Sunday,
May 10, 2026

News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:

Gulf States Lift Restrictions that Blocked U.S. Operations to Reopen Strait of Hormuz - Lara Seligman
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted restrictions on the U.S. military's use of their bases and airspace imposed after the start of the American operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration is now looking to restart the operation to guide commercial ships with naval and air support that it had paused last week after 36 hours.
    The U.S. operation to force open the strait relied on an enormous fleet of aircraft to protect commercial ships from Iranian missiles and drones, making Saudi and Kuwaiti bases and airspace critical to its execution. (Wall Street Journal)

U.S. Disables Two Vessels Violating Iran Blockade
U.S. forces on Friday enforced blockade measures against two Iranian-flagged unladen oil tankers attempting to pull into an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman. A U.S. Navy F-18 from the USS George H.W. Bush disabled both tankers after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks. More than 50 commercial vessels have been redirected by CENTCOM forces to ensure compliance with the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran. (CENTCOM)

Israel Built and Defended a Secret Iran War Base in Iraq - Anat Peled
Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the sparsely populated western desert region of Iraq to support its air campaign against Iran, and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war, U.S. officials said. The installation housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force. It was set up just before the war started with the knowledge of the U.S.
    Search-and-rescue teams were positioned there in case Israeli pilots were downed. None have been. Israeli air force special forces, trained to carry out commando operations in enemy territory, were also present on the base. (Wall Street Journal)

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

Three IDF Reservists Injured inside Israel by Hizbullah Drones
Three IDF reservists were injured after explosive drones launched by Hizbullah struck inside Israel on Saturday. Earlier Saturday, the IDF said it had struck 85 Hizbullah infrastructure sites over the previous 24 hours, hitting weapon storage facilities and launchers. (Jerusalem Post)

Israel Sees Significant Differences Persisting in U.S.-Iran Talks - Anna Barsky
Senior Israeli officials state that significant gaps still exist between the U.S. and Iran. "All this talk about an agreement being close is just part of the ritual," Israeli sources say. "Whenever drafts are exchanged, there's always mention of progress. The real question is whether there's actual movement toward closing the gaps. According to our estimates, the gaps remain unchanged. If there has been any progress, it's not significant."
    The U.S. is insisting on a complete freeze of uranium enrichment for an extended period, coupled with the removal of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium. Publicly, Iran indicates that these demands are far from acceptable. Israeli sources note, "If you allow Iran to maintain its enrichment capabilities, including its centrifuges and knowledge, you leave it with the capacity to resume enrichment whenever it chooses."
    "For Israel, the worst-case scenario is a bad deal. Any deal that gives Iran money without dismantling its enrichment capabilities is problematic."  (Maariv-Jerusalem Post)

Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center Receives $200 Million Donation from WhatsApp Co-Founder
Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center announced it has received a $200 million donation from Jan Koum, the Jewish-Ukrainian co-founder of WhatsApp, marking the largest philanthropic contribution ever made to a medical institution in Israel. (i24News)

Report: Gazan Public Opinion Turning Against Hamas - Goldie Katz
Public opinion in Gaza is shifting, with more residents supporting the disarmament of Hamas, according to an Israeli Channel 11 report citing Western intelligence findings on Saturday. The report said a majority of the Gazan public supports the push for Hamas to give up its weapons, seeing disarmament as a way to fully end the war with Israel and begin the reconstruction of Gaza. (Jerusalem Post)

Hamas Operatives Are Being Trained in Turkey to Attack Israel
Hamas operatives have been training in Turkey, Israel's Channel 11 reported Thursday. They train on the use of small arms and tactics at public shooting clubs and receive training in drone operations. They have even received official licenses to fly drones in Turkey. After training, they will return to Lebanon, Jordan, and the West Bank to carry out attacks on Israel. (Jerusalem Post)

Norway to Buy Israeli Trophy Protection System - Dean Shmuel Elmas
Even though Norway is one of the European countries most critical of Israel, Germany has begun supplying Norway with Leopard 2A8NOR tanks which carry Israeli technology. Each tank has the Eurotrophy system, the European version of the Trophy active protection system for military armored vehicles produced by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Trophy, operational since 2010, was sold to the U.S. Armored Forces in 2018 and was selected for German Leopard and British Challenger tanks in 2021. (Globes)

Israel's Young Cheerleaders Win Bronze at World Championship - Itay Goder
Israel's Youth Pom national team, composed of girls aged 12 to 14, secured third place at the International Cheerleading Cup in Orlando, Florida, in April. The team of 18 Israeli girls proved that cheerleading, in its highest form, is not about the glitter; it is about the grit required to maintain perfect synchronization.
    Head coach Yulia Hason Journo, who choreographed a medal-winning routine said, "We designed a high-velocity routine that demanded the judges' attention through sheer technical aggression. My goal was to prove that Israeli cheerleading isn't just 'good for a young federation.' It's elite."
    Senior athlete Anna Privalova, 22, said, "Training in Haifa while the sirens were active taught us a level of focus other teams don't have....This medal belongs to every girl who had to run to a shelter mid-practice and still came back. It is our collective answer to the world." (Jerusalem Post)

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:

"Iran Shot My Son Dead in His Hospital Bed" - Christina Lamb
Parvis Afshari shows me photographs of a beaming teenage boy with medals - a champion swimmer. "That's my son Sam," he says proudly. "He was the national champion." On Jan. 8, two weeks after his 17th birthday, Sam went out into the streets of their home city of Karaj, west of Tehran, with friends to protest against the Islamic regime, like millions of people in towns across Iran. Like tens of thousands of others, he never came home.
    Security forces came out on pick-up trucks mounted with Russian machineguns and began firing on protesters. "Sam was shot in the side" and was among many injured taken to Madani hospital. While waiting for surgery, security forces entered the hospital and, according to Afshari, "finished him off. They shot him in the back of the head....A nurse who witnessed it told me. She said she saw multiple people killed inside the hospital." His two friends Nima and Rohan, with whom he had gone to protest, were also killed.
    Afshari supports the U.S. attack on Iran, rejoicing in the killing of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, on the first day. He rejects arguments that it has been a failure. His fear is that the U.S. will end the war. "Trump must not make peace," he said. "Look at what kind of people these are. If they killed 50,000 of their own people in two nights, they won't have mercy on anyone." He points out that the regime is carrying out near-daily executions of those arrested in the protests. (Sunday Times-UK)

While the Iranian Political Echelon Is Prepared to Compromise, the Revolutionary Guards Stop the Move - Danny Zaken
According to information reaching Western intelligence agencies, Iran's unemployment rate has passed 50%. The economic situation continues to deteriorate for the Revolutionary Guards, soldiers, and the regime's Basij militia.
    Pakistan's chief of staff, Gen. Asim Munir, promised the Americans that he could secure Iranian agreement on the unconditional opening of the Strait of Hormuz and a nuclear arrangement aligned with U.S. demands. So far, he has not succeeded. Each time Iran's political echelon showed willingness to agree, Revolutionary Guards commanders blocked the move. (Israel Hayom)

Between Intent and Capability: Assessing the Lack of Iranian Attacks on the U.S. Homeland - Dr. Matthew Levitt
Three days into the Iran war, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force warned on Iranian television that the U.S. "will no longer be safe" as the Qods Force targets Americans within the U.S. homeland and abroad. "The enemy should know that their happy days are over and they will no longer be safe anywhere in the world, not even in their own homes."
    Yet two months after the Revolutionary Guards' threat, authorities have yet to report a single homeland plot specifically tied to Iranian intelligence or security agencies, their terrorist proxies, or criminals hired to carry out attacks.
    This is surprising because Iran has a track record of plotting attacks in the U.S. Indeed, Iran and its proxies have spent years investing in what U.S. counterterrorism officials describe as a "homeland option" in the U.S. If ever there was a time when Iran would seek to target the U.S. homeland, it would be now.
    In 2011, the Revolutionary Guard hatched a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. at a Washington, D.C., restaurant. Since then, Iranian agents or their proxies have been tied to 29 plots in the U.S. Over the past five years, there have been 174 cases of Iranian foreign operations, including 81 involving Iranian agents, 24 involving criminal proxies, and 55 terrorist proxies. "U.S. law enforcement has disrupted multiple potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots in the United States since 2020," the Department of Homeland Security reported in June 2025.
    The Iranian security and intelligence elements responsible for plots abroad may not have been able to follow through on their intended plans as a result of Israel's targeted disruption campaign directed against the Revolutionary Guard units directing sabotage and assassination plots overseas.
    Early in the war, Israeli air force strikes targeted Rahman Moqadam, the head of Unit 4000, the special operations division of the Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Organization, as well as his boss, Majid Khademi, the head of Revolutionary Guard Intelligence, whose predecessor was killed in June 2025. Also killed was Mohsen Suri, a primary operator and leader in the secret attacks network, who held a senior position within Unit 4000.
    The writer directs the program on counterterrorism and intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  (War on the Rocks)

Gaza Remains a Wasteland as Reconstruction Requires Hamas Demilitarization - Tom Ball
Half a year on from the ceasefire that formally ended fighting between Israel and Hamas, Gaza remains a wasteland. And so it will remain as long as U.S.-led peace talks continue to stall over the issue of demilitarizing the strip - a precondition for reconstruction. Israelis remain deeply skeptical that the threat from Hamas - a movement whose founding covenant commits it to the destruction of Israel - can be neutered by these talks
    Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser, said: "Any government in Israel - and it doesn't matter if it's led by Netanyahu or one of his rivals - will not let Hamas survive in Gaza. Either it will be disarmed by the Americans or it will be disarmed by the IDF by force. After Oct. 7, Hamas does not have the legitimacy to exist as an organization. But what I know is that for us it is much less relevant than for the Palestinians in Gaza. These are the people who are suffering from Hamas more than anyone else in the present situation." (Sunday Times-UK)

Abbas Holding Palestinians Hostage with Western Help - Danielle Greyman-Kennard
The West has helped Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, 90, keep the Palestinian people "hostage," Fatah political leader Samer Sinijlawi told the Jerusalem Post on Thursday, referring to the president who has held his position for 21 years. "I don't have any hard feelings towards Israelis, none. I have lots of hard feelings towards the West that keeps seeing us [Palestinians] as not 100% human beings who deserve democracy and internal human rights and keeps endorsing and embracing a leader who has been proving that he is a burden on his people for years."
    Like many held in Israeli prisons, he learned to speak Hebrew during his five-year sentence for throwing stones at Israelis during the First Intifada. Sinijlawi described how his ideology shifted during his detention, a shift he thinks Palestinian society should make. Part of this change would mean direct dialogue with Israel and a recognition that Palestinian freedom depends on Israeli security. "The only way to achieve things with Israelis is to try to convince them, touch their hearts and minds, and make them see that we are a qualified partner to achieve a solution for this conflict."
    He said Abbas "does not explain that if we, as Palestinians, did not place Israeli security as the basis of our national strategy, we would not proceed. And we do it not because we are doing them a favor, but we do it because it is the only way to achieve our national interest. You cannot promote the two-state solution and deny the historical rights of Jews in this land....It's not only the textbooks. It is the narrative that this leadership is continuing to push and does not have the guts to tell the Palestinian people that we should think differently."
    Sinijlawi explains that the "pay-for-slay" payments were a mistake. The "Palestinian leadership could say, 'From today on, we are not paying anything. So we are totally against any violence. Those who would like to resort to violence, it's up to them.'"
    Moreover, while educators and healthcare workers have had to settle for a fraction of their pay and reduced working hours, the PA has continued spending 35% of the national budget on security forces so that there is now one law enforcement officer for every 49 civilians, a ratio not seen in successful economies. (Jerusalem Post)

How Much Hate and Violence Are We Willing to Tolerate in New York City? - Yael Bar Tur
Antisocial, antisemitic, and violent behavior aren't just tolerated in New York City, they're excused and increasingly encouraged. On May 5, 150 rioters tried to storm the barricades outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, injuring two policemen. The hooligans waved Hizbullah flags outside an informational event for New Yorkers considering leaving the city and moving to Israel. The rioters chanted, "NYPD, IDF, KKK, you're all the same!" and "We don't want no two states, we want all of it!"
    The obsession with dismantling the Jewish state, the radical chic of our moment, has led our friends and neighbors to excuse this behavior and even to justify it. If a group of white men attacked police outside a Hispanic church and yelled "go back to Mexico" while waving Klan flags, would we say they're just protesting lax border policies? (City Journal)

Why Is It Only in Ireland that I Worry about Being Jewish? - Jon Ihle
As one of the 2,000 Jews in Ireland, I worry every time I attend a Jewish community event that this will be the time someone gets through the many layers of security to attack us. I worry that my partner, who is publicly visible as a Holocaust education activist and a Jewish business owner, will be targeted. I worry that when I bring my six-year-old son to places where other Jews are present, I'm putting him in danger.
    Attacks against diaspora Jews are happening within a context of relentless protest against Israel and a boycott movement that is trying to isolate the country from the community of nations. The attackers seem to believe that hurting Jews in Sydney, London or Manchester is striking a blow against Israel. The implication is that Jews everywhere share responsibility for the conduct of Jews anywhere. It reduces all Jews to avatars of Israeli policy, creating a permission structure for violence against Jews in general.
    Sometimes Irish Jews end up as collateral damage, as happened with the Sinn Fein party's appalling campaign on the Dublin city council to rename Herzog Park in Rathgar, one the city's most Jewish areas, on the pretext that it honored a Zionist. Before he was president of Israel, Chaim Herzog was an Irish Jew, the son of Isaac Herzog, who was Ireland's first chief rabbi and later chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine and the State of Israel. The Herzogs are essentially the Kennedys of Israel; Isaac's grandson and namesake is president of Israel today.
    The overall message is that the recognition of Jewish humanity is somehow conditional, qualified, contingent on what the Israeli government does or doesn't do. In my experience, this logic is very common in Ireland. I've encountered it personally. It's all over social media. It pops up in mainstream media too. It's even promoted by several political parties.
    The writer is the deputy business editor at the Sunday Times Ireland. (Sunday Times-UK)

Observations:

More than two months after the outbreak of the Iran war, Iran has been damaged, but not defeated. Moreover, its ability to survive a combined American-Israeli offensive may even bolster its perception of victory.

At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that the Iranian regime is nearing collapse. Now under more hardline leadership, the regime has managed to maintain its command-and-control capabilities. There are no discernible cracks or fissures within the political elite, particularly in the apparatuses of repression and enforcement, led by the IRGC, the Basij, and law enforcement forces.

Although toppling the regime was not presented as one of the war's objectives, the conditions that would enable the Iranian people to bring about the desired change have yet to mature. The regime still possesses effective instruments of repression and loyal security apparatuses, while its opponents still lack the capacity to translate widespread public discontent and mistrust of the regime into an organized and viable political alternative.

Despite the damage inflicted on its nuclear capabilities, Iran retains residual capabilities that could serve its efforts to rehabilitate the program and even to achieve a nuclear weapons breakout. Iran could, within a relatively short period, achieve the capability to detonate a simple device and conduct an underground test, thereby signaling that it has crossed the nuclear threshold.

Enrichment to the 90% level does not necessarily require numerous cascades and could be achieved within a few weeks, particularly if Iran were to implement an accelerated emergency program and if a covert facility or several small, dispersed sites across the country have already been prepared in advance. Iranian motivation to advance toward nuclear weapons is likely to intensify in light of Tehran's ongoing failure to deter its enemies from attacking through conventional means or via its regional proxies.

Iran has intensified its efforts to reconstitute and upgrade its missile array as part of enhanced preparations for the potential resumption of hostilities. In its view, the war demonstrated that the missile array constitutes a primary strategic asset.

While a systematic effort was made to target not only launching capabilities but also production chains and the Iranian defense industries, significant missile and launcher capabilities remained in Iran's possession at the war's end. The survivability of launchers and missiles was achieved by pre-storing them in vast storage tunnels constructed over the years. Additionally, the Iranians developed methods for clearing blockages at tunnel exits.

The writer is director of the Iran and the Shiite Axis Program at the INSS.

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