| DAILY ALERT |
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Qatar, Turkey, and several UN officials are scheduled to participate in a 20-country "Emergency Summit" on July 15-16 in Bogota, Colombia, that proposes to take "concrete measures" against Israel. Colombia and South Africa are to co-host the summit as co-chairs of the Hague Group, an eight-state gathering launched in January "to take 'coordinated legal and diplomatic measures' against Israel's violations of international law," according to its site. The Israeli Mission to the UN told JNS, "What the event organizers, and perhaps some of the countries attending, forget is what triggered this conflict - namely, the butchering of 1,200 innocent souls on Oct. 7 and how 50 Israelis remain in brutal captivity to this day by Hamas in Gaza. Attempting to exert pressure on Israel - and not Hamas, who initiated and are prolonging this conflict - is a moral travesty. The war will not end while hostages remain in Gaza." (JNS) All three commissioners of the UN Human Rights Council's permanent Commission of Inquiry on Israel have resigned. Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, drew a direct line between their resignations and the political shockwaves from the U.S. decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur who has justified terrorism. "Francesca Albanese was the tip of the spear in the UN's war on Israel. Now that she's been sanctioned, others are looking over their shoulders. The fear of accountability is finally setting in," Neuer said. UN Watch urged the UN Human Rights Council to terminate the Commission of Inquiry altogether. (UN Watch) Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, the best-performing major stock market in the world is...Israel. After taking an initial hit, the market recovered fully in four weeks, and since then is up 80%. This ascent continued through the recent 12-day war with Iran. The stock market kept signaling that the conflict would end soon, with Israel prevailing both militarily and economically. Despite all the international criticism of Israel for its multiple military offensives, a surge in foreign buying has fueled the rally in its stock market. Founded amid poverty after the Second World War, Israel is one of the few countries to have risen from the developing into the developed ranks. Its $550 billion economy is among the largest 30 in the world. Israel spends more than 6% of GDP on research and development - more than any other nation and over double the global average. About half of R&D funding comes from foreign multinationals, many involved in defense-related industries. With more start-ups per head than any other country, Israel's business culture is closer to that of California. Half of its exports are tech products. GDP per head has nearly tripled since 2000 to more than $55,000, rising from 50 to 70% of the level in the U.S. The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. (Financial Times-UK) Satellite imagery shows craters in the docks in the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef in Yemen following Israeli air strikes on July 6. No vessels have arrived or departed Hodeidah or Saleef since the strikes, satellite imagery showed. (Lloyd's List Intelligence-UK) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Three Israeli soldiers were killed when their tank was hit by a blast in Gaza on Monday. The IDF initially suspected the tank was hit by a Hamas rocket-propelled grenade. However, the military increasingly came to believe the explosion may have been caused by a malfunctioning shell that detonated inside the turret. (Times of Israel) Ten Hamas terrorists who were exiled to Gaza in the 2011 Shalit deal, including some behind the killing of Israelis, were killed in an airstrike last week, the Israel Security Agency and IDF announced. Most of those killed were members of Hamas's West Bank headquarters, involved in recruiting terrorists and advancing attacks against Israel from or within the West Bank. Among those killed were Riyad Assila and Bassem Abu Sanina, who murdered Israeli civilian Haim Karman in 1998 in Jerusalem. Also killed was Mohammed Saria, who killed IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Ehud (Udi) Tal in the West Bank in 1996. Seven other Hamas members killed in the strike were all convicted during the Second Intifada of involvement in deadly terror attacks and were given life sentences. (Times of Israel) The IDF said Monday it had recently attacked several tanks in southern Syria advancing toward the predominantly Druze city of Sweida. A military source said the purpose of the Israeli strike was to prevent the movement of tanks into an area that the IDF does not allow Syrian military forces to enter. This comes after exchanges of gunfire between Druze from Sweida and Bedouins. More than 89 people were killed and at least 100 were wounded in sectarian clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday, "We will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria. Israel will not stand by." (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Gaza Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer described how his thinking had changed after Oct. 7: "What Israel has to do is build up a wall, an iron wall...and eventually when they realize that they can't beat us, that's when they will actually open the door towards peace." "The perception of Israel's weakness [after Oct. 7], how that's going to affect calculations in the region, can be very, very dangerous because of all the buzzards that are circling Israel that would love a chance to attack a bleeding Israel....I saw the puncturing of that wall, and the fear was that now everyone was going to rush in, and reversing that was very critical at the beginning of the war." To close this "breach" in the wall, Israel needs to ensure that Hamas loses its control over Gaza. "It doesn't necessarily mean to kill every Hamas terrorist who's running around there. But if Hamas lost Gaza, that's the minimum necessary in order to achieve a victory...the minimal requirement is: The force that did this to you on October 7 is no more. They've lost control of Gaza because of their decision to act." Addressing recent opinion polls, Dermer said: "Everybody in Israel wants to end the war. The question is, are you going to end the war with a victory for you or victory for Hamas? When you dig down and you ask people: Wait a second, Hamas will stay in power. We're not going to have any troops in Gaza. They will be able to rearm and they'll be able to do October 7th attacks again. I think the numbers will be different." Regarding the strikes on Iran's nuclear program, Dermer said, "I think that we have removed that threat for the foreseeable future, particularly if we do the things that we need to do now in the aftermath of that attack. But Iran is not the same country that it was last month." (All Israel News) See also Video: Interview with Ron Dermer (Call Me Back Podcast-YouTube) In the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Hamas is making demands that Israel cannot possibly accept. Hamas still thinks it is Israel that must surrender. It's like the Nazis calling on Eisenhower to pull back as the Allies crossed the Rhine in 1945. Hamas still remains dangerous, with thousands of armed killers on the books. Of course the IDF can't withdraw in the face of that. What makes Hamas think it still has the muscle to dictate terms to the side that is so obviously winning the fight? It knows it is no longer popular among the citizens of Gaza. During a recent visit to Gaza, I met around 100 Gazan civilians. Many of them told me how much they hate Hamas and want rid of them. So strong was their feeling, cheered by those around them, that I believe it's likely they are representative. The dreadful truth is that Hamas gets greater encouragement to continue fighting from widespread support in the West and the misguided and unjust condemnation of Israel from many political leaders and international institutions. They demand Israel stop fighting, yet never make any demands on Hamas. Our leaders have helped to prolong the war and increase the killing. Instead of looking to reward terrorism by recognizing a Palestinian state, they should be helping to make Hamas give up hope and demand a ceasefire followed by a negotiated end to hostilities on Israel's terms. The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK's national crisis management committee, COBRA. (Telegraph-UK) "Gaza will not surrender no matter how long the war continues," said Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas Politburo. This statement shows that Hamas is determined to fight Israel until the last Palestinian in Gaza. Hamas wants an end to the war while staying in power and pursuing jihad to murder Jews and eliminate Israel. A ceasefire, even if temporary, will allow Hamas to rearm, regroup, and launch more attacks against Israel. Commenting on al-Risheq's remarks, Gaza-born Palestinian human rights advocate Hamza Howidy wrote on X: "He speaks from comfort abroad, while Gazans starve in ruins. But Gaza, in reality, surrendered long ago. This kind of language is only aimed to block any ceasefire that doesn't assure Hamas staying in power. Every time negotiations move forward, Hamas escalates the rhetoric and, for sure, prolongs this war. Refusing to surrender, in his words, means one thing: more Gaza children will be sacrificed to prolong his movement's survival." If Hamas really wanted to end the war, it could immediately and unconditionally release all the hostages, lay down its weapons, and relinquished control of Gaza. Hamas leaders continue to live in a fantasy world. They are convinced that despite the death and destruction they brought on their people, they can continue ruling in Gaza after the war. The U.S. needs to insist that all terror groups in Gaza be dismantled and driven out of power as part of any ceasefire deal with Israel. It is time that the Americans understood that the Palestinian jihadis pose a threat not only to Israel, but also to the U.S. and its Arab allies in the Middle East, especially by inciting violence against them and carrying out - or encouraging - terrorist attacks against Americans and moderate Arab regimes. The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. (Gatestone Institute) Iran Iran's defeat had to be a foregone conclusion: Israel is a very modern Western state, whereas Iran is only a superficially modernized theocracy. Everybody now understands that Israel controlled the skies over Iran for as long as it wanted, even though it did not have a single long-range combat aircraft nor adequate refueling tankers. It simply had a Western air force. That means its pilots and commanders are professionals who accept the limitations of their equipment and strive to overcome them - for example, with unique air-launched ballistic missiles used as range extenders. Ayatollah Khamenei opened his first post-combat speech by warmly congratulating the people of Iran on their "very great" victory and the brilliant successes of their armed forces. Perhaps readers of the Tehran Times, who had just seen major buildings in their own city reduced to ruins, were consoled by reading that Iran's missiles had destroyed Israel's Ministry of Defense and the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, both of which passing Israeli commuters can still see are perfectly intact. The writer is a contractual strategic consultant for the U.S. government. (UnHerd) More than 1.1 million Afghans have been deported from Iran this year, half in the past five weeks, in one of the largest forced expulsions in modern history. In March, Iranian authorities said they will expel all four million undocumented Afghans, even though many have lived there for decades. On some days last week more than 40,000 were dumped on the borders in a few hours. Pakistan, home to four million Afghans, has also demanded the departure of all undocumented Afghans. A million were expelled in 2024 and a further 323,581 this year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), most of them since April 1. (The Times-UK) Houthis The Houthis have overcome the vast distance between Yemen and Israel to launch advanced ballistic missiles and wage a naval blockade in the Red Sea that has paralyzed Israel's southern port of Eilat and severely disrupted global shipping through the Suez Canal. The motivation behind their campaign is puzzling, given the heavy toll they've paid from Israeli airstrikes. Yet they appear undeterred, fighting a war they cannot win. A senior Houthi figure revealed to Ynet the depth of the movement's indoctrination and hatred that helps explain their continued aggression. He said, "We believe Israel's existence is illegitimate. Its end is a divine certainty. Israel is a criminal entity planted at the heart of the [Muslim] nation." "We will prevail. We want Israel erased and Al-Aqsa Mosque purified. Our slogan, 'Death to America, death to Israel,' is not just a slogan - it's a way of life, from the beginning of the Quran until we liberate Jerusalem." (Ynet News) Syria The White House has cast the government of Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Shara, as a path to stability and an opportunity to counter extremists. But rather than removing extremists, Shara is absorbing them into his national army. Groups affiliated with the world's most dangerous jihadists are being folded into Syria's armed forces. Up to 3,000 fighters from the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) - a Uyghur-led jihadist group tied to al-Qaeda - have been integrated into Syria's new military under Shara's watch. Yet many of these fighters are still loyal to al-Qaeda's leadership, have engaged in sectarian violence, and pose a serious threat to Shara's authority, especially if he pursues policies they oppose. The writer is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. (National Interest) A Royal Air Force Reaper remotely piloted aircraft eliminated a known ISIS terrorist in northwestern Syria on June 10, the UK Ministry of Defence said on July 9. The Reaper crew tracked the individual riding a motorcycle and waited until the area was clear of civilians before launching a successful Hellfire missile strike. RAF aircraft continue to fly regular patrols over Syria to counter persistent threats from ISIS elements. The RAF's remotely piloted aircraft are controlled by crews operating from the UK. (UK Defence Journal) Israel and the West The Irish parliament is considering legislation that would put American companies in a legal bind. The Occupied Territories bill would make it a crime to trade with Israelis in Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem. The bill harks back to the long-since abandoned Arab League boycott of Israel. It would require American companies with a substantial presence in Ireland to violate federal statutes designed to combat the earlier boycott. The bill's sponsors claim such rules are required for "compliance" with an International Court of Justice advisory opinion from last year. But advisory opinions create no legal obligations. Even assuming the territories in question are occupied as a matter of law, trade with them is legal under international law. The EU and the U.S. explicitly allow for the importation of such goods, with America labeling them "Made in Israel." In 1977, with broad bipartisan support, Congress enacted a law that prohibited American companies from taking actions "with intent to comply with, further, or support any boycott fostered or imposed by any foreign country, against a country which is friendly to the United States." The antiboycott law is about preventing American companies from being pressured by foreign countries to discriminate impermissibly. The writer, a professor at George Mason University School of Law, is a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. (Wall Street Journal) Palestinian Arabs The Palestinian Authority has failed utterly and must be replaced with something more realistic, more accountable, and ultimately more conducive to peaceful relations on the ground. For three decades, the PA has been treated as the presumptive nucleus of a future Palestinian state. In reality, however, it is a corrupt, authoritarian, and dysfunctional regime, one that governs without legitimacy, incites against Israel, and systematically fails to meet even the basic needs of the people it is meant to govern. Despite unprecedented international support and billions in aid, the PA has not built a viable political, economic, or social foundation for sovereignty. Elections have not been held in nearly 20 years, corruption abounds, critics can be jailed or worse, and the judiciary lacks independence. The economy is dependent on foreign aid and Israeli tax collection. The PA continues to reward convicted terrorists with stipends and to broadcast anti-Israel incitement in the media. It refused to explicitly condemn the Hamas massacre and its diplomats celebrated the attack. Its educational system glorifies martyrdom and demonizes Jews. Keeping the idea of a Palestinian state alive sustains Palestinian rejectionism and delays the search for real, workable alternatives. Against this backdrop, the Hebron Emirate initiative, led by local tribal leaders seeking to govern independently of Ramallah, offers a compelling departure from the PA model. The broader principle of the plan is sound: governance should be localized, pragmatic, and rooted in organic social structures, not imposed from above by failed elites. Expanding localized governance models means moving beyond a dysfunctional partner whose cooperation is shallow and unreliable, and toward a structure that better reflects reality and serves long-term stability. The Oslo delusion was built on the fantasy that a fundamentally anti-Israel movement led by former terrorists could be empowered to create a peaceful, democratic state. Instead, it created a kleptocracy dependent on foreign money, steeped in rejectionist ideology, and incapable of reform. The writer is a senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy. (Jerusalem Post) Antisemitism Antisemitism does not spread simply because people lack information. It spreads because of the psychological impact of misinformation. It offers certainty in chaotic times. It turns discomfort into blame. It gives people a sense of belonging by projecting pain and guilt. Most antisemitism education programs today focus on the Holocaust, acts of violence, or hate crime laws. They often present Jewish identity only through the lens of trauma. Yet Jewish identity is not only about survival. It is about meaning, ethics, creativity, and a long history of contribution to humanity. If we want people to understand antisemitism truly, we need to help them understand what is being attacked and why, as well as teach them skills to recognize manipulation - and most importantly, how this affects them. This is not only about protecting Jews. It is about creating allies. We need to reach the non-Jewish population in ways that make them care, not just comply. That means developing formats that foster curiosity, connection, and emotional relevance. (Jerusalem Post) Observations: Is U.S. Aid to the Palestinian Authority Fueling Terror? - Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch and Rikki Zagelbaum (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center. See also Terrorists in Uniform: A Study of Palestinian Authority Security Forces' Terror Involvement - Itamar Marcus Senior officers in the PA security forces simultaneously have senior roles in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an internationally designated terror organization. When these terrorists are killed, they are honored by the PA with military funerals, and when convicted terrorists are released from prison, they are welcomed back into the PA security forces as heroes. (Palestinian Media Watch) |
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