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Tuesday, July 21, 2026

07/20 Links Pt1: Benny Morris: Omer Bartov - What Went Wrong?; Deborah Lipstadt: UN ‘failing Jewish people greatly’; Iran FM says he has never met new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei

From Ian:

Benny Morris: Omer Bartov: What Went Wrong?
A review of Israel: What Went Wrong? by Omer Bartov; 243 pages; Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 2026)
Late in the book Bartov describes a post-7 October visit to Israel and a meeting with Israeli students. He says he came away shocked. “They had not only internalised a particular view that had become commonplace in Israel—namely that the razing of Gaza … was a legitimate response … but had also developed a way of thinking that I observed many years ago when studying the conduct, worldview, and self-perception of German army soldiers in WWII [again, the comparison to the Nazis!] … Hamas as human animals—and of the wider [Gaza] population as less than human … Thousands of children were killed? It’s the enemy’s fault … If Hamas carries out a massacre in a kibbutz, they are Nazis. If we drop two-thousand-pound bombs on refugee shelters and kill hundreds of civilians, it’s Hamas’s fault for hiding under or close to these shelters … The way people’s eyes glazed over whenever I mentioned the suffering of Palestinian civilians … was deeply unsettling.” (I wonder whether Bartov’s eyes “glazed over” when he was told of the suffering of Hamas’s victims, many of them tortured and raped. But, of course, he has a point about the progressive Israeli dehumanisation of the Palestinians—but he ignores the coin’s other face, the parallel dehumanisation of the Israelis by the Palestinians).

Bartov’s descriptions of various episodes in the conflict are speckled with distortions and marred by tendentiousness; this is not a book scholars will excavate for facts. For instance, Bartov repeatedly states that the Zionist forces “expelled” the Palestinian population from the territory that became the State of Israel—when, in fact, most simply fled from the actual or potential battlefields (and some were ordered or advised to leave—as in Haifa on 22 April 1948—by their own leaders). The most that can be said is that the Israeli government refused to allow the refugees to return to their homes and lands after the war, not exactly the same thing.

The decades of British rule were characterised, Bartov tells us, by the “familiar processes of a settler colonial takeover of land and resources from the indigenous Palestinian population.” The American, South African, and Australian “settler-colonial” paradigms, to which he is alluding, featured brutal armed conquest and confiscation of indigenous lands. In Ottoman and British Mandate Palestine, the Jews acquired lands from very willing Arab sellers—nothing before 1948 was conquered. And the country had, and has, no “resources” to speak of.

But the sad truth is that Israeli internal demographic and political trends and the constant Islamist violence and genocidal threats have derailed the Zionist project, transforming it from a positive, moral enterprise to something teetering on the edge of an abyss. I wouldn’t go so far as to say, as in Bartov’s peroration, that Israel today is “bloody-minded … [and] paranoid” and is now “heading down the path of theocracy and apocalypse.” I would advise waiting a bit before making a definitive judgment. Let’s see what sort of government the Israeli general elections, scheduled for 27 October, wash up and whether they will alter the current downward spiral.

But one thing is already clear: Bartov’s book, and his journalistic “Israelis are genocidaires” campaign that preceded it, have, objectively speaking, assisted the Islamist terrorists in their effort to destroy the Jewish state. This is something he will have to live with.
Friedman: A Palestinian state will destroy Abraham Accords
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman said in Congressional testimony released on Monday that efforts to create a Palestinian state would fatally undermine U.S.-led negotiations to achieve normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries.

In a written statement submitted to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, Friedman said that attempts to link the two issues were “destined for failure” after Oct. 7.

“Israel already has done the two-state experiment and that folly almost destroyed the Jewish state,” Friedman wrote. “Talk of a Palestinian state in the halls of Congress or the palaces of Europe is just wildly out of touch with the realities on the ground.”

The former envoy to Jerusalem argued that countries like Saudi Arabia that might seek to join the 2020 Abraham Accords agreement that normalized relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco “understand those realities well.”

“A Palestinian state will not advance the Abraham Accords; it will destroy them,” he said. “It will consume the region with even more conflict and violence.”

“The fact that the Abraham Accords did not resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a feature, not a bug, of the deal,” he wrote. “The accords sent a clear message to the Palestinians that the days in which they held the Middle East hostage had ended.”
Khaled Abu Toameh: Iran's War on the Arabs: Time for the Gulf to Stand with Israel
Over the past week, the Iranian regime has demonstrated once again that its ambitions extend far beyond destroying Israel.

It is a war against the entire Middle East and, ultimately, against the United States and the West.

Tehran then launched missiles and drones not only against US assets but also against infrastructure in Arab countries across the Gulf, in addition to Jordan, presumably so they would pressure US President Donald J. Trump to call off US firepower and return instead to waste-of-time negotiations for a waste-of-time "deal" that Iran would not honor in the first place.

In reality, the negotiations have been worse than a waste of time... The negotiations actually caused harm. They gave the regime time to retrieve missiles it had hidden and to resume firing, with targeting assistance from China and Russia, on US forces and allies in the Gulf.

Iranian regime ideology rejects peaceful coexistence and normalization between Arabs and Israelis -- as does the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, currently embodied by Qatar and Turkey.

Taken together, these terrorist organizations form what Tehran proudly calls the "Axis of Resistance." It is, in reality, an axis of terrorism. Its purpose is not just to destroy Israel. Its objective is to spread Iran's revolutionary Shiite Islamist ideology, undermine moderate Arab governments, expel American influence from the Middle East, and ultimately wage jihad (holy war) against the West.

The Arab states therefore have every reason to openly align themselves with the United States and Israel in confronting the Iranian threat.

This is not about choosing sides in someone else's conflict. It is about defending their own sovereignty, their own interests, their own citizens, and their own future.

The lesson of the past week: So long as the regime in Tehran remains committed to exporting its "Islamic Revolution" and maintaining its network of terrorist proxies, there can be no genuine security or stability in the Middle East.

Until the Iranian regime abandons its expansionist ambitions or loses the capacity to pursue them, the Middle East will remain trapped in recurring cycles of violence. Until then, the Arab states would be wise to recognize that this is their fight as much as Israel's.


United Nations ‘failing Jewish people greatly’ says former antisemitism tsar Deborah Lipstadt
Former US antisemitism tsar Deborah Lipstadt has condemned the United Nations (UN) for “greatly failing the Jewish people as an institution”, speaking exclusively to the JC.

The distinguished American scholar also spoke of the danger posed by an “alliance of convenience” formed in recent years between far-left Marxist and Green groups and Islamist extremists.

Asked about concerns that institutions created after the Second World War have lost their way and even becoming a platform for antisemitism, Lipstadt said: “The UN, as an institution, has greatly failed the Jewish people.”

She was speaking following repeated criticism of its conduct towards Israel, particularly since October 7.

Many observers believe the UN has shown enormous institutional bias against the Jewish state.

Some point to its refusal to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

The continued funding of Palestinian refugee organisation UNRWA despite some staff members having taken part in the October 7 massacre has caused huge shock and concern.

The historian said: “I think what we forget is that the UN is composed of nations.

“There are a whole lot more nations that are hostile to Jews, to Jewish issues, to antisemitism and to Zionism than there are nations that are positive.”

Lipstadt, 79, said she believes an ideological element fuels the bias against Israel.

She said: “There’s a very strong leftist orientation within the UN – one that is exceptionally critical of establishment groups.”

Lipstadt – who won a landmark libel trial in 2000 after she exposed author David Irving’s distortions of Holocaust history – was speaking while attending the Contemporary Antisemitism 2026 annual academic conference in Haifa, Israel.

She went on to explain how she believed there was an increasing opportunistic convergence between extremist groups from different ends of the political spectrum, with a consequent impact on the Jewish community and Israel.

Lipstadt said: “I no longer talk about combating antisemitism. I talk about countering antisemitism because I think it’s like a virus. It’s a shape-shifter. It shifts and fills whatever void it needs.

“That’s one of the reasons why you have this weird ‘red-green alliance’, where you have leftist progressive Marxist groups and Islamist Jihadist groups converging despite the fact that they don’t agree on feminism.

“They don’t agree on taxation. They don’t agree on capitalism. They don’t agree on homosexuality.

“But on this, they agree.”
Trump administration touts more than $1B in UN budget cuts as reform push gains momentum
The Trump administration says it has secured more than $1 billion in cuts to United Nations budgets in just six months, calling the reductions evidence that an institution long considered resistant to change is finally beginning to reform.

The latest milestone came June 30, when all 193 U.N. member states approved a peacekeeping budget of approximately $5.1 billion for the coming fiscal year — about $550 million, or 9.7%, less than the previous year.

Combined with a 15% reduction to the U.N.'s regular budget approved in December, U.S. officials say the agreements amount to more than $1 billion in cuts to assessed U.N. budgets, a level they describe as unprecedented.

Assessed budgets are funded through mandatory contributions charged to member states under a formula based largely on the size of their economies.

"On June 30th, with U.S. leadership, all 193 countries came together again for the second time in six months," U.S. Ambassador for U.N. Management and Reform Jeff Bartos told Fox News Digital. "We've achieved over a billion dollars of savings in six months, which is unprecedented. Any one cut would be unprecedented. The totality of the reforms is monumental."

The agreement comes as the United Nations faces mounting financial pressure and prepares for a leadership transition in 2027, with Secretary-General António Guterres set to leave office at the end of his second term. At the same time, the Trump administration has made reform a central pillar of its U.N. strategy, arguing the organization has become overly bureaucratic and inefficient.

In response to questions from Fox News Digital, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric confirmed that the peacekeeping budget was reduced by roughly $550 million and the regular budget by 15%, describing both as "unprecedented reductions."


Israel backs Cyprus on Turkish invasion anniversary
Israel reaffirmed its support for Cyprus’s sovereignty and territorial integrity on Monday, marking the anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that Jerusalem stands in solidarity with Cyprus and described Turkey’s continued military presence in the island’s north, along with unilateral efforts to alter the status quo, as unacceptable.

“As a strategic partner and neighbor of Cyprus, Israel calls for the resumption of negotiations toward a just, viable and lasting solution to the conflict,” the statement concluded.

The statement came as Cyprus marked 52 years since the invasion, with the United Nations seeking to revive stalled peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.


Rubio says US still open to diplomatic route with Tehran
While Washington remains open to a diplomatic solution with Iran, the latter in the meantime is violating its interim agreement with the U.S. by attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday night.

“The straits are supposed to be open—free of tolls, free of attacks, free of all the things they’re doing against these ships. ... You can’t have a MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] that’s alive if they’re violating the terms of it,” Rubio told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before taking off for the Philippines for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

He went on to say that the Iranian regime continues to send signals directly and through mediators that it is interested to return to the negotiating table.

But “I also think it’s growing apparent that even within their own system there’s a growing split ... between those that understand that their economy is in shambles and they need to do something or they’re going to be in a lot of trouble very soon economically and domestically, and others who are very militant in their view of life and in their view of the world and continue to launch missiles,” Rubio continued.

“So they’ll have to work out that split internally. We’re going to continue to respond. If the door opens to diplomacy, if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system or take control of the negotiations, that’ll be a very positive development. That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately,” Rubio said,

America’s top diplomat noted that the objectives of the current military campaign are to degrade Iran’s ability to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Other countries should join us in this effort, but the United States is involved not just in protecting those ships but in targeting the places that they use to launch these missiles and drones,” he said.

Rubio stressed that Iran’s economy is in shambles, with “300% inflation, particularly on life-sustaining goods. They have dwindling revenues to meet even their own payroll. They have food shortages. They have a drought, which we didn’t cause. But they have a gasoline shortage and a fuel shortage. All these problems existed before all this began. They’ve just gotten worse. They will continue to get worse.”


Iran FM says he has never met new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he has not met the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, describing contact with the Islamic Republic’s new leader as limited to a small circle of officials.

“I don’t think many people have, aside from a very small number,” he said during an interview with Iranian journalist Javad Mogooyi.

Araghchi also said he had never communicated directly with Khamenei.

“Only indirectly, from what I’ve heard from others,” he said. “Personally, I’ve never interacted with him. I’ve seen him from a distance a few times at public gatherings, but we’ve never had a conversation.”

The foreign minister said Khamenei’s appointment as supreme leader was intended to signal continuity in Iran’s policies following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment is “a very important message to the world that there would be no change in the regime’s policies and ideals,” Araghchi said.

According to the Middle East Forum, Araghchi said that “the regime would collapse if all members of the Supreme National Security Council are hit, which is why they never met at once during the war.”
Israeli intel said to show Iran has moved nuclear centrifuges to Pickaxe Mountain
Israeli intelligence has reportedly assessed that Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into Pickaxe Mountain, burying them deep underground and making them harder to target in aerial strikes.

The Wall Street Journal, citing US and Israeli officials, reports that Israel has told the US that its intelligence shows Tehran made the move last fall, following the 12-day war in June 2025, during which the US deployed B-52 bombers to strike Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.

US President Donald Trump said last week that “Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door.”

The US president added at the time: “We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation… We’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”

CNN reported earlier this month that satellite imagery showed trucks going in and out of the facility at Pickaxe Mountain, possibly indicating that Iran is working to rebuild its nuclear facilities.
Trump vows to make Iran ‘pay’ for killing soldiers as US official says talks ongoing
A US official said Monday that Washington’s strikes against Iran were likely to continue, even as the sides negotiate a resolution to an ongoing dispute regarding control over the Strait of Hormuz, while US President Donald Trump threatened to make Tehran pay for the deaths of American servicemembers.

Trump said Monday that he had directed the Pentagon to kill “many times” the number of Iranians for every US soldier killed by Tehran.

“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without elaborating.

The post suggested that the sides were heading toward a further escalation, after at least two US troops were killed in an Iranian attack on Jordan over the weekend, in addition to a servicemember killed in Iraq. The total number of confirmed American fatalities in the war has now risen to 17.

Nearly 100 US servicemembers have been wounded since July 7, the Pentagon said on Monday, most with minor concussions.

Despite the escalation in violence, so far Israel has not joined the strikes nor been the target of retaliation by Iran. According to a Channel 12 news report Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security consultation to discuss multiple scenarios — including the possibility that Israel could be drawn into the conflict if Iran chooses to target it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a vote at the plenum hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

According to the report, Israeli defense officials told the elected leaders that there is an active debate in Tehran over whether to bring Israel into the line of fire. Israel is said to be coordinating closely with US Central Command, in the event that the conflict broadens, while the IDF has taken steps in recent days to ensure it can respond rapidly should the situation escalate
US names two soldiers KIA in Jordan
Washington announced on Monday the names of the two American service members who were killed in action in Jordan over the weekend.

The U.S. Department of War identified the first casualty as First. Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, killed on July 18, and the other as Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, from Carrollton, Texas, killed on July 17.

The statement said they were killed by “enemy fire” while on duty to support “Operation Inherent Resolve,” adding that the incident is under investigation.

It remains unclear who is responsible for their deaths or how they were killed.

“Operation Inherent Resolve” is an ongoing U.S. military operation, a part of a broader international campaign, against Islamic State. The mission spans across Iraq, Syria and Libya and has been active for 12 years.


US CENTCOM completes tenth night of strikes on Iran after explosions sound in country's south
The US military completed the tenth consecutive day of strikes in Iran early on Tuesday morning, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a post on X/Twitter.

The strikes were intended to "degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking commercial vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM said.

"American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait," they added

Explosions were reported in the southern Iranian cities of Bandar Abbas, Sirik Island, Shiraz, Bandar Lengeh, and Qeshm on Monday evening, according to Iranian media.

The IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency also reported that several explosions were heard in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, on Tuesday morning.

Ali Bakri-Kani, Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, said on Monday that "The pressure lever of the Strait of Hormuz is of paramount importance to us," adding that Iran is not willing to back down from its position on the issue.

Explosions sound in Iran
Air defense systems near an Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr were activated, and explosions were heard in central Iran near Isfahan, Iran's largest nuclear facility, Iranian semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.

Iranian state media IRNA, citing the governor of Isfahan Province, said that no attack has been carried out against Isfahan tonight. The governor added that they were looking into reports of explosions from locals.

The news agency also said that the explosions heard in Bushehr are due to the activation of air defense systems, not impacts, citing the Governor of Bushehr.

Local news reported hearing renewed explosions in Qeshm, Bandar Lengeh, and Bandar Abbas early on Tuesday morning.

Tasnim news agency also reported a wave of attacks in the port cities of Konarak and Chabahar.

Two locations near the southern Iranian city of Shiraz were "subjected to enemy attacks," Tasnim reported.
Houthis declare maritime embargo against ‘criminal enemy’ Saudi Arabia
The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen announced on Monday that it was imposing an immediate maritime blockade on what it called its “criminal Saudi enemy.”

The terrorists “declare a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye,’ effective immediately upon the issuance of this statement,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in an English-language statement.

“Any foolish act committed by the reckless Saudi enemy through all escalation will be met with a comprehensive and decisive escalation, by Allah’s will and power,” Saree warned.

On July 13, the Houthis claimed to have targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with “a number of ballistic missiles and drones” in response to alleged Saudi strikes on Sana’a International Airport earlier that day.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia and operates from the southern port city of Aden, took responsibility for the strike on Sana’a International Airport, saying it was intended to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.
Police arrest 2 Palestinians in connection with devastating fire at West Bank settlement
Police arrested two Palestinians Sunday night on suspicion of causing a destructive fire in the northern West Bank settlement of Havat Gilad over the weekend, though the incident is reportedly being treated as an accident rather than arson.

The pair were taken to interrogation over the blazes that destroyed 13 houses and damaged dozens more Saturday afternoon.

Investigators said on Sunday that an initial probe indicated the fire was sparked by a still-lit cigarette butt flicked to the side of the road, as law enforcement began working to track down the vehicle it was thrown from.

Police did not immediately respond on Monday when asked whether the two detainees are suspected of causing the fire on purpose.

According to an Army Radio report on Sunday, however, security agencies assessed that the blaze was sparked unintentionally.

After ruling out arson with a nationalist motive, the Shin Bet withdrew from the investigation and left police to handle it, the outlet said.

Police said Monday that officers were still weighing whether to ask for the two detainees to remain in custody, and would make a decision based on the interrogation’s findings.
Lebanese military begins takeover of ‘pilot zones’ in villages near IDF security zone
The U.S. State Department said on Monday that the Lebanese military launched its first operations to take over control of villages near the Israeli security zone in Lebanon.

“Pilot zone operations began in the villages of Froun, Srifa and Zawtar Al-Gharbiya in accordance with the Trilateral Framework and under the auspices of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott stated.

“This milestone is a direct outcome of last week’s discussions between Israel and Lebanon in Rome,” he said.

The three villages straddle the Litani River at the edge of the security area that Israel established within Lebanon to combat Hezbollah.

Under the agreement that Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed in Washington in June, the establishment of Lebanese-controlled pilot zones is the first step to allow Israel to “progressively redeploy out of the Lebanese territory.”

Those redeployments will require “mutual consent” and “the confirmation of successful disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantlement of their infrastructure” in the pilot zones, per the agreement.

It’s not clear whether Israel withdrew any of its forces as part of the Lebanese military moving into the three villages, though the Israel Defense Forces has operated in all three villages in recent months.

The move follows Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s arrival in Washington on Sunday for meetings with the Trump administration.


IDF says it killed terrorist who attacked Nova festival, abducted Inbar Haiman on Oct. 7
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who participated in the massacre at the Nova music festival during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, and took hostage Inbar Haiman, was killed in an Israeli strike over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF said the strike on Friday in the central Gaza Strip killed Taher Ahmad Salem Abd al-Wahed, who, on October 7, “infiltrated the Nova music festival and commanded” Haiman’s kidnapping.

The IDF’s announcement came as Hamas-affiliated media reported on Monday that five people were killed in two separate Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, including in a bombing that hit a hospital and another that targeted a vehicle. There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the incidents.

Haiman, 27, from Haifa, was captured and murdered by terrorists while fleeing the music festival, and her body was taken to Gaza. Her remains were returned to Israel by Hamas in October 2025. Terrorists killed 361 people at the festival among the 1,200 who were killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that day. Dozens of festival-goers were taken hostage.

In a separate strike in central Gaza, another Islamic Jihad operative, Salah Subhi Salah Qatrawi, was killed, the IDF said.

Qatrawi had attempted to advance attacks on troops near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites during the war, according to the military. The GHF was an Israeli- and US-backed organization that worked to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza for several months during 2025, in a bid to bypass Hamas. Palestinians were regularly reported killed surrounding its distribution sites, and it has since ceased operations.

Recently, both Islamic Jihad operatives attempted to advance “imminent” attacks on IDF troops and Israeli civilians, the military added, and therefore were targeted.

The IDF in recent months has ramped up strikes on terror operatives in Gaza, including numerous terrorists who took part in the October 7 attack, saying almost every time that they posed a threat to Israeli forces. Those strikes have also come alongside civilian casualties.


Commentary Podcast: The Liminal War
It's Monday, and we're back to discuss Iran striking US positions in Jordan and Iraq, the downplaying of American casualties and stockpile depletion, and the realization that intimidation tactics are not bearing fruit. Plus, Abdul El-Sayed's interview with Jake Tapper, Zohran Mamdani flirting with attempting to arrest Netanyahu, and John strongly recommends The Odyssey.







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)

    

 

 

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