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In-Depth Issues:
Energy Markets Limit the Hormuz Shock - Daniel Yergin ( Wall Street Journal)
Before the Gulf crisis, about 70 oil and natural gas tankers traversed the Strait of Hormuz every day. During May, four did.
Yet, much has been learned about energy security over the past half century, mitigating what could have been a catastrophic energy shock. Today there is much more variety in world oil and natural gas than during the energy crises of the 1970s.
The shale revolution has transformed the U.S. from the world's largest importer of oil to the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas and largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.
Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer. Brazil produces four times as much oil as Venezuela; and in Guyana, where production began only seven years ago, output almost equals Venezuela's.
In Argentina's Vaca Muerta region, shale oil production has grown sixfold since 2020. The current disruption will propel more oil and gas investment in the Western Hemisphere and Africa.
Saudi Arabia built variety in the form of a pipeline system that now moves 7 million barrels of oil a day west to the Red Sea. Abu Dhabi built a pipeline looping around the Strait of Hormuz and plans to double capacity by 2027.
France, which once depended on oil for electric generation, now relies mainly on nuclear.
The writer is vice chairman of S&P Global.
The Strait of Hormuz Is Getting Less Dire by the Day - Christopher Smart ( New York Times)
With every passing day, the world is learning to live without the Gulf's seaborne exports.
When gas prices rise rapidly, people limit their driving. Walmart reported that customers are now buying less than 10 gallons of gas at a time on average at its filling stations.
Markets locate new supplies when the old ones are suddenly cut off. The U.S., Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan and Venezuela are increasing their oil production.
China has begun to get more oil from Russia, Central Asia and the U.S. South Korea is securing supplies from Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Canada.
Japan is cultivating alternative suppliers in Colombia and Mexico and expanding its nuclear capacity.
U.S. jet fuel exports may help European airlines avoid significant cutbacks to their summer schedules.
Choke points rarely last. The longer the Strait remains blocked, the less important oil from the Strait becomes.
Oil prices have drifted lower recently not because traders expect a swift rebound in Strait shipping, but because they see supply and demand rebalancing.
The writer was a trade adviser and a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Obama administration.
Growing Reports of Brutal Arrests, Torture and Deaths in Iran's Prisons - Deepa Parent ( Guardian-UK)
Armed intelligence agents stormed the Tehran apartment of Iranian writer Hamid Asefi, 63, on March 5. "Heavy blows were directed at my ribs, kidneys, temples and the back of my head. The beating was so severe that I lost consciousness," he said.
Hesam Alaeddin, 40, was arrested in April in Tehran. The call to collect his body came weeks later. Relatives said that when his body was returned, there was "not a single bone left intact." "They beat him to death," a source said.
Iran Regime Attacks Own Economic Lifeline in UAE - Danielle Greyman-Kennard ( Jerusalem Post)
The United Arab Emirates has served as a major trading partner for Iran and is one of Iran's principal sanctions-evasion hubs, Arman Mahmoudian, a research associate at the University of South Florida's Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies, told the Jerusalem Post on Monday.
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned numerous UAE-based companies and financial institutions for facilitating Iranian petroleum and petrochemical exports, and helping Tehran evade international sanctions.
Dr. Kristian Alexander, lead researcher at the Emirates-based Rabdan Security and Defense Institute, said Iran's "heavy strikes against UAE infrastructure risk undermining one of Tehran's own economic escape valves."
Mahmoudian suggested that Tehran saw the attacks on its neighbors as necessary, understanding that it had a greater chance of defeating the U.S. with economic coercion than with military warfare.
"By attacking economic targets in the region, Iran was trying to increase pressure on energy markets and energy prices."
Saudi Arabia Built a Private De-Escalation Track with Iran - S. Al-Dosari ( House of Saud-Saudi Arabia)
In late March, the Royal Saudi Air Force struck Iranian territory - the first direct Saudi military action on Iranian soil in the kingdom's history - and within a week, Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia dropped 76%, from over 105 strikes to roughly 25.
Reuters confirmed on May 12 that Saudi Arabia launched "numerous, unpublicized strikes" on Iran, sourced to two Western officials and two Iranian officials.
Qatar Provides Lifeline to Iran's Collapsing Economy - Danny Zaken ( Israel Hayom)
Qatar has approved a $6 billion line of credit for Iran, intended for the purchase of goods through Doha.
The sum is part of the aid network Qatar is providing Iran as it seeks ways to bypass economic restrictions.
U.S. Air Force to Reduce Planes at Ben-Gurion Airport - Ariel Kahana ( Israel Hayom)
94 U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft are parked at Ben-Gurion Airport, nearly 1/3 of the entire U.S. refueling aircraft fleet.
The American aircraft currently occupy about two-thirds of the airport's available parking spaces.
Israeli officials stress that they greatly appreciate the contribution of U.S. forces and their mobilization to help defend Israel during the confrontation with Iran.
However, discussions are underway to reduce their number significantly, even if some remain in Israel, in order to allow an expected increase in civilian flights during the peak summer tourism months.
Locust Swarms Sweep Eastern Iran, Destroying Crops - Danielle Greyman-Kennard ( Jerusalem Post)
Moroccan locusts are wreaking havoc in eastern Iran, according to Iranian media reports.
The species is primarily feeding on grain crops, date palms, citrus fruits, fruit trees, olives, and figs.
How Chinese Satellites Support Iran - Can Kasapoglu ( Hudson Institute)
During the recent war, Iran's Revolutionary Guards targeted high-value U.S. military assets across the region, from strategic aircraft to expensive radar sites. They were likely cued by foreign space-based targeting data.
Open-source indicators suggest that satellite imagery and geospatial-intelligence support from the People's Republic of China helped Tehran identify and prioritize critical American capabilities.
In May 2026, the Trump administration sanctioned several China-based firms for providing satellite imagery that enabled Iranian strikes against U.S. forces.
China-based MizarVision published open-source imagery of U.S. activity during the war, while Earth Eye, a Chinese remote-sensing entity, provided satellite imagery directly to Tehran.
Chang Guang Satellite Technology, linked to the People's Liberation Army, collected and supplied Iran with imagery of U.S. and allied military facilities.
In April 2025, the U.S. State Department announced that Chang Guang had supported the Houthis in targeting maritime activity in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Search the Recent History of Israel and the Middle East
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Iran Continues Attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain - Vivian Nereim
Iranian attacks targeted Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday, the U.S. military and local authorities said, killing at least one person, injuring more than 60, and disrupting aviation.
U.S. Central Command said that a wave of Iranian drones had "failed to hit intended targets" and that no American personnel were harmed in an attempted attack on U.S. forces in Kuwait. Kuwait's foreign ministry said an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack had seriously damaged the country's international airport.
Bahrain said on Wednesday it had intercepted three Iranian missiles and several drones targeting civilian sites. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted an American naval base in Bahrain.
The Gulf Arab countries have traditionally relied on the U.S. military to protect them and deter attacks from Iran. Yet the presence of U.S. bases and American troops on their land have made them prime targets. (New York Times)
See also Kuwait Releases CCTV Footage of Iranian Strike on Airport
Kuwait's Civil Aviation Authority has released CCTV footage that shows a missile hitting the passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport, after Iran denied responsibility and blamed the damage on the U.S. The video shows a projectile striking the roof of Terminal One before a large explosion rips through part of the building.
(The National-UAE)
- Rubio Details U.S. Demands as Iran Peace Talks Falter - Noah Robertson
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday outlined the Trump administration's demands for a peace deal with Iran before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying the regime in Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz and commit to future talks on curtailing its nuclear program before Washington will lift its blockade of Iranian ports or ease financial sanctions strangling the country's economy. The administration is not willing to ease sanctions on Tehran solely in exchange for reopening the strait, Rubio said.
While Rubio said the joint U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign had been "highly successful" in reaching its military objective of degrading Iran's defense industrial base, he made clear that Iran still retains drone and missile capabilities. "They still have a lot of drones because these are easy to make." (Washington Post)
- Israel and Lebanon Agree on Ceasefire If Hizbullah Stops Attacks
Following meetings in Washington between Israel and Lebanon on June 2-3, both agreed to the implementation of a ceasefire, contingent on a complete cessation of Hizbullah fire and the evacuation of all Hizbullah operatives from the South Litani Sector. The two sides agreed with the guidance of the U.S. to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.
Israel and Lebanon reaffirmed that they have no hostile intent toward one another and committed to continuing direct negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues and work toward a comprehensive agreement between the two countries. Israel reaffirmed that its security and respect for its territorial integrity can only be achieved through the disarmament of Hizbullah and the dismantlement of its infrastructure throughout Lebanon.
(U.S. State Department)
- Netanyahu Backs Congressional Effort to End U.S. Military Aid to Israel - Natalie Allison
In Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem last week, U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) handed him a draft House resolution that effectively called for the U.S. to stop providing military aid to Israel for free.
"I like it," the prime minister replied after skimming the papers. "This is the direction I've been wanting to go for a long time. We want to stand on our own feet."
On Wednesday, with Netanyahu's support, Stutzman, a steadfast Israel ally, introduced the
resolution calling for the U.S. to develop a new memorandum of understanding between the two nations that would end the $3.8 billion in annual aid Israel receives and instead have the nation fund its own purchases of American weapons. In a letter to Stutzman on Monday, Netanyahu wrote that his country "appreciates the financial component of the military aid" the U.S. has provided. "The time has now arrived for us to move from aid recipient to partner."
Josh Paul, a former State Department official involved in negotiations on the last U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding, said the Israeli prime minister is "reading the room, seeing the very clear direction that American politics are going and asking how can Israel maintain the military-to-military relationship and the security cooperation relationship, but do so in a way that is sheltered from American politics - whether that's Congress or American public sentiment."
On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote on social media that a "New MOU w/Israel ends aid & will be based on trade." (Washington Post)
See also below Observations - Netanyahu: "I'd Rather Get a Bad Editorial in the Western Press than a Positive Obituary" - Sara Eisen (CNBC)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Jerusalem Center Experts: We Are in a Religious Conflict between the Shi'ites and the Rest of the World
Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) President Dan Diker, former Mossad Counterterrorism Director Oded Eilam, and JCFA Diplomacy Fellow Rawan Osman discussed "The New Middle East and the War for the West" at the 2026 Jerusalem Post New York Conference on June 1, 2026.
"We are moving from defense to offense, from explaining to exposing, and from defending to attacking," said Diker. Eilam said, "We are talking about a religious conflict between the axis led by the Shi'ites and the rest of the world."
Osman, born to a Syrian Sunni father and a Lebanese Shi'ite mother and who grew up in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, said, "I was one of Hizbullah's biggest fans....We underestimated jihad. We underestimated that those people are so devoted, they have long-term plans, and when they say Israel will be removed, they mean it." (Jerusalem Post)
- Hizbullah Is Hiding in Tyre's Christian Neighborhood
The IDF revealed Tuesday that Hizbullah fighters have embedded themselves inside the Christian neighborhood of Tyre, after fleeing other areas of the southern Lebanese city.
(Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran
- What the U.S. Has Accomplished in Iran - Condoleezza Rice
The war against Iran has been a limited war, but it has achieved enough to produce a far better Middle East. The three-month military campaign degraded Iran's ability to project power by significantly damaging its conventional forces, missile stockpiles and proxies. It set back Iranian nuclear ambitions significantly. It will be a long time before Iran can build a viable nuclear weapon. It also drew America, Israel and the Arab states closer together through defense cooperation and intelligence sharing.
Israel responded furiously to the terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and pummeled Iranian proxies, including Hizbullah and Hamas, that threaten its population. Many Arab regimes no longer question Israel's legitimacy; instead, they seek the benefits of technological and economic cooperation with Israel.
Iran is far weaker today than it was in February. No amount of Iranian propaganda can mask this reality. America's near-term goals should be to keep it in that weakened state and to make certain that President Trump's promise that Iran will never possess a nuclear weapon is fulfilled.
Once the Strait of Hormuz is opened, if the administration engages in nuclear negotiations, it's critical that not a single penny of frozen assets or sanctions relief should go to Tehran. Under the 2015 deal, Iran used the money to rebuild its capabilities and those of its proxies. It would do so again. The U.S. must maintain military readiness in the region and the will to attack again if the Iranians begin to rebuild their nuclear infrastructure or missile capabilities.
Strategic patience is hard, but time is on the side of the U.S. and its allies. Reaching no deal is fine. Reaching a bad deal isn't.
The writer, director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, served as U.S. Secretary of State (2005-09). (Wall Street Journal)
- The Iran War: Act Two - Dr. Raz Zimmt
During the recent operation against Iran, Israel, in unprecedented cooperation with the U.S., achieved significant gains. These included decapitating the senior Iranian leadership, attaining aerial and intelligence superiority, damaging missile arrays, partially disrupting command-and-control systems, and inflicting heavy damage on defense industries. Nevertheless, the destruction of Iran's nuclear program and severe damage to its missile array were only partially achieved.
The Iranian regime proved to be an institutionalized, multilayered and resilient system, capable of maintaining functional continuity even under severe damage to its senior leadership and chains of command and control. At this stage, the Iranian regime does not appear likely to collapse in the short term. The new leadership, headed by Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is expected to maintain a rigid and defiant ideological line, at least on par with the one that characterized the era of Ali Khamenei.
The writer is Director of the Iran and the Shi'ite Axis Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). (Ynet News)
Lebanon
- U.S. Tells UN: Lebanon Belongs to Its Legitimate Government, Not to Hizbullah or Iran - Amb. Mike Waltz
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the UN Security Council on Monday:
"On March 2 of this year, Hizbullah - as we all know is an Iranian proxy that frankly justifies its entire existence through conflict - unilaterally initiated hostilities once again with Israel, just as it did in October 2023. Hizbullah clearly sees Lebanon as nothing more than a launchpad for its Iranian-inspired attacks on Israel. It does not care about Lebanon, the country, or the future of its people."
"The [UN] High Commissioner for Human Rights himself has admitted that Hizbullah 'launched indiscriminate barrages of rockets at Israel, injuring people and causing damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure.'"
"This is a terrorist group that has attacked Americans, killed UNIFIL peacekeepers, taken civilians hostage for decades, assassinated its own brave people that it pretends to protect, who dare to speak out against them, [and] uses civilian infrastructure, homes, schools, hospitals to conduct its attacks across the region."
"Hizbullah has not only rejected the Lebanese government's demands for a ceasefire, it has even recently threatened to overthrow it. So, let's let that sink in: an Iranian-backed terrorist army is threatening the legitimate government of the country that it claims to defend."
"The path is clear: Hizbullah stops attacking Israel. The Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate Government of Lebanon assert control over Lebanese territory. Iran stops using Lebanon as a forward operating base. And the Lebanese people...finally get a chance to rebuild a country that belongs to them - not Hizbullah, not its thug leadership, and certainly not to Tehran." (U.S. Mission to the UN)
- Israel Tells UN: "No Choice" but to Drive Deeper into Lebanon - Mike Wagenheim
Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the UN Security Council on Monday that Israel "did not wake up one morning and decide to enter Lebanon." It "had no choice," as Hizbullah increased its fire on Israel's northern communities despite a ceasefire in place. Danon asked the French delegate what would happen if Spain attacked his country. "Would you wait until the drones were buzzing over Paris?" (JNS)
See also Israeli Envoy Warns UN of Growing Hizbullah Drone Threat - Kabeer Bello
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon displayed a Hizbullah drone during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, saying, "This is an example of a drone used by Hizbullah, this is what we are dealing with. These drones weigh less than two kg., they fly low and are very difficult to detect. By the time you hear one above your head, it is often too late."
"It can fly undetected for tens of miles. It does not rely on a radio signal and cannot be easily jammed. It gives the operator a live video feed and direct control until impact. This is modern warfare, cheap, precise and deadly." (Daily Post-Nigeria)
- Israel Is Fighting for Its Survival in Lebanon - Jake Wallis Simons
Thought experiment. You were the leader of a small democracy with enemies committed to your destruction visible to the naked eye on the other side of your border to the north. They had already fired many hundreds of rockets onto your towns, claiming lives and causing mass evacuations.
The enemy in question had been ordered by the UN to withdraw from the border and lay down its weapons back in 2006 and it had totally ignored that UN Security Council resolution, with no consequences whatsoever.
Your country had already suffered the worst terrorist atrocity imaginable three years ago, bringing you face-to-face with the folly of turning a blind eye while your enemies prepare their attacks. With no alternative in sight, you made the only reasonable decision: to send in your troops to degrade the northern enemy and allow your people to live their lives in safety.
Yvette Cooper, Britain's foreign secretary, responded by demanding that you halt your "military escalation," while also bleating that your enemy must "disarm" but offering no ideas for how to make that happen, nor any commitment to enforce it.
How would you respond? Has Yvette Cooper ever had to go to bed in fear of air raids during the night? Or worrying that her children will be murdered by jihadis stationed just a few miles away? No. Everyone tells Israel what it cannot do, but nobody offers a realistic alternative.
(Spiked-UK)
Israel and the West
- Don't Rush to Blame Israel's Leader for Attacks on Jews in the Diaspora - Melanie Phillips
A sizeable number of British Jews are responding to the current tsunami of antisemitism by blame other Jews. To be precise, one specific Jew. They blame Benjamin Netanyahu. If only he wasn't prime minister, they say, the hatred would fade away. Seriously? You don't have to be a fan of Netanyahu to see how spectacularly and dangerously wrong-headed this is.
Security officials tell us that the Iranian regime is behind the attacks on British Jews, with Iranian cells in Britain posing an acute terrorist threat. Much incitement against Israel and Jews has been generated by the inflammatory hate marches since the atrocities in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 - marches organized by Iran, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Imams incite murderous hatred towards Jews in British mosques. Was any of that Netanyahu's fault?
His critics claim he prolonged the war in Gaza in his own interests. But his war aims - to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas and return all the hostages - were shared by the vast majority of Israelis. Are these critics
really so ignorant of the terrible threat Iran posed to Israel through its proxy seven-front "ring of fire"? Are they really unaware of the genocidal hatred of Jews held by so many Palestinians?
To hold Netanyahu responsible for the onslaught on Israel and the Jewish people is not just warped and perverse. It's also cowardly and despicable. Blaming the victims like this is not only disgusting, it's also a weapon in the armory of those who want Israel and the Jews destroyed. For shame.
The writer is a columnist for The Times-UK. (Jewish Chronicle-UK)
- Taryn Thomas Was a Committed Member of the Pro-Palestinian Movement. Then She Learned about the Nova Festival Massacre - Lianne Kolirin
Taryn Thomas joined the pro-Palestinian movement at age 19 while studying at Stanford University. She helped lead large protests against Israel and, within two weeks of Oct. 7, 2023, had joined an encampment of activists on campus protesting against Israel's invasion of Gaza. Like many others, she donned a keffiyeh to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians. "I really loved it, because of the sense of belonging and the sense of purpose," she says.
Thomas was encouraged by "faculty members like history professors" who "validated the movement." "It seemed like everyone was a lot more educated than me and very certain and sure of themselves that this is a genocide," says Thomas, now 21.
In June 2024, several militant students broke into the office of Stanford's president, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. "They spray-painted disgusting things, such as 'Pigs taste best when dead,' 'Death to America,' 'Death to Israel,' and 'Kill cops,'" Thomas recalls. "I was confused by what our mission was. At what point did the pro-Palestine movement turn into this anti-Israel, anti-America movement?"
In October 2024, Thomas was one of many students who received an open invitation to the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Los Angeles, which aimed to recreate the site where 413 people were murdered by Hamas, and many more were injured or taken hostage. "Initially, I laughed, thinking, 'What's this propaganda?'" But she decided to go. "I was hoping it was going to reaffirm my position, that I would find Zionist lies."
Three hours later, Thomas emerged feeling "so lost." "I experienced a lot of cognitive dissonance - what I was seeing versus what I'd been told. It was like I arrived a year too late to a funeral. I had so many questions, but I really had no one I could talk to about this. All of my friends were from the encampment."
Seeing pictures and footage of the young festival-goers hit home. "They were kids my age, just dancing, and then fleeing for their lives the next moment. I could see myself in them. I could have been sending a last 'I love you' message to my mum. I felt so much empathy and sadness."
When she heard an audio clip of a jubilant Hamas fighter phoning his father to let him know he'd killed 10 Jews, "my heart sank, because these [were] our martyrs, the resistance we were claiming we wanted. When we called for any means necessary, I didn't realize that's what it meant." (Telegraph-UK)
- Doctors Without Borders: Promoting Hate through Medicine - Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg
For half a century, Doctors Without Borders were respected for their work in war zones and disaster areas, where volunteers and employees treated the wounded and sick. Known globally as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF, the NGO built its credibility on the principle that doctors are there to save lives, not to wage political campaigns.
That reputation is now largely gone, and MSF has become a major platform for political and ideological propaganda campaigns.
A new report by the NGO Monitor research institute, which I founded and lead, documents how MSF has been transformed into one of the most aggressive institutional promoters of anti-Israel messaging. Since Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, MSF and its regional affiliates have falsely accused Israel of "genocide" at least 272 times on social media.
On Oct. 7, while Hamas terrorists were still murdering and raping civilians in Israel, dragging hostages into Gaza, and live-streaming their "conquests," MSF officials were accusing Israel of war crimes. Its first statement reduced the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust to an "escalation between Israel and Gaza."
The writer is founder and president of NGO Monitor. (Gatestone Institute)
See also NGO Malpractice: MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and the Gaza "Genocide" Campaign (NGO Monitor)
Observations:
- Asked about his relationship with President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday: "We agree on the main things. We want to get the nuclear program in Iran finished. We want to make sure that Iran doesn't pose a threat to Israel, to the Middle East, to America, that it doesn't develop nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, not only to Israel and to every capital in Europe, but to every city in the United States. That's our common goal. That's what we set out to do."
- "Sometimes, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements. We always find a way to work them out, and we do so as great friends. We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon we have common actions....He's been the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House, and he respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to work out our differences."
- "I think he understands that Lebanon has been taken hostage by Hizbullah....It's an Iranian proxy that...uses Lebanon as a platform to launch terror missiles into our cities, to launch killer drones against our civilians. So if we want to save Lebanon, if we want to get a Lebanese-Israeli peace, as I do, we have to disarm Hizbullah, and we have to demilitarize Lebanon....I know that this is a goal that the President and I share."
- "The escalation is from Hizbullah. We had a ceasefire, they violated it. Look, the way European leaders cater to radical Islamic minorities in their own countries is shameful because they know the truth....They know we're protecting them as well, but they don't have the guts to stand up and line up with the right thing that will save our civilization against these barbarians."
- "We're faced with an enemy that wants to destroy our country, that wants to destroy your country, that wants to destroy free democracies everywhere, and spread their terrorist ilk around the globe. So, when we fight Iran and its proxies, we're not only fighting our war, we're fighting your war and, frankly, Europe's war as well."
- "[Do] I have to stop protecting my people because I'm going to get a bad editorial in the Western press? The answer is no. I'd rather get a bad editorial than a positive obituary. You know, our people have died long enough, and what has changed for us is that the kind of recriminations and the kind of lies that are leveled at the Jewish people over the centuries are now being leveled at the Jewish state. There's no difference. We deliberately kill children, we perform genocide, we're poisoning the wells."
- "Since the birth of the State of Israel, we're still being vilified, but when they come to slaughter us, we say no more, never again. And we fight back, targeting the terrorists, targeting the aggressors, trying to save the people, trying to save those communities, and believe me, in the Middle East, contrary to what people think, many understand that."
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