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In-Depth Issues:
Hamas Demanded $500 Million from Iran to Support the Annihilation of Israel - and They Got It ( Israel Hayom)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday revealed communications between Iran and eliminated Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar.
"This is definitive proof of Iran's support for Hamas's plan to destroy Israel and for the October 7 massacre," Katz said.
"Deif and Sinwar demanded $500 million from the Quds Force commander to support the annihilation of Israel and the fight against the U.S. - and they got it."
According to the document, the head of the Palestinian Affairs division in the Revolutionary Guard, Hassan Izadi, responded affirmatively to the request, saying that despite Iran's dire economic situation, the regime would continue funding Hamas because the fight against Israel and the U.S. remains the regime's top priority.
Iranian Official Reveals: How We Eliminated Regime Opponents in Europe - Aviram Bellaishe ( Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
In an interview published on March 8, 2025, by the Iranian news website Didar-e Ban-e Iran, Mohsen Rafighdoost - a former Minister of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and one of the key figures in the Islamic Revolution - said the Iranian regime, through the IRGC, assassinated a series of exiled opponents in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s.
In the interview, Rafighdoost listed generals, a former prime minister, and cultural figures who were assassinated in Europe by dedicated hit squads, sometimes using collaborators from the Basque separatist movement ETA.
Rafighdoost described direct threats he made to the French government to secure the release of Anis Naccache, an Iranian-Lebanese agent imprisoned after a failed assassination attempt on former prime minister Bakhtiar in Paris in 1980.
"I met with the Foreign Minister and said: If after two weeks your embassy blows up or one of your planes is hijacked - don't complain."
According to Rafighdoost, the threat worked: France released Naccache.
The writer, Senior Director for Security, Diplomacy, and Communications at the Jerusalem Center, has served in senior government positions for over 25 years.
Iran Recruited Swedish Teens for Attacks on Israeli, Jewish Targets ( Jerusalem Post)
Iran is using criminal gangs in Sweden to target Israeli and Jewish interests, CNN reported on Monday.
According to Sweden's Security Service (SAPO), at least four known attacks or attempted attacks were directed at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in 2023 and 2024, including shootings and an attempted bombing, with several suspects under the age of 18.
Swedish police and prosecutors say these youth are being manipulated by criminal gangs acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence units.
In January 2025, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said, "Iran is using organized and violent criminal gangs to carry out serious attacks within Sweden."
International Criminal Court Asked Hungary to Arrest Netanyahu - Jeremy Sharon ( Times of Israel)
Several hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Hungary on Thursday for an official visit, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sent a request to the Hungarian government to arrest him, Israel's Channel 12 reported on Sunday.
The Hungarian government refused to comply and announced it was quitting the ICC.
Trending on Social Media: "I Want to Leave Gaza with My Family" - Nagham Zbeedat ( Ha'aretz)
"I Want to Leave Gaza with My Family" has become a viral phrase on Palestinian social media platforms, posted in Arabic and English.
While world leaders condemn President Trump's proposed "voluntary relocation" plan, it is now Palestinians themselves who are asking to be allowed to leave.
Abdullah Ashour, an engineer from Gaza City, wrote on Facebook: "The war has not only destroyed buildings; it has also drained people's resilience and shattered their dreams."
He added that steadfastness "is no longer just a choice. It has become a burden weighing heavily on those who have lost everything."
Greece Is Keen to Expand Ties with Israel - Dr. George N. Tzogopoulos ( BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University)
The March 2025 visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Israel demonstrates the interest of both countries in further elevating their strategic partnership.
The Greek government's objectives include the development of an anti-aircraft and missile defense system for Greece similar to Israel's Iron Dome.
Good relations with Israel have become crucial to Greek foreign and military policy. All the mainstream parties in Greece agree on the necessity of further improving bilateral ties.
A 2024 survey conducted by the European Leadership Network showed that the majority of parliamentarians in Greece favored not only closer relations with Israel but also deepening cooperation between Israel and NATO.
The writer is a lecturer at the Democritus University of Thrace and a Senior Fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.
Israeli Companies Boost Jobs and Innovation in Florida - James Spiro
( Calcalist)
The Florida-Israel Economic Impact Report, released by the U.S.-Israel Business Alliance (USIBA), uncovers how Israeli-founded companies are thriving in Florida.
In 2024, 429 Israeli-founded businesses in Florida directly employed 8,190 people. Once you factor in supply chains and household spending, that number rises to 26,510 jobs.
In total, these companies generate $7.3 billion in gross economic output.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- U.S. to Begin Talks with Iran over Nuclear Program - Michael Birnbaum
President Donald Trump said Monday, "We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday." Tehran has repeatedly said it is not interested in direct, face-to-face talks with the U.S. and would agree only to indirect negotiations through a third party. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi again rejected direct talks, but confirmed that "indirect high-level talks" would be held Saturday in Oman.
"I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious," Trump said, apparently referring to bombing Iran. "And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved in or frankly that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it. So we're going to see if we can avoid it. But it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful." (Washington Post)
- U.S. Envoy Says Hizbullah Must Be Disarmed "as Soon as Possible"
U.S. deputy presidential envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus told Lebanon's LBCI in Beirut on Sunday that Hizbullah should be disarmed "as soon as possible" and that Lebanese troops were expected to do the job. "It's clear that Hizbullah has to be disarmed and it's clear that Israel is not going to accept terrorists shooting at them, into their country, and that's a position we understand," Ortagus said.
"We continue to press on this [Lebanese] government to fully fulfill the cessation of hostilities and that includes disarming Hizbullah and all militias....The sooner that the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces) is able to meet these goals and disarm all militias in the state, the sooner the Lebanese people can be free." (Reuters)
- Several Iran-Backed Militias in Iraq Ready to Disarm - Ahmed Rasheed
Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm to avert the threat of conflict with the U.S., 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters. U.S. officials have privately warned the Iraqi government that unless it acted to disband the militias, America could target the groups with airstrikes. The militias include Kataib Hezbollah, Nujabaa, Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada and Ansarullah al-Awfiyaa.
However, an American official cautioned that there had been instances in the past when the militias had ceased their attacks because of U.S. pressure, and was skeptical any disarmament would be long-term.
(Reuters)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Netanyahu Meets Trump at White House - Shirit Avitan Cohen
It's hard not to contrast the warm meetings at the White House and the cordial hospitality provided by the Trump administration to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the four difficult years under President Joe Biden. The improved relationship has had a direct impact on Israel's security, allowing for near-complete backing of Israeli demands in the Gaza campaign.
However, at the end of the day, Trump did not tell Netanyahu he was willing to lift the new tariffs, saying he was already giving Israel a lot of money. On Turkey, Trump praised President Erdogan and claimed he could resolve disputes between the countries over Syria. Standing beside Netanyahu, Trump set a deadline for the Iran talks and pledged that things would go badly for Iran if it failed to commit, effectively paving the way for Israel to act if the negotiations break down. (Israel Hayom)
- Israel Intercepts Houthi Drone from Yemen - Emanuel Fabian
A drone launched at Israel by the Houthis in Yemen was shot down by the Israeli Air Force on Monday evening before crossing into the country. The Houthis claimed they had attacked a "military target" in the Tel Aviv area, as well as targeting two U.S. destroyers in the Red Sea.
President Trump told Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday that the U.S. military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen has been "very successful militarily." "We've really damaged them. It's every night, night after night, and we've gotten many of their leaders and their experts."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added, "It's been a bad three weeks for the Houthis and it's about to get worse." He said the U.S. has destroyed underground facilities, weapons manufacturing sites, bunkers, troops, and air defense assets. "And it's only going to be more unrelenting until the Houthis declare they will stop shooting at our ships." (Times of Israel)
- Hamas Fires 10 Rockets into Israel on Sunday
Hamas fired 10 rockets at the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon from Gaza on Sunday night, half of which were intercepted. One man was wounded from rocket shrapnel.
(Jerusalem Post)
One rocket directly struck a residential neighborhood, causing significant damage.
Vehicles were damaged and windows and balconies were shattered by the blast.
(Ynet News)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War
- Hamas Has a History of Using Ambulances for War - Jonathan Sacerdoti
Before the facts had even settled, Western media reported that Israel was guilty of deliberately targeting ambulances and murdering humanitarian workers because, in the court of international opinion, Israel's guilt is the default setting. Israeli forces near Rafah, acting on intelligence that Hamas operatives were exploiting ambulances for military purposes in an area recently active with Hamas convoys, opened fire on a suspicious convoy. Six of those killed were Hamas operatives.
For decades, Palestinian terrorist groups have systematically turned ambulances, hospitals, schools and mosques into instruments of war. This is an entrenched tactic: a strategic manipulation of international law designed to endanger civilians and maximize propaganda victories.
Captured Hamas fighters have confessed to using ambulances for ferrying weapons and personnel.
The accusation that Israel strikes ambulances for sport is not just false, it is a profound inversion of moral reality. It is not the IDF that violates the sanctity of humanitarian symbols; it is Hamas, systematically destroying that trust, turning every ambulance into a potential weapon and every rescue worker into an unwitting shield. When ambulances become troop carriers, their immunity is forfeited by those who abuse it.
No nation, under existential threat from enemies who have turned humanitarian infrastructure into a battlefield, could operate under a policy of blind trust. Israel's soldiers must act in a reality where every ambulance could hide explosives. Ignoring this reality is not just naive - it is deeply immoral.
The media's unwillingness to grapple with this reality - its eagerness to frame Israel as a pariah state while ignoring the profound legal and moral violations of its adversaries - is not an innocent error. It contributes directly to the perverse incentive structure whereby Palestinian armed groups are rewarded - politically and diplomatically - for placing civilians and humanitarian workers in the line of fire.
(Spectator-UK)
Houthis
- The U.S. Strike on the Houthis Was a Necessary Blow - Gen. (ret.) Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.
The U.S. strike against the Houthis on March 15 marked the beginning of a necessary military campaign and a potential turning of the page for the United States in the Middle East. The Biden administration mostly chose to ignore the growing threat to world commerce posed by the Houthis.
Its responses were telegraphed and thoroughly watered down to avoid any possibility of escalation by Iran, and, concomitantly, any lasting damage to the Houthis.
Striking the Houthi position in Yemen serves U.S. interests first and foremost. By trying to assure safe passage through Bab el-Mandeb, the strait that leads into the Red Sea, we're doing much more than simply aiding European commerce. First, the concept of uncontested maritime transit is fundamental to our security.
Second, China is watching us, and will draw conclusions from our actions with Yemen about what we will or will not tolerate happening to Taiwan. Finally, striking the Houthis weakens the one still-fully functional arm of Iranian malfeasance in the region.
Using air power alone to defeat militias has traditionally been difficult. In this case, though, the goal is not to eliminate the Houthis. It is to force them to cease using high-technology missiles and drones to attack ships at sea. This is a much narrower and more achievable mission.
The Houthi attacks have an electronic and visual signature that is uniquely discoverable, and it plays into our high-tech approach.
The decision to shift oversight for Israel from the European Command, which focuses on Russia, to Central Command, which is responsible for Iran, has aligned Israel with a command center facing the same problem set. That created the structure and processes that have enabled Israel to work with the U.S. and regional neighbors to successfully defend against two major Iranian attacks in 2024. This is a big deal.
The writer led the U.S. Central Command until his retirement in 2022. (New York Times)
Israel and the West
- On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization - Douglas Murray
You would have thought that when young women are raped by gangs of armed men, young Americans would not be on the side of the rapists. When a party of young people at a dance rave are attacked by truckloads of armed terrorists, you would think it would be an easy question to understand.
Should you be on the side of the unarmed, terrified young people being hunted down in the woods and the fields, raped, shot and macheted in front of their friends? Or should you be on the side of the monsters who committed those acts - the people who roamed among the piles of dead bodies to see who might still be alive, who could be kidnapped.
One survivor of the Nova party told me of seeing a young woman on her knees in front of a gang of armed men. Her best friend had just been killed in front of her. The terrorists were debating whether to kill her or kidnap her. "I don't want to die," she was screaming. The terrorists shot her in the face as she was screaming. Is it hard to decide which side to be on after an atrocity like that? For me, it isn't. For most Americans, it isn't.
But an alarming number of people chose to side with the perpetrators instead of being on the side of the victims. They could have sided with the people who had been kidnapped - including Edan Alexander, 21, from New Jersey, who is still being held in Hamas captivity. Instead they sided with the kidnappers. We have people in our midst who are on the side of the rapists, murderers, beheaders and kidnappers.
What the hell has gone wrong? This is one of the big questions I try to answer in my new book, On Democracies and Death Cults. I believe that the outbreak of disorder and violence on the streets and campuses of New York City since October 7, 2023, is not Israel's problem. It is ours.
The protesters have chosen their target well. They believe that Israel is absolutely central to the West. I agree with them. They believe that the Jewish state is vitally important. I agree with them.
Where we disagree is that I want the Jewish state to thrive and succeed - in peace with its neighbors. These groups want it wiped out. Israel is only the first country in their sights, but it is by no means the last. These groups hate America more than anything. This is a civilizational moment. And I believe Israel shows how we can win it. (New York Post)
Israel and Europe
- Netanyahu's Trip to Budapest Was a Symbolic Act of Resistance - Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein
There is a disturbing tendency to forget the context, the cause, and the necessity of the war forced upon Israel by Hamas's brutal assault aimed at the nation's destruction. When the subject is war, the world rushes to criticize Israel while erasing the reality that Hamas must be defeated for the sake of Israel's very survival.
Humanitarian accusations, many of which have been exaggerated or outright fabricated, dance around the facts: Israel has abided by international humanitarian laws, provided food, issued warnings before attacks and shown restraint despite unprecedented provocation. The casualty figures repeatedly cited are wildly inflated and unsupported by serious investigative journalism.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent trip to Budapest was more than a diplomatic visit - it was a symbolic act of resistance. Stepping foot safely on European soil, Netanyahu confronted the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court, which has sought his arrest. It's time to ring the bell for a new international legal order, one not hijacked by political interests.
The writer, the Israel Foreign Ministry's Special Advisor for Combating Antisemitism, is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. She served as vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Italian Chamber of Deputies. (JNS)
Palestinian Arabs
- Hatred of Hamas Doesn't Alter the Endemic Palestinian Hatred of Israel and the Jews - Melanie Phillips
Some people are misinterpreting the demonstrations against Hamas as a sign that the Gazans are people who are fit to produce an alternative form of self-government. That's a delusion. This is a population that over many generations has been indoctrinated with the myth that their highest calling is to murder Israelis and appropriate all their land.
They have been turned into fanatics in the cause of genocidal Islamic holy war by the unremitting transmission of Nazi-style propaganda that the Jews are a demonic conspiracy of blood-sucking parasites that must be eliminated from the world. The fact that some now hate Hamas doesn't change any of that.
The demonstrators are the same people who, on Oct. 7, poured into Israel across the shattered border fence behind the Hamas stormtroopers and themselves took part in that barbaric orgy of rape, slaughter and kidnapping. They are the same people who jeered at, abused and desecrated the bodies of the Israelis who were dragged into Gaza. The hostages who have returned have said that they were shown no kindness by the ordinary Gazans who held them captive in their houses. Not one Gazan shielded them or helped them escape.
The Arabs living in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria are similarly indoctrinated. Fatah, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority led by the allegedly "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas, has repeatedly celebrated the Oct. 7 atrocities. Opinion polling has shown that the Palestinian Arabs in these territories overwhelmingly support further such attacks against Israeli Jews.
There's never been another conflict like this, where people who set out to exterminate another people and its homeland but lose that war then become the focus of global sympathy and can dictate the policies of the world. In other conflicts, if aggressors lose the war of conquest they have waged, they are in no position to dictate to anyone. As aggressors, they have forfeited the right to have any say over their future.
Yet despite the fact that the Palestinian Arabs have waged a campaign of extermination against the Jewish homeland for the best part of a century, they've been treated with kid gloves and have dictated the global agenda. They are indeed victims - not of Israel but of the lies with which their own Arab world has enslaved them to a cult of death and destruction.
The writer is a columnist for The Times-UK.
(JNS)
Observations:
- We've practically won the war. I always believed we would, but I didn't know it would be this decisive.
There's still more to come, there will be pain. But if you look at the big picture, it's more positive than I expected. I believe we are winning in a very major way.
- This war is about whether civilized people can defend themselves against barbarians - even when those barbarians hide behind their own civilians. Some argue: "If defending ourselves means harming people who aren't personally guilty, we can't do it." But if we say: "The moment civilians are harmed, we must stop" - then we hand victory to the barbarians. Because they want civilians to be harmed - it's their shield and their strategy. If that's our rule, then Western civilization is finished.
- Hamas believed it could win because Gaza had become the most fortified place in history. Fortified not just with missiles and tunnels, but with CNN, the New York Times, the BBC, the courts in The Hague, Amnesty International - every institution dominated by the autocratic, dictatorial, or barbarian-majority world. These institutions undermine democracy while pretending to defend it.
- In Gaza, Israel understood: If we don't respond forcefully, we'll spark a regional war. Arab leaders - those who are willing to accept Israel - will lose public support. The message will be: "You can rape Jewish women, decapitate civilians, burn babies, and get away with it." The only way moderate Arab governments can withstand public pressure is to point to Gaza and say, "Do you want that in Cairo or Amman?"
- In the Middle East, our position is stronger than ever. Most Arab states not only accept Israel's existence - they've realized they need Israel. Why? Because their enemies are the same as ours: Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran is weaker now. Its proxies have been hammered. And Arab states saw that Israel could do this without losing U.S. support.
- Israeli society has shown incredible strength - it's the eighth wonder of the world. Despite an overburdened reserve army, people continue showing up for service. Their businesses and families suffer, but they keep coming. Morale is high. There's no collapse in discipline or motivation - just the opposite.
Dr. Dan Schueftan heads the International Graduate Program in National Security Studies at the University of Haifa.
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