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DAILY ALERT

Thursday,
June 25, 2026

In-Depth Issues:

Israel Traps Hizbullah Fighters in Underground Complex in Lebanon - David M. Halbfinger (New York Times)
Hizbullah built one of its largest underground facilities beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge, six miles from the border with Israel and three miles north of Beaufort, a Crusader castle that Israel captured on May 31.
The Israeli military says its troops have surrounded the underground Hizbullah fortress, trapping dozens of militants inside.
Israel says the complex has long been used to orchestrate and launch attacks against its territory.
Maj. (res.) Sarit Zehavi, president of the Alma Research and Education Center, which focuses on security challenges on Israel's northern border, said, "From this place, you can launch missiles and munitions at Israel. It's 10 km. from Metula," an Israeli border town.

U.S. Senate Votes to Block Trump from Resuming Iran War - Theodoric Meyer (Washington Post)
The Senate voted 50-48 on Tuesday to block President Donald Trump from resuming the war with Iran, with four Republicans joining Democrats to support the measure.
The measure, which passed the House earlier this month, cannot be vetoed, but Democrats and Republicans disagree on whether it has the force of law.
See also Senate Walks Back Rebuke of Trump over Iran War - Morgan Rimmer (CNN)
One day after adopting a resolution aimed at removing U.S. military forces from the conflict with Iran, the Senate walked back its rebuke of President Trump's handling of the war, rejecting an attempt to advance a similar war powers measure in a 47-50 vote.

Dozens of Terror Attacks Directed by Turkey-Based Hamas Operatives Foiled - Elisha Ben Kimon (Ynet News)
The Israel Security Agency said Sunday it had foiled dozens of planned terror attacks in the West Bank over the past year that were directed by Hamas operatives based in Turkey.
"Over the years, and with increased intensity over the past year, operatives in the West Bank Headquarters have been directing and advancing extensive military activity into the West Bank and Israel from Turkish soil, including recruiting operatives to carry out attacks and transferring weapons and funds into the area to advance military activity," the ISA said.
Senior Hamas official Zaher Jabarin, based in Istanbul, heads Hamas's West Bank activity. The agency said Hamas operatives "carry out their activities unhindered from Turkish territory," and exploit "infrastructure in the country to transfer instructions and funds" to terrorists.

IDF Accelerating Deployment of Robots across Frontlines - Anna Ahronheim (Jerusalem Post)
The IDF is accelerating the deployment of unmanned ground robots across multiple fronts.
The Defense Ministry's Directorate of Defense Research and Development is working with civilian defense companies to design, test, and deliver new platforms.
Maj. A, who oversees the development hub responsible for turning urgent operational needs into fielded systems, explained that when a request arrives, engineers gather to find a solution - manufacturing parts, procuring components or bringing in outside companies.
They then run full safety and usability tests to ensure troops can operate the systems under pressure.
"We have soldiers who are 18 - they know robots. They grew up with them, so when they meet these robots for the first time they know how to use them. Many reservists can learn how to use them too."
The D9 Panda, a fully robotic and autonomous bulldozer, has been operational since 2022. It was recently modified to allow operators to control it from tens of km. away.
The Iron Beast - a modified M113 armored personnel carrier - has become one of the most requested platforms due to widespread IED threats.
Before the war, thousands of these Vietnam-era platforms were set to be sold for scrap, but the military understood that they could be upgraded and used to perform logistical support missions for frontlines forces.
The army has several hundred in service and thousands still waiting to be upgraded to autonomous platforms - a process that takes several weeks.

What Is Being Taught in Chicago Classrooms about the Middle East? - Neil Steinberg (Chicago Sun-Times)
I decided to check out Monday's celebration of Israel's 78th birthday, held by the Consulate General of Israel in Chicago.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza showed off a photo of a map of the Middle East that her son brought home from elementary school, where the nation that since 1948 has been known as Israel is labeled "Palestine."
"All these kids think Israel is Palestine because that's what they're being taught. It's everywhere," she said.
The Chicago Public Schools serving up publicly funded propaganda inculcating anti-Jewish hostility was a common thread in my conversations.
Ellen Rosenfeld, an elected member of the CPS board, said teachers give assignments like, "Explain why Israel is committing genocide." "We're not teaching kids how to think, but what to think," she said.

Muslim Call to Prayer to Be Banned in Denmark in Crackdown on "Islamization" - Dan McDonald (GB News-UK)
Denmark is set to ban the Islamic call to prayer under plans for a radical crackdown on "Islamization."
Morten Bodskov of the Social Democrats party confirmed that the newly-elected Danish Government would probe whether such a prohibition would be legal.
He told Danish news outlet Ritzau: "The call to prayer should not be heard over Danish rooftops. It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn't be in any doubt whether you've ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark."
The Minister of Immigration and Integration said a gradual "Islamization" was "taking up too much of the public space."
Local regulations in certain parts of Denmark, including Copenhagen, already prevent the call from being amplified due to noise restrictions.
During the 2015 refugee crisis, when more than one million people sought "sanctuary" in Europe from the Middle East, Denmark admitted significantly fewer asylum seekers than its neighbors.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Palestinian Victimhood Narrative - Bijan Omrani (Telegraph-UK)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, delivered a sermon on Sunday (June 21) at St. Peter's Church in the Palestinian town of Birzeit.
It is all very well for the Archbishop to call for peace and the recognition of dignity, but of what substance is this call unless it is also accompanied by an equal demand for repentance by those complicit in Palestinian terror campaigns that have made peace less likely than ever?
Does she not realize the consequence of repeating a narrative where the Palestinian people are nothing more than the helpless victims?
Of omitting to condemn the repeated refusals of the Palestinians to accept serious offers of peace over the generations, not to mention declining to excoriate the brutality of Hamas, the demand of their founding charter to eradicate Jews, their hiding behind civilians, and the complicity of ordinary Palestinians in the terror wrought by Hamas?
Mullally's embrace of this Palestinian victimhood narrative will simply make it more difficult to combat the terrorism and totalitarianism of Hamas, which is the more fundamental cause of the misery of the people and the prolonging of the conflict - not to mention the oppressive treatment of Christians in their territory.

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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:

Secretary of State Rubio: "The Only Reason Israel Is in Lebanon Is Because Hizbullah Launches Rockets and Drones from There"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday: "The only reason Israel is in Lebanon is because Hizbullah launches rockets and drones from there....[It] is our hope that the Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate, sovereign Lebanese Government will continue to be able to control and secure more and more of their own territory - because that's who needs to control Lebanese territory, not a terrorist group like Hizbullah."
"I think the Israelis have been clear. They don't have any quarrels with the Lebanese people, they don't have any claims on the territory of Lebanon....The more of that area the Lebanese Armed Forces is able to secure, the less of it's in Hizbullah's control, the less Israel will be in Lebanon."
Q: The U.S. waived oil sanctions against Iran on Monday. Are you concerned that Iran is going to use the extra income from that to fund proxy groups or recoup its military capacity?
Rubio: "This is a temporary measure. It's for 60 days. And as a result, we expect them to live up to the commitments they made in Switzerland. If they don't live up to those commitments, the President has a lot of options at his disposal." (U.S. State Department)
Sen. Lindsey Graham on Iran Talks: "Let's Try a Diplomatic Solution. I Think It's Going to Fail" - Margaret Brennan
Sen. Lindsey Graham told "Face the Nation" on June 21: "Let's try a diplomatic solution. I think it's going to fail. What happens next? I spent 4 1/2 hours with President Trump on Friday. Here's what I think will happen next."
"If this deal fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force. The United States will control the Strait of Hormuz. We'll charge a fee for all those who go through to pay for the operation, and...if Iran contests control of the Strait of Hormuz by the United States, we will obliterate them....And if Iran continues to attack Israel and Lebanon, the new policy will be, we'll hit Iran." (CBS News)
Clashing U.S. and Iranian Claims on Nuclear Inspection Show Challenge Ahead - Leo Sands
President Trump said Tuesday that Iran had "fully and completely agreed to the highest level nuclear inspections," adding that "If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!" The comments came after Esmail Baghaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, responded with a flat "no" when asked if Tehran, in the latest round of peace talks, had agreed to permit inspectors from the UN to access its war-damaged nuclear sites.
The divergent accounts of what was agreed in the latest U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland on Sunday and Monday underscored the distrust surrounding the negotiations. (New York Times)

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

Israel Tells Lebanon: "Hizbullah Must Be Defeated and Removed from the Equation" - Lior Ben Ari
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Israel's representative to the talks with Lebanon in Washington, said Tuesday: "Four rounds ago, we all boarded the same train...heading in a very clear direction: full peace between the countries, Iran out and its malign influence out of Lebanon; the dismantling of Hizbullah; peace and security for Lebanon and Israel. Today, that train is at risk of coming off the rails."
"The premise was that Iran is out, and that the central discussion is about Lebanon and Hizbullah, not about how much Iran can restrain Hizbullah. That is not Iran's role. Its role is to get out of Lebanon."
"We all support President Trump's vision to ensure that Iran no longer has nuclear capabilities, ballistic missiles or the ability to funnel money to its proxies in order to threaten its neighbors and establish regional hegemony....The only issue is Hizbullah. Hizbullah must be defeated and removed from the equation." (Ynet News)
Israel, Lebanon Discuss U.S.-Backed Plan to Transfer Territory to Lebanese Army - Itamar Eichner
Israel and Lebanon are discussing a U.S.-backed pilot framework where Israeli forces would gradually transfer control of parts of southern Lebanon to the Lebanese Armed Forces, according to Israeli officials familiar with the talks. Lebanese army units would be deployed to areas currently under Israeli military control after undergoing U.S.-supervised training and vetting to ensure they are not linked to Hizbullah.
According to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Israel is insisting on a series of core conditions that must be met before any withdrawal steps are implemented. These include having the Lebanese army take control over the fortified Hizbullah command post in the Ali al-Taher area, remove Hizbullah operatives, and demolish existing military infrastructure there, under direct U.S. supervision. (Ynet News)
See also Lebanon Takes a Harder Line in Israel-Lebanon Talks in Washington - Jacob Magid
A government official and a second source told the Times of Israel on Wednesday that this week's round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington have been the least productive to date. The sources cited frustration with the Trump administration's decision to make a ceasefire in Lebanon part of the memorandum of understanding it inked last week with Iran.
Both Israel and Lebanon were opposed to the idea, arguing that it undermines the purpose of the channel between their two countries that Washington established in April, specifically to prevent Iran from maintaining its influence over Hizbullah and Lebanon.
Lebanon now feels that it must take a harder line in negotiations with Israel to counter the notion that Iran wields greater influence over affairs in Lebanese territory. Accordingly, the Lebanese government has presented maps for a proposed withdrawal that are much more expansive than what Israel is willing to accept at this stage. (Times of Israel)
IDF Destroys 4 Rocket Launchers in Gaza Set Up during Ceasefire - Emanuel Fabian
On Tuesday night, the IDF struck four rocket launchers in Gaza that were set up during the ceasefire. They were armed for attacks on IDF troops and Israel, "and therefore posed an immediate threat." (Times of Israel)
Israel Foiled Jet Ski Infiltration from Jordan toward Eilat
A jet ski was spotted trying to enter Israeli territory from Jordan two weeks ago. The Israeli navy identified the vessel, hit it, and forced it to flee back to the Jordanian coast. (i24News)

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:

Iran

Premature Conclusions about the U.S.-Iran MoU Are Not Warranted - Jason D. Greenblatt
I spent three years watching the gap between what the public saw and what was actually happening at the White House behind closed doors, and I learned that the view from outside the room almost always misses things the people inside knew or were reaching for.
After the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) became public, my skepticism of the Iranian regime has not moved an inch. This is a government whose stated project includes the destruction of Israel, active hostility toward what the Gulf states have built and continue to build, and open hostility to American interests across the region and to the U.S. itself.
Iran may be enjoying its moment. Tehran's own statements suggest it believes it got everything it wanted. It ought to be very careful. If it does not walk the fine line toward a real agreement that will make sense to President Trump, it risks blowing everything up again. I will judge by what actually unfolds.
The writer is a former White House Middle East Envoy. (Newsweek)
Sen. Sheehy Explains Iran - Editorial
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) told Fox News this week, "I hope that Vice President Vance and [Jared] Kushner and [Steve] Witkoff are successful in convincing Iran to be a normal country and to open their minds and stop trying to murder their neighbors and destroy the world. But the reality is this is a murderous regime. They want you and your family and all of us to be killed. They want to wipe our civilization off the map. That's their national motto."
Referring to mediators Pakistan and Qatar, Sheehy said, "Let's not forget Pakistan hid [Osama] bin Laden for a decade" and "Qatar's been laundering money for terrorist organizations for decades."
"What's worse than a forever war in the Middle East is a forever war right here on our streets, just down the road in 9/11. The Iranians want to bring that war here....They want to create a global caliphate of Sharia law and kill all of us. And that's not a theory. That's what they actually try to do every day. So I think we have to remember that, and you know, having our troops fight them there is far better than us fighting them here." (Wall Street Journal)
Did the Iran War Work? - Vahid Beheshti
The Iranian regime, with its nuclear capabilities and ballistic stockpile severely downgraded, is the weakest it has been in its 47 years. I fled the regime myself 28 years ago, and have coordinated protests from within and outside the country, including the bloodiest ones earlier this year which saw tens of thousands of my fellow countrymen slaughtered. Despite relentless IRGC propaganda, the regime is on the brink.
You can tell that the regime is worried about its viability. The IRGC and police are out on the streets. Checkpoints are everywhere. The regime knows that the appetite for an uprising has never been higher. Executions are being used to spread fear. These are not the actions of a government in control.
With the economy destroyed, inflation rampant and 70% below the poverty line, the lifting of some sanctions will do very little to alleviate this fact as the regime is likely to funnel cash into restoring Iran's military capabilities and rearming its proxies. But the regime of Ayatollah Khamenei has now been dismantled. The Islamic Republic that we have all known for 47 years no longer exists. What stands in its place is a disunited, vengeful regime that knows it is vulnerable. Like all dictatorships before it, it will eventually collapse. This war set its conclusion in motion.
The writer is an Iran-born British journalist and the founder of Iran Front. (Spectator-UK)

Israel-U.S. Relations

The Vice President Scolds Israelis for Acting Like America Would - Jonathan S. Tobin
U.S. Vice President JD Vance was dispatched to Switzerland to negotiate a conclusion to the war on Iran. The pact with Iran is almost certain to be construed by America's enemies and allies as a humiliating defeat. Washington is already unfreezing assets that will result in the regime getting billions in funds that it can use to solidify its tyrannical hold on power, as well as reinforce its beleaguered Hamas and Hizbullah terror auxiliaries.
On June 18, Vance scolded Israelis, including members of the government, for having the temerity to criticize the U.S. for abandoning the war, strengthening an enemy nation, and betraying the persecuted people of Iran by ensuring that their tyrants will stay in power. The not-so-subtle message to Jerusalem was that it was a vassal state that had better shut up about being betrayed.
Israel is no vassal state. The U.S. gets enormous benefits from its alliance with this democratic Middle East partner in terms of weapon development and intelligence. Vance himself stated in 2024 that it's the ideal ally since, unlike Europe, Israel fights alongside America. Now Vance said, "You're a country of 9 million people. You can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have."
That accusation was unfair. Israel isn't trying to kill its way out of anything. It was viciously attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, by Iranian minions who carried out the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. It was the target of direct missile barrages launched on April 14 and Oct. 1, 2024. And it was attacked by missiles, rockets and drones throughout the war that started on Feb. 28, leading to casualties, damage and sending much of the country into bomb shelters day after day.
Had America been similarly attacked, we know very well that Trump and Vance would have exacted a far greater revenge on the assailants than the targeted strikes that Israel executed on Iranian targets. Vance vented his contempt and lack of sympathy for an ally that fought side by side with American forces and who were essential to the success America achieved. (JNS)
Respectfully Differing with America - Prof. Zaki Shalom
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.
The writer is a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and professor emeritus at Ben-Gurion University. (Israel Hayom)
Israel Is Not Just Another Ally - Ahmed Charai
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.
The writer, based in Morocco, is the publisher of the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune. (National Interest)
Israel Can't Outsource Its Security - Editorial
Israel must protect its alliance with the U.S. while making clear that responsibility for Israeli security rests with Jerusalem alone. The U.S. is Israel's closest ally. American support has helped Israel militarily, diplomatically, technologically, and economically.
American presidents are elected to serve American interests. Israeli prime ministers are elected to serve Israeli interests. Often, those interests overlap. Sometimes they diverge. Washington is pursuing regional diplomacy that affects Israel's security. Israel should listen, but it should remember that no foreign capital, however friendly, can be expected to carry the burden of Israel's survival.
Israel's founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, knew declarations of support could disappear when hard decisions arrived. He believed Israel's fate would depend on its own strength, moral clarity, and willingness to act. His view was shaped by Jewish history and by the bitter lesson that Jews who depend on others for protection may be abandoned at the decisive hour. That thinking became part of Israel's national security doctrine.
Israel would seek allies, welcome support, and build friendships. It would also preserve the ability to act alone when survival was at stake. Israeli leaders understood that outside approval was valuable, but national survival could not wait for consensus. Iran remains the central regional threat. Its proxies - Hizbullah, Hamas, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed forces - continue to surround Israel. Allies are essential, but responsibility for Israel's security belongs to Israel alone. (Jerusalem Post)

Israel and the Arab World

Sudan and the Abraham Accords: Between Cancellation and New Cooperation - Dr. Dan Diker
When Sudan joined the Abraham Accords framework in 2020, it was a country that had spent three decades as a hub for jihadist networks and radical ideology under Omar al-Bashir's Islamist regime. It was pivoting toward civilian governance, regional integration, and normalization with Israel. That promise was killed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
The 2019 revolution that toppled Bashir represented a genuine popular uprising against Islamist rule. Then came the coup. In October 2021, the military, deeply infiltrated by Muslim Brotherhood cadres, staged a takeover and ended the civilian transition. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who presents himself to Western audiences as a pragmatic nationalist, is in fact head of the Brotherhood's network within the Sudanese armed forces. The coup was the Brotherhood's mechanism for recapturing the state before the civilians could permanently dismantle their infrastructure.
Billions of dollars in assets that had been confiscated from Islamist and Hamas-linked networks during the transitional period went back to the Brotherhood's financial ecosystem. The security apparatus has been rebuilt along the lines of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Key ambassadorial posts have been filled with senior Brotherhood cadres.
Burhan has simultaneously deepened Sudan's relationship with Tehran, which had been pushed out of Sudan by 2015. Sudan's military-industrial complex, producing munitions, missiles, and drones, is substantially Iranian-built and Iranian-staffed. Most alarmingly, Iran is working to link Sudan's military infrastructure directly to the Houthi network in Yemen, creating a continuous Iranian operational corridor across the Red Sea.
The writer is President of the Jerusalem Center. This article was written in conjunction with two senior former ministers of the Sudanese civilian government. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)

Antisemitism

A Parliamentary Debate over "Pro-Israel Influence" Sends a Dreadful Message - Dame Louise Ellman
This week, our parliament will stage a debate on "pro-Israel influence on politics and democracy in Britain." Jews have been stabbed in the streets, murdered at their synagogues, and harassed and intimidated in schools, hospitals and campuses and, somehow, the real problem Britain faces is the alleged outsize influence of the "pro-Israel lobby." It's the result of a petition pushed by a plethora of extremist groups - like 5Pillars, an Islamist news site - clearing the 100,000 signatures requiring a parliamentary debate.
This debate is nothing short of an opportunity for centuries-old antisemitic tropes about Jews, money and power to be peddled and propagated in the mother of parliaments. It is a dark, disturbing day for Britain. As the late Lord Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi, suggested in 2017: "In the Middle Ages Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th and early 20th century they were hated because of their race. Today they are hated because of their nation state, the state of Israel."
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism is explicit. "Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective - such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions" is antisemitic.
I know first-hand just how disturbing and distressing anti-Zionist antisemitism can be. I was subjected to unrelenting hate because I spoke out against antisemitism and I was forced to leave the Labour party - my political home of 55 years.
The writer is a former member of Parliament. (Jewish News-UK)

Observations:

For Israel, the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran Is an Existential Question of Survival - Amichai Chikli (Washington Post)

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.

The writer is the Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

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