Monday,
April 6, 2026

News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:

The Pentagon Says the U.S. Is Achieving Its Goals, but Iran Is Fighting On - Alexander Ward
U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed much of Iran's leadership, sunk its navy and degraded the country's missile program in more than a month of conflict. But Tehran on Friday rejected mediated efforts to negotiate an end to the war, saying U.S. demands are unacceptable.
    "Their back is to the water on a beach and they don't have an escape plan, and so, literally, it's fight or die," Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat who served on the delegation that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, said of the regime. "This is the hill they die on." Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the U.S. was "ahead of schedule in accomplishing our mission."  (Wall Street Journal)

U.S. Appeals Court Reinstates $655 Million Ruling Against PLO and Palestinian Authority over Terrorism - Corey Walker
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on March 30 reinstated a $655.5 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), in a case brought by American victims seeking to hold them responsible for the "pay-for-slay" terrorism program. The court restored a jury's earlier finding that the PLO and PA bore civil liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act for a series of attacks in Israel that killed and injured U.S. citizens. (Algemeiner)

Satellite Image Company Restricts Mideast Content, Citing U.S. Government Request - Pranav Baskar
Planet Labs, a major satellite imagery provider, is indefinitely withholding access to imagery over Iran and the conflict region more broadly, citing a request from the U.S. government. The decision was announced in an email to customers on Saturday. Planet Labs said the government asked "all satellite imagery providers" to indefinitely withhold images for "safety and operational security reasons." It said it would "voluntarily withhold imagery over the area indefinitely until the conflict ends." (New York Times)

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

Four Killed in Iranian Missile Strike on Haifa - Eitan Glikman
Four people killed in a Haifa residential building hit directly by an Iranian missile on Sunday were recovered from the wreckage on Monday. They included an elderly couple, their 40-year-old son and his partner, a foreign national. Four people were also wounded at the impact site. (Ynet News)
    See also Rockets and Drones from Lebanon Strike Israel
A drone from Lebanon struck a house in Kibbutz Shomrat in the Western Galilee on Sunday. The family was in a protected space at the time and was not injured. Earlier, six people were wounded by a blast wave in the Arab town of Deir al-Asad after rocket fire from Lebanon. (Ynet News)

Cluster Bomb Warheads Strike Israeli Cities - Stav Levaton
Iranian missiles with cluster bomb warheads struck central Israel on Saturday, damaging homes, cars, and apartment blocks. More than a dozen impact sites were reported in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Rosh Ha'ayin. With most people in shelters, there were no fatalities. Six people were lightly injured. (Times of Israel)

Israel Kills IRGC Intelligence Chief
Israel said it killed Brig.-Gen. Majid Khademi, head of the Revolutionary Guards intelligence organization, in a strike in Tehran early Monday. Iranian state media confirmed his death. Khademi had taken up the role only a few months ago after his predecessor was killed. He was considered one of the three most senior figures in the Revolutionary Guards. (Ynet News)

Iran Ceasefire Initiatives Collapse as Israel and U.S. Prepare for Next Phase - Danny Zaken
Last-minute initiatives put forward by Egypt and Oman called for a 48-hour ceasefire during which Iran would allow a larger number of tankers and ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran gave no response to the proposals. Against that backdrop, American forces are expected to intensify both the pace of the strikes and the nature of the targets. They are expected to focus on strategic economic targets, chiefly facilities controlled by the Revolutionary Guards. (Israel Hayom)

Israel and U.S. Finalized List of Strategic Targets to Be Struck in Iran - Amichai Stein
Israel and the U.S. have finalized a list of strategic targets to be struck in Iran should the Islamic Republic fail to meet the requirements of President Trump's ultimatum, sources told the Jerusalem Post. This follows a series of intensive high-level discussions aimed at synchronizing the American and Israeli responses to Tehran. (Jerusalem Post)

Syrians Are Helping Hizbullah Rearm - Shachar Kleiman
A source from the Alawite community in western Syria told Israel Hayom: "There is indeed hostility between al-Julani's men [referring to President Ahmed al-Sharaa] and Iran, and on the surface they are enemies. However, under the table, al-Julani's men are providing Hizbullah...with weapons cheaply. In Damascus, there are hundreds of warehouses full of Grad, Scud, and Katyusha rockets that the government has seized."
    "Al-Jolani's people include a large number of mercenaries....Each one finds his own way to make money - weapons, drugs, cars, robbery. Hizbullah and Iran still have a foothold in Syria. They are in contact with al-Jolani's men....These jihadists have no principles. They will join hands with anyone because all that matters to them is profit and power."
    The source warned of an escalating atmosphere in Damascus against Israel. In recent days, anti-Israel protests were held, including one where organizers hung an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in prisoner's clothing. At another protest, organizers called for the slaughter of Jews. "The jihadists there threatened to destroy Israel - all of this under al-Jolani's rule." (Israel Hayom

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:

Myths of the Iran War - Tzachi Hanegbi
One myth related to the war is that if enriched uranium remains in Iran, the war has failed. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran possesses 441 kg. of uranium enriched up to 60%. Israel and the U.S. never intended to deploy thousands of troops deep inside Iran to seize nuclear facilities. Absent a comprehensive agreement to remove the uranium as part of a deal, the approach is to monitor suspected sites and, if necessary, act against them from the air.
    In any case, Iran's enrichment facilities have been completely disabled, and it is doubtful they can be restored to operation anytime soon. Moreover, Iran has yet to achieve a breakthrough that would allow it to build an actual weapon system. Over the past year, many of the senior scientists involved in these efforts have been killed. Without the ability to develop a weapon, the uranium Iran possesses has no practical significance.
    The claim that Trump was misled by Israel reflects a misunderstanding of U.S. decision-making culture. American presidents formulate policy based solely on their country's interests. The decisive consideration guiding the White House is what serves the American people. The notion that a U.S. president makes critical national security decisions based on assessments presented by Israeli leaders or Mossad officials runs counter to longstanding American practice.
    Another myth is that it is possible to decisively defeat Hamas, Iran, Hizbullah or the Houthis once and for all. There is no way to guarantee that even a clear military defeat will end an adversary's motivation to pursue its objectives, recognizing that capabilities can be rebuilt. Phrases such as "once and for all" amount to speculation.
    Even after Israel's decisive victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, when its military defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, within a few years, Egypt launched the War of Attrition and in 1973, together with Syria, carried out a large-scale surprise attack against Israel. So victories may have an expiration date. As we repeated at the Passover Seder, in every generation there are those who rise up to destroy us.
    The writer served as Israel's National Security Advisor from 2023 to 2025.  (Ynet News)

Iran Is Not a War of Choice - Editorial
The U.S. and its enemies have learned from the last two decades that nuclear deterrence works. The ability of the West to intervene in the defense of Ukraine has been hampered by the existence of Russia's nuclear arsenal.
    North Korea watched Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi disassemble his nuclear and chemical weapons programs in 2003, subsequently allowing NATO aircraft to topple his regime as the people he had tormented rose up against him. North Korean state media stated that "powerful nuclear deterrence serves as the strongest treasured sword for frustrating outsiders' aggression."
    This same logic has underlaid Israel's approach to regional proliferation for decades. The Begin doctrine laid out after Israel's 1981 airstrike on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor set out precisely why Israel would strike the al-Kibar site in Syria in 2007; it also explained why it struck Iranian nuclear facilities in 2025.
    By achieving the full suite of capabilities necessary for a functioning nuclear deterrent - capabilities that it seemed well on the road to attaining - the Iranian regime hoped to build a nuclear shield. A regime built on a fundamentalist belief system devoted to the destruction of the West was not pursuing these weapons as a pathway to moderation.
    Instead, a nation sponsoring terrorist militias, launching drone and missile strikes at its neighbors, attempting to hold the global economy to ransom by shutting the flow of trade through the Strait of Hormuz, was seeking to become effectively untouchable militarily.
    While the 2025 airstrikes set back Tehran's nuclear program, it was clear early this year that efforts to rebuild its capabilities were well underway. The history of Iran's nuclear ambitions is of diplomacy, time and again, falling short. Faced with the necessity of putting a permanent end to them, it is hard to argue that Israel or America had any other choice. (Telegraph-UK)

Israel Enjoys a Historic Peak in Cooperation with U.S. - Or Shaked
Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said, "We are at a historic peak in terms of U.S.-Israel cooperation. This is a rock-solid alliance built on shared values and interests - but it has never reached the level it is at today. We are truly fighting together, sharing intelligence at the highest levels, and in the diplomatic arena too - shoulder-to-shoulder."
    "One of the reasons we are not attacked more [at the UN] is because the U.S. is part of this [Iran] campaign. If Israel were facing Iran alone, you would see a completely different discourse - in the Security Council, in the positions, in the debates, even from the UN secretary-general. Everyone is being careful."
    "I sit and write my speeches, and [U.S.] Ambassador Mike Waltz sits with his team - and suddenly you realize the speeches sound as if they were written together. We speak the same language, and that is significant."
    American support has been visible on Lebanon as well. The U.S. saw "that the other side hadn't kept its commitments. Now that we are acting, they told us, 'You were right, you gave it time, you shared the intelligence, the other side didn't deliver - and now you have our backing to do what needs to be done.'"  (Israel Hayom)

Why Israeli Youth Remain Positive during War - Lilac Sigan
One of the most striking findings of the latest World Happiness Report is that young Israeli adults under 25 ranked 3rd in the world in life satisfaction scores, says Anat Fanti, a happiness and well-being researcher at Bar-Ilan University. This is in contrast to a well-being crisis among young adults in the U.S. who rank in 60th place.
    "The 2026 report is dedicated to the impact of social media use on the well-being of young people," she explains. "It applies particularly to platforms driven by algorithmically selected content, like TikTok, that pushes young people to endlessly scroll through negative or distressing content online. Such platforms tend to show a distinctly negative correlation with mental well-being."
    "It's not that Israeli youth are unaffected...but in Israel, at 18, you join the military and your life changes. There's the moment when the young adult from the social media world meets real life in its full intensity, especially in the past 2.5 years of war. Young people here can't really live in the illusion of social media - they're forced to confront reality."
    "In Israel, the reality encountered within the IDF...ultimately produces something far healthier - far more communal and meaningful. In 2025, Israeli youth ranked first in the world in the quality of their social connections. That contributes enormously to happiness and well-being."
    "Young adults 25 and under in Israel are those serving in the military and doing reserve duty, carrying an enormous weight of responsibility towards the entire population. That's the sense of meaning and clear purpose that Israeli existence provides, in addition to the fact that Israel is a country with an extraordinary family and friendship infrastructure, where everyone feels that every soldier in the IDF is their own child."
    "These young people are our future. They are negatively affected by social media like every other young person in the world, but in the end, they are more grounded through real-life situations, their friends, their family, and the entire country's social support and mutual generosity."  (Jerusalem Post)

Reserve Duty, Again - Mois Navon
If your country is under attack, every able-bodied citizen should realize that his life, the lives of his loved ones, and the very life of the nation are at stake. Duty is based on responsibility. Good people do not do good because everyone else does good, but because that is what good people do. And there is no greater good than defending the nation of Israel.
    This, really, is the key. For 2,000 years the Jewish people lived in exile - defenseless, subject to the whims of antisemites. We were burdened with special taxes, barred from schools and institutions, banned from professions and social clubs, and confined to ghettos. A Holocaust survivor once took me aside at an Independence Day celebration, looked deep into my eyes, and said, "You have no idea what it means to live in a world without the State of Israel."
    Today, thanks to the existence of our own country, we not only study at the first-rate schools in the world; we establish them. We not only work in the professions of our choice; we lead them. We not only live in thriving cities; we build them. But without a strong and resilient defense force, none of this great good is possible.
    Without the sacrifice of our citizen-soldiers who come to the defense of our nation, there is no flourishing nation of Israel. As hard as it is - and there is no question that it is hard - it is the most important thing you can do. So yes: reserve duty, again.
    The writer, one of the founding engineers of Mobileye, serves as an advisor to Israel's Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology. (Times of Israel)

Observations:

Iran, Israel, and the U.S. have not achieved the goals they set for themselves in their current war. On the Iranian side, the late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had hoped that by adopting the "Samson option," he would provoke a brief regional war with limited damage to his Islamic Republic because he would step in and offer another of his "heroic flexibility" tricks before things got out of hand. His "heroic flexibility" was designed to come after the first wave of attacks by Israeli and American bombers targeting part of Iran's military infrastructure.

However, as he wasn't there to do his part, Israel and the U.S. had to go for a second wave of bombings and then a third - this time targeting Iran's industrial infrastructure on a scale not known since World War II. Its weapons industry has been decimated, and its vast nuclear project put back by years if not decades.

Worse still, Iran's unprovoked ballistic missile and drone attacks on neighboring countries in no way involved in this war may have done lasting damage to the largely tolerant, not to say benevolent, attitude that many of them had of Iran even under the mullahs.

The outside world has been divided between those who, because they hate Trump or Netanyahu or even America and Israel as a whole, designate the mullahs as victors, and those who, translating their hatred of the Iranian regime into a wish for Iran's destruction as a nation-state, declare Trump and Netanyahu as winners.

Anti-U.S. and anti-Israel circles exaggerate the effect of Tehran's tactic of inflicting economic pain on the world by playing fast and loose with oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz and disrupting overall trade in a chunk of the region. That in turn intensifies the effects of the mullahs' mischief-making.

The U.S. and Israel may lose the Iranian people as one of the few nations known for their positive view of both countries. The theme of "you came and destroyed our industrial, economic and scientific infrastructure, but left our torturers in place" is gaining currency among Iranians both at home and abroad.

There is little doubt that although the Khomeinist regime is badly mauled, the biggest loser in this war will be the Iranian people. The war has destroyed thousands of jobs in Iran. A people facing mass unemployment and shortages of food, water and medicine would not be immediately ready for another attempt at regime change.

The writer was executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979.

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