Emmanuel Macron is Clueless on the Palestinians - Bassam Tawil

 

by Bassam Tawil

Macron is overly optimistic, if not pathetically naïve, regarding the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state.

 

• "[Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] has asserted his commitment to fighting hate speech and has promised a thorough overhaul of Palestinian governance." — French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the United Nations, September 22, 2025.

• Abbas, unfortunately, has been promising sweeping government and security reforms ever since he assumed power in 2005. Palestinians have yet to see even the slightest change in anything.

• [Abbas] had two entire decades to reform the PA, but did not seize the opportunity to end rampant corruption or make any changes in the PA that might be constructive for his people. Even the garbage disposal is toxic.

• The results of these polls show that a majority of Palestinians do not share the French president's optimism regarding the implementation of government, security and economic reforms.

• While Macron seems to have taken at face value Abbas's commitment to launch a "thorough overhaul" of the PA, most Palestinians, according to the polls, have not.

• Macron is overly optimistic, if not pathetically naïve, regarding the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state.

• Macron and other Western leaders, if they believe that the PA will change for the better, at least in the foreseeable future, are living in a fantasy world.... Even if a Palestinian state is created, it will be ruled either by Abbas's corrupt Fatah faction or Hamas.

• In contrast to idealists and politicians such as Macron, the UK's Keir Starmer, Canada's Mark Carney and Australia's Anthony Albanese, who are evidently terrified of their Muslim voters, the Palestinians at least are realistic. They are only too aware that their leaders will keep on providing them with nothing but anguish and misery.

French President Emmanuel Macron is overly optimistic, if not pathetically naïve, regarding the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state. Macron and other Western leaders, if they believe that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will change for the better, at least in the foreseeable future, are living in a fantasy world. Even if a Palestinian state is created, it will be ruled either by Mahmoud Abbas's corrupt Fatah faction or Hamas. Pictured: Macron meets with PA President Abbas at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

French President Emmanuel Macron, in his speech before the United Nations during the "High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution" on September 22, justified his decision to recognize a Palestinian state by arguing that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas had promised "a thorough overhaul of Palestinian governance."

Macron expressed hope that the new Palestinian state would protect "democratic expression":

"The State of Palestine will also have to give new hope to its population, worn down by years of violence and occupation but also division and negligence. It will therefore have to provide its people with a new and secure framework for democratic expression. President Mahmoud Abbas has made that commitment to [Saudi Arabia's Crown] Prince Mohammad bin Salman and to me. He has strongly condemned the [Hamas-led] terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. He has confirmed his support for the disarmament of Hamas and has committed to excluding it from the future governance of Gaza and the entire Palestinian territory. He has asserted his commitment to fighting hate speech and has promised a thorough overhaul of Palestinian governance."

Abbas, unfortunately, has been promising sweeping government and security reforms ever since he assumed power in 2005. Palestinians have yet to see even the slightest change in anything.

A public opinion poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in September 2023 showed that 87% of the Palestinians believe that there is corruption in the PA institutions. Another 78% of the Palestinians said, according to the poll, that they wanted Abbas to step down.

It is worth noting that Abbas, who was elected in January 2005, is in the 20th year of his four-year term in office. He had two entire decades to reform the PA, but did not seize the opportunity to end rampant corruption or make any changes in the PA that might be constructive for his people. Even the garbage disposal is toxic. Many towns and villages dump their garbage into nearby valleys or quarries (such as one called "Mt. Trashmore"), where it proceeds to pollute the entire water table and ecosystem (here, here, and here) – then try to blame Israel.

A poll published last year by the Palestinian Coalition for Integrity and Transparency found that the most widespread corruption crimes in PA institutions include nepotism, favoritism, embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power, bribery, and breach of trust. According to the poll, 87% of the Palestinians consider that efforts exerted by the PA leadership to combat corruption are insufficient. As for the future expectations regarding the level of the spread of corruption, 56% of the Palestinians said they believe that it will increase in 2025.

The results of these polls show that a majority of Palestinians do not share the French president's optimism regarding the implementation of government, security and economic reforms.

While Macron seems to have taken at face value Abbas's commitment to launch a "thorough overhaul" of the PA, most Palestinians, according to the polls, have not.

A poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research last May showed that 81% of the Palestinians want Abbas to resign. Another 69% of the Palestinians said they believe that the new government, appointed by Abbas earlier this year, will not succeed in carrying out reforms that his previous government was unable to launch.

Macron is apparently unaware, or pretending to be, that the Palestinian Authority has had no functioning parliament for the past 18 years. The activities of the parliament, known as the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), were suspended after the Iran-backed Hamas terror group seized control of the Gaza Strip through a brutal, violent coup in 2007.

On December 22, 2018, Abbas decided to dissolve the PLC and called for holding long-overdue parliamentary elections. The last parliamentary elections were held in 2006. Needless to say, Abbas has since avoided holding presidential and parliamentary elections out of fear, justified, that Hamas would win. Abbas's decision to dissolve the parliament was strongly denounced by Palestinian political parties and human rights organizations, including the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). The group said in a statement on March 21, 2019:

"PCHR believes that the decision to dissolve the PLC is part of the political bickering where the tools of law were used in a way that undermines the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.... PCHR warns that the continuation of the status quo would affect the future of political and constitutional life in Palestine. The absence of the PLC has created a legal and administrative gap..."

In the absence of a Palestinian parliament, Abbas has been running the PA as if it were his private fiefdom. He continues to issue "presidential decrees" as a substitute for laws passed by the parliament.

In 2022, hundreds of Palestinian lawyers formally protested Abbas's authoritarian rule. Suheil Ashour, chairman of the Palestinian Bar Association, said that his group would stand firm against legislation delivered by "presidential decree" that curbed Palestinian rights and freedoms: "Our demand is either to stop their implementation now or to cancel" a raft of restrictive laws. Since then, Abbas nevertheless has -- in total disregard for the demands of Palestinian lawyers and human rights organizations -- continued to issue presidential decrees.

Macron is overly optimistic, if not pathetically naïve, regarding the prospects of democracy in a future Palestinian state. Since its establishment 30 years ago, the PA – both under Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat – has been cracking down on political opponents or anyone who dares to speak out against Palestinian leaders. Countless journalists and human rights and political activists have been intimidated, arrested, beaten, or killed by PA security forces.

In 2021, PA security officers beat to death Nizar Banat, an outspoken critic of the PA. Just days before Macron's speech, PA security officers arrested Samir Hulileh, a prominent independent businessman from Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians. Hulileh was taken into custody shortly after he declared that he had received an offer from the White House to serve as "Governor of Gaza" the day after the Israel-Hamas war. The PA leadership did not like the idea that an independent Palestinian figure had discussed the future of the Gaza Strip with the Americans behind its back. A PA court ordered Hulileh held in detention for 15 days on suspicion of "fomenting sectarian strife" – a bizarre term, as the Palestinians do not have different sects. The arrest of the businessman was clearly meant to deter Palestinians from challenging Abbas's authoritarian rule.

Macron and other Western leaders, if they believe that the PA will change for the better, at least in the foreseeable future, are living in a fantasy world. It is beyond unrealistic to expect Abbas, who will soon celebrate his 90th birthday, to bring any changes to his regime. Even if a Palestinian state is created, it will be ruled either by Abbas's corrupt Fatah faction or Hamas.

So far, a third party is not ready or able to challenge either Fatah or Hamas. In contrast to idealists and politicians such as Macron, the UK's Keir Starmer, Canada's Mark Carney and Australia's Anthony Albanese, who are evidently terrified of their Muslim voters, the Palestinians at least are realistic. They are only too aware that their leaders will keep on providing them with nothing but anguish and misery.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple of donors who wished to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21923/macron-clueless-palestinians

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Hamas official: Oct. 7 created ‘a golden moment’ for Palestinians - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

Ghazi Hamad told “CNN” that the massacre created “a golden moment.”

 

Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad on Lebanon's "LBC TV," Oct. 24, 2023. Source: Screenshot.

Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, has defended the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, telling CNN that they created a “golden moment” for the Palestinian cause despite the tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza.

In an interview with the American network in Doha, two weeks after apparently surviving an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas compound in the Qatari capital, Hamad highlighted the growing international condemnation of Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the spate of countries that have recognized Palestinian statehood.

According to CNN, he was “unapologetic” about the consequences for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

“You know what is the benefit of Oct. 7 now?” he asked. “If you look to the [United Nations] General Assembly yesterday, when about 194 people opened their eyes and looked to the atrocity, to [the] brutality of Israel and all of them, they condemned Israel. We waited for this moment for 77 years.

“I think this is a golden moment for the world to change history,” he added.

CNN noted that his comments came on the same day as Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Oct. 7 attack in a speech to the United Nations, saying that Hamas would have no role to play in a Palestinian state, and a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to address the assembly. 

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/hamas-official-oct-7-created-golden-moment-for-palestinians/

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‘Trump 21-point plan’ to end Gaza war presented to Arab states, Israel - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The proposal includes the prompt release of the remaining hostages and the temporary transfer of power in the Strip to an Arab security force.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a dinner in the newly renovated White House Rose Garden, Sept. 5, 2025. Credit: Daniel Torok/White House.

Negotiations with Arab states and Israel regarding the future of Gaza are underway, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday night, speaking in the wake of reports of an ambitious 21-point peace plan put forth by Washington to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We are having very inspired and productive discussions with the Middle Eastern Community concerning Gaza,” Trump said via Truth Social.

“All of the Countries within the Region are involved, Hamas is very much aware of these discussions, and Israel has been informed at all levels, including Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” he continued.

“Everyone is excited to put this period of Death and Darkness behind them. It is an Honor to be a part of this Negotiation. We must get the Hostages back, and get a PERMANENT AND LONGLASTING PEACE!”

On Tuesday, the Trump administration presented a 21-point plan to Arab leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly annual general debate in New York, which would see a prompt release of all the remaining hostages, the transfer of power in the Strip to an intermediary Arab-led government, and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to CNN.

Saudi-based broadcaster Al Arabiya said it obtained a copy of the plan, citing several clauses from it on Friday.

These include:

• An immediate end to the war in Gaza.
• The unconditional release of all hostages.
• The release of thousands of Palestinian terrorists, including 100 to 200 prisoners with blood on their hands.
• The resumption of unrestricted aid delivered into Gaza by international organizations and the U.N., including the closure of the U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
• The disarmament of Hamas by an international, Arab security force within a time-bound framework. Hamas terrorists who agree to these terms will receive safe passage to exit the Strip.
• The international force will temporarily administer civilian issues in Gaza, with the Palestinian Authority eventually taking over.
• The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip over a five-year time span, led by an international and Arab consortium.
• The United States will have guarantees in place that Israel does not apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, with both Israeli and Palestinians agreeing to resume negotiations over a peace agreement that would end the decades-old conflict.

Other reports stated that the plan would move ahead even if Hamas rejects its terms, with the majority of the 21 points proceeding in terror-free zones conquered by the Israel Defense Forces.

The plan moreover reportedly emphasizes the de-radicalization of the Palestinian population, with the Palestinian Authority undergoing significant reform.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday that “We had a very productive session,” referring to a meeting of an American delegation with Arab leaders in New York, according to CNN.

“We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Mideast, in Gaza,” Witkoff added.

“I think it addresses Israeli concerns, as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region,” he continued. “And we’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days, we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.”

Netanyahu is slated to visit the White House on Monday. Discussions on the plan are expected to be high on the agenda. 

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/trump-21-point-plan-to-end-gaza-war-presented-to-arab-states-israel/

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FBI Bombshell: 274 agents sent to Capitol for J6, many later complained they were political ‘pawns’ - John Solomon and Steven Richards

 

by John Solomon and Steven Richards

Hidden for four years, an after-action report on FBI's involvement in Jan. 6 riot found by Director Patel shows dozens of agents feared that the FBI had become "woke" and "liberally biased."

Published: September 25, 2025 10:47pm Updated: September 26, 2025 7:12am

 

The FBI secretly deployed more than 250 plainclothes agents to the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, an operation so disorganized it unleashed searing frustrations among many of the FBI's rank-and-file that the bureau had lost its core competencies to "wokeness" and allowed its employees to become “pawns in a political war,” according to an after-action report kept from the public for more than four years.

Scores of FBI agents and personnel – many from the bureau’s premier Washington field office (WFO) – sent anonymous complaints to the after-action team detailing how agents were sent into an unsafe scenario without proper safety equipment or the ability to identify themselves readily as armed officers to other police agencies, the report obtained by Just the News shows.

The most persistent complaint was that the bureau during the James Comey and Chris Wray era had become infected with political biases and liberal ideology that treated the protesters from the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter riots far differently than those arrested in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 episode.

“The FBI should make clear to its personnel and the public that, despite its obvious political bias, it ultimately still takes its mission and priorities seriously,” one employee wrote in a stinging review. “It should equally and aggressively investigate criminal activity regardless of the offenders' perceived race, political affiliations, or motivations; and it should equally and aggressively protect all Americans regardless of perceived race, political affiliations, or motivations.”

That agent urged FBI leaders “to identify viable exit options for FBI personnel who no longer feel it is legally or morally acceptable to support a federal law enforcement and intelligence agency motivated by political bias.”

One agent suggested the problem extended beyond the bureau to D.C. U.S. Attorney's office, indicating a more widespread problem with political bias. 

"Currently, the US Attorneys office is dictating what it is that gets investigated. This is a dangerous precedent because we can barely get them to prosecute investigations that clearly meet thresholds needed for Federal prosecutions," the agent wrote. "However, their willingness to conduct a search warrant on someone's life for a misdemeanor seems ridiculous. It is unreasonable for the FBI to conduct investigations involving misdemeanor violations at a federal level... it is not our role."

Many of the agents’ feedback focused on the Washington Field Office and its culture. “WFO is a hopelessly broken office that's more concerned about wearing masks and recruiting preferred racial/sexual groups than catching actual bad guys,” one worker wrote.

Added another: “I wish you all would pay more attention to our safety than what type of masks we wear. If you are going to deploy us to a riot situation, then give us the proper damn safety equipment--helmet, face shield, protective clothing--and training!”

The after-action responses – 50 pages in all – were located by current FBI Director Kash Patel’s team and recently turned over to the House Judiciary Committee and its special subcommittee investigating security failures and weaponization of law enforcement during the Jan. 6 riot.

274 undercover agents embedded in riot , with no safety plans

The document has proven a bombshell to lawmakers, revealing for the first time that the FBI had a total of 274 agents deployed to the Capitol in plainclothes and with guns after the violence started but with no clear safety gear of way to be recognized by other law enforcement agencies working in the chaos of the riot.

You can read the after-action report below:

FBI-HJC119-J6IG-000001-000050.pdf

Wray, Patel’s predecessor, steadfastly refused to tell Congress how many if any agents went to the Capitol that day. And a prior DOJ Inspector General Report did not divulge the number, referring only to a SWAT team the bureau sent into the Capitol and having more than two dozen informants in the crowd.

The existence of mass FBI agents at the Capitol on Jan. 6  could also be a problem in many of the cases that were subsequently brought in court. If agents were witnesses at the Capitol and did not disclose it in the subsequent affidavits during prosecutions it could create grounds for defendants to appeal.

The document also reveals for the first time that there were widespread concerns for years inside the bureau – sentiments that boiled over after the FBI began sending SWAT teams to arrest Jan. 6 participants on misdemeanor charges – that the FBI had become biased in favor of liberals and against conservatives.

Despite the pre-existing report, Wray rejected that notion in testimony before Congress. “The idea that I’m biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background,” Wray told Congress in 2023. 

“I have found almost invariably, the people screaming the loudest about the politicization of the FBI are themselves the most political, and more often than not, making claims of politicization to advance their own views or goals, and they often don’t know the facts or are choosing to ignore them,” Wray added in an episode of the podcast “FBI Retired Case File Review” that aired the same year. 

Agent: “Our response to the Capitol Riot reeks of political bias” 

But frontline agents repeatedly raised issues of liberal bias and wokeness in their after-action assessments. The words “politics” or “bias” were mentioned more than a dozen times in responses, and similar sentiments scores of times in the 50 pages.

“Our response to the Capitol Riot reeks of political bias,” one wrote.

Another added: “I wonder if our biases affected our preparedness.”

A third suggested the agents and analysts had become engrossed in the main business of Washington – politics – rather than crime fighting and blamed the bureau’s leadership for the slide.

“We have been used as pawns in a political war, and FBI leadership fell into the trap and has allowed it to happen,” that employee wrote. “We are supposed to call balls and strikes, regardless of political pressure, now we can’t even be trusted to be on the field,” another agent commented.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan vowed through a spokesman to get to the bottom of the still-untold secrets of Jan. 6 alongside of the Jan. 6 subcommittee chairman Barry Loudermilk.

“Due to our oversight, Chairman Loudermilk's leadership and Director Patel’s leadership, we continue to discover what exactly happened on Jan. 6,” Jordan’s spokesman Russell Dye told Just the News.

"During the more than two years I have been investigating the events of January 6, I have seen evidence that suggests potential political bias within agencies that may have influenced their actions before, during, and after the events of January 6. But this report is more damning than anyone could have imagined and opens up even more questions," Loudermilk told Just the News. 

"Why is Congress just finding out there were significantly more FBI assets at the Capitol than previously identified? Were the courts that heard cases regarding January 6 made aware these agents were at the Capitol? Were any of the agents tasked to investigate individuals at the Capitol? Were they ever called to testify during the prosecutions of J6 defendants? Did any of the former FBI leaders testify about the additional personnel at the Capitol? These are just a few of the questions my committee will be asking," said the chairman. 

The report solves one of the Jan. 6 mysteries: How did the FBI respond when violence began breaking out at the Capitol? Wray previously refused to divulge to Congress how many agents or informants were present during the incident. 

“The initial response of having us again respond to a riot by ‘standing the line’ did not seem appropriate because we do not have the gear, equipment, or training for riot control,” one agent said. 

“As in June, agents were again deployed onto the streets (specifically around the Capitol) and simply told to stand behind MPD. No other direction. When asked specifically what they were supposed to do or who to check in with, they were told simply that management said to go there and there was no answer,” another said. “FBI agents do not have training for, nor equipment for, riot control.”

Agents complained of politically-motivated "double standard"

The report also revealed agents strongly disagreed with how they were deployed and how cases were pursued after that day, seeing a double standard.

“The actions on January 6, 2021 were absolutely despicable and unacceptable in a civilized society. What is even more unacceptable was the hypocrisy displayed by the FBI and its leadership in their attempt to go after those involved in the Capitol Riots, while we as agents, watched cities burn across America during the summer of 2020,” one agent said. 

“The conspiracy to commit crimes at the Capitol on January 6th, were also committed by bad actors during the summer riots of 2020 leading up to the election on November 3, 2020. Agents stood by on the ground in Washington, D.C. and observed stores being looted, burned, and ripped of anything of value,” the agent wrote.

“Even worse, officers were assaulted in the streets in broad daylight with cameras rolling, and yet our response then was nothing like the Capitol Riots response on and after January 6, 2021. I do not recall a single instance where the FBI, specifically FBI WFO, made any attempt to put the resources behind the summer riots of 2020, as they did during the Capitol Riots,” the agent explained. 

The scathing comments from Washington Field Office agents assessing their own bureau’s work that day were not included in an Office of Inspector General report reviewing the FBI’s performance in the lead up to and during the Jan. 6 electoral certification. That report only confirmed that there were “several hundred” agents deployed, but provided no further detail about the challenges they faced or their complaints.  

John Solomon and Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/accountability/fbi-bombshell-274-agents-sent-capitol-j6-many-later-complained-they-were-political

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UN Security Council resolution to extend Iran nuclear deal fails hours ahead of reimposition of sanctions - Mike Wagenheim

 

by Mike Wagenheim

Nine council members voted against an effort by China and Russia to delay snapback sanctions on the Islamic Republic and its nuclear-weapons program.

 

New-generation centrifuges on display in Tehran during Iran's National Nuclear Energy Day, April 10, 2021. Credit: Iranian Presidency Office/WANA.

A last-ditch effort to stave off the reimplementation of U.N. sanctions on Iran failed on Friday, with the U.N. Security Council voting down a Russia-China resolution that would have extended by six months the Iran nuclear deal signed under the Obama administration in 2015.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, is set to expire on Oct. 18. Once it does, its signatories can no longer claim Iran to be in violation of the agreement and will lose the ability to call for what is commonly known as “snapback” sanctions. 

Those sanctions, including an arms embargo and global assets freeze, a ban on the sale of materials that could be used in uranium enrichment, a ballistic-missile development ban and a travel ban for select Iranian individuals and entities, existed before the accord was signed and can be snapped back into place.

The three European signatories to the deal—France, Germany and the United Kingdom, known as the E3—initiated the snapback process in late August, triggering a 30-day period for sanctions to be reimposed. It expires on Friday evening, Eastern Standard Time.

The resolution voted on by the council on Friday was meant to extend the JCPOA by six months, thereby giving the E3 and Iran more time to negotiate Iranian compliance, including full access for international inspectors to Iran’s nuclear facilities and clear explanations of undeclared nuclear material discovered by inspectors.

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“This was the right decision by the Security Council, as the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be relieved or absolved of accountability for the continued non-performance of its nuclear commitments,” stated the Israeli mission to the United Nations. “The threat posed by the Islamic Republic extends far beyond Israel’s borders and the result of this failed draft resolution is a testament to that.”

E3 officials expressed exasperation with Iran’s response, deciding that extended negotiating time would not bring about compliance by Tehran.

Four council members—China, Russia, Algeria and Pakistan—voted for the six-month extension, falling well short of the nine votes required for passage. 

Nine council members—France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Denmark, Greece, Panama and Somalia—voted against the resolution. South Korea and Guyana abstained.

Before the vote, Iran’s foreign minister threatened to end Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog if sanctions were reimposed. (JNS reached out to the Israeli mission to the United Nations for comment.) 

Mike Wagenheim

Source: https://www.jns.org/un-security-council-resolution-to-extend-iran-nuclear-deal-fails-hours-ahead-of-reimposition-of-sanctions/

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Thank You, President Trump: Turning Decades of Iranian Impunity Into Accountability - Majid Rafizadeh

 

by Majid Rafizadeh

Tehran's desperation underscores the effectiveness of the strategy: when authoritarian regimes are confronted with coordinated, uncompromising pressure -- duress -- they are forced to confront their vulnerabilities and recalibrate their behavior.

 

• Oil sales are a lifeline for the Iranian economy, funding both domestic governance and external operations, including support for proxy militias. If these funds were curtailed, the regime would struggle to maintain its internal stability while simultaneously attempting to sustain influence abroad. Such an economic squeeze would heighten domestic discontent, increase political pressure on leaders, and force Tehran to consider its options in a more constrained and exposed position than ever before.

• Iran is apparently aware that it faces an administration under Trump that is determined to maintain the pressure until meaningful, verifiable changes occur. Tehran's desperation underscores the effectiveness of the strategy: when authoritarian regimes are confronted with coordinated, uncompromising pressure -- duress -- they are forced to confront their vulnerabilities and recalibrate their behavior.

• Understanding the "language" of authoritarian regimes has been a critical factor in Trump's success. Maximum pressure is not subtle; it is a direct communication that dictators understand. It combines visibility of consequences, clarity of demands, and the credible threat of continued escalation. For Iran, this has meant that there is no ambiguity about the costs of pursuing nuclear weapons, maintaining proxy operations, or destabilizing the region. Force, coordinated international sanctions, and strategic diplomacy have created an environment where the regime cannot rely on its previous strategies of coercion or intimidation. This approach demonstrates that sustained, multidimensional pressure can achieve outcomes that decades of negotiation and partial agreements could not.

• The future for the Iranian regime, under continued maximum pressure, depends on the EU maintaining a firm stance as well. Iran's nuclear program must be dismantled entirely, financial and military support for proxy groups curtailed, and no concessions offered that could weaken the credibility of the strategy.

• This historic moment represents an opportunity to reshape the region, limit the threats posed by Iran, and reinforce the principle that force, when applied strategically, remains a decisive tool in addressing state-sponsored aggression and nuclear proliferation – also in countries other than Iran.

The Iranian regime finds itself in a situation it has never faced in its more than 40 years of ruling. The pressures it is now under are the result of a coordinated and relentless approach by President Donald J. Trump. Pictured: Trump addresses the nation from the White House in Washington, DC on June 21, 2025, following the announcement that the US bombed nuclear sites in Iran. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

The Iranian regime finds itself in a situation it has never faced in its more than 40 years of ruling. The pressures it is now under are the result of a coordinated and relentless approach by President Donald J. Trump, whose policies are systematically targeting every pillar of the Iranian state that supports its nuclear ambitions, regional influence and financial stability.

The strategy, often described as "maximum pressure," is applying economic, military, and diplomatic force in a way that previous administrations, despite decades of involvement in Middle Eastern affairs, could not or did not. This approach has forced the Iranian leadership to confront the consequences of its actions while leaving no room for misinterpretation about the seriousness of U.S. resolve. The result is an Iranian regime that is significantly weakened, isolated, and desperate for relief, yet it faces the U.S. under the Trump administration and Israel united in maintaining the pressure until its nuclear program is completely dismantled and its destabilizing influence curtailed.

A central component of Trump's approach has been the targeted degradation of Iran's nuclear program. For decades, successive U.S. administrations had struggled to slow Iran's nuclear ambitions without resorting to direct military action. Under Trump, a combination of intelligence operations, precision strikes coordinated with Israel, and sanctions enforcement has inflicted tangible setbacks on Iran's enrichment capabilities and infrastructure.

Facilities such as Natanz, which were critical to uranium enrichment, were struck in a series of carefully calibrated operations that experts estimate have set Iran back by years. These actions, coordinated with Israeli intelligence and military efforts, demonstrate the unique ability of this administration to use both force and diplomacy simultaneously, ensuring that Iran cannot quickly rebuild its nuclear capabilities. The revocation of oil-sanction waivers further compounded these setbacks by reducing the financial resources that Tehran needs to rebuild after these strikes, leaving its nuclear program exposed and unsustainable.

Trump's strategy extended beyond nuclear issues, to the broader regional power structure. Historically, Iran has relied heavily on its alliances with neighboring regimes and proxy groups to project influence and counterbalance adversaries. Under Trump, this regional architecture began to unravel. Iran lost Syria, depriving Tehran of an essential strategic partner. The Assad regime in Syria was a critical for Iran, providing a conduit for military supplies and support for its various proxies in Lebanon and across the Levant. The shift marked not only a symbolic blow to the Iranian regime but also a tangible disruption in Iran's ability to maintain influence in the region.

Additionally, the effectiveness of Iran's proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, has been sharply reduced due to U.S. sanctions and Israeli operations that targeted logistics, command structures, and financial networks. These actions have diminished Tehran's capacity to project power indirectly, leaving the regime more exposed than at any point in recent memory.

A significant diplomatic achievement under Trump, with direct implications for Iran's regional influence, was the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This agreement ended decades of hostilities and is establishing new corridors of commerce and communication through the South Caucasus. For Iran, this is a strategic setback. Previously, Iran benefited economically and politically from its influence over Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the transit of goods through neighboring territories. The Trump-brokered agreement bypasses Iranian territory entirely, depriving the regime of both revenue and strategic leverage. By positioning the United States as the mediator and stabilizer in the region, the administration not only reduced Iran's regional influence but also reinforced U.S. presence and authority in a historically contested area.

The potential reinstatement of United Nations sanctions through the snapback mechanism further reinforces the "maximum pressure" campaign. European powers, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, aligned with the U.S. position, are reimposing arms embargoes, missile restrictions, and travel bans that isolate Iran from critical international engagement. These sanctions amplify the economic and political pressure, constraining Tehran's ability to sustain its military and nuclear ambitions. Unlike prior enforcement efforts, these measures signal a firm stance in confronting the Iranian regime.

Economic constraints have played an equally critical role in weakening Iran. The decision to end the oil sanction waivers, a tool that prior administrations frequently used to maintain limited engagement with Iran, impacts Tehran's primary source of revenue. Oil sales are a lifeline for the Iranian economy, funding both domestic governance and external operations, including support for proxy militias. If these funds were curtailed, the regime would struggle to maintain its internal stability while simultaneously attempting to sustain influence abroad. Such an economic squeeze would heighten domestic discontent, increase political pressure on leaders, and force Tehran to consider its options in a more constrained and exposed position than ever before.

The combination of military, diplomatic, and economic pressure has left the Iranian regime desperate. There have been signals from Tehran of willingness to engage with international powers, seeking relief from sanctions and potential negotiations. However, the Trump administration's approach makes it clear that concessions will not be granted lightly.

Iran is apparently aware that it faces an administration under Trump that is determined to maintain the pressure until meaningful, verifiable changes occur. Tehran's desperation underscores the effectiveness of the strategy: when authoritarian regimes are confronted with coordinated, uncompromising pressure -- duress -- they are forced to confront their vulnerabilities and recalibrate their behavior.

Understanding the "language" of authoritarian regimes has been a critical factor in Trump's success. Maximum pressure is not subtle; it is a direct communication that dictators understand. It combines visibility of consequences, clarity of demands, and the credible threat of continued escalation. For Iran, this has meant that there is no ambiguity about the costs of pursuing nuclear weapons, maintaining proxy operations, or destabilizing the region. Force, coordinated international sanctions, and strategic diplomacy have created an environment where the regime cannot rely on its previous strategies of coercion or intimidation. This approach demonstrates that sustained, multidimensional pressure can achieve outcomes that decades of negotiation and partial agreements could not.

The future for the Iranian regime, under continued maximum pressure, depends on the EU maintaining a firm stance as well. Iran's nuclear program must be dismantled entirely, financial and military support for proxy groups curtailed, and no concessions offered that could weaken the credibility of the strategy. The regime is now operating in a constrained environment, isolated regionally and globally, financially weakened, and forced to consider the consequences of any further aggressive action.

Thanks to the policies implemented under Trump, Iran's leadership is experiencing a level of pressure that it has never before faced. The strategic gains achieved in less than a year demonstrate the unique effectiveness of uncompromising policy. This historic moment represents an opportunity to reshape the region, limit the threats posed by Iran, and reinforce the principle that force, when applied strategically, remains a decisive tool in addressing state-sponsored aggression and nuclear proliferation – also in countries other than Iran.

The current approach to Iran represents a paradigm shift in U.S. foreign policy under Trump's leadership. By combining military action, economic sanctions and political leverage, with a clear understanding of how authoritarian regimes respond to pressure, the strategy has inflicted profound setbacks on Iran. Its nuclear program is impaired, its regional influence diminished, and its financial resources constrained. Thank you, President Trump!

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Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21924/trump-iran-accountability

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The 'Free' University of Brussels: An Anti-Semitic Madrassa in Europe? - Drieu Godefridi

 

by Drieu Godefridi

The Free University of Brussels (ULB) has been making headlines in Europe.

 

• The climate of hatred and intimidation is so pervasive that, according to them, it is impossible to be Jewish on the ULB campus. One cannot speak or express oneself as Jewish — or simply be Jewish. Just being a Jew is condemned and subjected to violence.

• Finally, when Alain Destexhe, long-time Belgian Senator, sought to shed light on this choice by pointing to demographic developments at ULB, citing around twenty first names — without surnames — the university immediately, the same day, filed a complaint against him for "incitement to hatred". It is questionable how the observation of a demographic evolution — neither good nor bad in itself, but simply factual — could be construed as "hateful". So much for "free inquiry", the motto of the ULB.

• Out of conviction or cowardice, the Free University of Brussels seems to have chosen the path of complicity with Islamist anti-Semitism.

• Voices are now calling on the Belgian authorities and the European Union (notably within the Erasmus program) to take the necessary measures, including the complete withdrawal of funding.

Has the Free University of Brussels (ULB) become a breeding ground for Islamist and anti-Semitic hatred in Europe? Pictured: Students from the ULB stage a sit-in during an anti-Israel march from the university campus to the Israeli embassy in Brussels, Belgium on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Bob Reijnders/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

The Free University of Brussels (ULB) has been making headlines in Europe. Law students decided to name their class after Rima Hassan, a French Islamist politician known for her anti-Semitic positions and her apologetics for Hamas and other terrorist organizations. That decision came against the backdrop of countless attacks and threats targeting Jewish students on the Brussels campus.

Has the ULB become a breeding ground for Islamist and anti-Semitic hatred in Europe?

1. Anti-Semitic attacks

May 2024 – Physical assaults against Jewish students at the ULB campus. Jewish students, including the president of the Union of Jewish Students in Belgium, were attacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The victims were first insulted, then beaten. Israel's ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig Abu, shared a video of the attack. Incredibly, campus security removed the Jewish students — the victims, not the aggressors — from the premises "for their own safety", without immediately intervening against the attackers. Hundreds of people then demonstrated to denounce this gratuitous and indiscriminate anti-Semitic violence.

June 2024 – A Belgian Jew in her sixties was attacked on the ULB campus, for being Jewish. Anti-Israel activists physically assaulted her during a campus occupation sit-in. She was wounded and lodged a complaint. "A Jewish woman in her sixties, walking her dogs on the ULB campus, was insulted and threatened in Arabic and French by a dozen anti-Semitic activists, who said "Yahudi ['Jew' in Arabic], we'll smash your head and your dogs' too", "dirty bourgeois", "you're an accomplice to genocide", "you'll pay for the others" recounted Joël Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism.

Since October 2023, posters denouncing anti-Semitism on campus have been systematically torn down. Any reference to Judaism or Jewish memory is vandalized within an hour. In April 2025, the Union of Jewish Students in Belgium put up hundreds of posters, all defaced the same day.

February 2025 – Jewish students have reported repeated acts of vandalism, physical aggression and anti-Semitic insults in recent months. The climate of hatred and intimidation is so pervasive that, according to them, it is impossible to be Jewish on the ULB campus. One cannot speak or express oneself as Jewish — or simply be Jewish. Just being a Jew is condemned and subjected to violence.

2. Presence of the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkish Islamists (since the 2010s)

According to an academic analysis published by ULB itself in 2024, the Muslim Brotherhood (an international Sunni Islamist movement, designated extremist and terrorist by several European and Arab countries) and Turkish Islamists (linked to organizations such as Milli Görüş) have infiltrated youth and university movements at ULB.

They exploit issues such as wearing a veil, religious accommodations (such as halal slaughter), and political Islam to promote greater visibility for Islam. They recruit freely on campus through student associations, debates on Muslim identity and attacks on secularism. Their aim appears to be to encourage the most exclusive form of Muslim separatism, in direct contradiction with ULB's founding principles of free inquiry and rejection of religious dogma.

3. Muslim Student Circle (or Muslim Youth) and "clandestine" prayers (since at least 2015, broadened, amplified in 2023)

Groups of Muslim students at ULB, often affiliated with the Federation of Muslim Youth in Belgium (FJM), organize daily collective prayers (salat, the five obligatory prayers: Fajr, Dhuhr, 'Asr, Maghrib, 'Icha), in defiance of ULB's secular rules. These practices are both religious affirmations and identity claims, deliberately contravening the secular foundations of the institution.

For 15 years, prayers have been held in improvised spaces — corridors, staircases of the Solbosch Library, or outdoors — with rugs, veils and invocation texts. In 2023, a video published by the Belgian press revealed a clandestine prayer room inside the ULB. The rector, Annemie Schaus, described them as "spontaneous movements" — a polite way of acknowledging tacit tolerance by the university authorities.

Tellingly, however, ULB has always refused to grant prayer spaces for other religions.

4. BDS-ULB (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Circle since 2012, active in 2015 and beyond

This pro-Palestinian student group, affiliated with the international BDS movement — whose objective is to boycott to try to eradicate Israel, has been officially recognized at ULB since 2012.

In 2015, BDS installed an "apartheid wall" on Avenue Paul Héger, plastered with slogans such as "Fascists, Zionists – you are the terrorists". Jewish students were directly targeted for being Jews. Despite repeated warnings from Jewish and secular movements, the demonstrators there are allowed to act freely. Their activism has since incorporated openly Islamist demands, including solidarity with Hamas after the October 2023 pogrom, under the guise of "anti-imperialist" rhetoric -- despite Israel having been anti-colonialist, combatting the British Mandate there until Israeli independence in 1948.

5. Université Populaire de Bruxelles (UPB) and pro-Palestinian occupations (since 2024)

This radical student movement, inspired by Marxist and pro-Palestinian rhetoric, maintains links with Islamist groups such as Samidoun (a network supporting Palestinian prisoners, and a subsidiary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and aligned with Hamas, both classified as terrorist organizations by the EU). Samidoun is designated in Belgium as a left-wing extremist group and a threat by OCAM (Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis). Samidoun is also officially recognized as a terrorist entity in Germany and Canada.

From May 7 to June 25, 2024, UPB-Samidoun occupied Building B of ULB (renamed "Walid Daqqa", after a PFLP terrorist convicted of kidnapping and murder). Their demands: ending ULB-Israel partnerships, denouncing the "genocide in Gaza". Conferences were hosted, featuring figures such as Khaled Barakat and Mohammed Khatib, who are close to the PFLP. Slogans included "From the river to the sea" (explicitly calling for the eradication of Israel) and calls for "intifada".

Jewish students were attacked, with damage estimated at €500,000 to €700,000. The occupation, lasting seven weeks, was ended only by a police evacuation in June 2024. All the same, under pressure, ULB had already suspended its collaborations with Israeli universities in May 2024.

6. Promotion of hatred: Rima Hassan

In August 2025, ULB approved the decision of law students to name their class "Rima Hassan" — after a French Member of the European Parliament who is openly anti-Semitic, a supporter of Hamas after the October 2023 pogrom, and who incites hatred and even violence against dissenting voices, including Muslims opposed to her views.

Finally, when Alain Destexhe, long-time Belgian Senator, sought to shed light on this choice by pointing to demographic developments at ULB, citing around twenty first names — without surnames — the university immediately, the same day, filed a complaint against him for "incitement to hatred". It is questionable how the observation of a demographic evolution — neither good nor bad in itself, but simply factual — could be construed as "hateful". So much for "free inquiry", the motto of the ULB.

Conclusion

Out of conviction or cowardice, the Free University of Brussels seems to have chosen the path of complicity with Islamist anti-Semitism.

Voices are now calling on the Belgian authorities and the European Union (notably within the Erasmus program) to take the necessary measures, including the complete withdrawal of funding.

Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of The Green Reich (2020).

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21922/free-university-of-brussels

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Inside story: Netanyahu, the world leader who stands alone - Alex Traiman

 

by Alex Traiman

Addressing the world’s most sophisticated anti-Israel organization—the United Nations—the Israeli prime minister fought back against calls for Palestinian statehood, saying “Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats.”

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo by Perry Bindelglass/JNS.

In August, barely a month ago, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war hero” over the near-perfect 12-day war in June that thoroughly neutralized Iran’s illicit nuclear program.

Now in September, Netanyahu received less than a hero’s welcome at the United Nations. While the whole world obsesses over nearly each and every Israeli military and diplomatic action, nations of the world collectively walked out as Israel’s prime minister ascended the U.N. General Assembly podium in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan.

As he has done so many times before, Netanyahu addressed the world from the world’s most prominent stage, all alone.

Applause rained down from the rafters as protesting diplomats exited. But the clapping wasn’t for the shameless boycotters. The cheers were instead directed toward the embattled Israeli prime minister from the barely 40 guests that Netanyahu’s delegation was permitted to bring to the address.

The irony is that Netanyahu, unlike any other world leader, could have filled the entire General Assembly hall with supporters who would have provided wall-to-wall standing ovations. Yet such ovations for an Israeli leader are not forthcoming at the United Nations.

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With much of the entire world focused these days on Israel, it might not have been a surprise for the Israeli prime minister to be asked to address the hall early on the session with the world’s most respected Western leaders. The address was intentionally scheduled for Friday morning, the last day of the General Assembly, after most world leaders had long left New York City.

Extended flight path

Even flying to New York has become a challenge for Netanyahu. The “Wing of Zion”—Israel’s version of Air Force One—flew directly over the Mediterranean Sea, avoiding the airspace of European countries (aside from Greece and Italy). As the target of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, Israeli security opted not to fly over much of the European continent, where many nations would gladly facilitate the arrest of Netanyahu if they had the chance.

As such, journalists and even many members of the prime minister’s team were requested to fly into New York on commercial airlines, so that the limited fuel supplies on the smaller plane would permit longer flight times and allow for emergency contingencies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo by Perry Bindelglass/JNS.

The world’s largest anti-Israel organization

It’s a treatment that Israel’s prime minister is used to. Netanyahu knows the halls of the United Nations better than nearly any world leader. He has addressed the U.N. General Assembly more than a dozen times during his 18-plus years as premier. Prior to ascending to the top of the political system, he served four years as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, where he got to know the inner workings of the world’s largest and most sophisticated anti-Israel organization.

Shortly after arriving in New York City as ambassador in 1984, he met with the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson—in the borough of Brooklyn, headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The Rebbe told him that he was entering a “house of lies.” According to accounts of that meeting, the Rebbe told the new ambassador that “in a hall of perfect darkness … if you light one small candle, its light will be seen from afar. Your mission is to light a candle for truth and for the Jewish people.”

In 2025, Netanyahu stood before a near-empty General Assembly Hall not as a “small candle” but as a bright light, one of the generation’s most consequential global leaders. As Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu has transformed a weak and developing nation into a global economic and military power. And, over the last two years, he has successfully, methodically and decisively guided the Jewish state through a complex seven-front war against a regional network of Iranian-backed terror proxies.

Assassination of Hassan Nasrallah

Just a year before, in 2024, Netanyahu delivered an address to the General Assembly just moments after ordering the assassination of Hezbollah senior leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. In an act of brutal irony, Netanyahu’s 2024 U.N. address was among the last words heard by the terror chieftain before he met the long arm of Israeli justice.

That assassination took place 12 days after one of the most highly targeted anti-terror operations in military history, when Israel exploded 3,000 pagers it had sabotaged for that purpose—to debilitate Hezbollah operatives.

Referring to the pinpoint operation that led to Israel’s major victory over the largest terror faction directly threatening Israel, Netanyahu said on Friday: “We paged Hezbollah, and believe me, they got the message.”

This year, Netanyahu demonstrated his well-known diplomatic skillset by laying out the stunning successes of Israel’s ongoing military campaign. Following the horrific terror massacre that set Israel’s security back on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel set out to restore security and deterrence in Israel, as well as throughout the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 26, 2025. Credit: Liri Agami/Flash90.

QR Code: ‘Zoom in … see why we must win’

Israel could have buckled after Oct. 7. On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, more than 6,000 Hamas terrorists and Palestinian Arab residents of the Strip crossed into Israeli territory, murdering 1,200 people—most of them civilians—and injuring thousands more. It also took more than 250 others hostage, dragging them back to the Gaza Strip, including, as Netanyahu noted, “children and grandparents.”

“Much of the world no longer remembers Oct. 7. But we remember,” he stated somberly.

Netanyahu addressed the United Nations wearing a large pin on his lapel with a QR code that he referenced during the speech. “Zoom in, and you, too, will see why we fight and why we must win.”

The QR code led to a page filled with security footage and Hamas’s own GoPro footage of the Oct. 7 massacre. The page with horrific images and video is blocked for Israeli cellphones and IP addresses.

Netanyahu read aloud each of the names of the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza, held captive now for nearly 24 months. Furthermore, in a move meant to generate headlines, Netanyahu ordered large speaker systems brought into Gaza to blast the U.N. speech within the war zone. Netanyahu asserted his hope that the hostages would hear his message, saying, “We will not rest until we bring all of you home.”

Netanyahu also claimed that Israel took over cellphones of terror leaders in Gaza, streaming the speech live to Israel’s enemies, with the message: “Lay down your arms. Let my people go. Free the hostages, all 48. Free the hostages now. … If you do, you will live. If you don’t, Israel will hunt you down.”

Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ofir Akunis, the Israeli consul general in New York, are among those watching the prime minister address the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo by Perry Bindelglass/JNS.

Israel’s ‘stunning military comeback’

Netanyahu called Israel’s campaign “one of the most stunning military comebacks in military history.”

He noted that “Nasrallah is gone … Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is gone … half of the Houthi leadership is gone, the Assad regime in Syria is gone.”

Addressing the stunning 12-day war (as Trump has referred to it) or “Operation Am Kelavi”—“a nation that rises like a lion” (as Israel refers to it)—Netanyahu stated that Israel “devastated Iran’s atomic and ballistic missiles programs,” and that the operation “will go down in the annals of military history.”

Netanyahu thanked the U.S. president for his “bold and decisive action” in ordering the bombing of the Fordow underground nuclear reactor in Iran.

“President Trump and I promised to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and we fulfilled that promise,” Netanyahu stated.

And he warned the international community to “remain vigilant” against the Islamic Republic, insisting that “stockpiles of enriched uranium must be eliminated.” He called for crippling sanctions on Tehran to be “snapped back” over its illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Yet for all the accomplishments to date, Netanyahu insisted that Israel must still “finish the job.” He noted that Israeli forces are operating in Gaza City, “one of two remaining Hamas strongholds.” He said Israel wants to complete the operation “as fast as possible,” while stating that the war could end if and when Hamas lays down its arms and returns the remaining hostages.

“If Hamas agrees to our demands, the war can end right now,” he said.

The empty seat of the Palestinian representative during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 26, 2025. Credit: Liri Agami/Flash90.

Netanyahu’s response to Palestinian statehood

While the world’s diplomats were not interested in listening to Netanyahu live from the hall, there is a strong likelihood that they and their delegations watched privately. The international community put tremendous pressure on Netanyahu and Israel this week with calls for the creation of a Palestinian state on Israeli-controlled territory.

Much of Netanyahu’s speech was a diplomatic attack against world leaders who used the same podium to call for such statehood in a vacuum. He chastised “weak-kneed” world leaders who have “caved” to the pressure of a biased anti-Israel mainstream media and growing radical Islamic populations within their own borders.

“Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats,” he said.

He lamented that “Israel has had to fight a seven-front war against the forces of barbarism, with many of your countries opposing us.”

“It will be a mark of shame upon you forever,” he said, sternly noting that international leaders are turning “good into evil and evil into good.” In one of his many classic one-liners, Netanyahu warned: “You can’t appease your way out of jihad.”

He explained that the Palestinians have long rejected Israel as a Jewish state, and that the Palestinian Authority—just as Hamas—is guilty of terror incitement and financing.

“Every time they were given territory, they used it to attack us,” he said, noting that creating a Palestinian state one mile outside of Jerusalem would be “like creating an Al-Qaeda state one mile outside of New York City.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations has already been performing the diplomatic dirty work of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in America’s largest city.

For the past two years, Netanyahu has led the military campaign against the world’s most vicious terror leaders on the kinetic battlefield. And as he has done since entering the halls of the world body in 1984, he continues to fight on the diplomatic battlefield. In many ways, it still feels like “1984.” 

Alex Traiman is the CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief of the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) and host of “Jerusalem Minute.” A seasoned Israeli journalist, documentary filmmaker and startup consultant, he is an expert on Israeli politics and U.S.-Israel relations. He has interviewed top political figures, including Israeli leaders, U.S. senators and national security officials with insights featured on major networks like BBC, Bloomberg, CBS, NBC, Fox and Newsmax. A former NCAA champion fencer and Yeshiva University Sports Hall of Fame member, he made aliyah in 2004, and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and five children.

Source: https://www.jns.org/inside-story-netanyahu-the-world-leader-who-stands-alone/

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