Monday, March 30, 2026

03/29 Links: The War on Civilization: 'Israel Cannot Outsource Its Survival'; Why They Lie About ‘Jewish Terrorists’; No, Trump Is Not Losing His Nerve on Iran

From Ian:

The War on Civilization: 'Israel Cannot Outsource Its Survival'
A Conversation with Pierre Rehov
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality, today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism." — Zoheir Mohsen, late PLO senior official, Trouw, March 31, 1977.

Hamas did not attack military targets to "end an occupation." It attacked families to affirm an old doctrine: the Jew is not an opponent; the Jew is a problem to be erased.

If you want to understand October 7, forget the comforting story of "desperation turning violent." Pogroms are not born from desperation; they are born from permission — social, religious, political permission to commit the unthinkable and feel righteous doing it.

In the Battle of Jenin, there was never any "confusion in the fog of war." The story that part of a hospital had been destroyed was a total fabrication. It revealed something essential: a good story has priority over reality.

The genius of the system is psychological. Once the image circulates, correction becomes irrelevant. The emotional verdict has already been delivered.

In modern warfare, the camera is no longer documenting the battle. It is part of the battlefield. The objective is not only to accuse Israel. It is to morally disarm the West. If you can persuade democratic societies that defending themselves equals murdering children, you have already won half the war.

They hate Israel for what it is: an infidel state – and in their midst. If Israel were a Christian state, the same problem would exist. Just look at the genocide in Nigeria – with more than 52,000 Christians killed in just 14 years – in a free society, which is a visible rejection of the Islamic totalitarian dream.

The Palestinian project is not a "two-state solution" or "a better border." The project is a world where religious and political absolutism rules, where minorities submit or vanish, where women are controlled, where dissent is crushed. Israel is the laboratory target. If the West rewards October 7 with political gains, it teaches a lesson to every violent movement on earth: massacre pays. So yes — Israel is defending itself, and in doing so, it is also defending the principle that civilization cannot survive if it negotiates with barbarity as if it were a partner who is misunderstood.

"In March 1978 I secretly brought Arafat to Bucharest for final instructions on how to behave in Washington. "You simply have to keep on pretending that you'll break with terrorism and that you'll recognize Israel -- over, and over, and over...." — Ion Mihai Pacepa, a lieutenant general in the Socialist Republic of Romania's Securitate, the secret police, who defected to the West in 1978, Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2003.

If a deal buys time for the "wrong" side, it is not a deal — it is an extension of the threat.

The point is that Israel cannot outsource its survival, and the United States cannot pretend that totalitarian jihadism can be "managed" indefinitely. Either you dismantle the infrastructure of terror, or it regrows.... Israel's enemies... are imposing a war on civilization.

Peace that is built on amnesia is not peace; it is a pause before the next war.

The West will not be defeated by lack of power. It will be defeated — if it is defeated — by the refusal to oppose danger when they see it.
Amir Peretz saw what others missed: Iron Dome reshaped Israel’s defense and future
Because Peretz was an outsider, he could think outside the box. It brings to mind the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Con men convince the king they can weave him elegant invisible clothing. Everyone parrots the praise of the new garments until a little boy in the crowd shouts that the emperor is actually naked.

The Israeli strategy had, in fact, focused on offense and ignored defense, leaving us as exposed as the emperor. It took a defense minister who grew up in beleaguered Sderot to make defense a priority.

In 1983, American president Ronald Reagan planned the grand-scale Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly called Star Wars. Reagan wanted to protect the US from long-range intercontinental nuclear-armed missiles. The program was canceled before it could be realized.

Not that the doubters were idiots. There was adequate reason for skepticism. The idea that a missile could hit another missile with exactitude sounds fantastical. Even after the Iron Dome was showing its worth, you can look back in military history to find claims by so-called experts magnifying its imperfections.

Once Israeli ingenuity was applied to defensive systems, an Amir Peretz priority, additional systems were developed with the confident financial support and technical collaboration of the United States. David’s Sling and Iron Dome are complementary layers of Israel’s multi-tier missile defense. Iron Dome works for four to 70 kilometers, intercepting short-range rockets and mortars, while David’s Sling intercepts up to 300 kilometers and defends against medium- to long-range missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. David’s Sling was jointly developed by Israel’s government-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and US contractor Raytheon. The next level is protected by Arrow 3, jointly developed by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency. The primary contractor is Israel Aerospace Industries.

The same Amir Peretz concluded his three-year tenure as chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries in November 2024. He successfully boosted international partnerships and company revenue.

The newest Israeli defense system, Iron Beam, depends on the development of powerful fiber lasers and is designed to destroy drones, rockets, and mortars at the speed of light, at a negligible cost per interception. None of these amazing tools is complete or airtight. The defensive systems are not “hermetic,” as the IDF spokesperson reminds us daily. Even with 90% accuracy, we have experienced enough misses to understand what horror we would face without our made-in-Israel protection. Bigger and richer countries than Israel do not have the defense systems we have.

So thank you, Mr. Peretz, for your foresight and persistence. President Donald Trump wants to name an American defensive system Golden Dome. He just might be calling you.
Why They Lie About ‘Jewish Terrorists’
The curious timing of this “international criticism,” right as the U.S. and Israel operate jointly against Iran, and the IDF pummels the Islamic Republic’s foreign legion in Lebanon, may offer one explanation why the violent settler narrative has picked up momentum once again. It’s noteworthy that this “criticism” is no longer confined to Europeans and the precincts of the Left. Since a faction of the American Right has resolved to make classic antisemitism and Israel-centered conspiracies central to its domestic political organization and identity formation, the Very Violent Settlers™ have come to play a particular role in this faction’s third-world sectarian universe, facilitated by D.C.-based Palestinian operatives and, regrettably, Palestinian Christian clergy in the West Bank. Last year, for example, this constellation of actors featured settlers in an info op targeting U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and through him, American Evangelicals, who strongly support Israel and President Trump. The op at the time was that the settlers set fire to a church in the village of Taybeh. Only there was no fire in any church—the site was archaeological ruins; the fire, the cause of which was unclear, was in the dry field next to it—and settlers were recorded on video helping to put it out using firefighting equipment.

But the op did succeed in establishing a precedent and an audience on the Right receptive to Arab sectarianism. And so, earlier this week, the same players, including the same clergy from the same village—“the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank”—piled on the “international criticism” against the settlers. Not only does Israel drag Americans to war, this line goes, it also permits violent maniacs to deliberately target the Christians of the Holy Land.

Like the IDF bombing displaced Palestinians at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza in Oct. 2023, or Israeli snipers deliberately shooting Palestinian children in the head one day and in the testicles the other, “almost as if a game is being played,” or Israel blocking the entry of baby formula into Gaza, it’s all rubbish. By the time Western audiences figure it out—after bad people have been rewarded and good people have been punished—most will move on to the next lie.

That’s because there is a large investment in there being a trend of Jewish Extremist Terrorism. The purveyors of this narrative—the mainstream media, politicians, even well-meaning activists—are all invested in the existence of Jewish villains on par with Muslim ones. Why? Maybe because there have been some 65,000 Islamic terror attacks since 9/11 across more than 70 countries. Maybe because jihadist attacks and plots in the EU in 2024 nearly doubled from the previous year, according to Europol. Maybe because, whatever wave of “Islamophobia” Mamdani imagines is sweeping the nation, Jews remain, by far, the most targeted religious group in the United States. But the good liberals of the West can’t admit any of this. Imagine what it would mean for their precious universalist principles—to say nothing of national policies—if they admitted that some cultures are different from others.


No, Trump Is Not Losing His Nerve on Iran
Speculation is flying that President Trump, buffeted by rising gas prices and domestic political concerns, is desperate for an off-ramp and looking for a deal with Iran to end the war. These rumors are wrong. I know from well-placed sources that Trump has never been more determined to see this military campaign through to completion.

Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane told me that Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, needs another three weeks to win. Given that time, Keane said, "the combined force will accomplish all assigned objectives...to include opening the Strait of Hormuz by force and keeping it open" and taking "nuclear enrichment...off the board completely by military operations."

U.S. negotiations with Iran are a sign not of desperation but strength. He is willing to talk with Iran - but while he negotiates, he is pummeling the regime. The message to Iran is that either the regime gives Trump what he demands, or the U.S. will take it from them.

Trump is right to pursue both options at once - speaking to the remnants of the regime while ruthlessly battering them from the sea and skies. If the U.S. takes control of Kharg Island, through which 96% of Iran's crude oil exports pass, it controls Iran's oil - and thus its economy.

Once military operations conclude, Iran's surviving leaders should be told in no uncertain terms: If you continue executions or fire on protesters, you will pay a heavy price. This threat will create space for the Iranian people to organize, form an opposition and force democratic change. We are closer to the end than the beginning and the military campaign is "exceeding expectations," Keane said.


John Spencer: Day 29: What could possibly be the U.S. options in Iran?
History shows pressure creates fractures. Military leaders hedge. Intelligence services fracture. Political elites reposition. Defections occur. Working with defectors multiplies effects far beyond what strikes alone can achieve.

There is also much we do not know. We do not have full visibility into where the regime is strongest or weakest. But indicators matter. Reports of attempts to expand mobilization, including lowering recruitment thresholds to as young as twelve, suggest stress. That is not the behavior of a confident regime.

None of these options exist in isolation. They can be combined.

Destroy Iran’s missile arsenal and production capacity. Dismantle its navy. Continue degrading its nuclear program. Deny its ability to project power beyond its borders. At the same time, paralyze decision-making by targeting leadership and command systems. Apply pressure across military, economic, informational, and political domains simultaneously.

Attack the regime’s means and its will at the same time. Not sequentially. Simultaneously. The objective is to impose multiple dilemmas, more than the regime can handle. Force it into reactive survival. Stretch its decision cycles. Overwhelm its ability to coordinate and control.

War is not a checklist. It is the alignment of ends, ways, and means under conditions of uncertainty. Options can be sequenced, layered, or applied simultaneously. The United States has not run out of options. It has plenty it has not used, many that no one is talking about or that none of us can fully imagine without access to far more than what exists in the public domain, but could.

Lastly, be careful of analysts who speak in certainties or rely on surface analogies. Iran is not Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Iraq. It is not 1968, 2002, or 2003. The context of each is fundamentally different. The political objectives, from regime behavior change to regime survival, are different. Past wars involved nation building, attempts to create democracy, prolonged fights against insurgencies, and enemies who enjoyed sanctuary outside the operating environment. Those are not the same conditions or objectives at play here. The geography, technology, intelligence, and regional dynamics are different. The options available today are far broader and more precise against the objectives.

We know a lot about what has been struck. We do not fully know what remains. More importantly, we do not know what decisions will be made next by either side. That uncertainty is not a flaw in analysis. It is the nature of war.
How the Media Is Failing to Hold Iran Accountable for War Crimes
Analyzing the use of the term "war crime" by the BBC, CNN, NBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, CAMERA found 32 total applications of the phrase during the first three weeks of the war (Feb. 28-Mar. 21). Of those, 28 (88%) were directed solely toward the actions of the U.S. and/or Israel. Zero were directed solely toward the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran's wartime acts that escaped the media's "war crimes" focus include the over 400 ballistic missiles fired at Israel, half of which were cluster munitions which drop dozens of submunitions over a wide radius of five miles. As of Mar. 22, at least two dozen of these missiles have hit populated areas, with over 100 separate impact sites. Using cluster munitions to target populated areas almost certainly constitutes a war crime.

Iranian regime forces have also hit other civilian targets, including multiple hotels and airports in the UAE, and oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain - countries which did not join the war.

Yet, not one of the five news outlets used the phrase "war crime" regarding these Iranian acts. This journalistic malpractice creates a perception of illegitimacy against the U.S. and Israel by associating the word "war crimes" with their actions.

Simultaneously, these outlets are creating a perception of legitimacy for the Iranian regime even as it regularly lobs cluster munitions at densely populated cities. Through their imbalanced coverage, these outlets are effectively aiding the Iranian regime toward accomplishing its strategic objectives by distorting reality.
Police stop top Catholic figures from reaching Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday Mass
Police officers on Sunday kept two top Catholic clergymen from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, sparking global anger.

According to a statement from both of their offices, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Father Francesco Ielpo, custos of the Holy Land, were heading to the church privately, without a procession.

As criticism poured in from close allies, top Israeli leaders went into damage-control mode, insisting a plan would be crafted that would allow limited worship at the site.

Palm Sunday commemorates the day Jesus traditionally rode into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds, according to the New Testament. The day marks the start of Holy Week, which ends with Easter, this year on April 5.

“This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem,” said the Patriarchate and the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

The Catholic bodies said that they have “acted with full responsibility and, since the outset of the war, have complied with all imposed restrictions: public gatherings were cancelled, attendance was prohibited, and arrangements were made to broadcast the celebrations to hundreds of millions of faithful worldwide, who, during these days of Easter, turn their eyes to Jerusalem and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”

Police said that they had told the clergymen on Saturday that their request to reach the Holy Sepulchre the next day was not approved.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said Israel’s decision was “difficult to understand or justify.”

Responding to the controversy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a plan was being put together to allow Christian leaders to worship at the church.


Blackouts hit parts of Tehran as Israel conducts strikes in Iran amid peace talks
Electricity was cut in parts of Tehran and the neighboring Alborz province Sunday night after attacks on power infrastructure in the area, state media quoted Iran’s Energy Ministry as saying, as the IDF announced a new wave of airstrikes in the Iranian capital.

Shrapnel hit a part of the electricity grid in Alborz, causing power to be cut in several areas of the Iranian capital and the city of Karaj, state media reported. Power was restored later Sunday night to some areas that had experienced outages, and authorities were working to restore electricity in all affected areas, state media said, adding that “the electric grid is stable.”

The strike came amid talks to end the war in Iran, which began when the US and Israel launched a bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes in Israel and across the region.

US President Donald Trump had previously threatened strikes on Iranian power plants unless Iran stops blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key pathway for the global oil supply. But he postponed the deadline for Iran to open the strait until April 6 to allow time for negotiations over a US proposal to halt the fighting. Iran has reportedly responded with its own proposal calling for attacks to end, reparations and Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistan said Sunday that it was preparing to soon hold “meaningful talks” to end the conflict. However, it was unclear if Iran or the US had agreed to attend, and a top Iranian official has accused the US of publicly pushing negotiations while privately planning an invasion.

Shortly after the blackouts were first reported Sunday night, the IDF said it was striking regime targets in Tehran, without elaborating.

In an earlier wave of strikes on Tehran Sunday morning, Israeli Air Force jets dropped over 120 bombs on arms production sites, as well as air defense systems and ballistic missile storage and launch sites, the military said.


Why the Houthis Chose to Join the War Now
There is likely a strategic military reason why the Houthis, at Iran's request, chose to join the fighting now and launch a missile toward Israel.

Their apparent aim is to hinder the movement of U.S. aircraft carriers through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Israel may be required to assist the U.S. in countering the Houthis and protecting the aircraft carriers.

This could involve strikes against Houthi targets, opening an additional front that the Israeli military has already prepared for.
PM says Israel to expand south Lebanon buffer zone as IDF pushes deeper into territory
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel would capture additional territory in southern Lebanon to expand a security zone on Israel’s northern border, as the Israel Defense Forces expanded its ground operation against the Hezbollah terror group.

In a video statement from the IDF Northern Command Headquarters in Safed, Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to “further expand the existing security zone” in Lebanon as a means to “fundamentally change the situation” in northern Israel, where communities have been subject to weeks of near-constant cross-border missile and drone fire, amid renewed fighting with Hezbollah.

Expanding the security zone, he said, would allow Israel to “definitively thwart the [Hezbollah] invasion threat and to push anti-tank missile fire away from our border.”

According to military officials, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has defined three lines of defense in southern Lebanon as part of the new ground operation. They include the first line of Lebanese border villages, where the IDF has operated to remove the threat of a Hezbollah infiltration attack; the second and third lines of villages, from which Hezbollah can launch anti-tank missiles on northern Israel; and the Litani River, located some 20-30 kilometers (some 12-18 miles) from the border in most areas, from which Hezbollah has been carrying out rocket attacks on Israel.

Unlike the previous round of fighting against the Iran-backed terror group, which began after it joined Hamas in firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, Netanyahu boasted that “instead of them surprising us, we are surprising them.”

In Lebanon, in Gaza, and in Iran, he said, “We are the side that is acting, we are the side that is attacking, we are the side that has the initiative, and we are deep in their territory.”


Iran’s envoy to remain in Lebanon in defiance of expulsion by Beirut — diplomatic source
Iran’s ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source told AFP.

“The ambassador will not leave Lebanon, in accordance with the wishes of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri and of Hezbollah,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Lebanese terror group had denounced the decision to expel Iranian envoy Mohammad Reza Sheibani, while Berri’s Amal party joined Hezbollah ministers in boycotting a cabinet session this week to protest the order.

The foreign ministry on Tuesday gave Tehran’s envoy until Sunday to leave in the latest unprecedented step by Lebanese authorities since Hezbollah instigated a new war with Israel at the start of March.

The ministry accused the ambassador of making statements “interfering in Lebanon’s internal politics.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised Beirut for the move, calling it a “justified and necessary step toward the country responsible for violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, for its indirect occupation through Hezbollah, and for dragging it into war.”
IDF soldier KIA in Lebanon
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed in combat in Southern Lebanon, the military announced on Sunday morning.

The soldier was identified as Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz, 22, from New Haven, Connecticut.

“My wife and I send our heartfelt condolences to the family of Sergeant Moshe Yitzhak HaCohen Katz, of blessed memory, who fell in battle in Lebanon,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Moshe, of blessed memory, immigrated to Israel from the United States, enlisted in the Paratroopers Brigade, and fought bravely in defense of our homeland. On behalf of all the citizens of Israel, we embrace Moshe’s family in their time of sorrow and wish a swift and full recovery to our soldiers who were wounded in the same incident. May his memory be blessed,” the statement continued.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also paid tribute to the fallen soldier, writing that “Moshe chose to leave a full life in the United States, make aliyah to Israel, and enlist in the IDF out of a profound sense of Zionism and mission. I salute him for his heroism and his contribution to the security of the State of Israel, and I share in the heavy grief of his family. May his memory be a blessing.”

Three other soldiers were moderately wounded in the same incident, according to the IDF. They were evacuated to hospital and their families notified.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre stands at 930.

Sgt. Aviad Elhanan Wolansky, 21, from Jerusalem, was killed in action in Southern Lebanon during operations against Hezbollah terrorists, the IDF said on March 26. Four other soldiers—two officers and two enlisted men—were lightly to moderately wounded, evacuated to hospitals in Israel and their families notified.

Wolansky was the son of Brig. Gen. Yair Wolansky, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s inspector, and the grandson of Rabbi Oded Wolansky, a senior rabbi at Jerusalem’s Har Hamor Yeshivah; he was named for an uncle killed in a terrorist attack during the Second Intifada.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz praised his bravery and sacrifice, while the military noted that Staff Sgt. Ori Greenberg, 21, from Petach Tikvah, was also recently killed fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.


Iranian missile attack sparks blaze in chemical plant, fears of hazardous leak
A “fragment” from a ballistic missile launched from Iran struck a chemical plant in Israel’s south on Sunday, the IDF said, causing no injuries but sparking a blaze and prompting concerns of a hazardous chemicals leak.

The impact and fire at an industrial zone came amid Iran’s sixth missile attack of the day. Further missile attacks followed, with one missile lightly injuring 11 people in the southern city of Beersheba.

The IDF Home Front Command issued a warning to civilians near the Neot Hovav industrial zone, south of Beersheba, to remain indoors due to concerns of a hazardous materials leak after the impact at a fertilizer factory and the major fire that followed.

After the fire was brought under control, the Environmental Protection Ministry said that there was no risk to the public.

Minister Idit Silman said that ministry professionals had carried out on-site measurements and monitoring, and that “in accordance with the findings of the updated tests, it was decided to open the roads and return activity to normal.”

Workers from the factory and adjacent plants who were hurried off to protected areas were allowed to leave those spaces.

According to the IDF, the missile did not directly hit the industrial zone, but a fragment struck the facility there, causing the large fire.


Jonathan Sacerdoti: The Iranian ‘spy recruitment hub’ operating in London
Press TV’s reporting on Jewish organisations compared to a ‘target list for terrorists’ according to a report in the Telegraph.




IDF Chief of Staff suspends battalion that accosted CNN news team in West Bank
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir suspended the 914th Netzah Yehuda Battalion from operations in the West Bank on Sunday, the IDF announced after soldiers from the battalion accosted a CNN news crew, injuring one and damaging camera equipment on Friday.

Following an investigation into the incident, Zamir decided to adopt the commanders’ recommendations, and the battalion’s operational deployment will be suspended until it has undergone “a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations,” the IDF wrote.

The IDF added that its resumption will be subject to the decision of IDF Central Command Chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and additional command measures will be implemented at a later stage.

The battalion came under scrutiny after soldiers approached a CNN news team on Friday during an interview with Palestinian residents of the West Bank town of Nablus, telling both the CNN reporters and Palestinians to stop speaking.

In a video released by CNN, the IDF soldiers approach with weapons pointed directly at the news team, telling the crew to get down. Shortly after, the camera footage grew shaky when, according to CNN, their photojournalist was put in a chokehold.


Steve Witkoff draws equivalence between Israeli hostages and Palestinian security prisoners
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff compared the release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas to the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons, stating that both experiences “feels like we’re changing lives.”

“People ask me: ‘Why do I like doing it?’ And I say because it feels worthy, it feels like we’re changing lives,” Witkoff said on Friday at the FII Priority summit in Miami. “I remember when we met those families of the Israeli hostages and they were ecstatic because they didn’t think their children were coming home.”

“But I was also in Gaza,” Witkoff continued. “I met Gazan families whose children were released from Israeli prisons in exchange, and they were just as grateful as the Israeli parents.”

Israel released around 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for 20 living and several deceased hostages under the U.S.-backed ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas. At least 250 of the released prisoners were serving life sentences for carrying out deadly terror attacks.

During the summit, Witkoff also discussed the current conflict in Iran, as President Donald Trump continues to herald the success of ongoing diplomatic negotiations with the regime. Iran initially denied that negotiations were taking place but then formally rejected the U.S.’ 15-point ceasefire proposal, sending a five-point counteroffer that would recognize Tehran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz.

“There are some people who have denied that we are negotiating,” Witkoff said. “We may have a different definition of negotiating than they do, or there may be people within their system today who just don’t have the ability to admit it, but we’re talking to them.”

“We have a 15-point deal on the table that the Iranians have had for a bit of time,” Witkoff added. “We expect an answer from them, and it would solve it all. It would solve the enrichment question, which is, we can’t have enrichment there today.”


Pro-Palestine French politician banned from Canada, blames 'Israel lobby'
Controversial pro-Palestine French politician and Member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan, was denied entry to Canada on Friday, she announced on her social media.

Hassan has openly defended Hamas and glorified acts of terrorism in the past. She called Hamas’s October 7 massacre “legitimate” in July 2024. In August, approximately 50 members of France’s National Assembly called on President Macron to lift her parliamentary immunity due to her attendance at a pro-Hamas rally in Amman. She also argued that “any Franco-Palestinian must be able to join the Palestinian armed resistance” so long as it is permissible for other French citizens to join the IDF.

Hassan was set to speak at two conferences in Montreal as part of her role as a member of the European Parliament with the La France Insoumise party. She said her initial request for travel authorization was approved by Canadian authorities, but that on her planned day of departure, she was informed by email that the approval had been overturned.

According to Hassan, the reason for the denial was her failure to mention a prior visa or entry refusal to a country (Israel), as well as her failure to mention a prior criminal offense.

Denied entry into Israel
Hassan was denied entry into Israel in February 2025. She had travelled with a European Parliament delegation and had received prior authorization by Israeli authorities. However, upon arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport, she was refused entry.

In terms of a prior criminal offense, complaints were filed against Hassan for glorification of terrorism, but this did not result in a conviction. She alleged that the complaints were part of an Israel-led campaign aimed at silencing her over her support for the Palestinian cause.

Regarding her Canada entry ban, Hassan said it came as a result of “pro-Israel lobbying organizations” such as the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which she accused of running a pressure campaign.
The bigotry against Israel is the latest political agenda conspired by Democrats
One of the most infuriating signs of our troubled era is that you don’t have to dig very far into the political barrel to find the antisemites.

Although they have made deeper and broader inroads among Democrats, especially on the far-left, disheartening numbers of Republicans, independents and erstwhile conservatives are also guilty of embracing the ancient hatred.

A common sign among the haters these days is the crackpot claim that Jews, — Israeli and American, — hoodwinked President Trump into joining Israel’s war against Iran.

According to this theory, Trump and his White House were like so many innocent lambs being led to slaughter.

During his decade in politics, Trump has been vilified and insulted with every slur imaginable, including being called a rapist, a racist, a fraud and a Russian agent.

Surely, this is the first time he stands accused of being a gullible victim of others’ chicanery.

What the president should have done, his detractors insist, was have America mind its own damn business.

Most never cared for his America First idea, but now they condemn him for, as they see it, violating his vow.

Had he done what they wanted, the argument goes, Trump would have realized we have no reason to be concerned about Iran’s decades-long quest for regional domination.


Greens postpone vote on motion equating Zionism with racism after online vote system collapses
The Green Party postponed a vote on a controversial motion that equated Zionism with racism as technical glitches in the system allowing members to express their views online broke down.

The build-up to the Greens’ Spring Conference, which took place on Zoom for members only, had been dogged by widespread communal anger over a motion tabled by the Green for Palestine group that attempted to move the party into an outright anti-Zionist position.

Jewish News had previously reported how Green Party chiefs were “not sure” the motion would actually be debated and voted on at the conference.

Other sources also said Zack Polanski and other senior figures had not wanted the row over the party’s position on Israel and Palestine to dominate the agenda weeks ahead of May’s local elections.

Polanski has been repeatedly quizzed about the motion and appeared uneasy in his responses.

In some interviews, he attempted to suggest that Benjamin Netanyahu’s Zionist ideology was something he would view as being racist, unlike earlier forms of Zionist ideology.

The motion, if passed, threatened to leave most Jewish Green Party members facing expulsion unless they expressed support for a one-state solution in the Middle East.

In predictable scenes, scores of far-left activists, many who were previously supportive of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, lined up to back the Zionism Is Racism motion, and attempted to force it onto the agenda for voting at Saturday’s meeting.

A Green Party spokesperson told Jewish News that the subsequent technical problems with the voting system were not linked to an apparent surge in the number of members logging on to vote for the motion.


Anti-Zionist Jew elected leader of fourth largest Canadian political party
The new leader of the New Democratic Party, which holds six (about 1.8%) of the 340 seats in Canada’s House of Commons, is a self-identified anti-Zionist Jew.

Avi Lewis was elected with 39,734 votes (56%), ahead of Heather McPherson, who had 20,899 votes (29%), followed by Tanille Johnston (5,159 votes, 7%), Rob Ashton (4,193, 5.9%) and Tony McQuail (945, 1%), the NDP said on Sunday.

Rachel Chertkoff and Richard Marceau, senior vice presidents of community engagement and of strategic initiatives respectively at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy agent of the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, stated that CIJA was “left with a deep sense of sadness.” (Marceau is also the group’s general counsel.)

“The two of us, along with other concerned Jewish and allied activists, have spent years at the table with NDP leaders, staff and members,” the two stated. “We engaged in good faith and made the case that protecting Jewish Canadians from hatred is not partisan, but foundational. The hope we had that these leaders could bring themselves back from the brink is now exhausted.”

“This weekend’s convention was a stark reminder of how far the party has drifted from its roots as the voice of Canada’s working class and trade union movement,” they stated. “Canadian Jews helped build that movement. Today, many are made to feel they no longer belong in it.”

The party has become a “hostile place for the vast majority of Jewish Canadians who want to fight for progressive values,” they said.

The two leaders noted that 94% of Jewish Canadians support the State of Israel. “Avi Lewis is himself Jewish, and we respect his family’s history in this party,” they stated. “But Jewish identity is not a shield against accountability.”
Sa’ar hails decision to extradite Panama plane bombing mastermind
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised Venezuela’s decision to approve the extradition to Panama of the mastermind of the 1994 Panamanian airline bombing, calling it in an X post on Sunday “a significant breakthrough.”

Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901, flying en route from Colón city to Panama City, exploded shortly after departing Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport.

Twenty-one people were killed, including 12 members of Panama’s Jewish community, the target of the attack.

Ali Hage Zaki Jalil, of Lebanese descent, was living on Venezuela’s Margarita Island, when he was arrested by authorities in November 2025. Panama was seeking his extradition.

Noting that four Israelis were among those killed and calling it an “open wound,” Sa’ar wrote that “it is hoped that this measure will spur the discovery of the truth and shed light on his ties to the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which also operates to spread terrorism in Latin America and poses a threat not only to Israel, Lebanon and the Middle East, but to peace throughout the entire world.”

The bombing took place on July 19, 1994, one day after the attack on the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, in which a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into the structure, killing 85 people and wounding more than 300 others.

U.S., Israeli and Panamanian intelligence services have long believed the bombings were connected, as they used the same methods and explosives.
Car allegedly swerves at Jews in Melbourne, suspects sought
Police in Australia are searching for a female and three possible accomplices, who on March 25 allegedly swerved a stolen vehicle threateningly at a group of Jews in Melbourne on Wednesday, Jewish community representatives said.

J-Wire, a Jewish-Australian news site, reported that the Community Security Group Victoria, the Jewish community security group of the Australian state whose capital is Melbourne, reported the incident to police. Security forces are searching for the driver and passengers of a black Hyundai sedan stolen from the suburb of Caulfield on March 25, the report said. The Australian newspaper reported that someone in the car hurled antisemitic abuse at the would-be victims.

No arrests have been made, and police have appealed for witnesses and dashcam footage from the Glen Eira Road area, J-Wire reported.

Robert Gregory, CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, told JNS the group was aware of a video taken “following yesterday evening’s incident in Melbourne where a vehicle was reported to have swerved toward members of the Jewish community while occupants shouted antisemitic remarks.”

The person filming can be heard saying, “They’re coming back,” Gregory noted. The comment, which was heard in a video of the incident that circulated on social media, underlined the fear that many Australians Jews feel after the Dec. 14 massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney, where a jihadist killed 14 people at a Chanukah party.

“Australian Jews should be able to walk down the street without being abused, yet for many, that’s no longer the reality,” Gregory said. “These incidents are happening far too often, and an increasing number of Jews are feeling unsafe and questioning whether they have a future in Australia.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry documented 1,654 antisemitic incidents in Australia between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025. This was 20% fewer from previous year but still roughly five times the annual average in the decade before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.


National Library of Israel reveals Iranian Haggadah with Persian poem
The National Library of Israel has uncovered a rare handwritten Passover Haggadah published in the 1880s containing a Judeo-Persian poem dedicated to Lady Judith Montefiore (1784-1862), highlighting the far-reaching influence of the Montefiore family across the Jewish world, according to a press release published on Thursday.

Discovered within the library’s collections ahead of Passover, the manuscript includes instructions in Judeo-Persian for conducting the Seder and was bound together with a printed Pesach Me’uvin, a compendium of holiday laws and customs.

The poem, said to be written by an unknown Persian Jew, honors Lady Judith Montefiore and her husband, Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885), whose charitable and diplomatic efforts supported Jewish communities in Jerusalem and beyond.

“Moses Montefiore was a vigorous advocate on behalf of the Jews of Persia, who were suffering from both starvation and persecution,” the NLI said.

According to Chaim Neria, curator of the Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection, the poem uses melitzah, a classical Hebrew literary technique that weaves together biblical, rabbinic and liturgical phrases to form a new expression of praise. The text connects the Montefiores to the physical and spiritual rebuilding of Jerusalem, a central focus of their legacy, including their support for Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the first Jewish neighborhood built outside the Old City walls.

“This is a rare—and perhaps unique—example of such a tribute from what is today Iran,” Neria said. “It is clear that by the time this poem was written, the Jewish community in Persia felt a deep obligation to thank Moses and Judith Montefiore for all they had done for them, were heartened by the thought that Jerusalem was being rebuilt and wished to sing their praises.”

The poem was also penned in gratitude to the Persian Jewish community of Mashhad, whose crypto-Jewish population—forced to convert to Islam in the 19th century while secretly maintaining Jewish practice—benefited from the Montefiores’ advocacy on their behalf amid persecution and hardship.
The Prime Minister’s Pesach message to the Jewish community
As families around the world prepare to celebrate Passover, I am reminded of the courage and spirit of the Jewish community.

Passover evokes the core values of freedom, faith and hope.

Those themes are ever more poignant following the abhorrent antisemitic attack in Golders Green. I was disgusted and deeply disturbed by the images of Hatzola ambulances set on fire, and I recognise the profound impact this has had not only on the local area, but on the whole Jewish community – not least because this is not an isolated incident. The rise of antisemitic hatred is there for all to see.

As I heard directly from Jewish community leaders in Downing Street this week, the fear so many are living with is real. The idea that we live in a society where people should feel they need to hide their identity or their religion is, frankly, abhorrent.

Britain has long been a place of refuge for many Jewish families. Generations came here seeking safety and were welcomed with the promise of protection and freedom – a promise we must continue to honour each and every day.

Let me be clear: this government stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community, and we will not rest until the community has the security it deserves.

We will always champion freedom and liberty.

I wish you all a very happy Passover – chag kasher v’sameach.
Kemi Badenoch: Pesach’s message of freedom is as urgent now as it ever was
Wishing Jewish people in Britain and around the world a peaceful and meaningful Pesach.

Pesach tells the enduring story of liberation – of a people who left oppression in Egypt to find freedom, dignity, and a homeland.

It is a story that has shaped Jewish identity for generations, and one that continues to resonate and inspire Jews and many non-Jews alike.

At a time when that homeland is under attack, and when Jewish people here in Britain are once again confronting the scourge of antisemitism, the message of Pesach feels especially urgent.

Pesach is not only a reflection on the past. It is a call to responsibility in the present. Antisemitism is on the rise in Britain, and we must do everything we can to fight it.

Chag Pesach sameach.

Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party




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