The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
Iran also threatened to completely block the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that there would be no talks until its demands on the cessation of Israel's operations in both Lebanon and Gaza were met.
A Houthi protester with a poster of Ali Khamenei demonstrates
amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Sanaa, Yemen, March 6, 2026(photo credit: REUTERS/KHALED ABDULLAH)
Iran has called an immediate halt to its talks with the United States over Israel's military activity in Lebanon, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday.
Iran also threatened to completely block the Strait of Hormuz,
as well as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the south of the Red Sea,
claiming that there would be no talks until its demands on the cessation
of Israel's operations in both Lebanon and Gaza were met.
The strait borders Yemen and has previously been put under siege and attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis, who have launched missile attacks and naval raids on vessels attempting to transit over the previous years.
"The
immediate cessation of the Zionist regime's aggressive and brutal army
operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the necessity of the regime’s
complete withdrawal from the occupied areas in Lebanon have been
emphasized by Iranian officials and negotiators, and there will be no
talks until Iran and the resistance's views on this matter are met,"
Tasnim added.
Iran
has, since the start of its ceasefire with Israel and the US, insisted
that Israel also cease its operations against the Hezbollah terrorist
group in Lebanon. Since then, Hezbollah has launched numerous rockets
and drones towards Israeli communities along the northern border, and
Israel has struck at Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure.
Iranian FM: Ceasefire between Iran and US includes Lebanon
Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
announced on X/Twitter that "The ceasefire between Iran and the US is
unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon."
For immediate attention:
The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts.
The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.
"Its
violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts,"
he added. "The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any
violation."
Last week,
KAN News reported that Hezbollah is pushing for a complete ceasefire
and requesting that Iranian negotiators ensure that the terror group is
included in any agreement reached with the US.
Before demanding the creation of a Palestinian state, Turkish leaders, and others, should answer a simple question: How would such a state be prevented from becoming another Hamas-ruled Gaza? No one in Ankara or anywhere else appears willing to provide an answer.
For years, Israel was told
that economic development, international aid, and territorial
withdrawals would moderate Hamas. Instead, Hamas used billions of
dollars in foreign assistance to build military tunnels, manufacture
rockets, train terrorists, and prepare for war.
The result was the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, as well as the kidnapping of more than 250 others.
Turkey nevertheless appears determined to ignore this reality.
Before demanding the creation of a Palestinian state, Turkish
leaders, and others, should answer a simple question: How would such a
state be prevented from becoming another Hamas-ruled Gaza? No one in
Ankara or anywhere else appears willing to provide an answer.
Turkey, and others, instead continue to present Palestinian
statehood as a magical solution to the conflict while avoiding the far
more difficult questions about terrorism, anti-Israel incitement,
Iranian influence, and the refusal of Palestinian leaders to accept
Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
What makes the position of Turkey and the others even more
remarkable is that they place all responsibility on Israel while making
virtually no demands of Hamas, such as abandoning terrorism, disarming
and recognizing Israel's right to exist.
For the past century, Palestinian and Arab leaders have rejected
multiple opportunities to establish a Palestinian state alongside
Israel.
This pattern [of Palestinian leaders refusing a Palestinian
state] raises a legitimate question: Was statehood ever the primary
objective? Or was the larger goal always the elimination of Israel?
[T]he conflict is not actually about land and borders. Hamas and its supporters in the West Bank do not seek a state alongside Israel. They seek a state instead of Israel.
It is hard to believe that those pressing for a Palestinian
state, including many European countries and the United Nations, do not
know all this – which raises another legitimate question: Are they, too,
actively trying to bring about the annihilation of Israel?
For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed
that "Jerusalem is ours," based on his reported goal of reconstructing
the Ottoman Empire. Just a year ago, he called for Israel's destruction.
In 2024, Erdogan threatened to invade Israel. A recent credible
report concluded that "Turkey has been quietly preparing for a war, with
Israel the primary target," with Israel "now framed as a fundamental
national security threat" in Turkey's strategic doctrine.
Before lecturing Israel about Palestinian statehood, Ankara
should focus on a more urgent task: pressuring Hamas to abandon its
genocidal goal of eliminating the Jewish state.
Until that happens, Turkey's proposal is not a roadmap to peace. It is a blueprint for the next war.
For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
claimed, "Jerusalem is ours." Just a year ago, he called for Israel's
destruction. In 2024, he threatened to invade Israel. If Turkey wants
stability, why is it providing support and political legitimacy to an
organization whose charter calls for Israel's destruction? Pictured:
Erdogan (right) welcomes Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal (center) and the
late Ismail Haniyeh in Ankara on June 18, 2013. (Photo by Yasin
Bulbul/AFP via Getty Images)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently declared that Israel
could eventually become part of a proposed regional security framework
that would include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, the Gulf
states, and even Iran. There is, however, one condition: Israel must
first recognize a Palestinian state on the 1949 armistice lines.
"If that problem is solved, I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too," Fidan told the Japanese news agency Nikkei Asia.
The proposal would be laughable if it were not so dangerous.
Less than three years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of
Israel – the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust – Turkey
and others
are still promoting the same failed formula that produced disaster in
the first place: Israeli territorial concessions first, security later.
The Hamas-led invasion of Israel should have buried forever the
illusion that creating another Palestinian-controlled territory
automatically leads to peace and stability. Instead, October 7
demonstrated what happens when an Islamist movement is allowed to
establish a mini-state on Israel's border.
Such a mini-state already did exist: in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas
initiated a violent coup in 2007 and seized control of the coastal
territory. Hamas overthrew the Palestinian Authority while killing
hundreds of Palestinians, some of whom were thrown from rooftops or
tortured and executed in the public squares.
It is worth remembering that in the summer of 2005, Israel had
already withdrawn every soldier and Jewish civilian from the Gaza Strip.
For years, Israel was told that economic development, international
aid, and territorial withdrawals would moderate Hamas. Instead, Hamas
used billions of dollars in foreign assistance to build military
tunnels, manufacture rockets, train terrorists, and prepare for war.
The result was the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, as well as the kidnapping of more than 250 others.
Turkey nevertheless appears determined to ignore this reality.
Before demanding the creation of a Palestinian state, Turkish
leaders, and others, should answer a simple question: How would such a
state be prevented from becoming another Hamas-ruled Gaza? No one in
Ankara or anywhere else appears willing to provide an answer.
Turkey, and others, instead continue to present Palestinian statehood
as a magical solution to the conflict while avoiding the far more
difficult questions about terrorism, anti-Israel incitement, Iranian
influence, and the refusal of Palestinian leaders to accept Israel's
right to exist as a Jewish state.
What makes the position of Turkey and the others even more remarkable
is that they place all responsibility on Israel while making virtually
no demands of Hamas, such as abandoning terrorism, disarming and
recognizing Israel's right to exist.
The fundamental obstacle to peace has always been the refusal of
Hamas, and many other Palestinians, to accept Israel's legitimacy within
any borders. The events of October 7, 2023 only reinforced that reality.
The history of the conflict raises hard questions for those who
continue to argue that the absence of a Palestinian state is the root
cause of the conflict.
For the past century, Palestinian and Arab leaders have rejected
multiple opportunities to establish a Palestinian state alongside
Israel.
The 1947 UN Partition Plan proposed the creation of both a Jewish and
Arab state. The Jewish leadership accepted it; the Arab side rejected
it, and a year later the armies of Egypt, Transjordan (today's Jordan),
Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the new State of Israel.
At Camp David in 2000, US President Bill Clinton invested enormous
efforts in attempting to broker a final-status agreement between Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat.
Clinton presented his famous parameters, which envisioned a
Palestinian state in nearly all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with
east Jerusalem serving as the capital.
Israel accepted the framework as a basis for negotiations. Arafat not
only rejected the plan without even a counteroffer, but shortly after, launched a war he had been planning, the Second Intifada, to deflect attention from his refusal.
Years later, Clinton expressed frustration that many younger people
were unaware of what had happened. They could not believe that a
Palestinian state had once been within reach. "I killed myself to give
the Palestinians a state," Clinton said. "I had a deal they turned down."
In 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a groundbreaking, far-reaching two-state solution proposal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Olmert's plan
called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on 95%
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Abbas effectively rejected the offer
and walked away, again without so much as a counterproposal. "I did not
agree," Abbas later acknowledged. "I rejected it out of hand."
One may debate the shortcomings of each recommendation and the
reasons Palestinian leaders rejected them. Yet one undeniable fact
remains: Palestinian leaders passed on opportunities to establish a
state.
This pattern raises a legitimate question: Was statehood ever the
primary objective? Or was the larger goal always the elimination of
Israel?
The popularity of Hamas among many Palestinians before and after
October 7 offers troubling evidence that the conflict is not actually
about land and borders. Hamas and its supporters in the West Bank do not
seek a state alongside Israel. They seek a state instead of Israel.
Turkey's latest proposal – and its statements – completely sidestep this reality.
It is hard to believe that those pressing for a Palestinian state,
including many European countries and the United Nations, do not know
all this – which raises another legitimate question: Are they, too,
actively trying to bring about the annihilation of Israel?
For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that "Jerusalem is ours" (also here and here), based on his reported goal of reconstructing the Ottoman Empire. Just a year ago, he called for Israel's destruction.
In 2024, Erdogan threatened to invade Israel. A recent credible report
concluded that "Turkey has been quietly preparing for a war, with
Israel the primary target," with Israel "now framed as a fundamental
national security threat" in Turkey's strategic doctrine.
Just as troubling is Ankara's own relationship with Hamas. Turkey has hosted senior Hamas officials on its territory. Israeli and Western security officials have repeatedly accused Hamas operatives based in Turkey of coordinating terrorist activities, raising funds, and helping direct attacks against Israel.
Rather than pressuring Hamas to disarm and abandon terrorism, Erdogan has repeatedly embraced Hamas leaders and portrayed them as legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.
If Turkey is serious about regional security, why is it not demanding
that Hamas surrender its weapons? If Turkey genuinely seeks peace, why
is it not insisting that Hamas and many other Palestinians recognize
Israel? If Turkey wants stability, why is it providing support and
political legitimacy to an organization whose charter calls for Israel's
destruction?
Equally puzzling is Turkey's claim that a regional security alliance would somehow guarantee Israel's security.
Where were these regional security guarantees when Iran was arming
Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iraqi militias and other terrorist
proxies?
Why would Israel place its security in the hands of countries that
have repeatedly failed to stop Iranian aggression? Why would Israel join
a security mechanism that includes states that either tolerate or
actively support anti-Israel forces?
Before October 7, 2023, many Israelis still believed that territorial
concessions could eventually produce peace. After October 7, the
overwhelming majority understand that any future Palestinian state could
easily become another Iranian-backed Islamist stronghold dedicated to
Israel's destruction.
Turkey's leaders may dislike this reality, but they cannot ignore it.
Before lecturing Israel about Palestinian statehood, Ankara should
focus on a more urgent task: pressuring Hamas to abandon its genocidal
goal of eliminating the Jewish state.
Until that happens, Turkey's proposal is not a roadmap to peace. It is a blueprint for the next war.
Recent complaint came from senior advisor to DNI during the Obama administration.
A former senior intelligence community official under
President Barack Obama reported concerns earlier this year that the
Hunter Biden laptop letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials in
2020 bore characteristics “consistent with coordinated intelligence
deception operations,” according to a memo the ex-official submitted to
the intelligence community inspector general.
The concerns have now been referred to the Justice
Department, a remarkable turnabout for a letter that was used six years
ago to censor factually based concerns about Biden family corruption.
The October 2020 open letter–released as voters
were making final decisions about whether to reelect Trump or elect
Democrat Joe Biden–was signed by ex-intelligence officials including
former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, former Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta and former CIA Director John Brennan.
Thomas Kuhns, the former official who submitted the memo
recently to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, was a Senior
Intelligence Officer and former advisor to the Deputy Director of
National Intelligence during the Obama administration.
Kuhns told the inspector general that most of his career in
government centered on maintaining the Intelligence Community’s
analytic and integrity standards.
"Not a political statement"
“This assessment is not a political statement. It is
based on the research and analysis of testified behavior, language
choices, omissions, coordination, and effects attributable to
intelligence tradecraft,” Kuhns wrote in a memo to the ICIG hotline,
which was obtained by Just the News.
Pro-Biden advocates warned that the public
reporting on the contents of Hunter Biden’s personal laptop bore the
“hallmarks of a Russian information operation.” Then-candidate Joe Biden
used the letter to fend off public criticism about his son’s overseas
business dealings, drug use, and alleged influence peddling.
“This analysis is grounded in my expertise applying
analytic integrity standards and intelligence tradecraft to evaluate raw
and finished intelligence assessments/judgements. Those standards
provide a framework to identify politicization, bias, and analytic
weaknesses, as well as to identify whether intelligence tradecraft
itself has been misapplied or misused,” he continued.
Inspector General referred the complaint to the Department of Justice
Ultimately, by “applying this framework,” Kuhns concluded
that “the planning, drafting, and dissemination” of the Hunter Biden
laptop letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials “exhibit
characteristics consistent with coordinated intelligence deception
operations and tradecraft [...]" according to the memo.
According to a notification sent to Kuhns on Thursday, the
Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) referred the complaint
to the Department of Justice's Inspector General.
The office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General
declined to directly address Kuhns' case, citing whistleblower
protections. But it told Just the News it sometimes refers matters to other agencies for investigation when legitimate concerns are raised.
"IC OIG routinely receives information concerning matters
that may implicate multiple Intelligence Community elements, other
federal departments or agencies, or potential law enforcement
interests," it said. "Consistent with our deconfliction requirements and
ordinary practice, IC OIG may share, coordinate, or refer information
to appropriate oversight and law enforcement partners for their review,
awareness, or action, as warranted.
"The receipt, assessment,
sharing, or referral of information should not be understood to confirm
that IC OIG has opened, is conducting, or will conduct any particular
investigation," it added. "IC OIG may conduct oversight or investigative
activity independently, jointly, in coordination with other authorized
entities, or not at all, at any time, depending on the facts,
jurisdiction, equities, and applicable legal requirements."
Kuhns submitted his concerns to the ICIG in February,
arguing the matter “warrants a standards-based review to assess whether
the conduct constituted a deception operation involving trained US
intelligence professionals targeting the American People.”
According to the memo, Kuhns conducted a line-by-line
analysis of the open letter, which he says revealed “heavy use of
deception tradecraft” including the signatories status as trained
intelligence actors, the apparent extensive coordination ahead of
publication, relying on selective information and omission of facts, and
invoking their personal authority.
One of the biggest concerns Kuhns identified with the
process of drafting the letter is that none of the officials who signed
on appeared to seek confirmation from the FBI, despite the fact that the
laptop had been in the agency’s possession since 2019.
Several authors held active security clearances at the time
and chose not to seek confirmation. All the authors have a large social
and professional network that includes former and current FBI
professionals; no one asked,” Kuhns wrote. “The primary author, former
Director of CIA Analysis Michael Morell, did not request classified or
unclassified confirmation from the responsible authority.”
Morell and his associates were previously interviewed by
the House Judiciary Committee in 2024 for his role as the primary author
of the letter.
The transcripts, which include interviews with Morell, one
of his key former deputies Marc Polymeropoulos, and former CIA Director
John Brennan, showed that the letter drafters were motivated by politics while freely admitting they had no hard evidence for the claims, Just the News previously reported.
Polymeropoulos, a deputy to Morell when he served as
director, testified to congressional investigators that Morell told him
“the Biden world had asked for this.” Morell, who drafted the letter,
told the committee his purpose was twofold, to warn Americans about the
danger of Russian influence in the elections and to help Joe Biden
politically.
“You wanted to help the Vice President. Why?” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked the ex-director.
“Because I wanted him to win the election,” Morell
answered, the transcripts show. Morell also told investigators that he
had no direct evidence that Russia was involved in the release of Hunter
Biden laptop materials.
"So you had no direct evidence that Russia was involved in this matter at all, did you,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., asked.
“I did not,” Morell replied.
Morell had also testified the prior year that a phone call from then-Biden campaign official Antony Blinken
triggered the effort to draft it, suggesting the Biden campaign was
intimately involved with spurring the letter the candidate would later
use to fend off attacks.
Letter created in wake of Biden/Burisma reporting
The effort to craft the letter closely followed the blockbuster report from The New York Post
in October 2020 showing how Hunter Biden introduced his father to his
Ukrainian business partner, a senior executive at Burisma Holdings. Joe
Biden was vice president at the time.
Hunter Biden’s tenure at Burisma has come under scrutiny
for years from the media and Congress over allegations that he used his
influence with his father to assist Burisma in escaping a corruption
investigation in Ukraine.
For example, Hunter Biden’s U.S. law firm drafted a 58-page plan
in 2014 to extricate the controversial energy company from an ongoing
criminal investigation in Ukraine that relied heavily on trying to
influence Hunter Biden’s father and the Obama administration in
Washington, Just the News previously reported.
Biden’s efforts to exploit his father’s position in Washington to help Burisma have been extensivelydocumented by Just the News and other media. There is even reporting that then-Vice President Biden “called an audible” and changed official U.S. government policy on firing the lead Ukrainian prosecutor that was investigating Burisma, where his son served on the board.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war, in which Israeli joined the U.S. against Iran, have stalled over Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. and Iran exchanged air attacks over the weekend amid their fragile ceasefire in the countries' months-long war.
The United States said it struck Iran's air-defense radar and drone
sites, which was followed by U.S. ally Kuwait coming under attack after
Iran said it was retaliating, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war, in which Israeli joined the U.S.
against Iran, have stalled over Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The
allied countries initially began launching air strikes on Iran on Feb.
28, after failed negotiations to get Iran to wind down its nuclear
-enrichment program.
The U.S. attack this past weekend was prompted by Iran shooting down an American MQ-1 drone, Central Command said.
U.S. fighters also shot down two Iranian attack drones that posed a threat to ships, The Journal also reports.
The placement of Israel on a U.N. blacklist alongside Hamas and ISIS marks a new low in the campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state.
U.N. Secretary-General António
Guterres attends a reception hosted by Ignazio Cassis (not pictured),
vice president and head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of
Switzerland, to mark the completion of the Portail des Nations in
Geneva, Feb. 23, 2026. Credit: Elma Okic/U.N. Photo.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas employed sexual violence as a weapon in the
orders issued by its then-leader, Yahya Sinwar. It was used against
women, men and children, and later against hostages held in Gaza. Rape
was often accompanied by mutilation and murder. All of this is
documented in thousands of records, videos filmed by Hamas itself,
firsthand testimonies and accounts from those who collected the
remains—often only fragments of bodies.
Having visited the kibbutzim immediately after the massacre, I encountered the evidence firsthand.
Now
the United Nations has once again demonstrated its moral failure,
completing a campaign against Israel that began with the infamous 1975
resolution equating Zionism with racism. Israel has now been placed on
the same blacklist as Hamas and ISIS for allegedly committing sexual violence in conflict.
As
if such crimes were an intrinsic characteristic of the Jewish state. As
if Israeli military and civilian law did not severely punish sexual
violence. Indeed, one of Israel’s most controversial recent scandals
involved the detention of five reservists over allegations of abuse at
Sde Teiman, where many of the Oct. 7 perpetrators are imprisoned.
Many
Israelis viewed the case as an example of judicial and media overreach,
but the fact remains that allegations were investigated. Sexual
violence is recognized as one of the most serious forms of
dehumanization, attacking the body, identity and human dignity of its
victims.
The accusation against Israel is itself a form of moral
criminalization. As his tenure draws to a close, U.N. Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres is leaving behind an international organization that
has effectively joined the campaign against Israel, aligning itself with
anti-Western forces that seek the Jewish state’s elimination.
Israeli
journalist Amit Segal recently suggested examining the record of the
U.N.’s so-called special rapporteurs. Francesca Albanese, who routinely
portrays Israel as the source of the world’s ills, hardly requires
further discussion. But consider Reem Alsalem, who refused to
investigate the mass sexual atrocities committed in Israel and claimed
there was “no evidence” of such crimes.
Or Michael Fakhri, the
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, who led accusations that
Israel was causing famine in Gaza while ignoring the hundreds of aid
trucks entering the Gaza Strip daily—many of whose contents were
routinely seized by Hamas—and overlooking the starvation endured by
Israeli hostages.
Then there is Tlaleng Mofokeng, the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Health, who has argued that Hamas is not a terrorist
organization and that armed struggle is not a crime.
The New York Times
added fuel to the fire with an article written by Nicholas Kristof
built in part on testimony from a member of the Euro-Mediterranean Human
Rights Monitor, an organization whose leadership includes figures
closely linked to Hamas. The article revived accusations of sexual abuse
against Palestinian prisoners, including sensational claims involving
attack dogs.
The false equivalence is staggering. It is the same
equivalence used by the International Criminal Court when it placed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister
Yoav Gallant in the same category as Sinwar. Israel is portrayed as
Hamas. Or worse, as Nazis.
This colossal lie, especially when spread by the United Nations, poisons the world.
Fiamma Nirenstein is an Italian-Israeli journalist, author and senior research fellow at
the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
An adviser on antisemitism to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she
served in the Italian Parliament (2008-2013) as vice president of the
Foreign Affairs Committee. A founding member of the Friends of Israel
Initiative, she has written 15 books, including October 7, Antisemitism and the War on the West, and is a leading voice on Israel, the Middle East, Europe and the fight against antisemitism.
Prime Minister Netanyahu says Hezbollah is on the run, vowing Hezbollah will not be allowed to attack northern Israel while its headquarters remains untouched.
Hezbollah headquarters in Dahieh follpwing IDF strikes Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned that Israel will continue deepening
its atracks in Lebanon to restore security to jorthern Israel.
"Together with the Minister of Defense, I have instructed the IDF to strike terrorist targets in Beirut," Netanyahu said.
He
added, "There will not be a situation in which Hezbollah attacks our
cities and our citizens, and its terrorist headquarters in Beirut, in
Dahiyeh, remains out of bounds."
"We
are continuing to deepen our operational activity on the ground in
southern Lebanon and are eliminating Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah is
on the run. We are determined to restore security to the residents of
the north, just as we did for the residents of the south."
The
Dahieh, literally "suburb," is an upper-class Beirut neighborhood known
for being a Hezbollah stronghold and home to a significant portion of
the terror group's infrastructure.
Despite
Hezbollah's increased aggression, Israel has largely avoided striking
the Dahieh due to opposition from US President Donald Trump.
On Saturday,
Hezbollah launched nearly 30 projectiles towards northern Israel,
setting off incessant sirens and striking a commercial center in Kiryat
Shmona.
Early on Sunday morning, the IDF announced its control of the Beaufort Ridge, key to securing northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah aggression.
“It’s a day of celebration, despite those who spread lies,” Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told JNS.
Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to
the United Nations, marches in the Israel Day on Fifth parade in
Manhattan, May 31, 2026. Credit: Israeli mission to the United Nations.
The Israel Day on Fifth parade in Manhattan on May 31 made a
statement both for who was and was not present, according to Ofir
Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York.
“To all our enemies
all around the world, but specifically here in New York City, we are
here to stay, we are strong, we are proud and my suggestion to all of
these elected officials, who are thinking that we will disappear, the
answer is ‘no,’” Akunis told JNS after the parade.
“The opposite is the truth,” the diplomat said.
Zohran
Mamdani, mayor of New York City, skipped the event, which his
predecessors in City Hall have attended for 60 years. The mayor has said
that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in the Big
Apple, and his spokeswoman said that synagogues that host pro-Israel
events violate international law.
Though Mamdani was conspicuously
absent, many local, state and federal elected officials turned out to
show support for the Jewish state.
Bipartisan attendance at the
parade alone isn’t sufficient, according to Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), a
moderate who represents a Democratic-leaning district.
“I think
it was important for Republicans and Democrats to be there, but it’s not
enough to just be there,” the congressman told JNS. “You have to really
root out the antisemitism that we are seeing, whether it’s on the left
or the right.”
Jessica
Tisch, commissioner of the New York City Police Department,
participates in the Israel Day on Fifth parade in Manhattan, May 31,
2026. Credit: Courtesy of NYPD.
“You have to be willing to call it out directly by name,
the people that are engaged in it,” Lawler said. “It’s important to
point out who wasn’t there.”
Mamdani’s absence was “a disgrace,” Lawler told JNS. “I think every Democrat should be calling him out for it.”
Sunday’s parade featured the first-ever Muslim delegation,
and Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, marched with
a group of U.N. ambassadors, despite the global body’s frequent
criticism of the Jewish state.
“We are not alone. We have a lot of
friends,” Danon told JNS at the parade. “We have a lot of supporters,
and we will continue to prosper to build our beautiful nation.”
“It’s
a day of celebration, despite those who spread lies, who spread hate
about Israel,” he said. “We will not stop. We will continue, and we will
prevail.”
Knesset
speaker Amir Ohana, Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis and
former mayor of New York City Eric Adams attend the Israel Day parade in
New York City, May 31, 2026. Credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90.
Ayoob Kara, a former Israeli communications minister,
brought an international contingent of Druze Arabs from Lebanon, Syria
and Jordan to the parade.
“We come in as a lobby of the Druze
nation to say one thing. ‘Israel does not stand alone,’” Kara told JNS.
“Not only Jews. It’s the Druze, the Kurds, all the minorities in the
Middle East standing with Israel, supporting Israel.”
Keren
Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund participated for the second
consecutive year, after allocating $100,000 last year to support the
parade.
KKL-JNF, the historic land acquisition and development
entity, separate from its American branch, sent eight people, including
three board members, to the celebration on Sunday.
“After Oct. 7,
all the Jewish people in the diaspora, and those at KKL-JNF as well,
understand the importance for unity and for coordination, and understand
the power of our voices acting together,” Yuval Yenni, chief financial
officer of the group and its acting head of resource development, told
JNS.
“We understand that we must operate together, narrowing the gap between us for the sake of the future of Israel,” Yenni said.
People take part in the Israel Day Parade in New York City, May 31, 2026. Credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90.
Ofir Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York, echoed that view.
“We
have a lot of friends all around the world and specifically in the
United States,” Akunis told JNS. “You saw a lot of elected officials who
came bravely.”
Akunis warned about what he called a “new wave” and a “new fashion.”
“If
you want to receive votes, you’ll speak against Israel, and you will
use your disgusting words and lies against Israel,” he told JNS.
Some, he said, are resisting that political temptation, “not only in this parade, but with our long journey.”
“We
need to strengthen the ties between our friends to bring them to Israel
to see from close the wonder of this place,” Akunis said. “If they will
not support Israel, the meaning is that they’re going to support the
ayatollah and his proxies.”
The choice is between Israel and Iran
and its terror proxies, according to Akunis, who has looked out from his
Upper East Side apartment and seen protesters waving Hezbollah flags.”
“This
is insane,” he told JNS. “I’m calling to my American friends. ‘Stop it,
before it will be too late for you. We know who our neighbors are. You
should know that these people don’t want to live beside you, my American
friends. They want to live instead of you.’”
Arutz Sheva-Israel National News met Sid Rosenberg, the host of 77 WABC's Sid and Friends radio show, on the streets of New York City during the Israel Day Parade.
Rosenberg
called this year's parade the most important ever, noting that for the
first time in history, the Mayor was not in attendance.
This
being said, the radio host says he is glad that Mayor Zohran Mamdani
did not attend, since according to him, "He hates us. He lies all the
time; he smiles and says, 'I'm here for everybody.' However, I remind
people that this parade is not in Tel Aviv, and Bibi Netanyahu is not
here. It's in New York City. Some of these dopes even voted for this
guy, and yet he's still not here. So to me, with the Mayor of New York
City not here, this may be the most important parade in the history of
this parade."
Rosenberg
also mentioned the heightened security at the event, noting that the
threats were unprecedented. "We are prepared, we've got the NYPD, the
best police department in the world. All kinds of people are here to
protect us, and this is a very safe place to be."
He
shared his excitement to be at the parade: "I love this parade, not
just for the Jewish people, but for the Christian people who support us
as well. So New York, and all the way back to Israel, we are stronger,
we are more united, and it doesn't matter what the Mayor or these raging
antisemites say, we're good to go."
In Maryland and Virginia, disputes over immigration enforcement and firearms restrictions exposed widening tensions between Democratic state leaders and local law enforcement officials
Two Democrat governors trying to advance progressive policies on
immigration and gun control are facing pushback from local law
enforcement, with sheriffs and prosecutors in Maryland and Virginia
openly resisting portions of the states’ new agendas.
In Maryland, a majority of the state’s elected sheriffs filed a
federal lawsuit challenging the newly enacted Community Trust Act, a law
backed by Democrat Gov. Wes Moore that limited cooperation between
local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.
The sheriffs argued the law interfered with their ability to work
with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and could force them to
choose between complying with state law and honoring federal
obligations.
"This law is a dangerous mandate that has effectively turned Maryland
into a sanctuary state by prohibiting these sheriffs from working with
federal immigration authorities. They have knee-capped these sheriffs,"
said Dale Wilcox, who is the executive director and general counsel of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Seventeen sheriffs joined the lawsuit, which claimed the law
effectively turned Maryland into a “sanctuary state” by restricting
cooperation with ICE.
“It is an intentional state-mandated obstruction of public safety,"
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Ganford said. “This law deliberately ties
the hands of our dedicated local deputies.”
Maryland sheriffs said their fight against the Community Trust Act
centered on preserving cooperation with federal agencies and protecting
public safety. Immigration-rights advocates countered that limiting ICE
collaboration encouraged immigrants to report crimes without fear of
deportation.
Moore’s administration has defended the law as a public-safety
measure designed to rebuild trust between immigrant communities and
local police. The governor’s office said Maryland would continue
cooperating with federal authorities when necessary but would not allow
local officers to act as immigration agents.
At the same time, Virginia Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger faced a
separate showdown with local prosecutors after signing one of the
state’s most sweeping gun-control packages in decades.
The law prohibited the sale, transfer and manufacture of certain
semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, which is part of a
broader push by Democrats to tighten firearm restrictions after taking
unified control of state government.
Spanberger's office said she believes that "firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on Virginia streets."
Prosecutors in counties including Spotsylvania, Powhatan, Pulaski and
Smyth said they would not enforce Virginia’s new assault-weapons ban,
which was scheduled to take effect July 1, arguing it is
unconstitutional.
"The case law is clear to me. You look at the Miller decision, you
look at the Bruen decision, you look at the Heller decision,"
Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney Ryan Mehaffey said,
according to a local news report.
"Whatever statute is passed by the General Assembly, however
well-meaning it may be, it's going to be incapable of superseding the
supreme law of the land, which are the constitutional protections of the
people."
Gun-rights organizations filed lawsuits seeking to block the assault-weapons ban before it took effect.
Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg), pushed back on the local prosecutors' efforts.
“When we pass a law, it is their constitutional responsibility to enforce those laws,” he said.
But Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s Fidesz Party who broke ranks
with the party in 2024, is finding out that the former leader’s
supporters are still putting up a fight.
Despite backing for Orbán from the White House, Magyar’s Tisza Party
won 138 of 199 seats in April’s elections, five more than needed for a
super-majority. Fidesz was second, with 55 seats, and Mi Hazánk (Our
Homeland) Movement holds the remaining six seats. Orbán called his
defeat “painful and unambiguous.”
But despite Magyar’s early efforts in these areas, analysts note that
the former leader’s Fidesz Party still controls municipal and
county-level governments, business networks, civic organizations, and it
remains popular in rural areas.
Tamas Sulyok, an Orbán appointee, is still the country’s head of
state and his procedural support is required before major policy changes
can enter into force.
Meanwhile, Orbán’s strong views against mass migration, in favor of
national sovereignty within the European Union context, promoting
family-oriented policies and stirring national pride continue to
resonate in much of the country.
“It will be much easier for the Magyar government to change laws than to change widely held attitudes,” Scheppele said.
Even in parliament, where Magyar’s Tisza Party holds a
super-majority, it would take only a half dozen defections to erase that
advantage, something insiders say will prevent Magyar from trying to do
too much too quickly.
That will not happen – the vote ended heavily in favor of the
remaining in the ICC, with 133 votes in favor and 37 against. Now it
awaits the formal approval of the country’s president, Sulyok.
The vote was the first major legislative test since Orbán was ousted,
and it demonstrated that Fidesz remains a disciplined opposition force
with the numbers, organization, and institutional footholds to influence
Hungary’s political debate while Magyar works to change political
attitudes that sustained Orbán for 16 years.
