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In-Depth Issues:
Saudi Arabia Intercepted Iranian Drones - including over Iraq and Jordan - Danny Zaken ( Israel Hayom)
Gulf sources say several regional countries participated in intercepting drones launched by Iran during the recent war, including Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi air force deployed helicopters that intercepted drones in regional airspace - including over Iraq and Jordan - as part of protecting Saudi Arabia's airspace.
U.S. Approves $510 Million Sale of Bomb Guidance Kits to Israel ( AFP)
The U.S. on Monday announced the approval of a $510 million sale to Israel of bomb guidance kits and related support, after Israel expended significant munitions in its recent conflict with Iran.
"It is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
Israel's Revolutions in Drone and Air Defense Systems - Yonah Jeremy Bob ( Jerusalem Post)
During the Iran War, Israel experienced revolutions in the use of drones and using robots to speed up air defense interceptor production, the Defense Ministry revealed on Tuesday.
The IDF logged thousands of flight hours over the skies of Iran, 1,500-2,000 km. away, something not strategically possible until now.
Drones can refuel mid-flight, there were U.S. naval vessels in the region which could theoretically serve as launch points, and it is possible that Israeli naval vessels might have been in the region to serve as launch points.
These drones undertook 500 attacks in Iran, making up 50% of the total aerial attacks.
Israel faced the problem of having sufficient Arrow 2 and 3 interceptors for its defense against ballistic missiles fired by Iran, the Houthis, and others.
Ministry sources said Israel never reached a red line of having insufficient interceptors to shoot down such missiles.
They noted that greater integration of robots and automated services into the production of Arrow interceptors has tremendous potential to reduce the costs of each interceptor.
In terms of air defense against drones, the IDF announced last week that there was a 99% shoot-down rate against 1,000 Iranian drones, with only two drones striking anything and no Israelis killed.
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The IDF Is a Symbol of Jewish Self-Defense - Stephen Daisley ( Telegraph-UK)
The IDF is a conscript army made up mostly of Jews. It is not just Israel's army; it is the symbol and the substance of Jewish self-defense and Jewish sovereignty.
Without the IDF, there would be no Israel.
As the Passover Haggadah observes: "In every generation they rise up to destroy us."
The restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel was about ensuring that future generations had a means of defending themselves.
More would come to destroy them, but this time they'd be prepared.
Strong Jews, sovereign Jews, Jews you can't push around. These concepts are now lived out every day in Israel.
Political anti-Zionism is a project to separate the Jewish people from the theory and practice of Jewish self-determination.
The Israeli army is all that stands between "death to the IDF" and "death to the Jews."
Israel Under Fire - Gil Troy ( Jerusalem Post)
Even before America joined and bombarded Iran, we in Israel - and the world - were much safer than on June 12. And we are far safer than we were on Oct. 7, 2023.
Threats remain, but Israel restored deterrence, crushed Iran's proxies, and exposed Iran's dictatorship as weaker and more evil than most Westerners acknowledged.
The mullahs have targeted Israeli civilians with over 800 ballistic missiles since April 2024.
We and our loved ones are within millimeters or milliseconds of a hell that our enemies gleefully impose and much of the world justifies. But there's no place I'd rather be.
Menace imperils Jerusalem during terrorist bursts, then the Gaza corridor on Oct. 7, then the Lebanese border for months, then, thanks to Iran, it reaches Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Beer Sheba, Haifa.
Fortunately, the IDF blows the evil back onto our enemies.
We're a resilient bunch. In Israel-under-fire, we laugh a little harder, hug and bless our kids more intensely, dance at weddings and other celebrations more furiously, and started rebuilding even as missiles kept detonating.
Israelis live the eternal Jewish lesson not to ask God for lighter burdens, just broader shoulders and wider smiles.
The writer, a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University, is a Senior Fellow in Zionist Thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute.
This Is an Anti-Fascist - Brendan O'Neill ( Spiked-UK)
The name we should remember from last weekend is not the Israelophobic punk who whipped up the smug mob at Glastonbury into a frenzy of violent loathing for the IDF, but rather Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld,
a young IDF soldier, himself a Brit, who was laying down his life for the Jewish people.
He was killed in Gaza on Sunday as he did battle with that army of antisemites, Hamas. Now that's anti-fascism.
Natan was 20 years old. He was born in London and moved to Israel 11 years ago.
He was a sergeant in a combat engineering battalion and was killed by an explosive device in Gaza.
Natan's father paid tribute to him. He was fighting "for his parents, his family, his people," he said. "I feel he has a place in history."
This is the Briton we should be talking about, this British Jew just out of his teens, who ventured into enemy territory to fight the Islamists who butchered so many of his people, this real anti-fascist who put his life on the line for the Jewish homeland.
One can only hope that in his final few hours he did not see any clips of the privileged, hateful people in the country of his birth dreaming of the death of Jews like him. How betrayed he would have felt.
Israeli Satellites Took Tens of Millions of Photos of Iran - Yonah Jeremy Bob ( Jerusalem Post)
Israeli satellites took tens of millions of photos of Iranian territory leading up to, and during, the recent war, the Defense Ministry announced Tuesday.
Israel's satellites were surveilling hundreds of different targets per day. They were able to maintain real-time constant tactical and operational surveillance of many places.
The satellites were able to achieve new levels of immediate battle damage assessments, quickly determining the effectiveness of strikes.
Israel's newest satellite, Ofek 13, was introduced into use in March 2023.
At the time, Avi Berger, the head of the Defense Ministry's Space Directorate, said, "Ofek 13 is a radar-based observation satellite with the most advanced capabilities of its kind in the world, all of which are the result of Israeli development."
How Gustav Mahler's Niece Saved 45 Women in Auschwitz - Jessica Sharkey ( Sunday Times-UK)
When Alma Rose was taken into a barracks at the Auschwitz concentration camp known for brutal medical experiments, she thought she was about to die on the operating table.
In what she thought would be a final request, Rose - an Austrian virtuoso violinist and niece of the composer Gustav Mahler - asked for a violin and played.
That performance impressed Maria Mandl, a senior SS guard, who appointed Rose as conductor of her pet project, the women's orchestra of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which ultimately spared up to 45 other women from certain death.
The orchestra was forced to play as prisoners marched to forced labor and to entertain Nazi officers.
Anne Sebba, who tells the musicians' stories in her book The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, said: "By tripling the size of the orchestra she saved as many young Jewish girls as she could because she knew that the Jewish girls would go straight to the gas."
Orchestra members, exempt from hard labor, were housed together and had a greater chance of survival if they fell ill.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Iran Begins New Long Game of Nuclear Hide-and-Seek - David E. Sanger
On Wednesday, Iran's president signed a new law suspending all cooperation with UN nuclear inspectors. A new chapter in the quarter-century saga of Iran's nuclear aspirations may now be starting, one in which the country's main objective is to keep the world guessing about how fast it can recover from a devastating setback - and whether it has the uranium, the hidden technological capability, and the will to race for a bomb.
No regional war broke out, as past presidents who considered similar military action always feared. Even skeptics acknowledge that the 18,000 centrifuges that were producing near-bomb-grade uranium at a record pace are now inoperable.
President Trump has hinted about new negotiations that could lead to the lifting of sanctions - presumably only in return for Iran's commitment to dismantle whatever is left of its nuclear program and let inspectors verify that work. But that does not seem to match the mood in Tehran right now. Trump has also said he is "absolutely" willing to strike again if there are signs that Iran is trying to rebuild its capabilities.
After the strike, Iran will keep shuffling its nuclear assets around, as the Mossad, American intelligence agencies and UN inspectors will constantly be looking for human intelligence or satellite evidence of the tunnels and caves where the projects might be hidden. With Iran's leaders portraying the end of the conflict with Israel as a victory, and downplaying the damage done by the U.S. strikes, experts see little hope of an accord that would satisfy both sides. (New York Times)
- Spies and Scapegoats: Inside Iran's Sweeping Crackdown after War with Israel - Fehrad Bohrami
Following nearly two weeks of Israeli and American airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, Tehran's leadership has launched what former officials and observers describe as its most aggressive domestic security crackdown in years. Since mid-June, authorities have detained at least two dozen people in Tehran alone, accused of spying for the Mossad or assisting Israeli strikes, while claiming to have disrupted deep espionage networks.
Iran's judiciary chief has ordered expedited trials and executions for alleged collaborators, invoking sweeping charges such as "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth." At least six executions have already taken place. According to observers, the campaign is a reflection of the deepening alarm in Tehran over what it calls "deep Israeli intelligence penetration."
Across Iran, eyewitnesses describe frequent raids, mass arrests, and a visible spike in police and Revolutionary Guard patrols. In Qom, journalist Naeem Afdal Zadeh said, "The presence of checkpoints is unprecedented....The atmosphere of constant surveillance and interrogation has intruded into daily life, generating tension."
A senior Iranian official disclosed that Moscow recently alerted Tehran to the case of a senior Defense Ministry figure suspected of collaborating with the Mossad. The man was swiftly arrested and executed, triggering panic among Iran's security elite. As of the end of June, official reports indicate that over 700 individuals have been detained on suspicion of espionage or collaboration with foreign intelligence agencies.
University of Tehran student Ali Khorshidi said, "We've never seen this level of security presence before. At the university, people whisper but no longer speak. There are sudden disappearances. Families are terrified of false espionage charges." What once felt like patriotic solidarity at the start of the war has given way to fear of the state itself. The charge of "spying for Israel," he said, has become a tool for silencing dissent and settling political scores. (The New Arab-UK)
- U.S. Demands UN Fire Palestinian Rights Envoy over "Virulent Antisemitism and Support for Terrorism" - Adam Kredo
The Trump administration has formally requested that the UN remove Francesca Albanese as the special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, citing her "virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism" as well as her misrepresentation of her legal qualifications, according to private communications between U.S. and UN officials.
Albanese is a vocal Israel critic who blamed the Jewish state for Hamas's Oct. 7 terror spree and compared Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. She has penned "threatening letters" in recent weeks to companies across the globe, warning them to cut business ties with Israel or face "potential criminal liability."
"In her letters, Ms. Albanese makes extreme allegations, such as that the entities may be contributing to purported offenses including 'gross human rights violations,' 'apartheid,' and 'genocide,'" acting U.S. representative to the UN Dorothy Shea wrote. The threats "constitute an unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy," according to the Trump administration.
Shea also noted that Albanese appears to have lied about her credentials, claiming to be "an international lawyer" even though "she has not passed a legal bar examination or been licensed to practice law." This behavior disqualifies Albanese from receiving diplomatic immunity and should result in her firing. "The United States has never supported her mandate, and we seek her termination and immediate removal," Shea wrote on April 2.
A spokesman for the UN secretary-general's office said it has "no authority over the human rights rapporteurs," who report directly to the Human Rights Council (HRC). "It is up to the Human Rights Council to handle appointments and to oversee their work." (Washington Free Beacon)
- Iran Suspected of Scouting Jewish Targets in Europe - Bertrand Benoit
Iran is suspected of collecting information on Jewish targets in Berlin to prepare for possible attacks, German authorities said Tuesday following the arrest of a Danish national of Afghan origin identified as Ali S. In early 2025, Ali S. was ordered by an Iranian intelligence service to gather information about Berlin's Jewish community and prominent Jewish personalities, the German prosecutor's office said.
"The arm of the mullahs' terror reaches all the way to Germany and Europe," said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and one of the prospective targets. "The German government should not only remain vigilant, but actively take political action against the Iranian regime." (Wall Street Journal)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Netanyahu: "We Will Eliminate Hamas Down to Its Very Foundations
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Wednesday:
"There will be no more Hamas. There will be no more Hamastan. We are not going back to that. It's over....We will eliminate Hamas down to its very foundations."
(Prime Minister's Office)
- Israel Arms Fatah-Linked Militias Combatting Hamas in Gaza - Einav Halabi
Two additional armed groups affiliated with Fatah are now operating in Gaza with Israeli coordination and support, Ynet learned on Thursday. The Khalas clan, one of the largest in Gaza, is currently active in Shejaiya, a neighborhood in Gaza City. According to sources, Rami Khalas and his men are heavily armed and are now receiving Israeli protection and operational cover.
A second militia is operating in Khan Yunis, led by Yasser Khanidak. Khanidak is receiving Israeli aid - both in weapons and humanitarian supplies. The emergence of Khalas and Khanidak as military actors illustrates the deepening rift between Fatah and Hamas, which has re-emerged in Gaza as Hamas's control begins to erode.
For now, the forces led by Yasser Abu Shabab have struggled to scale up or establish any form of governance. Roughly 400 Gazans have joined his ranks so far but the militia remains largely confined to the buffer zone near Rafah. On Wednesday, Hamas's Interior Ministry issued an ultimatum for Abu Shabab to surrender to the military court, where he faces charges of treason and armed rebellion.
In response, Abu Shabab's group told Ynet: "We believe every member of Hamas should face the same charges - for collaborating with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, which are hostile to our people and to our national interests." (Ynet News)
- IDF Continues Operations in Gaza
The IDF struck a terrorist cell in northern Gaza after it fired rockets toward Israel on Wednesday.
The Israel Air Force carried out extensive airstrikes throughout Gaza, hitting 150 terror targets.
The strikes killed terrorists and hit underground routes, military structures, weapons, and sniper posts.
(Jerusalem Post)
- Reconstruction Aid in Hizbullah Strongholds Dries Up - Lior Ben Ari
Hizbullah is reeling from a serious blow to its funding network, straining its military readiness, public standing, and ability to retain support. It is struggling to deliver financial aid to thousands of Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the fighting in late 2024. A series of Israeli airstrikes and targeted killings of key figures have severed Hizbullah's lifeline to hundreds of millions of dollars in support.
Lebanese outlet Al-Jadeed reported that Hizbullah suspended compensation payments to families whose homes were destroyed. A resident of the Dahieh district of Beirut - a Hizbullah stronghold - told Asharq Al-Awsat: "Reconstruction work in the building has stopped until further notice. All my requests were met with the same answer: 'There is no funding right now. Wait.'" One Lebanese website described a "gradual collapse of the financing system that was the backbone of Hizbullah's economic activity." (Ynet News)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Observations:
- In the early days of this round of the ongoing Israel-Iran combat, pundits lined up to claim that the Middle East was on the brink of a full-blown regional war. Tehran would unleash waves of asymmetric revenge through a web of proxies from Beirut to Sanaa. Some predicted a war lasting years.
- Yet 12 days later, no Arab nation has joined the fray. Oil markets remain remarkably steady. Tehran has neither launched a regional war nor exacted the cataclysmic reprisals so confidently predicted. There was one small attack on one U.S. base. In fact, the response from Iran - a heavily telegraphed barrage largely intercepted by air defenses - resembled a performance: a bruised regime saving face.
- The collective miscalculation was built on the assumption that Israel's resolve would provoke uncontrollable chaos. That Iran's threats were not bluff but gospel. But in this case, Iran's nuclear infrastructure was targeted, its prestige was wounded, yet it responded with a gesture, not a war, because it was outmatched and cornered.
- In certain strategic environments, force, credibly and appropriately projected, is more stabilizing than endless rounds of negotiation that allow nuclear weapons to be created. Western prediction models are broken. They are reactive, pessimistic and addicted to narratives of collapse. They interpret every act of strength as provocation and every moment of calm as fleeting illusion. But sometimes, bold action, especially when it is disciplined, proportionate and backed by capability, resets the game.
- The Western delusion is that process is always preferable to power, that negotiation is morally superior to preemption. But when executed with precision, intelligence and legitimacy, preemption prevents greater wars. It reinstates deterrence. And it spares civilians, infrastructure and economies the toll of prolonged conflict. Restrained power can be more humane than endless diplomacy, especially when that diplomacy serves only to delay the inevitable, embolden aggressors and paralyze allies.
The writer is director of the Middle East Policy Forum in Australia.
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