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In-Depth Issues:
Israel: Iran Fired Missiles at Israel that Could Have Killed Hundreds ( X)
Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter posted on Monday:
"Iran fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel today. Each one of those missiles can level an entire neighborhood and kill hundreds."
"No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel."
"Israel is now targeting Iranian surface-to-surface missile launch sites, as well as infrastructure facilities unrelated to the energy sector.... Everyone has had enough of this maniacal Iranian regime."
Israel's U.S. Ambassador Downplays Reports of Tension between Trump, Netanyahu ( Fox News)
Israel's U.S. ambassador Yechiel Leiter told Fox News on Tuesday, "We entered this war with Iran together, we'll end it together without acrimony."
He added that conversations between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu were cooperative. "They have a deep friendship that goes back some 40 years, and sometimes lovers have a spat, and sometimes the tension in the room and on the conversation can get a little heated."
"The fact of the matter is that the level of cooperation between our two countries has never been greater. We have the same objectives. We have the same intentions."
"The President understands full well that we cannot absorb ballistic missiles into our country without responding."
"The main issue here is that Iran is trying to connect the negotiations with the United States with Lebanon, and they have nothing to do Lebanon."
"We are not going to allow Hizbullah to dominate Lebanon, to fire killer drones and missiles and rockets into our northern communities, and let them have impunity in Beirut. That's understood really by everyone, particularly by our American friends."
"When we hit Hizbullah, that has nothing to do with Iran and they have to stay out of it. Lebanon wants Iran to stay out of it. We are on the same page with Lebanon about keeping Iran out of our area."
"Lebanon will not have a future if it remains linked to Iran....In order for Israel to have security and for Lebanon to have freedom, it is absolutely imperative that Iran is delinked from the Lebanon issue."
An Interim Score in the Latest Round of Israel-Iran Fighting - Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus ( X)
Iran blinked first. Israel checked the Iranian attempt to restrict Israeli freedom of action against Hizbullah.
Iran failed to hit Israeli targets and suffered a few hits on its military targets, as it remains exposed and vulnerable to the Israel Air Force.
The IDF does not yet have a tactical solution for optic FPV drones, and Hizbullah will likely aspire to continue to exploit that, which will fuel more fighting and Israeli strikes all over Lebanon.
I believe Israel will make a point of striking Hizbullah military targets in Beirut if Hizbullah continues to attack northern Israel.
The writer, a former IDF international spokesman, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.
U.S. Sources Dismiss Pentagon Leak Alleging Israeli Spying - Yonah Jeremy Bob ( Jerusalem Post)
U.S. sources told the Jerusalem Post they reject the Saturday Pentagon leak to NBC News claiming Israeli espionage activity against the U.S., defining it as likely coming from those within the U.S. and even within the Pentagon who oppose American intervention in Iran.
The White House told NBC that the story was "false and sourced to someone who doesn't have any knowledge of what's going on."
The Israeli Embassy in Washington said the espionage claims were "completely false."
"Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone U.S. government officials. Israel's intelligence collection efforts are aimed at its enemies, not its allies. Any claims to the contrary are either misinformed or politically motivated."
In recent decades, intelligence sharing between both countries has been so extensive that the standard view is that there would be no need to spy on what is already being voluntarily shared by both sides.
Israel has shared highly confidential intelligence regarding Iran with successive U.S. administrations.
During the 2026 Iran war, senior IDF officials entered top-secret U.S. command centers, senior U.S. military officials entered Israeli command centers, and a large number of U.S. military aircraft were operating out of Ben-Gurion Airport.
U.S. Blockade Is Zeroing Out Iran's Oil Exports - Saeed Ghasseminejad and Behnam Ben Taleblu ( Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
Iran exported zero crude oil in May due to the American blockade and sanctions. That is down from 2.1 million barrels per day in February, before the war.
This represents the lowest export volume from the Iranian energy sector in more than a decade.
Turkey's Interior Minister Vows to "Liberate" Jerusalem, Return It to Turkish Hands ( Times of Israel)
Turkey's Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told a ruling AKP Party conference on Saturday, "Just as we witnessed the liberation of Damascus, Aleppo, and Karabakh, God willing, one day we will also witness the liberation of Jerusalem."
He vowed to restore Turkish control to the city that the Ottoman Empire ruled for hundreds of years.
Ciftci recalled how he used to pray for God to grant him "governorship of Jerusalem, even if just for a single day."
"Just as in the past, those lands will be ours once again. God willing, they will come under our sovereignty and dominion once more."
Israel's Foreign Ministry responded that "Jerusalem DC (David's capital) shall remain the eternal capital of Israel. Forever."
Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in a Turkish-language statement on X: "Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years and will remain Israel's capital forever. You and the Ottoman Empire that Erdogan dreams of, on the other hand, have collapsed and will never return."
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- After Tehran Fires Barrage of Missiles, Israel Launches Strikes on Iran - Lior Soroka
Hours after Tehran fired a barrage of missiles toward Israel for the first time since a ceasefire took effect in early April, the Israeli Air Force struck military targets in western and central Iran.
(Washington Post)
See also Israel Strikes Multiple Targets across Iran, including Petrochemical Plant - Yaniv Kubovich
Israel responded to 30 missiles launched from Iran towards Israel on Sunday morning.
Iranian media reported explosions in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan, as well as near Kharg Island, on Monday. Israel said it struck targets at the Mahshahr petrochemical complex, where a provincial official said parts of the plant were damaged. An Israeli military official said the complex was used by Iran's military to manufacture raw materials for its ballistic missile program. (Ha'aretz)
See also The Iranian Petrochemical Complex that Israel Targeted - Leo Sands
The Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex near the southern city of Mahshahr is Iran's largest. It includes more than 50 separate petrochemical plants. The Karun petrochemical plant was hit twice by Israel on Monday.
(New York Times)
- Iran's Attack on Israel Reveals New and Aggressive Regional Ambitions - Laurence Norman
Iran's ballistic-missile salvos aimed at Israel signal Tehran's desire to project power across the region, put Washington on the defensive, and demonstrate that it retains significant strike capabilities. Iran's regime has been emboldened by surviving more than a month of airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel and has established some deterrence by showing it can blockade the Strait of Hormuz and attack its relatively vulnerable Gulf neighbors.
"Iran's decisions show they believe they have the upper hand, with Trump deterred from renewing the fighting," said Ofer Guterman, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
Israel wants the freedom to keep attacking Hizbullah in Lebanon even if the war in Iran ends. It also would prefer to keep going at Iran to further degrade its industrial capacity. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Monday he had acted to ensure that Iran and Hizbullah couldn't "impose on us an intolerable new equation" in which Israel was unable to respond to Hizbullah or Tehran attacks. (Wall Street Journal)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Israel and the U.S. Are Fully Coordinated - Danny Zaken
Israel and the U.S. are fully coordinated, both on the strikes in Hizbullah's Dahiyeh stronghold in Beirut and on the Israeli response to the missile fire from Iran. President Trump was persuaded that Iran must not be allowed to achieve gains as a result of its attack on Israel.
Iran decided to respond to the strike in Dahiyeh and try its luck at driving a wedge between Jerusalem and Washington by firing missiles at Israel. After Trump made public statements that he would ask Prime Minister Netanyahu not to respond, the two leaders held a fairly lengthy conversation, followed by a security and diplomatic consultation in which Secretary of State Rubio played a significant role.
Sources told Israel Hayom that Israel launched its strike on Iran after coordination and American consent. The lines were drawn for a powerful strike, but one limited to several hours. The targets were also agreed upon. Netanyahu convinced Trump that failing to launch an attack would give Iran an advantage and might even harden its positions in the negotiations with the U.S.
(Israel Hayom)
- U.S.-Israel Still Cooperating on Aerial Defense - Yonah Jeremy Bob
According to the IDF, the U.S. military stayed out of attacks on Iran, but it did assist in shooting down missiles that were fired at Israel. U.S. sources confirmed that American forces had likely shot down a couple of Iranian ballistic missiles.
The IDF criticized the media for presenting the conflict as if Iran and Israel were equally responsible.
Iran was the one who unilaterally broke the ceasefire between the two countries. (Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran
- Israel Seeks a Decisive Resolution but Iran Still Remains a Threat
Although Iran has been significantly weakened, it still retains substantial levers of power. Jerusalem Center analysts
assess that, despite the recent escalation, the current situation does not necessarily signal the start of a large-scale war.
Dr. Jacques Neriah believes both sides are engaged in a relatively limited round of fighting. He cautions that Iran continues to operate, the Houthis have resumed attacks on Israel, and Hizbullah retains significant military capabilities.
Ella Rosenberg notes that while Iran's overall economy has suffered greatly, the Revolutionary Guards have not only preserved their power but, in some areas, even strengthened it. They continue to benefit from diverse revenue streams, including oil sales, financial networks, and illicit activities.
Yoni Ben Menachem said that the prolonged absence of the Houthis from the fighting was due to an Iranian decision to preserve them for the right moment. The Houthis can disrupt the critical shipping route through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at any time.
Oded Ailam sees the current moment as a rare opportunity to weaken Hizbullah's grip on Lebanon and empower local actors seeking to reduce Tehran's influence. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
- The War in Iran May Yet Lead, in Time, to Genuine Change - Dennis Ross
In the short term, Iran has proven surprisingly deft at using its leverage. But over the long haul, the internal incoherence and deep-rooted failures of the Islamic Republic may yet lead to historic changes for the better in Tehran.
Iran has two powerful levers it did not think to apply before this conflict: disrupting transit through the Strait of Hormuz and attacking its Gulf Arab neighbors' oil facilities. But Iran has also suffered profound losses to its military capabilities and defense industrial base, not to mention to an economy that is near collapse. Much will depend on how much of an economic lifeline Trump provides to Iran. A smart deal would limit sanctions relief as much as possible. Relief would only buy the regime time.
The regime's endemic corruption and massive mismanagement will be compounded by its new leadership's attempts to rebuild its military and defense industrial base. That will require huge resources, which won't be reconcilable with the needs of the civilian economy, the current crisis of mass unemployment, and the regime's chronic inability to deliver water, electricity, and a currency that has any value.
The writer, a former chief U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, is the counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (Washington Post)
- Israel Could Not Let Iran's Missile Attack Go Unanswered - Alex Winston
Israel's decision to strike military targets in Iran early Monday was a deliberate response to Iranian missiles launched toward the country, presenting a dangerous test by Tehran that Jerusalem could not afford to leave unanswered. Yemen's Houthis also rejoined the fray.
Had Israel allowed the attack without response, the message to Tehran would have been that it was
allowed to fire directly at Israel while assuming that American diplomatic pressure would keep Jerusalem's hands tied. Iran's missile attack was a test of whether Israel's ability to defend itself has become subordinate to American-Iranian diplomacy.
Iran did not attack Israel due to a strike on its cities or nuclear facilities. It was responding to an Israeli attack on Hizbullah. If Tehran is allowed to fire missiles at Israel after every Israeli strike on Hizbullah, then Hizbullah effectively gains strategic immunity. Not responding would have set a dangerous precedent. (Jerusalem Post)
- Why Israel Had to Respond to Iranian Missile Fire - Herb Keinon
On June 3, 1967, following Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's closure of the Straits of Tiran, the expulsion of UN observers from Sinai, and repeated promises to drive Israel into the sea, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol received a letter from U.S. President Lyndon Johnson that said: "I must emphasize the necessity for Israel not to make itself responsible for the initiation of hostilities. Israel will not be alone unless it decides to go alone. We cannot imagine that it will make this decision."
Two days later, Israel preempted because Eshkol believed Israel was facing an existential threat and that securing the country's interests took precedence over the wishes of even its closest ally. Prime Minister Netanyahu faced a version of that dilemma on Sunday after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel and President Donald Trump publicly urged Israel not to respond. Netanyahu struck anyway, concluding that Israeli interests outweighed Washington's objections.
A failure to respond would have allowed Iran to establish a new strategic equation, signaling that future Israeli action against Hizbullah in Beirut would trigger a direct Iranian response. The message being sent to Iran is: no terror state will dictate Israeli security policy.
He also needed to project strength across the region. As former strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer has argued, one of the reasons the Abraham Accords countries moved closer to Israel was their belief that Israel would act in its own interests even when doing so meant standing up to Washington. (Jerusalem Post)
Hizbullah
- Israelis Tell Netanyahu to Keep Fighting in Lebanon to Eliminate Hizbullah - Gerry Shih
Rani Ben Dov, 77, a farmer in Moshav Betzet in northern Israel, was tired of seeking shelter from incoming Hizbullah fire, but even now the last thing he wanted was for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull the plug on the military offensive in Lebanon, just a mile away. "We need to let the generals do what they need to do and eliminate Hizbullah," he said. "We can't just leave."
The sentiment is pervasive. In war-weary border villages, on prime time talk shows, within the political opposition and among Netanyahu's supporters, Israelis are pushing their prime minister to fight - and stay - in Lebanon. A poll by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv in late May found that 60% of Israelis and an overwhelming majority of the government's supporters say Israel should intensify its fight against Hizbullah.
60,000 residents of northern Israeli were targeted and displaced for 14 months by missiles launched by Hizbullah beginning in Oct. 2023, and have held protests demanding that Netanyahu eliminate the Hizbullah threat.
Today, the mood in Israel is a far cry from 2000, the last time Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon. At the time, mothers of Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon regularly led protests demanding that Israel pull out.
At Moshav Shtula, Avi Ben Chitrit said he, too, worried about the threat of Hizbullah munitions raining down. Hizbullah rockets over the last 30 months have destroyed homes and a community sports center in the village. Drones target nearby Israeli troop positions on a near-daily basis. He said, "What are we supposed to do, stop all the activity in the north and let them kill us? We need to continue to defend ourselves until everything is quiet." (Washington Post)
- In a War Against Ideology, Calculations of Military Balance Become Less Relevant - Ben-Dror Yemini
Israel faces a special kind of enemy - an ideology built on destruction and victimhood. When Hizbullah fired its first rockets in the current round on March 2, against the will of most Lebanese, it knew that whatever damage it caused Israel, the damage to Lebanon itself would be 100 times greater. Because of Hizbullah, most villages in southern Lebanon are destroyed and close to a million people have been displaced.
Iran and Hizbullah are one entity with one ideology. In a war against an ideology, calculations about the balance of power become less relevant. Iran's ideology of destruction extends as far as its reach allows. With the power it still has left, Tehran is managing to damage the global economy by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the ceasefire, last week it seriously damaged Kuwait's airport and a nuclear power plant in the UAE.
Iran feels it is on top. Public pressure is lining up in full force alongside Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran. Had World War II been fought the way wars against jihad, Iran and terrorism are fought today, the Allies would have been accused of war crimes and the Nazis would be ruling the world.
Iran and its proxies must be defeated. Israel's war is just. But it is a difficult war. It is not over. Not even close. More is coming. But giving up is not an option. This is a Sisyphean war. Hizbullah can and must be isolated through a diplomatic chokehold, together with Lebanon's leadership and the Lebanese people, who are ready for a peace agreement. (Ynet News)
U.S.-Israel Relations
- Transforming U.S.-Israel Defense Ties from Aid to Alliance: Refuting the Myths
Section 224 of the House's FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a critical new provision to strengthen and streamline U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation. It would deepen partnerships in areas where both countries face common security challenges - including counter-drone technology, missile and air defense, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.
The provision would leverage the U.S. partnership with Israel to help give American troops a strategic edge on the battlefield, modernize our military, and ensure that it has access to cutting-edge technologies.
Sec. 224 does not "merge" the U.S. and Israeli militaries. It does not create joint command structures or transfer any decision-making power to Israel. It establishes a coordination mechanism for defense technology cooperation, formalizing and strengthening existing cooperation.
Sec. 224 does not authorize a single dollar of new aid or facilitate the transfer of any additional arms to Israel. It does not require the U.S. to adopt any Israeli technology. It simply ensures promising technologies can be evaluated through existing U.S. processes and standards.
Nothing in Sec. 224 authorizes unrestricted sharing of U.S. military data. Sec. 224 increases transparency and accountability by creating new reporting requirements, congressional briefings, annual assessments on cooperative programs, and public updates. (AIPAC)
Observations:
- The U.S. Agency for International Development inspector general's office, responsible for monitoring American foreign assistance, determined on Friday that scores of "UNRWA school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals" were also members of Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades or other terror factions.
- The inspector general determined that 101 current or former UNRWA employees should be added to a government blacklist that will prevent them from participating in all American foreign aid projects for 10 years.
- The latest staffers to be flagged at UNRWA - historically the primary major relief organization operating in Gaza - include a "deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion," as well as a "deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd."
One UNRWA instructor had "expertise as a sniper for Hamas," and another served as a "Hamas soldier with orders to bring two anti-tank missiles to a prescribed location during the October 7 terror attacks."
- State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said, "Unfortunately, it is no surprise that another 100 UNRWA employees were determined to be involved in the barbaric October 7 attack. President Trump and Secretary Rubio have affirmed time and time again that no State Department funding will be provided to UNRWA, which has been totally infiltrated by Hamas and terrorist sympathizers."
- A senior State Department official told the Free Beacon, "The sheer amount of [UNRWA] officials tied to terrorist activity is shocking and unacceptable. This investigation validates Secretary Rubio's policy that UNRWA is a subsidiary of Hamas and should not be part of Gaza's future."
- As the investigation unfolds, the Trump administration and Congress are considering several fresh punitive measures that could include stripping UNRWA of its diplomatic immunity under U.S. law, opening it up to legal action from terror victims, and designating it as a foreign terrorist organization.
See also The Case Against UNRWA
The UNRWA Terror Network presents verifiable cases of 490 UNRWA staff who are members of terrorist groups, educators who glorify mass murder, terror leaders influencing UNRWA decisions, and the top UNRWA officials collaborating with them.
(UN Watch)
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