attack “directly harmed the military capabilities of the Iranian Armed Forces.”

“Prior to the strike, the IDF provided an effective advanced warning to the civilian population, including phone calls, and conducted the strike in a precise manner in order to mitigate harm to civilians as far as feasible,” it added.

Footage of the strikes on the IRIB TV offices was widely shared on social media.

In November 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the IRIB and six individuals associated with it for their involvement in the Iranian government’s censorship activities. IRIB forced and broadcast hundreds of confessions from people detained by the Islamic regime.

The attack came after the IDF issued an evacuation order for parts of a Tehran district, urging noncombatants to leave the area immediately.


Israel defending the civilised world from ‘nuclear catastrophe’
Sky News host Chris Kenny discusses the “escalation of hostilities” between Israel and Iran as the level of warfare intensifies between the two Middle Eastern powers.

Israel's ongoing conflict with Iran has continued to escalate with the daylight strikes hitting Tel-Aviv.

“Once more, it’s Israel's very existence that’s under threat, and while Israel defends itself, it’s also defending the civilised world from the horrendous threats of Islamist terrorism and nuclear catastrophe,” Mr Kenny said.

“But rather than support Israel, or thank Israel, or God forbid help Israel, so many world leaders and most of the media are trying not to take a side, actually pretending there's some kind of equivalence between the evil and deadly warmongering of Iran and the targeted self-defence of Israel.

“In fact, Israel is doing the world a huge favour.”




Commentary PodCast: Israel Batters Iran; Will Trump Join In?
Israel's astounding success in the first days of the war with Iran, notwithstanding the blows it has taken from Iranian missiles, raises the question of whether the United States has an interest in helping bring the entire fight to an end by using its bunker-buster bombs to finish off Iran's nuclear sites.
Israel faces hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles ‘fired towards civilian population centres’
IDF international spokesperson LTC Nadav Shoshani claims Israel has faced hundreds of ballistic missiles “fired towards civilian population centres”.

“We’ve seen a lot of damage to buildings in Israel; we’ve also sadly seen casualties in Israel,” he told Sky News Australia.

“But we’ve also seen a lot of success in our aerial defence systems.”


H.R. McMaster unpacks Israel-Iran conflict
Israel has vowed to continue its aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities and key military personnel. H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser during President Trump's first term, joins "The Takeout" with analysis.


‘Deep in enemy territory’: Iran caught off guard as Israel carries out undercover operations
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses the “crucial” surprise attack against Iran as Israel carried out undercover operations in Tehran.

“It is incredible how incisively Israel carried out the initial strikes, using undercover operatives inside Tehran,” Ms Markson said.

“Iran was caught off guard and this element of surprise was crucial.”


travelingisrael.com: Israel’s Air Dominance Over Iran: This Is the Beginning of the End for Iran’s Regime
The Israel–Iran war has entered its third day — and Israel now controls Iran’s airspace. This isn’t just a military maneuver; it may mark the beginning of the end for the Islamist regime in Tehran. In this video, I explain how the Israeli Air Force achieved full aerial dominance, why this is the most critical phase of the war, and why Israel is no longer just targeting Iran’s nuclear program — it’s going after the regime itself.

After Iran launched hundreds of missiles at Israeli civilians — including children — Israel's red line was crossed. The response is now unfolding with massive force.


Iran has ‘huge arsenal’ ready to attack Israel
Bar-llan University Professor of Politics Gerald Steinberg says Iran has been “arming itself to the teeth”.

Mr Steinberg told Sky News host Chris Kenny that Iran has a “huge arsenal” prepared to attack Israel.

“And then they’ve been building up nuclear weapons.”


Iran running out of military options amid ‘depleted’ missile capability
Former senior Israel official Emanuel Shahaf has predicted that the Iranians are going to “run out of missiles pretty soon” amid Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on Israel.

He claims Iran’s missile capability is being “depleted” due to Israel’s attacks, as he suggested Tehran was using fewer missiles per strike.

“I don’t think they have too many military options,” he told Sky News Australia.


'We are already seeing WWIII’: Andrew Bolt on the ‘dangerous’ war between Israel and Iran
Sky News host Andrew Bolt examines why Israel’s war with Iran is so “dangerous”.

Israel launched Operation Rising Lion early on Friday, targeting key Iranian nuclear and military sites and reportedly killing dozens of people, including top army commanders and atomic scientists.

In the days since, Iran has hit back by launching dozens of rockets and drones at Israel.

“We have got to realise that what we are already seeing is a world war – World War III,” Mr Bolt said.


‘Hard to be here’: Israeli news anchor joins the show to go over the Middle East war
Israeli news anchor Lital Shemesh joins Sky News host Sharri Markson to go over the war between Israel and Iran and the wider conflict in the Middle East at large.

“It is hard to be here whilst my friends and family are over there experiencing the war,” Ms Shemesh told Ms Markson.

“The Iron Dome is not intercepting all the missiles, just because Iran is barraging 50 rockets … 60 rockets at a time and obviously the Iron Dome cannot intercept that amount … 24 Israelis were mortared so far from those rockets.”


‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’: US urged to assist Israel ‘eliminate’ Iran’s nuclear program
Sky News host Sharri Markson says US President Donald Trump should be “encouraged” to assist Israel in fighting Iran.

Ms Markson said it is a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for the US to destroy Iran’s nuclear program.

“And eliminate this grave threat to America and the West.”


Missile strikes on Tel Aviv 'quite scary' amid rising Iran-Israel tensions
AIJAC NSW Chairman Paul Rubenstein discusses the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, describing the missile strikes on Tel Aviv as “quite scary”.

“Israelis have been conditioned to this for a very long time, unfortunately,” Mr Rubenstein told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“They’re familiar with what has to happen, but this is another order of magnitude … what we have now is indiscriminate ballistic missiles.

“This is really quite scary.”




Episode 20: Regime change in Iran? What the 1979 revolution can teach us.
Twenty-four people have been killed in Israel since the outbreak of the direct Israel-Iran war. The Air Force is busy hunting launchers inside Iran to constrain Iran's ability to fire missiles at Israeli cities. Parts of Tehran are being evacuated as Israel continues to hunt down the IRGC leadership and demolish the country's nuclear program.

But enormous questions remain unanswered. Can Israel actually destroy the nuclear program all by itself? If it can't, and America doesn't join the airstrikes, then what's the goal? Could Israel be hoping to achieve regime change?

We raise these questions and others, and then pay a short visit to the 1979 revolution that felled the oppressive Shah in a vast uprising by nearly all parts of Iranian society - and was then taken over and subverted by Khomeini into the theocracy we're still dealing with today. What does that historical perspective tell us about the Iranian regime's staying power?

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous donor who dedicated it to the incredible female lone soldiers of the IDF hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland.


Free Press PodCast: Niall Ferguson and Dexter Filkins: Who Will Win the Israel-Iran War?
It’s the fourth day in the war between Iran and Israel.

Many questions hang in the air. Chief among them: Will Israel be able to fulfill its main goal in the war—to end Iran’s nuclear program? Will it put troops on the ground to do so, specifically to blow up Iran’s most important nuclear site? Or will the U.S. get involved? Will Trump provide the bunker-busting bombs necessary to destroy the facility at Fordow?

Will the regime fall—and if so, what will come next? How does this struggle fit into the much, much larger geopolitical conflict between the U.S. and China?

So today, I have two experts to break it all down: Niall Ferguson and Dexter Filkins.

Niall Ferguson is a historian and Free Press columnist who just wrote in our pages, “Israel’s attack restores the credibility of the West.” Dexter Filkins is a longtime foreign correspondent who has reported from Iran. He is a contributor at The New Yorker, has covered this topic for years, and is the author of The Forever War.
The Rubin Report: If Americans Only Knew These Facts About Israel | Mike Huckabee
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee about his lifelong connection since 1973; his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump; the deep U.S.-Israel alliance across intelligence, military, and tech; Israel’s global impact through medical and tech innovation; the biblical and historical importance of Israel; the rise of antisemitism and media bias; Middle East diplomacy challenges; rumors of Trump-Netanyahu tension; and how Huckabee integrates faith with foreign policy; and much more.

0:00 Intro
3:38 Mike Huckabee's Relationship to Israel
9:20 Christians & Judaism
12:15 Israel & The USA
21:30 PR War & Real War
27:26 Europe's Criticism




Mamdani ‘uniquely unsuited’ to be NYC mayor, ‘Times’ ed board says
New York City voters should not “rank” Zohran Mamdani, an anti-Israel state representative, among their choices for mayor in the June 24 Democratic primary, The New York Times editorial board stated on Monday.

“Mr. Mamdani is running on an agenda uniquely unsuited to the city’s challenges,” the board wrote. “He is a Democratic Socialist who too often ignores the unavoidable trade-offs of governance. He favors rent freezes that could restrict housing supply and make it harder for younger New Yorkers and new arrivals to afford housing.”

Mamdani brings less relevant experience to the race than any mayoral candidate in New York City history, the editorial board added. (It did not mention criticism of Mamdani’s Jew-hatred.)

“He has never run a government department or private organization of any size,” the Times stated. “As a state legislator, he has struggled to execute his own agenda.”

The editorial board noted that none of the 11 Democratic mayoral candidates offers the potential to become the city’s next great mayor. It did not endorse any candidate but noted that Andrew Cuomo, the former state governor, holds a slim lead over Mamdani in recent polls.

The Times editorial board noted that many New Yorkers plan to vote for the former governor despite “significant shortcomings,” including his handling of the pandemic, during which he had Covid patients put in nursing homes, and allegations of sexual harassment from at least 11 women. (Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021.)

“His list of accomplishments includes paid family leave, expanded health insurance, a higher minimum wage, a marriage equality law, a strict gun-control law, an ambitious clean energy program, the Second Avenue subway and renovations of John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and Penn Station,” per the Times.


‘The View’ Quickly Cuts To Commercial As Javier Bardem Speaks Out Against Attacks On Gaza: “I Believe It’s A Genocide”
Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem was practically played off of The View while speaking out in support of Gaza.

After Ana Navarro asked him about his activism, the actor said it was important for people to “draw a line in the sand” so elected officials “know that we are the voice and they have to hear us.” He connected it to the situation in Gaza and called out the United States and Europe for granting Israel “impunity” amidst its continued attacks on Gaza.

But The View interrupted the actor with the commercial break music as he was making his final point before abruptly cutting to commercial shortly just as he finished speaking. A source on The View told DECIDER that the segment ran out of time and had to go to commercial as the broadcast’s next segment was pre-recorded.

As he began discussing “the situation in Gaza,” Bardem acknowledged the yellow pins Alyssa Farah Griffin and Sara Haines wear everyday on the show in support of the hostages being held in Gaza.

“I see your [pins] and, of course, they have to return those hostages obviously,” he said. “But the situation in Gaza has come to a term now where I cannot express the pain that I, along with many millions of people there, suffer on a daily basis watching those horrible images of children being murdered and starving to death.”

Bardem later claimed that Holocaust survivors, as well as several experts in international law and human rights, are calling the campaign a “genocide.”

“And if you ask me, I believe it’s a genocide, why is that?” he stated. “First of all, because the impunity that is taking Israel in doing these actions, and the lack of action on any government of course the back up of the United States with all those weapons and the economics, and also the silence of Europe, is creating a scenario where there is such impunity that if we really don’t do something about that we are going towards, well, what is happening now.”

The View hosts did not have a chance to respond to Bardem’s statements, but they were seen nodding along as Bardem continued.

Whoopi Goldberg then cut in to throw it to the commercial break, as she typically does. But Bardem took another moment to finish his final point.

“And also, with this I will finish, the most important thing is to not lose the humanity and really denounce when we have to denounce and who we have to denounce,” he said.


Police to take no further action against Corbyn and McDonnell following Palestine protest
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his close ally John McDonnell will not face any charges as part of the police investigation into breaches of conditions imposed on a pro-Palestine rally in January.

The left-wing MPs were interviewed under police caution, which they volunteered to do, as part of an investigation into apparent breaches of the Public Order Act conditions.

Corbyn said the police’s decision was “a victory for the right to demonstrate against genocide”, while McDonnell posted on X that: “If marching in a peaceful protest has now become even considered potentially to be a crime in our country we have entered a truly worrying political moment.”

The police had imposed restrictions that barred protesters from entering an area covering the BBC’s New Broadcasting House and the nearby Central Synagogue.

At the time, police said they had imposed conditions “taking into account the cumulative impact of the prolonged period of protest on Jewish Londoners, particularly when protests are in the vicinity of synagogues often on Saturdays, the Jewish holy day”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the JC: “No further action will be taken against nine people who were interviewed as part of an investigation into alleged breaches of Public Order Act conditions during a protest on Saturday, 18 January.

“The decision in two cases was taken following a review of the evidence by the Crown Prosecution Service, while the remaining seven cases were decided on by police officers.”

The JC understands that the CPS’s review found that while the restrictions were well publicised, the specific sequence of events on the ground on the during the protest, notably the lifting of the police cordon at the top of Whitehall which was apparently necessary due to the size of the crowd, meant that there was no realistic prospect of a conviction.

Prior to the demonstration, 46 MPs, including Corbyn, McDonnell and Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer signed a parliamentary motion that cast doubt on the police’s analysis of the threat to the Jewish community.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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