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."
Massie filed the articles of impeachment on Monday, arguing the secretary lacked the constitutional authority to engage in war in Iran and perhaps in Yemen and Venezuela.
The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to refer Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee.
The vote, which passed in 211-204 split, essentially kills the impeachment attempt for the time being because Republicans control the chamber and therefore all committees.
Massie filed the articles of impeachment on Monday, arguing the secretary lacked the constitutional authority to engage in war in Iran and killing hundreds of civilians in boat strikes against suspected drug-smugglers in the Caribbean.
The articles bring eight charges against Hegseth, accusing him of “waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat."
President Donald Trump, the White House and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have all stood by Hegseth amid the impeachment effort and House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expected the vote to fail.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.
The threats come as Bessent exercises an economic pressure campaign meant to isolate Iran.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been moved from his home in the Washington, D.C., area to an American military base, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
Three people told the outlet that U.S. officials concluded in recent weeks that Iranian plotting against current and former American officials had reached a more advanced stage, based in part on intelligence about threats to Bessent.
The threats come as Bessent wages an economic pressure campaign meant to isolate Iran. The secretary has imposed tougher sanctions and restrictions on Iranian trade routes, thereby reportedly making him one of Iran's biggest targets.
It was not immediately clear how severe the threats have been, and he is only the latest Trump administration official to be relocated for security reasons. White House chief of staff Stephen Miller was relocated last year, along with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, the outlet reported.
A Treasury Department spokesperson told the New York Times that Bessent “will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats,” and that he remains committed to executing the pressure campaign against Iran.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.
In March [Trump] gave Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait or see its power plants "obliterated," Then he extended the deadline twice — understandably viewed by Iran as two "blinks."
The war is possibly the reason that Riyadh, Washington, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv and Berlin are not either cinders or targets of nuclear blackmail threats — a minor detail Vance left out.
Trump had already answered the night before. "I did the right thing. I would have done it again," he said, adding on November 4, "They're not going to have a nuclear weapon."
For more than a decade, Trump had been warning that a nuclear-armed Iran would hold Israel and the Gulf monarchies hostage to atomic blackmail wielded by the "world's top state sponsor of terrorism for the 39th year in a row." Trump withdrew from Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was due to "sunset" in October 2025 anyhow, providing Iran with unlimited, legitimate, nuclear weapons.
A war machine posing as a theocracy — one that chanted "Death to America" for nearly half a century — discovered what American power could do. The alternative, a regime crossing the nuclear threshold under the protection of its missiles and proxies, would have posed a danger incomparably greater than anything the war has cost.
In March [Trump] gave Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait or see its power plants "obliterated," Then he extended the deadline twice — understandably viewed by Iran as two "blinks." The ultimatum of April 7, which warned that an "entire civilization" would perish, ended hours before its own deadline in a two-week truce requested by Pakistan's prime minister and its army chief.
Six weeks later, a strike scheduled for the following day was postponed at the request of the rulers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In August, planned weekend strikes were called off after a telephone call from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- whose own defense minister had warned in January that failing to strike would only embolden Iran's regime.
By October, Trump was promising that no attack would come before the November midterm elections. Washington presented every pause as a gesture toward peace, but Tehran drew the obvious conclusion that the US had been neutered.
Vance led the Islamabad talks, which collapsed after 21 hours, before helping produce June's capitulation to virtually all of Iran's demands, the incompetent Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, a framework he co-signed by Trump. Under the 14-point text that American officials read to reporters, Washington undertook to lift its naval blockade and to impose no new sanctions. Treasury waivers would allow Iranian oil exports to flow, frozen assets would be made available under the framework, and the United States even undertook, with its regional partners, to develop a reconstruction plan worth at least $300 billion for the Islamic Republic, subject to a final deal.
The nuclear question that had justified the war was deferred to a final agreement, with Tehran merely committing to freeze its program in place. In return, Iran promised its "best efforts" to arrange toll-free passage through Hormuz for 60 days only, in a waterway it had no right to obstruct at all.
That is the record Vance now leaves out of his indictment. The man who blames "the war" was the same man who led the negotiations not to have one — and that gave Iran its reprieve and the framework that rewarded it.
Vance is entitled to believe that the intervention was a mistake, but those who promoted and negotiated the ceasefires cannot take credit for opposing the war while escaping responsibility for a truce that turned a military victory into an open-ended collapse.
Trump's instinct in February was sound. Every pause granted since then to a mediator or an ally has eroded the advantage that instinct had won.
The United States has not been defeated on the battlefield, where its superiority was never in doubt. Instead, each truce has handed part of that victory back to Tehran. Iran's rulers are counting on Washington to accept their survival as the price of peace, and in time to do what their armed forces could not -- with the help of Russia and China, to rebuild their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and once again attack their neighbors in the region — and potentially the United States.
Trump still has two years and the instruments to finish what he began, starting with the economic strangulation and especially the military elimination of the IRGC — along with demands for the verifiable dismantlement of Iran's nuclear program, backed this time by threats that are actually carried out.
Should Trump settle for another ceasefire, the regime he came closer to destroying than any of his predecessors will present its survival as a victory over the most powerful nation on earth, and a war won in February will be remembered as one squandered in the pauses that followed.
US Vice President JD Vance, the man who blames "the war," for the results of the midterm elections, is the same man who led the negotiations not to have one — and that gave Iran its reprieve and the framework that rewarded it. Pictured: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (C) speaks next to Vance and Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a meeting between the US, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock Hotel at Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The day after the November 3 midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance delivered his verdict on the war against Iran, which has been — and still is — waging a 47-year war on the United States, Israel, South America, Europe and the Gulf States.
Iran was reportedly "a week away" from being able to threaten them with nuclear weapons.
"The reason we lost," Vance wrote on X, "is the war."
No, the reason the administration lost the midterm elections is not the war. The war is possibly the reason that Riyadh, Washington, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv and Berlin are not either cinders or targets of nuclear blackmail threats — a minor detail Vance left out.
Trump had already answered the night before. "I did the right thing. I would have done it again," he said, adding on November 4, "They're not going to have a nuclear weapon."
Vance's comments raise a question of far greater consequence. Was the decision to strike Iran a mistake, as he now suggests, or did the real failure lie in the succession of truces and postponements and opposition — largely created by Vance himself — that allowed a militarily defeated regime to survive and even claim victory? Did the United States win the war in Iran only to lose it at the negotiating table?
Trump's position on Iran has been clear for years. For more than a decade, Trump had been warning that a nuclear-armed Iran would hold Israel and the Gulf monarchies hostage to atomic blackmail wielded by the "world's top state sponsor of terrorism for the 39th year in a row." Trump withdrew from Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was due to "sunset" in October 2025 anyhow, providing Iran with unlimited, legitimate, nuclear weapons.
In June 2025, Trump's Operation Midnight Hammer sent B-2 bombers against Fordow and Natanz, while submarine-launched Tomahawks struck Isfahan, producing severe damage to all three sites.
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel went further. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes, along with much of the regime's military leadership. A war machine posing as a theocracy — one that chanted "Death to America" for nearly half a century — discovered what American power could do. The alternative, a regime crossing the nuclear threshold under the protection of its missiles and proxies, would have posed a danger incomparably greater than anything the war has cost.
The trouble began when the guns were supposed to finish the job. Little more than a week after his father's death, Mojtaba Khamenei was named Iran's new "Supreme Leader" and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), battered but intact, adopted the only strategy they knew: holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage in order to outlast Trump's term in office.
Trump answered with ultimatums of rare ferocity. In March he gave Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait or see its power plants "obliterated," Then he extended the deadline twice — understandably viewed by Iran as two "blinks." The ultimatum of April 7, which warned that an "entire civilization" would perish, ended hours before its own deadline in a two-week truce requested by Pakistan's prime minister and its army chief.
Six weeks later, a strike scheduled for the following day was postponed at the request of the rulers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In August, planned weekend strikes were called off after a telephone call from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- whose own defense minister had warned in January that failing to strike would only embolden Iran's regime.
By October, Trump was promising that no attack would come before the November midterm elections. Washington presented every pause as a gesture toward peace, but Tehran drew the obvious conclusion that the US had been neutered.
Between those postponements came the diplomacy, and with it Vance. By April, Iranian officials had quietly sought to negotiate with Vance, whom they seem to have regarded, correctly, as one of the most anti-war figures in Trump's inner circle and therefore the American most likely to settle. A regime under bombardment selecting its preferred interlocutor should have set off alarm bells in Washington. Sadly it did not.
Vance led the Islamabad talks, which collapsed after 21 hours, before helping produce June's capitulation to virtually all of Iran's demands, the incompetent Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, a framework he co-signed by Trump. Under the 14-point text that American officials read to reporters, Washington undertook to lift its naval blockade and to impose no new sanctions. Treasury waivers would allow Iranian oil exports to flow, frozen assets would be made available under the framework, and the United States even undertook, with its regional partners, to develop a reconstruction plan worth at least $300 billion for the Islamic Republic, subject to a final deal.
The nuclear question that had justified the war was deferred to a final agreement, with Tehran merely committing to freeze its program in place. In return, Iran promised its "best efforts" to arrange toll-free passage through Hormuz for 60 days only, in a waterway it had no right to obstruct at all.
The results are visible today. The June framework did not survive the summer, and the IRGC still claims to blow up tankers that stray from the routes they "authorize." On November 5, they reported fires aboard two tankers and a tugboat. Kharg Island, through which roughly 90 percent of Iran's oil exports passes, was spared in March, with Trump warning that he would "immediately reconsider" his actions if shipping were obstructed. Shipping was indeed obstructed, but the June framework answered with waivers for Iranian oil. Americans paid an average of about $4.15 a gallon for gas on election day, the highest ever recorded for an election day, and that economic pain was compounded by a stalemate the ceasefires prolonged.
That is the record Vance now leaves out of his indictment. The man who blames "the war" was the same man who led the negotiations not to have one — and that gave Iran its reprieve and the framework that rewarded it. By early September, he was also among the senior aides, Marco Rubio included, pushing to keep the conflict "quiet" until November.
In the same post, Vance listed "change our relationship to Israel" among the lessons to be drawn from the midterm meltdown. It is a grievance that owes nothing to gasoline prices or to the relative pittance of military aid that the US supplies to Israel each year, mainly to help Israel purchase US military hardware. Vance is entitled to believe that the intervention was a mistake, but those who promoted and negotiated the ceasefires cannot take credit for opposing the war while escaping responsibility for a truce that turned a military victory into an open-ended collapse.
Where would Trump stand today had he carried out the threats he issued in March and April? Had the power plants he promised to obliterate gone dark, had Kharg Island and land routes been closed to the regime's oil exports, and had the naval forces of the IRGC been destroyed before they could mine Hormuz, Tehran's strategy of attrition would most likely have been destroyed within weeks, long before the November calendar could come to its rescue. Oil prices would have spiked, as they did anyway, but a short shock followed by a reopened Strait would have cost Americans far less than the chronic disruption of tankers being set ablaze.
A regime that drowned mass protests in blood in January, killing tens of thousands, would have faced its own people without much of the machinery of terror that keeps it in power. Nothing guarantees that Iran's theocratic dictatorship would have fallen -- the risks were real. There could have been retaliation by Iran against Gulf states' energy facilities, and there was a depletion of American munitions. Yet the Gulf monarchies that pleaded for restraint now live beside a wounded and vengeful Iranian regime that still targets their oil facilities and airports and still controls the strait through which their oil must pass. Israel still faces an adversary whose nuclear file remains open.
Trump's instinct in February was sound. Every pause granted since then to a mediator or an ally has eroded the advantage that instinct had won.
The United States has not been defeated on the battlefield, where its superiority was never in doubt. Instead, each truce has handed part of that victory back to Tehran. Iran's rulers are counting on Washington to accept their survival as the price of peace, and in time to do what their armed forces could not -- with the help of Russia and China, to rebuild their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and once again attack their neighbors in the region — and potentially the United States.
Trump still has two years and the instruments to finish what he began, starting with the economic strangulation and especially the military elimination of the IRGC — along with demands for the verifiable dismantlement of Iran's nuclear program, backed this time by threats that are actually carried out.
Should Trump settle for another ceasefire, the regime he came closer to destroying than any of his predecessors will present its survival as a victory over the most powerful nation on earth, and a war won in February will be remembered as one squandered in the pauses that followed.
Pierre Rehov, who holds a law degree from Paris-Assas, is a French reporter, novelist and documentary filmmaker. He is the author of six novels, including "Beyond Red Lines", "The Third Testament" and "Red Eden", translated from French. His latest essay on the aftermath of the October 7 massacre " 7 octobre - La riposte " became a bestseller in France. As a filmmaker, he has produced and directed 17 documentaries, many photographed at high risk in Middle Eastern war zones, and focusing on terrorism, media bias, and the persecution of Christians. His latest documentary, "Pogrom(s)" highlights the context of ancient Jew hatred within Muslim civilization as the main force behind the October 7 massacre.
“To date, Hamas has not surrendered a single weapon,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Terrorists in Gaza observe the transfer to Israel of four bodies of hostages murdered by Hamas, Feb. 20, 2025. Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.
Hamas must disarm and Gaza must be demilitarized before reconstruction begins under U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday.
“To date, Hamas has not surrendered a single weapon,” the statement said, calling on mediators to demand the terrorist group’s immediate disarmament throughout Gaza. Hamas’s continued refusal to disarm remains the principal obstacle to rebuilding the enclave, the office added.
Israel said it is working closely with the United States and the Board of Peace and remains committed to the success of Trump’s plan. It has also facilitated additional humanitarian supplies to help Gazans prepare for winter, according to the statement.
Statement on Gaza and the Board of Peace https://t.co/EE4KEtU0hY
The winter aid includes more than 91,000 tents, more than 8,200 truckloads of tarpaulins, blankets, winter clothing and other supplies, and 12 vacuum trucks to pump and remove sewage. Israel said Hamas must not be allowed to exploit humanitarian supplies and equipment to rebuild its terror capabilities.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michal Maayan also accused Hamas on Tuesday of stealing humanitarian aid “in order to feed its terror machine and tighten its grip on Gaza.” In an X post that included a video statement by Maayan, she said Israel was working to get aid into the enclave and urged: “Hold Hamas responsible. Don’t let Hamas destroy Gaza’s future.”
Israel is working to get humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip.
#Hamas is stealing that aid in order to feed its terror machine and tighten its grip on #Gaza.
Hold Hamas responsible.
Don't let Hamas destroy Gaza's future. https://t.co/HIRSsvvyOX
The statement followed a call by the Board of Peace on Monday for Israel to “immediately” authorize and facilitate humanitarian supplies into Gaza ahead of winter. The Trump-led body acknowledged Israeli efforts but said they remained insufficient. It also said Hamas’s failure to disarm had “compounded the challenges facing Gaza’s civilian population.”
On Oct. 15, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, said Gazan merchants had suspended coordination of commercial shipments because of Hamas threats and forced taxation, rather than an Israeli government decision. Merchants reported that Hamas was demanding about $3,200 per truck and requiring them to sell approximately 30% of their goods in cash, according to COGAT. Humanitarian aid continued entering through the United Nations, international organizations and donor countries, the agency said.
Separately, an analysis published Oct. 27 by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council challenged claims of widespread famine and disproportionate civilian casualties using Hamas-run Health Ministry data. It cited approximately 1.2% natural population growth in 2025 and figures showing that males accounted for 73.4% of registered deaths that year. The breakdown did not establish how many of those killed were combatants, however, and the U.N.-backed famine assessment also relied on malnutrition and food insecurity data.
Socialist leaders say their expanded House bloc will push for an arms embargo on Israel and withhold support from Democratic leadership until their demands are met. But, with such a large House majority for Democrats their diluted influence may not move the centrists who outnumber them.
Following the midterm elections, the Democratic Socialists of America celebrated victories across the country in what they termed a “socialist surge” that brought six new lawmakers into federal office and hundreds into local office.
But, the sizable Democratic majority means the group’s small contingent will have a more difficult time extracting concessions from a party leadership not as welcoming to some radical left ideas.
“DSA just had our biggest election cycle ever,” said DSA Co-chair Ashik Siddique in a livestream days after the election. “So, millions of people across the country showed a very clear signal that Americans are rejecting Trumpism and the rise of the far right,” he said. “But, more importantly for us, millions of people voted for socialists on our issues this election.”
Siddique later celebrated, “We’ve quadrupled our presence in Congress.”
Six new socialists head to the House
The six new members, all elected in safe Democratic districts, are Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez of New York, Melat Kiros of Colorado, Angela Gonzales-Torres of California, Donavan McKinney of Michigan and Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press race calls. They join Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., bringing the DSA bloc in the House to eight.
Abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Medicare for All were two central DSA planks that were in nearly every campaign platform. Kiros, who ousted a 30-year incumbent in the primary, pledged on her campaign website that she would “always stand for Medicare for All, Housing First, Universal Childcare, and an Arms Embargo.”
Just the Newspreviously reported on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s efforts to reshape the city’s congressional delegation. Candidates he backed, like Chevalier and Valdez, will head to Congress.
Allies outside the organization
Several Democrats sympathetic to the DSA, particularly those who remain close to the organization’s policies and networks, also won. Brad Lander, who was a former member of the DSA, won New York’s 10th District with the backing of Mamdani. Rep. Aisha Wahab, who is not a DSA member but was recommended by California DSA, won a full term in the seat vacated by former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Will Lawrence, a Sunrise Movement co-founder and former DSA member, defeated Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th District.
Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open seat but has kept his distance from the group, saying, “I’m not technically or practically DSA,” despite sharing many of the same policy goals.
Leverage over the speaker’s gavel
The bloc’s first test will be the vote for speaker. None of the incoming DSA members has publicly committed to Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who said in August, “I don’t support the DSA agenda, as has been articulated by the DSA itself.”
“As of right now, my vote is no,” Gonzales-Torres told Democracy Now on Monday. “What I don’t know is what Representative Hakeem Jeffries is offering my community.”
Before the election, Siddique said DSA and its endorsed candidates would set negotiating positions together, and the group weighed demanding committee seats and a democratic socialist caucus,The Wall Street Journal reported. DSA’s endorsement questionnaires asked candidates whether they would coordinate with the organization, consider fellow socialists for staff jobs and oppose military aid to Israel.
However, the size of the Democratic Party’s victory in last week’s midterms means that the DSA's leverage has its limits. Democrats so far have secured more than 250 seats in the House of Representatives. With only a simple majority of voting members required to elect the speaker — 218 or more — Jeffries could lose all eight DSA votes on most measures and still come out on top.
‘A people’s arms embargo’
There are more potential pitfalls for the DSA as their members take seats in Washington. Despite the successful national Democratic messaging on affordability, the DSA is hyperfocused on a set of post-election priorities that have little to do with dinner-table issues, such as reining in high gas prices or making groceries more affordable.
For example, the DSA’s leaders highlighted cutting off aid and scuppering the alliance with Israel as one of the organization’s top priorities. They are also focusing on Medicare for all and abolishing ICE.
“We are going to implement an arms embargo from below, a people’s arms embargo,” National Political Committee member Francesca Maviglia said on the call. DSA’s National Arms Embargo Campaign, launched Oct. 29, targets Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems and United Airlines, which DSA accuses of flying military cargo to Israel.
In Congress, the bloc has promised to support the Block the Bombs Act, which would restrict certain U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. A DSA national resolution calls the bill “a step towards a full arms embargo.”
President Trump said Nov. 3 that the U.S. would stop roughly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel, citing Democratic attacks on the aid. The current agreement provides $3.8 billion a year through 2028, but because Congress appropriates federal funding, the president cannot end it unilaterally.
A tough sell beyond deep-blue districts
There are further concerns for the DSA, which may appear out of touch with the voters that launched the Democrats back into power. Most American voters still “don’t actually like socialism,” CNBC noted.
A Gallup survey found that 57% of Americans view socialism negatively and only 39% view it positively. Though 66% of Democrats hold a favorable view, compared with just 14% of Republicans, the support has not translated outside Democratic strongholds. All six DSA winners prevailed in historically solid Democratic districts.
DSA leaders, nevertheless, are charging ahead. “We’ve had success with more donors, but also we have an even stronger ground game to spread our message,” Romer told CNBC, adding that the infrastructure “will make a big difference for a potential left presidential candidate” in 2028. “It’s really kind of do-or-die time.”
From what we now know, his government fundamentally failed to protect America. Trump, regrets or no regrets, has an obligation to explain it.
The Singapore-based customer of Nvidia bought chips for data centers, and as the New York Times reported on November 9, U.S. officials were concerned that Megaspeed was illegally routing sophisticated chips to China.
Nvidia chips require export licenses from the U.S. Commerce Department. It appears, at least at this moment, that China was able to illicitly obtain Nvidia chips because of the Huang-Huang affair. In fact, Alice Huang had recently been bragging to investors about her access to Nvidia chips and about Megaspeed's sale of these devices to Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant.
Even more disturbing is Commerce's leniency when it comes to chip sales. McGuire, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, points out that the department "has publicly stated it will not enforce those regulations, and also has not bothered to replace them."
The Trump administration in May of last year rescinded Biden-era rules that imposed limits on such transactions. Jensen Huang has repeatedly called for the scrapping of chip-export rules.
Worse, Lutnick's Commerce Department has issued export licenses for Nvidia chips even when there was a high probability of illicit diversion to China. The New York Times, for instance, reported that Commerce approved a chip export license to New Matrix, which appears to be nothing more than a "ghost office," a front operation for China.
"The sale of chips to New Matrix appears to be part of a pattern that has concerned technology experts inside and outside the government: The Commerce Department is giving clearance to buy and handle Nvidia chips to Chinese companies with ties to firms that have been subject to national-security-related trade restrictions," the paper noted on November 7. Approvals, that publication reports, are going to firms with ties to companies blacklisted by the U.S. government or are military contractors in China
The president was informed in October 2025 that China had targeted Jensen Huang but did not say anything to the Nvidia boss or to the American public until now.
From what we now know, his government fundamentally failed to protect America. Trump, regrets or no regrets, has an obligation to explain it.
The scandal triggered by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's sexual relationship with a suspected Chinese agent could bring down senior Trump administration officials and damage President Donald Trump himself. Pictured: Trump greets Huang following a meeting on artificial intelligence at the White House on September 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The scandal triggered by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's sexual relationship with a suspected Chinese agent could bring down senior Trump administration officials and damage President Donald Trump himself. At this moment, the blast radius is expanding fast.
On November 8, Huang admitted to an extramarital relationship and apologized to family members and Nvidia employees. The admission followed the revelation that he had a long-running affair with Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese Ministry of State Security asset. He had previously lied about the affair.
On the same day, November 8th, the company announced an internal investigation of Huang but did not relieve him of his duties.
In view of the allegations, Huang should be suspended immediately, pending the conclusion of the Nvidia probe.
This is no ordinary sex scandal. Ms. Huang — no relation — is an executive of Megaspeed. The Singapore-based customer of Nvidia bought chips for data centers, and as the New York Timesreported on November 9, U.S. officials were concerned that Megaspeed was illegally routing sophisticated chips to China.
Bloomberg reports that Nvidia underreported to the U.S. government the number of chips it had sold to Megaspeed, an action that helped that hide illicit diversions of chips.
Nvidia chips require export licenses from the U.S. Commerce Department. It appears, at least at this moment, that China was able to illicitly obtain Nvidia chips because of the Huang-Huang affair. In fact, Alice Huang had recently been bragging to investors about her access to Nvidia chips and about Megaspeed's sale of these devices to Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant.
Jensen Huang is not the only figure at risk. The New York Times reported that late last year the Commerce Department spiked an investigation into Nvidia sales to Megaspeed after an unusual contact from Tim Teter, Nvidia's general counsel, to Commerce Department investigators. Teter, before reaching out to the investigators, had apparently spoken to Commerce Department Under Secretary for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler.
The investigation was swiftly transferred to the Department of Justice. It is not known whether DOJ has pursued this matter.
"It is beyond inappropriate that leadership at the Department of Commerce apparently discussed an ongoing law enforcement investigation involving Megaspeed and Nvidia with Nvidia's General Counsel," wrote Chris McGuire, a former State Department and National Security Council official, on X.
It would also be unusual for Kessler to interfere in an ongoing matter without the approval of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to whom Kessler directly reported.
The New York Times account has been confirmed in a general outline by Bloomberg reporting about Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. "In the weeks that followed Teter's call," Bloomberg reports, "BIS staff were restricted in their ability to look into Megaspeed, including being told not to mention the company in external communications and having to route all requests of Nvidia through Kessler or seek his approval for outreach."
Even more disturbing is Commerce's leniency when it comes to chip sales. McGuire, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, points out that the department "has publicly stated it will not enforce those regulations, and also has not bothered to replace them."
McGuire was referring to regulations restricting bulk chip sales. The Trump administration in May of last year rescinded Biden-era rules that imposed limits on such transactions. Jensen Huang has repeatedly called for the scrapping of chip-export rules.
Worse, Lutnick's Commerce Department has issued export licenses for Nvidia chips even when there was a high probability of illicit diversion to China. The New York Times, for instance, reported that Commerce approved a chip export license to New Matrix, which appears to be nothing more than a "ghost office," a front operation for China.
"The sale of chips to New Matrix appears to be part of a pattern that has concerned technology experts inside and outside the government: The Commerce Department is giving clearance to buy and handle Nvidia chips to Chinese companies with ties to firms that have been subject to national-security-related trade restrictions," the paper noted on November 7. Approvals, that publication reports, are going to firms with ties to companies blacklisted by the U.S. government or are military contractors in China.
There are also concerns about Trump himself.
The president was informed in October 2025 that China had targeted Jensen Huang but did not say anything to the Nvidia boss or to the American public until now. On November 8, Trump told reporters, in the words of the New York Times, that "he had no regrets about his own lack of action."
Perhaps there are good reasons for the president to have failed to act, but he now owes the American public an explanation, especially if there were, as is almost certain, illicit diversions of advanced Nvidia chips to China in the intervening period.
From what we now know, his government fundamentally failed to protect America. Trump, regrets or no regrets, has an obligation to explain it.
An Israeli law professor who released a report about Hamas’s heinous crimes is leading the international expert team to develop the guide.
The international team established to develop a guide on how to document evidence of sexual violence at terrorist attack scenes, attended by Israeli envoy Sarah Weiss Maudi, in Abuja, Nigeria, Oct. 20-21, 2026. Credit: The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Israel’s Foreign Ministry is drafting a first-of-its-kind international guide designed to help emergency response teams identify, document and preserve evidence of sexual and gender-based violence at the scenes of terrorist attacks, the ministry’s spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Israel is leading the project alongside Germany, Switzerland and Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Centre, while the guide is being written in cooperation with the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The guide was inspired by research conducted by the RAIA Project, an Israeli research group devoted to combat sexual violence in terrorist attacks and led by professor Yifat Bitton, which examined the lessons of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in the northwestern Negev.
Bitton is an official member of the expert team established to develop the guide.
Last month, Israeli Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security Sarah Weiss Maudi represented the Foreign Ministry at a two-day experts’ meeting on the subject in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. The meeting on Oct. 20-21 brought together experts from around the world, including professionals from Nigeria and Mali.
“The bitter experience of October 7 and the world’s disregard for the crimes Hamas committed against Israeli women and men have made me realize how important it is to also reach out to Nigeria, unequivocally condemn the terrorism of Boko Haram and other organizations, which involves brutal sexual and gender-based crimes, and express solidarity with survivors and victims,” said Maudi.
“This project embodies international diplomacy at its best: countries sharing expertise and professional, practical approaches in order to support those affected and help secure justice for them and their families,” the statement continued.
“Israel is proud to contribute its experience, and also to learn from experts around the world who are doing sacred work in this field,” the envoy said.
Boko Haram is a Sunni jihadist militant organization based in northeastern Nigeria, founded in 2002. Aiming to overthrow the country’s secular government and replace it with an Islamic state governed by sharia law, the terrorist group has carried out violent raids, suicide bombings and mass kidnappings, targeting civilians.
The international guide is intended to provide medical personnel, police officers and emergency volunteers with practical tools for documenting acts of sexual violence, the foreign ministry said.
The guide can help bring those responsible to justice, while safeguarding survivors’ and victims’ safety, dignity and privacy, and ensuring they receive appropriate care and assistance, according to the ministry.
It is expected to be adopted by international aid organizations, including U.N. agencies, as early as the beginning of 2027.
Detailed report about Hamas’s sexual crimes
In January 2025, Bitton spoke with JNS about the report she had recently released on the sexual violence Hamas committed on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli law professor lamented the United Nations’ initial silence about the sorts of sexual crimes that Hamas committed on Oct. 7 and detailed by her work.
“Due to the fact that my report was methodological and completed by an independent agent like myself as an expert in the field with a team of lawyers, who are not just Israeli feminists but global feminists, I was hopeful that the report would get more positive attention than was initially expected,” Bitton said at the time.
“It is heartwarming to have seen that happen in real time,” she said. “It was important for them to understand the new trends of terrorism that are not particular to Israelis and Palestinians.”
“If it happened in Israel and we weren’t prepared for it, it can happen to other countries too,” she added.
The report drew on interviews with 40 first and secondary responders, who identified victims on that day and thereafter.
Suspicion grows within the Eisenkot-led bloc over Golan and Bennett's intentions, while haredi parties doubt a deal but express unexpected trust in Liberman.
Democrats leader MK Yair Golan speaks during a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2026(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Tensions and mutual suspicions are emerging within the Eisenkot-led bloc over efforts to form a government, with sources questioning whether Democrats party leader Yair Golan and former prime minister Naftali Bennett are genuinely committed to establishing a coalition with the haredi parties.
Sources within the bloc have expressed doubts about Golan's willingness to move forward with a 61-seat government that includes the ultra-Orthodox parties. According to these sources, Golan clearly prefers the option of a minority government supported by the Joint List and Ra'am and has no interest in forming a coalition with the haredi parties. They maintain that he is not merely keeping both options open but is clearly leaning toward the minority government route.
Against this backdrop, the same sources interpret the liberal legislation on religion and state introduced and submitted by the Democrats as a reflection of the party's genuine ideological position. In their view, the bills are not merely lip service, an attempt to appeal to voters, or a way to pressure the haredi parties. This disagreement is emerging as one of the first major points of contention within the Eisenkot-led bloc.
Suspicions grow over Bennett's intentions
Another source of suspicion within the bloc concerns Bennett's conduct. His faction did not hold a meeting open to the media, instead issuing a brief statement without allowing journalists to ask questions. Bennett himself continues to maintain a low media profile.
In conversations among sources within the bloc, suspicions have emerged that Bennett is not genuinely committed to forming a government and may believe that another election could strengthen his position. According to these sources, maintaining his stance on equal participation in military service and the anti-draft-evasion messages he emphasized during his campaign could benefit him in another election.
(L-R clockwise) Yashar party head Gadi Eisenkot, Democrats head Yair Golan, B'Yachad head Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman, B'Yachad deputy Yair Lapid. (credit: YAIR LAPID'S OFFICE)
Statements by members of Bennett's electoral list regarding their willingness to advance military conscription legislation have also raised questions. In closed discussions within the bloc, concerns have emerged that not all prospective coalition partners share the same vision for forming a government or agree on the compromises required to make it possible.
Haredi parties express unexpected trust in Liberman
Meanwhile, the haredi parties increasingly believe that the negotiations are unlikely to produce agreements that would enable the formation of a government.
Haredi sources stress that their willingness to engage in discussions with the Eisenkot-led bloc is genuine and that they are prepared to consider proposals. They say they have not ruled out the bloc and are not engaging in a political maneuver. Nevertheless, they assess the chances of reaching agreements as slim because of several areas of disagreement.
Liberman clarified at a faction meeting that Gadi Eisenkot's negotiating team is conducting the talks. Liberman said he fully supports Eisenkot, coordinates with him, and meets with him, but is not personally conducting the talks with the haredi parties.
At the same time, several sources within the haredi parties told Maariv that they trust Liberman and believe he can reach understandings with them. According to these sources, their confidence in Liberman is considerably greater than their confidence in Eisenkot and his team.
Deadlier warhead, faster, higher tech to keep stunning adversaries who studied current attack vectors.
Rafael Advanced Defense System's new Super Ice cruise missile.(photo credit: RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS)
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems on Tuesday unveiled its new "Super Ice" cruise missile which was designed to continue to surprise various enemies in the future who may have learned many of Israel's tactics in recent years.
Super Ice is the next generation of the Icebreaker cruise missile, launched in 2021-2022, which includes a warhead which is four times the size of the earlier generation, but has managed to reach a faster speed and longer range.
With a 1,000 pound warhead compared to the Icebreaker's 250 pound warhead, Super Ice is far more destructive.
In addition, despite the weight of the warhead, Super Ice can be fired off of all of Israel's major aircraft, F-35, F-16, and F-15.
In contrast, there are some even heavier weapons, which can only be fired from the F-15, an older aircraft lacking stealth capabilities.
Rafael Advanced Defense System's new Super Ice cruise missile. (credit: RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS)
Rafael sources declined to disclose the new extended range of Super Ice, but the Icebreaker missile had a 300 kilometer plus range, which means the new product certainly exceeds that.
Likewise, Rafael sources declined to reveal the new higher speed which Super Ice can achieve, but Icebreaker was able to reach at least Mach 0.8-0.9, such that the new model can certainly outperform those speeds.
Generally, the advantage of a cruise missile like Super Ice, as with Icebreaker, is to serve as a lightweight, low altitude, autonomous weapon system which can surprise strategic and well-guarded enemy targets, giving them a very short time warning period before they are struck (which is insufficient warning to defend).
Featuring the powerful 1,000-pound warhead (MK83 compatible), Super Ice also "supports multiple launch platforms across air, land, and sea, providing maximum operational flexibility."
"The missile incorporates advanced capabilities, including robust autonomous navigation, low-altitude terrain-following flight, all-weather operation and high-precision engagement of diverse targets. Its advanced electro-optical guidance system employs high-accuracy image-matching technology," said Rafael.
Rafael VP says Super Ice developed for wide range of platforms
Senior Vice President and Head of Rafael's Air Systems Division Gad Geva said, "SUPER ICE™ was developed for integration across a wide range of aerial platforms without requiring significant modifications to the platforms themselves."
"The missile's multi-domain design also enables launch from air, sea, or ground-based launchers. Together, SUPER ICE™ and ICE BREAKER™ provide an operationally effective and cost-efficient solution, allowing customers to select the appropriate weapon system for each target. Significant savings in mission-planning requirements and life-cycle costs further enhance the family's value," said Geva.
Rafael sources did not designate Super Ice as being developed to handle a specific existing threat which prior Israeli weaponry had not succeeded in coping with.
Rafael Advanced Defense System's new Super Ice cruise missile. (credit: RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS)
For example, in addition to Icebreaker and Super Ice, Rafael produces the Blue Sparrow ballistic missile, which according to foreign sources has been used multiple times to strike strategic Iranian targets in past years.
Some have speculated that Rafael's ROCKS or Golden Horizon weapons may have also been used against Iran.
Rather, Super Ice is designed to jump past even future defense systems which Iran and other adversaries might try to develop.
Super Ice usable in naval context, as Israel mulls possible conflict with Turkish navy
Interestingly, Super Ice is usable in the naval context, and Israel has spoken more publicly of late about possible conflict with Turkey's navy, which is more advanced than other Israeli adversaries.
A next generation missile like Super Ice will also sell well with European countries seeking weapons which can deter Russian expansionism, and could also sell well with countries in Asia wanting to deter China.
While Ice Breaker already incorporated advanced AI, electro-optical systems, and anti-jamming systems, it is understood that those and other systems in Super Ice are even more advanced.
While unveiled on Tuesday, the missile is expected to be operational more in the timeframe of early 2027.
Israel is far more ready now for the Hezbollah FPV drone threat than it was in early 2026, but there is still a learning curve, the Post has learned.
DELIVERED TO the IDF late last year, the Iron Beam system marks a historic milestone – the world’s first operational laser defense platform capable of neutralizing rockets, drones, and mortars at a fraction of the cost of traditional interceptors.(photo credit: The Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
Israeli laser defense systems will be more integrated for any war scenarios by the end of 2026, sources told The Jerusalem Post.
Many in the Israeli public were puzzled that the Iron Beam laser defense system did not play a larger role in providing air defense to Israel during the early 2026 war with Iran.
On May 1, the air force said that the Iron Beam laser defense system was used less in the 2026 war with Iran because the military needs 14 batteries to have a significant enough impact.
Previously, on March 12, the IDF had acknowledged that it was not using the Iron Beam laser regularly during the Iran war.
The admission came even though various forms of Iron Beam were used to shoot down around 40 Hezbollah drones in fall 2024.
The IRON BEAM in action. (credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Israel building additional Iron Beam platforms
The Post understands that Israel is making strong progress in building additional Iron Beam platforms compared to December 2025, when it made its first announced deployment.
This could mean the laser would be used more actively for air defense in any future conflict with Iran or Hezbollah, though still in tandem with the Iron Dome.
In 2025, Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram said deployment of the Iron Beam laser marked “ the completion of our high-power laser system development - a historic milestone for Israel’s defense establishment and defense industries. This is the first time in the world that a high-power laser interception system has reached full operational maturity, completing numerous interceptions across various simulated operational scenarios.”
Also in 2025, the ministry’s head of the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), Danny Gold, said, “The Iron Beam laser system is expected to fundamentally change the rules of engagement on the battlefield. Simultaneously, we are already advancing the next-generation systems.”
Iron Beam can specifically shoot down drones, missiles, rockets, mortars, when ready
Already in June 2025, the ministry and Rafael, the lead company of multiple defense tech companies involved, including Elbit and others, had announced that Lite Beam, a smaller relative of Iron Beam, was operational.
In mid-September 2025, the Defense Ministry announced that Iron Beam was operational and that a full series of batteries would be fanning out across the country to provide cutting-edge air defense capabilities within the coming months.
Back in June 2025, the ministry already disclosed that Israeli laser defense systems had shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones in October 2024.
Iron Beam has more power, a longer range, and can defend against a wide array of threats compared with Lite Beam, a shorter-range version of the system.
Second, Iron Beam, if and when it is ready, can shoot down not only drones but also missiles, rockets, and mortars, making it far more formidable than if it were only capable of shooting down drones, a relatively slow-moving threat.
In 2025, the ministry and the IDF said they had expected Iron Beam to immediately start reducing the cost of shooting down aerial threats, an issue which has been out of control for Israel during this war in which tens of thousands of threats have been launched through the air at Israel on six fronts.
Firing Arrow interceptors can cost millions of shekels, Iron Dome interceptors can cost tens of thousands of shekels, but firing the Iron Beam is as cheap as turning a light on.
Some sources have said that any chance of Iron Beam truly moving ahead of Iron Dome as the lead short-range air defense could still take a number of years.
Using lasers to defend against long-range threats, such as Iran’s ballistic missiles, could take that much longer, with some projecting five to 10 years or longer.
This is because shooting such missiles could require air-based or space-based lasers.
Israel develops new techniques to deal with Hezbollah FPV drone threat
Meanwhile, Israel is far more ready now for the Hezbollah FPV drone threat than it was in early 2026, but there is still a learning curve, the Post has learned.
According to sources, the IDF has deployed special kinds of short-range guns for shooting down drones, nets, kamikaze Israeli drones, and electromagnetic warfare, and has also improved detection of FPV drones, which was an enormous issue in early 2026.
Israel is also working on direct energy microwave-style weapons which could “fry” and neutralize the machinery of an FPV drone.
The Post understands that the Defense Ministry held a series of tryouts in the South recently, with two companies winning a competition for new techniques to combat drones.
One threat which Israel is also working on, but has had less attention to invest in due to the massive number of larger threats, is Iran’s cluster munitions.
Israel is certainly working on combating the cluster munitions. But they do not cause anywhere near as much damage as ballistic missiles or drones.
Adding to that, they are difficult to stop if they are not destroyed along with the ballistic missile that usually carries them; it is not clear that Israel will have substantially improved its defense against these munitions in any near-future Iran conflict, though it will have a better chance in a medium-term conflict.
