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In-Depth Issues:
Iran's Friends Are Vanishing: Why Maduro's Arrest Matters for Israel - Herb Keinon ( Jerusalem Post)
The arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro likely sent a shiver down spines in Tehran.
It also marks the dismantling of yet another supporting pillar in the global network Iran painstakingly constructed to finance, shield, and sustain its war against Israel.
Through Hizbullah, Venezuela became a critical offshore hub that generated cash, laundered funds, moved operatives, and enabled Iran to project power far from the Mideast.
Hizbullah functioned in Venezuela as a crime-terror enterprise intermeshed in the Venezuelan economy and protected by the government.
Hizbullah trafficked cocaine from Venezuela, transferred weapons, and helped the Islamic Republic evade U.S. sanctions.
Revenue generated in South America was sent to Lebanon, where it helped pay for Hizbullah's military buildup.
Venezuela's most prominent opposition figure, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, was asked in a November Israel Hayom interview whether a post-Maduro Venezuela would restore relations with Israel.
Machado replied: "Certainly. Venezuela will be Israel's closest ally in Latin America."
Maduro's fall represents another incremental setback in Iran's global posture.
Israel Responds to Mayor Mamdani's Aggressive Moves - David M. Halbfinger ( New York Times)
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who on his first day in office scrapped a definition of antisemitism and lifted restrictions on boycotting Israel.
Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said in an interview, "The real question is why Mamdani on his first day chose to repeal the IHRA definition of antisemitism and to cancel the anti-BDS regulation."
"This is his top priority. This is a decision to deliberately send a very negative message regarding antisemitism on your very first day."
Mamdani's moves constituted an aggressive act that warranted an aggressive response, Marmorstein noted.
"Antisemitism is on the rise, Jews are feeling intimidated, and they are being attacked. So what are you doing here? As a leader, as someone people are looking up to, you're sending a very wrong message."
Israel Cannot Accept the Continued Armed Presence of Hizbullah in Lebanon - Col. (res.) Prof. Gabi Siboni and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Erez Winner ( Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security)
Hizbullah is systematically violating the ceasefire agreement, rebuilding and expanding its military capabilities while refusing to disarm and steadily pushing the ceasefire framework toward collapse.
Hizbullah lost 40% of its overall strength, including thousands of fighters, weapons stockpiles, and senior leaders.
At the same time, Hizbullah has retained tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, including precision-guided systems, and it continues efforts to rebuild its capabilities, including in southern Lebanon.
Hizbullah's continued force buildup may, sooner or later, compel Israel to undertake broader action in Lebanon, including ground operations to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the south and the establishment of a security buffer along the border.
Judging by public statements and official briefings, during Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent visit to the U.S., Israel received U.S. approval to act in Lebanon in light of the Lebanese government's failure to meet its commitments to disarm Hizbullah by the end of 2025.
While Hizbullah retains meaningful capabilities, both in armed ground forces and in its capacity to launch rockets into Israeli territory, one threat that has been fully removed is the extensive deployment of the Radwan forces in villages along the border.
They were intended to serve as the launch platform for a ground assault into Israel. Now Hizbullah's ability to carry out a surprise ground attack has been significantly degraded.
Israel cannot accept the continued armed presence of Hizbullah in Lebanon. A central element of Israel's post-Oct. 7 transformation has been the abandonment of containment that characterized its prewar conduct.
Israel has now adopted an approach that denies adversaries the ability to threaten Israel, coupled with readiness to act decisively.
The concept of "peace through strength" now guides policy - a concept shared by the Israeli government and the current U.S. administration.
Col. (res.) Prof. Gabi Siboni was director of the military and strategic affairs program, and the cyber research program, of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) from 2006-2020.
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Erez Winner served in key command roles in the IDF.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- U.S. Vows to Eliminate Hizbullah, Iran Operations from Venezuela - Margaret Brennan
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told "Face the Nation" on Jan. 4:
"It's very simple, okay, in the 21st century, under the Trump administration, we are not going to have a country like Venezuela in our own hemisphere, in the sphere of control and the crossroads for Hizbullah, for Iran and for every other malign influence in the country, in the world. That's just not going to exist."
(CBS News)
See also Iran's Forward-Operating Base in the West - Emanuele Ottolenghi (Quillette-Australia)
- Iran's Calculations Are Scrambled by U.S. Raid in Caracas - Benoit Faucon
Iranian leaders were already reassessing their vulnerabilities after Israel shattered Iran's air defenses in a 12-day war in June. Trump joined the attack late in the war to bomb key Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel also decimated Iranian allies Hizbullah and Hamas, which were key members in Tehran's network of regional militias that helped deter attacks on Iran.
Maduro's capture will now force the Iranian regime to weigh more heavily the possibility that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could be forcibly removed, said Roozbeh Aliabadi, an Iranian consultant at Global Growth Advisors. "Maduro's capture is a game changer for Iran," he said. "It opens up possibilities that didn't exist in Iran before." (Wall Street Journal)
- Syria, Israel Resume U.S.-Mediated Security Talks
U.S.-mediated talks between Syria and Israel have resumed after an interruption of several months, Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Monday. A Syrian official said in December that talks had been stalled since October, but that Syria expected a possible shift following a Dec. 29 meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Israel has said it would conclude an agreement only on terms safeguarding its security interests, including demilitarization of parts of southwestern Syria and protections for minority communities.
(Reuters)
See also IDF Warns: Iran Plotting to Assassinate Syria's President al-Sharaa - Amir Bohbot
Iran is working together with additional hostile elements to assassinate Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, IDF sources warn. (Jerusalem Post)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Palestinians Voice Support for Venezuela's Maduro - Nagham Zbeedat
Many Palestinians denounced the U.S. military operation in Venezuela on Saturday as a violation of sovereignty and international law, while Arab governments largely refrained from issuing official statements. Palestinians recalled Maduro's long-standing expressions of support for Palestine. Several widely shared posts showed Maduro wearing a keffiyeh.
Hamas called on the international community and the UN Security Council to take immediate steps to halt the operation, arguing that U.S. interventionist policies threatened global peace and security.
(Ha'aretz)
- Trump Rejects Proposal for Iran Talks - Danny Zaken
A proposal for restarting talks with Iran put forward by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and supported by senior advisor Jared Kushner was rejected by President Donald Trump, who chose an "active approach" that prioritizes severe economic and military pressure over renewed dialogue with the current regime in Tehran.
Within the administration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth raised significant counter-arguments during discussions, citing the regime's chronic lack of credibility, its role as a fomenter of war and terror, and the critical issue of ballistic missiles, which Iran refuses to discuss.
During a meeting last week between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump, Netanyahu's military secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman - designated to be the next head of the Mossad - presented a comprehensive intelligence dossier detailing the regime's activities. This included efforts to revive the nuclear program, the ballistic missile array currently undergoing rehabilitation and expansion, Iran's global terror network - including cells in Europe and South America - and its support for proxy terror organizations including Hizbullah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
The dossier also presented the specific intentions of Tehran and its terror proxies to strike American targets and interests, not just in the Middle East. The goal was to demonstrate that any agreement with Iran would be temporary and prone to violation, and that a genuine resolution to the problem is required.
According to a senior Israeli official, Jerusalem and Washington have been handling the Iran file with close cooperation and intelligence sharing. There is now a detailed timetable for conduct vis-a-vis Iran. Regarding the nuclear issue, possible responses have been determined based on the progress of Iran's attempts to rehabilitate various sites - including enrichment facilities.
On the critical issue of Iran's ballistic missile array, which proved to be the weapon capable of inflicting the most damage on Israel, the administration has been convinced of the need to set red lines, including the construction of missile production and assembly factories, as well as shipments of raw materials and components, primarily from China. (Israel Hayom)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran
- Iranian Demonstrators Call for International Support - Azita in Tehran
There are many reasons for the protest: the cost of living, inflation, a collapsing economy and currency, failing infrastructure. But the protest is against the legitimacy of the regime itself. When protesters in the largest cities shout "Death to the dictator," you understand that the cry is for something else, something bigger.
I believe that what has happened in Iran over the past two years, reinforced since the Israeli and U.S. attack that made clear the regime cannot protect its citizens, is that people have completely lost their fear. This is a new audience of protesters. We, the veteran opposition activists, feel that the deepest change is in the intensity of the cry. People want to call out and hear that people abroad hear us, that we have support, that the world sees what is happening here. The cry is for intervention.
We saw how much international pressure mattered in Gaza, so why not here? Why does no one intervene when people have no water and the regime shoots citizens dead? How is it not clear to every Western country that if this regime falls, it is not only we who will benefit, but global security will be strengthened? We swear we do not understand it.
There is no teacher, nurse, market vendor or taxi driver whose quality of life has not been eroded. It is about whether there will be bread for dinner tonight for the children. Will there be electricity? You cannot put deterrence and military confrontation with Israel on your children's breakfast plate.
(Ynet News)
- Expert: Iran Seeks Stability, Not Confrontation with Israel and the U.S. - Lior Ben Ari
Danny Citrinowicz, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and a former head of the Iran desk in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, said in an interview: "The Iranian regime has a paramount interest right now in restoring stability...and to do that, it does not want to find itself in an external confrontation, neither with the United States nor with Israel."
"In Iran, they understand from experience that more deaths do not necessarily bring calm. They are using many tools, such as slowing internet access without shutting it down completely. They arrest some protesters, but they are not 'mowing the lawn' with extraordinary repression like during the hijab protests, and certainly not like in 2009....The protests are challenging, but the regime has dealt with much more complex situations. They are not yet in survival mode." (Ynet News)
See also Iran's Leadership Is Holding the Line, for Now - Danny Citrinowicz (Israel Hayom)
The Gaza War
- Hamas's Quest to Destroy Israel Thwarts Trump Peace Plan - Peter Berkowitz
Few Israelis think near-term success is in store for the Trump administration's plan to have donor countries invest $112 billion in Gaza. Israelis doubt that the Hamas-dominated half of Gaza can be rehabilitated without Hamas's removal and doubt that Hamas, which the IDF has severely weakened, can be removed without further fighting. Moreover, Israelis remember the first Trump administration's failed effort to fashion a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a price tag of $28 billion.
Israelis also remember that while their governments were open to Obama administration and George W. Bush administration peace efforts, Palestinians flatly rejected them. And Israelis recall that Palestinians have been dismissing plans for partitioning the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea since before Israel was established.
No peace will come to Gaza unless Hamas departs or renounces the war of annihilation against Israel that its 1988 charter declared an Islamic imperative. Because of their beliefs, Hamas has as much chance of desisting from seeking Israel's annihilation and concluding a durable peace agreement with the Jewish state as a leopard has of changing its spots. Inattentiveness to Hamas's beliefs thwarts responsible diplomacy and intensifies the danger not only to the Jewish state but also, given Hamas's Muslim Brotherhood ties, to the U.S. and the West.
The writer, former director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
(RealClearPolitics)
Israel and the West
- How Social Media Has Transformed Israel's Global Image - Tirza Shorr
According to the 2025 Nation Brands Index released in December 2025, Israel ranks last among 50 countries surveyed for the second consecutive year, this time recording a 6.1% drop in its overall score - the steepest single-year decline in the index's history.
The study notes that respondents now direct criticism not just at Israeli government policies but at Israeli people as a whole, viewing them as "toxic" - a finding that may also explain rising antisemitism worldwide.
Israel's struggling international image reflects fundamental changes in how information is mediated, processed, and understood in the digital age. Social media scrolling creates rapid, emotional, superficial engagement, while reading encourages linear thinking.
Israel's most pronounced reputation collapse is among those aged 18-24, who view Israel through an entirely different lens than older generations, who maintain more favorable views. This reflects a fundamental difference in how they consume information.
This younger cohort was born into anti-establishment thinking across the political spectrum, and a media environment that flattens all knowledge into emotional soundbites. Complex historical narratives compress into emotionally charged memes optimized for rapid sharing. The misrepresentation of Israel predates social media, which has merely accelerated these distortions.
Influencers accumulate millions of followers because of how they look, speak, and make complex topics feel simple - not due to information quality. A 10-minute video explaining nuanced historical context cannot compete with a 30-second emotional appeal. Israel cannot win by insisting on deeper engagement with complex realities; the medium won't allow it.
The writer is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center.
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Observations:
- A false conception based on underestimating and downplaying the enemy's intentions is the natural temptation of a peaceful people. The Jews of Poland, the most peaceable population imaginable, could not have imagined that the Germans intended to wipe them out. Yet Jews do ultimately respond to reality.
- When it became too obvious to deny that they were marked for extermination, two Jewish underground organizations formed in the Warsaw ghetto. When the Germans entered the ghetto in 1943 to begin rounding up the remaining Jews and sending them to their deaths, the two organizations fought in an uprising that lasted from April 19 until May 16, the first urban anti-German uprising in Europe. They fought like lions.
- The present war against Israel resembles the Nazi one in its aims and methods, and makes us realize how much the fate of the Jews remains subject to the depravity of others. Jews expected coexistence with the people around them. Jews do not aspire to expand territorially through conquest or demographically by evangelizing. But the nations they lived among were constituted very differently.
- Coexistence requires reciprocity which cannot be willed into being. Ascribed where it does not exist, it invites escalating aggression of which the Hamas attack of October 7 is but the most recent demonstration. Hamas entrapped Israelis into the war they had done everything to avoid by surrendering Gaza in 2005.
- Israel's enemies are the same forces that threaten America. This creates a congruence of loyalties. We are not in the position of American Muslims who may feel torn between the priorities of Mecca and Washington. The Hebraic roots and deepest values of America and Israel are one and the same.
- All of America should be behind us, and the best already are. It is now our task to help reorient the rest. To keep being Jews in the world means to overcome our disappointment in the failings of our enemies, the cowardice of some of our friends, and the difficulties of resistance. To mobilize is the best way to overcome despair.
The writer is professor emerita of Yiddish and comparative literature at Harvard.
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