Friday, June 26, 2026

06/25 Links Pt1: Who’s Afraid of the Good War?; Israel Is Not Just Another Ally; Douglas Murray: Why the Iran Deal Will Fail; The terror network Europe failed to confront

From Ian:

Who’s Afraid of the Good War?
To help answer this question, we turn again to Obama. In May 2016, almost exactly 10 years ago, he gave a little-remembered speech in Japan.

“Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima?” Obama posed this question to the world at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, seemingly conscious of making history as the first sitting U.S. president to visit the city—one of only two ever targeted by U.S. atomic bombs. Obama had already embarked on a much lambasted multiyear “apology tour” to foreign countries, including a 2009 talk before Turkey’s parliament in which he lamented America’s “darker periods” and the ongoing “legacies of slavery and segregation.”

His Hiroshima audience might have expected an address on nuclear nonproliferation, and Obama did deplore the “capacity for unmatched destruction” that nuclear weapons make possible. He also praised the hibakusha—survivors of the 1945 strike—citing a “woman who forgave a pilot who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb, because she recognized that what she really hated was war itself.” He offered no corresponding tribute to the American pilots who risked their lives for their country, nor any defense of the American decision to attack Japan; rather, he lamented the human tendency “to justify violence in the name of some higher cause.” He enjoined his listeners “to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering.” He came to Hiroshima, he explained, to be reminded of the “ordinary people” who “do not want more war.” He never once sought to legitimate the cause in question or the notion that war is at times justified.

None of this is especially surprising given Obama’s famous insistence on “change.” Around midway through the speech, however, he offered something distinctive. After portraying World War II as having grown out of “the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes,” he sketched his view of Hiroshima’s significance:
There are many sites around the world that chronicle this war—memorials that tell stories of courage and heroism; graves and empty camps that echo of unspeakable depravity. Yet in the image of a mushroom cloud that rose into these skies, we are most starkly reminded of humanity’s core contradiction; how the very spark that marks us as a species—our thoughts, our imagination, our language, our tool-making, our ability to set ourselves apart from nature and bend it to our will—those very things also give us the capacity for unmatched destruction.

Here, Obama was engaging in a tentative attempt at mythmaking. The defining image of World War II, in this telling, was not that of soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy or the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign above Auschwitz. No: It was an image that, in Obama’s words, represented a sinister “material advancement,” employed by America “to oppress and dehumanize those who are different.” American capitalism and American racism thus seem to undergird Obama’s understanding of World War II. He neatly placed the American decision to use the atomic bomb alongside the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany; all of it, he suggests, reminds us of mankind’s aptitude for evil. In this moment, he drew no moral distinctions in his condemnation of the horrors of war. In subtly conflating Nazi evils and the American response, Obama created a permission structure for his ideological partners to do the same thing.

Revisionists on the right, in part by taking refuge within Obama’s permission structure, have furthered this de-mythification project. Instead of castigating America for being racist, however, the right-revisionists rebuke their country as an antireligious tyranny, run by global elites. In this telling, American leadership became drawn into World War II by globalist interests while ignoring the plight of their own countrymen. Other, more extreme voices cast Hitler and Mussolini as heroic for wanting to strengthen their own nations and sense of national identity.

The loudest advocate for this New Right ethos, as of this writing, remains Tucker Carlson, who seeks not merely to keep America out of war or restore American manufacturing, but to remake American mythology.
Israel Is Not Just Another Ally
In a dangerous region, words from Washington are not simply opinions. They become strategic signals. America must lead without losing the trust of its allies. Israel is not a temporary partner or a tactical convenience. The relationship between America and Israel is strategic, democratic, cultural, moral, scientific, military, and historical. It is woven into the American story, just as America is woven into Israel's story.

Israel, for generations, has stood as a democratic ally in a region where democracy is rare, danger is permanent, and the cost of miscalculation can be existential. The countries on the front line with Iran - Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait - do not experience Iran as an abstraction. They experience it through missiles, drones, proxy networks, air-defense alerts, threats to shipping lanes, and the permanent pressure of a regime that has made destabilization a method of statecraft.

These countries have the right to ask questions. They have the right to demand clarity before being asked to live with the consequences of an agreement negotiated above their heads. If the U.S. wants regional partners to choose moderation over extremism, normalization over rejection, and modernization over ideological darkness, then Washington must show that such choices are rewarded with respect, consultation, and protection.
For Israel, the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran Is an Existential Question of Survival
Israelis were told that the war with Iran was over last week, yet the shooting continued into the weekend and at least five Israeli soldiers were killed by the Islamic Republic's Hizbullah proxy in Lebanon. For us, Washington and Tehran's "memorandum of understanding" isn't a policy debate; it's an existential question of survival, deterrence and the balance of power in the Middle East.

Israelis know that our interests are aligned with but not identical to those of our friends in America. We also know that the current disagreement doesn't diminish Donald Trump's historic support for the Jewish state. We've never had a stronger ally in the White House.

The Islamic Republic isn't a normal state. It is a revolutionary, imperialist dictatorship bent on exerting its will around the globe. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has systematically lied to the international community, armed terrorist proxies, called for Israel's destruction, and brutally oppressed its own people.

An alarming development is the Islamist coalition, led by Turkey, that helped bring about this moment. Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the most destabilizing powers in the region, fueled by a poisonous blend of Islamist ideology and neo-Ottoman imperialism.

Israel learned on Oct. 7, 2023, what happens when you refuse to take your enemies at their word. We now listen carefully to the jihadist slogans of al-Sharaa's forces in Syria, the imperial and antisemitic declarations of Turkey's leadership, and the Iranian regime's contempt for the U.S.

Stability can't be gained by empowering those who reject the foundations of the Free World. Peace can't be bought by rewarding regimes and movements that treat diplomacy as a tactical break between rounds of aggression. And the goal of Israel's destruction can't be treated as a legitimate grievance.

The Middle East punishes wishful thinking without mercy. It will do so again if the West continues to mistake Islamism for pragmatism, appeasement for diplomacy, and silence for stability.


IDF: Reservist KIA in Southern Lebanon
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the military said.

Master Sgt. (res.) Basil Sweid, 32, from the Druze city of Peki’in, was a driver in the IDF’s 75th Battalion. He fell during operational activity, the army said.

Preliminary findings indicate that he was killed in a road accident in the Shi’ite village of Rab El Thalathine, just east of the Israeli community of Misgav Am in the Galilee Panhandle, according to Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster.

Another soldier was moderately wounded in the incident and was evacuated to the hospital.

The cause of the accident has not yet been established, according to the report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended his condolences to the Sweid family.

Sweid was “a brave reservist fighter, filled with a sense of mission, who symbolized the unbreakable bond between the Druze community and the State of Israel and the eternal covenant between us... May his memory be blessed,” said Netanyahu.

“With great sadness and deep pain, we extend our sincere condolences to the Sweid family, and especially to the Peki’in family and all its residents, on the falling of a local, a reserve soldier, a virtuous man of good character,” said the Peki’in Local Council of the Upper Galilee.
Israeli Defense Ministry contractor killed in Gaza accident
An Israeli Defense Ministry contractor was killed on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip during military activity, the Israel Defense Forces said, describing the incident as an operational accident.

The worker, employed by a company carrying out engineering projects for the Defense Ministry, was operating alongside IDF and security forces at the time of the incident, according to the military. Israeli media reported that he was killed when a structure collapsed on him as he operated heavy machinery during demolition work.

Israeli media identified the victim as Raed Abu al-Qi’an, a resident of the Bedouin town of Hura in the Negev.

The IDF said the family had been notified and extended condolences together with the Defense Ministry.
Respectfully Differing with America
President Trump recently argued that, without American intervention, Israel would have faced an existential threat. Israel owes the U.S. profound gratitude for its contribution to degrading Iran's nuclear program and for the extensive security assistance it has provided over many decades.

However, the assertion that Israel's survival depends entirely upon American action does not accurately reflect reality. The combination of credible strategic deterrence and sophisticated missile-defense capabilities is what fundamentally guarantees Israel's security.

The claim that the Trump administration represents Israel's last remaining friend in the international arena also does not withstand close scrutiny. Israel's international standing today is arguably stronger than at any previous point in its history. Furthermore, throughout the current conflict, Israel has managed to achieve most of its strategic objectives, notwithstanding intensive worldwide opposition.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is entirely justified in maintaining public restraint in response to U.S. criticism. Nevertheless, there would be no harm in occasionally presenting counterarguments - provided this is done respectfully and in a manner befitting the unique relationship between Israel and the U.S.
US voter support for Israel waning, Quinnipiac poll suggests
Almost half of U.S. voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday now say that the United States has become too supportive of Israel, the highest percentage since the question was first asked almost a decade ago.

In the poll, 48% said Washington was too supportive of the Jewish state—including 60% of Democrats and 20% of Republicans—while 38% said the level of support was just right and 7% said the United States was not supportive enough.

In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was viewed unfavorably, 48% to 20%, with 30% saying that they hadn’t heard enough to express an opinion.

“Netanyahu gets poor marks from American voters as their appetite for supporting Israel wanes, with the share of voters who think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel hitting a new high,” stated Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac polling analyst.

Netanyahu stood by U.S. President Donald Trump as both countries attacked the Iranian regime. The war proved very unpopular as gasoline prices skyrocketed, and in the Quinnipiac poll, voters said that the military action was not worth it by a margin of 60% to 34%.

By a 59% to 37% margin, voters said that they were not confident that the U.S.-Iran deal would work, and by 61% to 33%, they said that it was likely that Iran would develop nuclear weapons, even though the United States went to war to preclude that possibility.

Only 34% approved of the way Trump was handling Iran, with 62% disapproving.

The president’s job approval rating stood at 38%, with 55% disapproving.
The terror network Europe failed to confront
German authorities recently uncovered what prosecutors describe as a Hamas network involved in preparing terrorist attacks in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The investigation led to a series of arrests and exposed a reality many Europeans have failed to recognize: Hamas was not merely using Europe for recruitment, fundraising, propaganda, and political mobilization. It was also using European soil as part of the infrastructure for planning, supporting, and preparing terrorist attacks. Far from being an isolated case, the investigation offers a glimpse into a much broader network operating across the continent.

In several European countries, Hamas is already a banned terrorist organization. Yet the latest investigation demonstrates a hard truth: banning an organization is not the same as dismantling the network that sustains it. In fact, the investigation highlights a larger problem that extends well beyond Hamas. Iran’s shadow over Europe

Long before the recent arrests, an extensive network of organizations linked to the Iranian regime had established itself across Europe. Different parts of this network assumed different roles, ranging from recruitment, fundraising, propaganda, and political mobilization to legal warfare, logistical support, and, in some cases, the preparation of terrorist attacks.

One of Europe’s recurring mistakes has been to view Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other Iranian-backed organizations as separate challenges when in reality, they are often different components of the same strategic architecture. The IRGC has spent decades cultivating, financing, training, and coordinating proxy organizations that pursue Iranian objectives through different methods and under different banners. Hamas and Hezbollah are among the most visible examples.

Other parts of this ecosystem include organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and its affiliated networks such as Samidoun and Masar Badil, as well as groups such as the Hind Rajab Foundation, which has become one of the most prominent examples of legal warfare against Israel. Too often, these organizations are analyzed in isolation. Viewed together, they reveal a highly organized international network that repeatedly leads back to the same common denominator: the Iranian regime.
IRGC agents lived in Australia before directing attacks on Jewish targets, spy chief says
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used two agents who once lived in Australia to direct arson attacks against Jewish targets in Sydney and Melbourne, the head of Australia’s domestic spy agency said on Wednesday.

“Iran continues to view Australia as a legitimate target for covertly directed acts of violence,” Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), said.

Australia last year blamed Iran for fires that damaged Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, a kosher eatery in Sydney, and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue two months apart in 2024.

A major diplomatic rift led to Iran’s ambassador being expelled. Tehran denies the allegations.

Burgess, presenting his annual update on national security threats, said that an Australian citizen based in Iran directed the Sydney firebombing, while a former Australian resident living in Iraq had directed the Melbourne attack.

He did not name the suspects to protect ongoing investigations and criminal prosecutions.
ASIO assassination warning sparks alarm for Australian Jews
Deakin University Global Islamic Politics Chair Professor Greg Barton says ASIO would not publicly warn of assassination threats against Jewish Australians unless the danger was both credible and serious.

The ASIO boss has warned Australian Jews could become the targets of assassination plots.

“I don’t think the director general of ASIO would be talking about it so explicitly unless there was a very clear danger,” Mr Barton told Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus.
US considering relocating some Gulf bases damaged by Iran to Israel — WSJ
The United States is reassessing its military posture in the Middle East, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that cited satellite imagery revealing far more extensive damage at a key naval base in Bahrain than the US has publicly acknowledged.

The report says the US is considering refurnishing the base in Bahrain while shrinking its military footprint in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, instead moving bases and operations westward where they would be further away from Iran’s missiles and drones.

One location where some bases could relocate to is Israel, two of the officials cited in the report tell the Journal.
‘Worst round yet’: Rubio optimistic despite tense Israel-Lebanon talks on pilot zones
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon were nearing understandings on pilot zones for the disarmament of Hezbollah, despite what officials familiar with the talks described as the most difficult round of negotiations so far.

The proposed pilot zones would likely involve IDF withdrawals from areas already cleared by Israeli forces, with the Lebanese army taking over control in their place. The talks are being held in Washington under heavy American pressure, as the United States seeks to translate the fragile ceasefire on the Lebanon front into a broader security arrangement. Recent U.S.-backed understandings have sought to preserve a ceasefire while allowing Israel to act against imminent threats, though Hezbollah is not a formal party to the diplomacy.

Officials exposed to details of this week’s talks said the fifth round was the worst held so far. One Israeli official said the Americans were pressing hard for understandings despite major disagreements. Thursday was expected to be the final day of the current round, with the most likely outcome described as declarations of intent rather than a complete agreement.

The tensions come as Lebanese media reported that three people were killed and one was wounded Thursday in a drone strike targeting a vehicle between the villages of Mifdoun and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in southern Lebanon. The report followed another Iranian warning that included a demand for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Against the backdrop of Iranian efforts to link the regional fronts, senior Israeli officials familiar with the talks said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convinced U.S. President Donald Trump that Israel would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, but would be bound by a full ceasefire across Lebanon. Under that approach, Israel would not initiate attacks, but would retain the right to defend itself, act against threats and respond if attacked.

According to the officials, Iran has instructed Hezbollah to comply with the ceasefire terms and avoid attacking Israel or IDF forces, and the terror group is broadly trying to do so. Still, the atmosphere in the negotiating rooms at both the State Department and the Pentagon was described as tense and negative. The core dispute remains Israel’s withdrawal and the selection of pilot zones that would be handed over to the Lebanese army.


Israel, Lebanon deny claim of partial IDF withdrawal from Southern Lebanon
Jerusalem and Beirut on Thursday denied a report that the Israel Defense Forces had withdrawn from an area in Southern Lebanon as a goodwill gesture to the Lebanese government ahead of negotiations.

The denials came in response to a request for comment from Reuters, after an anonymous U.S. State Department official told the news service that “Israel has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer ⁠zone. This is a significant demonstration of good faith toward Lebanon’s legitimate government.”

The Lebanese Armed Forces “should now move in and verifiably clear out terrorist weapons and infrastructure. This model will be repeated across South Lebanon, enabling the safe return of displaced ⁠families, reconstruction of the south, and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty,” the official added, according to the report.

The American source was referring to a so-called “pilot zone” offer that reportedly came up during Israeli-Lebanese negotiations, which began before the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran was signed last week in Versailles, France.

The pilot reportedly involves the transfer of a designated territory currently under Israeli control to Lebanese state forces. If the LAF demonstrates the capability to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and prevent the reestablishment of terrorist groups like Hezbollah in the territory, the IDF will continue to hand over more areas in Southern Lebanon.

However, a top Israeli defense official told Reuters that the IDF would not ⁠be withdrawing from its established buffer zone.
Quds force commander demands Israel leave Lebanon as Iran's deputy FM threatens Italy, Romania
Israel must withdraw from Lebanon today or be forced to retreat in defeat tomorrow, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force commander Esmail Qaani threatened on Thursday.

"You Zionists must leave all of Lebanon. This land is the arena of resistance and steadfastness, not a playground for occupiers," he demanded in a social media post.

European countries also came under threat from an Iranian official on Thursday, when Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi blamed Italy and Romania for allowing the United States to use their air bases in its attacks on Iran.

"The statements of the NATO Secretary General regarding the use by the United States of Italian and Romanian bases in an attack on Iran give rise to the international responsibility of these countries," Gharibabadi stated on X/Twitter.

"According to General Assembly Resolution 3314, the provision of territory by a state for use by a third state to carry out aggression against another country is considered an act of aggression."
Bipartisan alarm over Trump’s plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey
U.S. lawmakers across the political spectrum are sounding the alarm over the Trump administration’s plans to review whether it can sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, arguing that the move would raise national security concerns and that Ankara has not yet fulfilled its obligation to dump its Russian S-400s.

In the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he was considering selling the advanced jet engines to Turkey, stating that he would “do something that’s going to make him [Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] very happy.” Vice President JD Vance said the administration is “confirming” that Turkey has fulfilled its obligations under U.S. law in order to receive advanced F-35 fighter jets.

Ankara has long sought the advanced systems but has been barred from purchasing it since 2020, after it acquired the S-400 air-defense system from Russia. A report published last week by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America suggested that the S-400 system is inactive but still intact in Turkey.

The proposed deal has drawn fierce bipartisan pushback and notable criticism from within Trump’s own ranks.
Sa'ar to bring Armenian Genocide recognition to vote
A resolution for Israel to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide will be submited at the upcoming government meeting by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Sa’ar, announcing the resolution in a Thursday post to X/Twitter, said that the proposed resolution will afterward be brought before the Knesset for a vote.

“Recognizing the genocide perpetrated against the Armenian people in the final years of the Ottoman Empire is both a moral and historical duty,” Sa’ar affirmed. “We must also firmly condemn any denial, minimization, or distortion of the historical truth.”

“Despite the extensive and unambiguous historical documentation, the Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization, including a manipulative rewriting of history books, mainly by Turkey,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

As of 2026, 32 UN member states, including the United States, Canada, Russia, and Germany, have formally recognized the genocide.

The Holy See and the European Parliament have also officially recognized the genocide.

Over 200 memorials have been erected across 32 countries to commemorate the event.
Vance: US-Iran deconfliction cell has IRGC, CENTCOM reps ‘hanging out’ in Doha
US Vice President JD Vance has revealed that the deconfliction channel Washington and Tehran agreed to set up during talks in Switzerland this past weekend includes representatives from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the US Army’s Central Command, who will sit together in Qatar.

“One of the things we wanted to come out with [was a] channel on the Iranian side [for reducing conflict], which we did,” Vance said in an interview with the UnHerd British news site, which took place while the vice president flew back from those talks in Switzerland on Monday, but was only published on Thursday.

“They were like, ‘OK, fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” Vance said.

While US officials recently revealed that contact had been established with the IRGC during negotiations with Iran since the outbreak of the war, the fact that Vance is now saying that the engagement is taking place at the military level is particularly noteworthy, given that the US has designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Before departing Switzerland on Monday, Vance gave a press conference during which he touted what he said were two new mechanisms that the US and Iran agreed to establish during their weekend negotiations — one to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains open and another to maintain a regional ceasefire, particularly in Lebanon.

It was unclear which of those two mechanisms Vance was describing in the UnHerd interview, or whether the IRGC-CENTCOM coordination hub that has purportedly been set up in Doha will deal with both of those issues.


Under pressure from Trump, Senate backtracks on Iran war powers vote
Senators voted to reject a resolution requiring U.S. President Donald Trump to remove American military forces from the conflict with Iran on Wednesday, just one day after they approved a nearly identical measure from the House.

The reversal followed a meeting earlier on Wednesday between Trump and Senate Republicans in which the president reportedly hammered his own party for undermining his negotiating position with Iran.

At a lunch with Republican senators, Trump criticized the four members of his party who voted in favor of Tuesday’s resolution, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) describing the president as “mad as a murder hornet” over the vote,” Politico reported.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted with every Democrat except Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) to approve Tuesday’s resolution 50-48.

Trump also berated the four senators on social media, accusing them of giving “aid and comfort” to “the enemy,” using the same language as the constitutional provision defining treason.

Trump also reportedly criticized Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) for being absent for the vote. McCormick was travelling with Trump to an event in Pennsylvania, and McConnell is in Kentucky recovering from a recent hospitalization.

The text of Wednesday’s Senate resolution, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), is similar to the war powers measure that the senators approved on Tuesday. But it came in the form of a binding joint resolution that Trump would have had to veto.


Trump says Iran will not collect fees from ships transiting Strait of Hormuz
Iran will not receive tolls or “other charges of any kind” from shipping companies transiting the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.

The Tehran regime “informed the U.S. that, despite troublemaking fake news reporting to the contrary, there are ‘no tolls, no insurance costs, & no other charges of any kind being sought or received by Iran on ships traveling the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately!” he added.

In addition, the Islamic Republic has not received any funds from Washington following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on June 17, he stressed.

“We will be releasing some of their money, that is totally controlled by us, to our farmers and ranchers, for the purchase of corn, wheat, soybeans, and more,” he claimed. “Food is desperately needed in Iran, and we will be purchasing it for them exclusively from the United States.”

Trump said on Tuesday that he had lifted the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports after the regime agreed to open its nuclear facilities to inspections and made other “major concessions.”

“However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump’s statement came after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who serves as Tehran’s chief negotiator, vowed that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz “will never go back to the way they were before the war.”

“Of course, international regulations will be observed, but Iran will administer the Strait of Hormuz,” Ghalibaf told Iranian media as he returned from talks with U.S. representatives in Switzerland.

While the MoU calls for the immediate reopening of the strait to commercial shipping, Tehran reopened the strategic waterway “according to its own terms and timeline,” the negotiator claimed.


Mossad rehearsed 2018 Iran nuclear archives raid in Africa, former chief Yossi Cohen reveals
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen has revealed for the first time that Africa was the geographic area where spies from his agency carried out their “dress rehearsal” for the now famous operation in which they broke into Iran’s secret nuclear archives in January 2018.

The operation changed the course of history, as it was the impetus for then-first-term US President Donald Trump to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - shortly after the operation’s results were revealed in spring 2018.

In turn, Trump’s pulling out of the deal and the failure of the parties involved to reach a new agreement are viewed as leading to the wars with Iran in June 2025 and in early 2026, and eventually to the deal signed on June 17 between second-term Trump and Iran.

In the book Target Tehran, published in 2023, a vast majority of the details are revealed regarding the Mossad operation, with Cohen himself adding some new information in his 2025 book, The Sword of Freedom.

However, one of the most crucial details had still been left out until now, namely, where the dress rehearsal took place. While seemingly just one of many small details, it was significant.


IDF kills Islamic Jihad weapons commander in Gaza
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander in a targeted strike in southern Gaza earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.

The military identified the terrorist as Adam Muhammad Ibrahim Abu Hadid, who oversaw infrastructure used to manufacture weapons for attacks on Israeli troops and civilians.

The strike took place on Tuesday in the Khan Younis area.

Abu Hadid posed an immediate threat to troops, according to the IDF.

Israeli forces remain deployed in the area in line with the ceasefire agreement, the military added.


Coleman Hughes: Why the Iran Deal Will Fail, with Douglas Murray
Douglas Murray is back at The Free Press, where he started the column Things Worth Remembering. He is one of the most clear-eyed writers working today on the threats facing Western civilization, and I was glad to have him back on the show.

We started by looking at Britain, where Keir Starmer has just resigned after two years of achieving very little. Douglas is not surprised. He walked through what Brexit actually delivered, why immigration numbers went up rather than down under the Conservatives, and what the repeated scandals and riots reveal about a political class that keeps addressing the wrong problems. It is not a cheerful picture, but Murray is characteristically honest and clear-eyed about the issues facing Britain. It’s a lesson in how to diagnose some of the same problems we know all too well in our own country.

From there we turned to Iran, which Murray considers the more serious subject. He makes the case that the Iranian regime has been telling us its intentions for decades, and that the people who claim otherwise are either foolish or quietly hoping the regime succeeds. A nuclear-armed Middle East would be among the worst outcomes imaginable for the region and the world. That’s why he thinks the deal currently being discussed matters so much, and why he doesn’t think it will hold. We also get into what the recent strikes actually achieved, and why leaving a fire 10-percent lit is not the same as putting it out.

0:00-Intro
1:29-Keir Starmer's Legacy
5:25-The Southport Stabbings and Government Response
10:06-The Politicization of British Police
16:27-Brexit and the Immigration Failure
22:53-The State of British Politics and Reform
25:21-Douglas's Love for America
30:58-The Iran Deal: Win or Failure?
39:07-Iran's Nuclear Intentions
47:20-Would Mutually Assured Destruction Work on Iran?
54:02-Iran's Reckless Overseas Activities


JNS: “We Accepted The Ceasefire” Israel’s FM Gideon Saar Drops Bombshell About Iran

MirYam Institute: “Not the end of the Iran war” Trump will restart if talks don’t go as he wants
Israel and the United States achieved unprecedented military gains against Iran during Operation Rising Lion and Operation Epic Fury. So why has Washington now agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding with Tehran?

In this Situational Briefing, The MirYam Institute’s Senior Analyst on Urban and Asymmetrical Warfare, John Spencer, argues that President Trump’s Iran deal is not the end of the war, but the beginning of a new and highly uncertain phase.

Spencer examines whether the military pressure campaign against Iran was working, why he believes significant additional gains may have been within reach, and whether the leverage created by US and Israeli military operations is now being given away too soon.

The discussion explores the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, Iran’s nuclear programme, IAEA inspections, sanctions relief, frozen Iranian assets, the Strait of Hormuz, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel’s continuing security operations, and the possibility that military action could resume if negotiations fail.

Spencer also explains why he believes the pre-war status quo cannot return, why Hezbollah should not be part of Iran’s negotiating strategy, and why the final outcome of this conflict remains far from settled.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro: "This Is Not An End To The War"
00:23 "We Were Within Weeks Of Significant Gains"
05:07 "This Is Not An End To The War" — What’s Actually In MOU?
09:56 Nuclear Inspections & Sanctions Relief
14:20 Strait Of Hormuz — Open Reality
16:50 Hezbollah & "Insanity" of letting Iran tie Lebanon to MOU
20:43 The Hezbollah Tunnel Network
22:22 Why Proxy Status Quo Cannot Return
25:17 Rhetoric, Lies And Reality




Call me Back Podcast: As America cuts its losses, what are Israel’s options? - with Amit Segal
Can Israel stop Iran if America decides to move on?
As Washington pursues negotiations with Tehran, many Israelis are wondering what their country can still do to shape the outcome. Dan Senor is joined by Ark Media contributor and Channel 12 senior political analyst Amit Segal to discuss the state of the U.S.-Iran talks, why Israel is showing restraint in Lebanon, and what leverage Jerusalem still has as Washington pursues negotiations with Tehran. They also examine the growing debate inside Israel over President Trump and J.D. Vance, and whether Netanyahu can navigate a moment when many Israelis feel the military achievements against Iran have yet to translate into a lasting strategic gain.

In this episode:
Why the U.S.-Iran talks may be headed for failure
Does Israel have any leverage left?
Why Israel is showing restraint in Lebanon
Why “no deal, no war” could still hurt Tehran
Netanyahu, Trump, and the Vance problem
Israel’s options if America steps back
Could Trump shape Israel’s next election?
Will Netanyahu really run for a seventh term?


Maj. Andrew Fox - The Iranian Agenda: Weaponizing international Law for Propaganda
Maj. Andrew Fox argued that contemporary conflict involving Israel cannot be understood solely through the physical conduct of hostilities, because it is simultaneously waged in the informational and legal domains. In his account, Iran and its aligned actors have invested heavily in a coordinated campaign designed to delegitimise Israel by converting contested images, rapid allegations and emotionally charged narratives into legal and diplomatic pressure. He presented this as a strategic process in which visual material is quickly attached to claims of unlawful conduct, amplified through media and digital networks, and then reinforced by institutional actors in ways that can outpace careful fact-finding. Within that framework, he described Hamas as pursuing an “information manoeuvre” in which the battle for perception is treated as integral to the battlefield itself, with messaging calibrated both to weaken Western support for Israel and to project strength to Arab audiences.

Fox further contended that this dynamic has distorted legal discourse by encouraging the use of grave legal labels before the evidentiary thresholds associated with those labels have been properly tested. He argued that allegations of genocide and war crimes are often advanced in public debate through emotional inference, selective quotation and repeated circulation, rather than through disciplined analysis of intent, attribution, proportionality and proof. On that view, “lawfare” acquires the vocabulary and prestige of international law while abandoning its methodological rigour. His proposed response was not to retreat from legal language but to defend it more seriously: governments and military institutions, he argued, must respond with greater speed, transparency and evidentiary precision; legal practitioners must explain the governing standards in clear public language; and institutions must resist allowing propaganda effects to substitute for legal judgment.

Taken together, Fox’s position was that the central danger lies not only in hostile propaganda itself but in the erosion of the distinction between advocacy, accusation and adjudication. He argued that once legal conclusions are driven by virality, institutional repetition and emotional force rather than by disciplined evidentiary assessment, international law ceases to function as a restraining framework and becomes instead a medium of strategic coercion. In that sense, his warning was directed as much at Western institutions as at Iran and Hamas: if courts, international bodies, media organisations and professional communities absorb and retransmit unverified claims without sufficient scrutiny, they risk converting the language of legality into an instrument for rewarding manipulation and punishing legal self-defence.







Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    

 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates