Iran’s Goal To Destroy Israel Is Why We Are Fighting In Gaza, Netanyahu Says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Iranian regime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s post to X on Tuesday (15th) while visiting northern Gaza.
“I want to tell you what we are fighting for and why we are fighting,” he said. “This is a post published today by Iran’s dictator, Ayatollah Khamenei, in which he explains why Israel must be destroyed.”
“So here you have the ruler of Iran openly declaring – again – that his goal is to destroy the State of Israel. And the most brazen thing about this is that he issues this while he’s negotiating – peace with the United States.”
“Well, Israel will NOT be eliminated. What must be eliminated is Iran’s axis of terror and its nuclear weapons program. Not only for the sake of Israel, but for the sake of our entire region and for the sake of peace in our world,” he concluded.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir, Head of the Southern Command MG Yaron Finkelman and other commanders accompanied Netanyahu to northern Gaza.
Netanyahu received a security briefing from the commanders about the IDF’s operations in Gaza.
The prime minister and the defense minister then held discussions with division brigade and battalion commanders, as well as met with active-duty soldiers and reservists.
“We insist that Hamas release our hostages, and we are determined to achieve all of our war objectives,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We are doing this thanks to our heroic fighters. They are simply doing an incredible job.”
“This outpost we’re standing on overlooks Gaza, targets the heads of the terrorists, strikes terror infrastructure, and at the same time defends Israeli communities – that’s the approach we’re taking and these are the lessons we’ve learned,” Katz said in a statement.
“We will never allow an enemy like this to threaten our communities and our citizens. That’s why the current operation is putting pressure on Hamas – first and foremost to release the hostages. And if they persist in their refusal, we will intensify the blows they receive until their defeat and the return of all the hostages,” Katz said.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Jordan Foils Muslim Brotherhood Plot To Stage Attacks In Kingdom
Jordan said on Tuesday (15th) it had arrested 16 people linked to the Hamas-affiliated Muslim Brotherhood who were trained and financed in Lebanon and had plotted attacks on targets inside the kingdom involving rockets and drones.
Authorities said that at least one rocket was ready to be launched as part of an operation that had been under surveillance by security forces since 2021.
A security source said the suspects were connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group, while the head of the cell who trained some of its members was based in Lebanon.
The Brotherhood has been accused of instigating anti-government street protests in Jordan, which has a large Palestinian population.
Security forces found a rocket manufacturing facility alongside a drone factory, according to a statement by the General Intelligence Department released on state media.
“The plot aimed at harming national security, sowing chaos and causing material destruction inside the kingdom,” the statement said.
The suspects were referred to the state security court for trial.
“We are talking about new tactics, rockets and drones. This means a complete change in the way the Muslim Brotherhood is dealing with Jordan and targeting its security,” Amar al Sabaileh, a prominent security analyst, told Reuters.
Government spokesperson Mohammad al Momani told a press briefing that the government would be airing full confessions from the suspects, some of whom have been trained in Lebanon.
The rockets found in a secret hideout on the outskirts of the capital were being manufactured with a 3 to 5 km range, for use against targets inside the kingdom, Momani added.
A security source said dozens of rockets were found.
Over the past year, Jordan has said it has foiled attempts to smuggle weapons by infiltrators linked to pro-Iranian terrorists in Syria and Lebanon-based radical Palestinian groups.
It said some of the arms were bound for the West Bank, adding that they had arrested several Jordanians linked to Palestinian terrorists.
Security officials said the incidents were-terrorism related based on the quantities of explosives found.
They said the plot was linked to Iran and its allies’ clandestine efforts to recruit agents to carry out acts of sabotage within the kingdom to destabilize one of Washington’s allies in the region.
US Military Poised To Slash Troops In Syria, Officials Say
The US military is set to consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday (15th), in a move that could reduce the number of troops it has in the country by half.
The US military has about 2,000 troops in Syria across a number of bases, mostly in the northeast. The troops are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.
One of the officials speaking on condition of anonymity, said that consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000.
Another US official confirmed the plan for a reduction, but said there was no certainty on numbers and was skeptical of a decrease of that scale at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has been negotiating with Iran and building US forces in the region.
The United States has recently sent aircraft, including B-2 bombers, warships and air defense systems to reinforce the Middle East.
Trump said on Monday (14th) that he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran’s atomic facilities.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is carrying out a global review of US military troops around the world.
The Islamist-led government in Syria that took over after Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December has sought to rebuild Syria’s ties in the region and further afield.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US, last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.
The US gave Syria a list in March of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the Trump administration has otherwise engaged little with the country’s new rulers.
Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership’s former ties to al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum.
Maldives Ban Israeli Tourists ‘In Solidarity With Palestine’
The Maldivian parliament officially voted to ban Israeli tourists from entering the tropical Indian Ocean archipelago as an act of solidarity with Gaza.
“The ratification” of the bill barring Israeli tourists “reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.”
”The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” the statement read, adding that the ban was effective immediately.
A popular tourist destination for Israelis, more than 11,000 nationals from the Jewish state visited the Maldives, a tiny republic with a population of about half a million, in 2023.
However, since the onset of the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, the majority-Muslim nation has signaled increasing hostility towards the Jewish state.
In June 2024, the Maldives said it was considering barring Israeli passport holders from entering the country.
Shortly after the announcement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued an official travel advisory urging Israelis not to visit the islands, as well as encouraging those already there to leave the country.
While the ban was being discussed, a senior Maldivian public figure made it clear that the country was looking to specifically punish Jews, rather than all people with Israeli citizenship.
Maldivian Attorney General Ahmed Usham warned that barring all Israeli passport holders would mean that Arabs with Israeli citizenship – numbering approximately two million – would be unable to travel to the Maldives.
Joseph Haddad, an Arab-Israeli Zionist activist ,slammed the decision in an Instagram post.
“The Maldives did not ban entry for Palestinians after the October 7 massacre… if you raped, kidnapped, and massacred Israelis you are welcomed to vacation there, but if your country defended itself against a terrorist organization, you are not allowed entry,” Haddad wrote.”
“They didn’t ban entry for citizens of Iran, North Korea, or Syria… only Israelis.”
I Kept My Freedom In Hamas’ Captivity – Agam Berger
I was kidnapped by Hamas, taken to Gaza and held hostage for 482 days. Today, I am home, healthy and whole in body, soul and spirit. This Passover, I am reflecting on my freedom. When Hamas overran the Nahal Oz base on Oct. 7, 2023, many of my friends were murdered. I survived the massacre – when babies, children, women and elderly men were killed simply because they were Jews.
Even as Hamas tried to coerce me into converting to Islam – at times, forcing a hijab on my head – they couldn’t take away my soul. My fellow scout Liri Albag and I marked Passover together last year. Held in a small room with no natural light, we did what we could to set the holiday mood. We cleaned our room and adorned the table with napkins and other small “decorations” made from scraps of paper. As a surprise, Liri wrote me a makeshift Passover Haggadah, the text that recounts our ancestors’ journey out of slavery.
The Jewish people don’t have a history – they have a memory. “History” the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks wrote, “is an event that happened sometime to someone else. Memory is my story – something that happened to me and is part of who I am.” The Jewish people are told to remember – “remember what Amalek did to you,” “remember the Sabbath,” “remember the stand at Mount Sinai.” There is now a new, painful command: ”Remember October 7.” (Wall Street Journal)
(wsj.com)
If Moses Freed The Jews Today, The UN Would Condemn Him As A War Criminal – Gerald M. Steinberg
When Jews on Passover retell the 4,000-year-old story of the Exodus from slavery to freedom, they recall Pharaoh’s order to murder all male Israelite children – a form of genocide. God then appointed Moses to lead them out of bondage through 10 plagues that devastated the entire Egyptian population.
If these events had transpired today, the powerful “human rights” industry, led by the UN and the NGO superpowers (Human Rights Watch and Amnesty), would issue lengthy reports, hold press conferences, and publish posts on social media platforms condemning Moses and Aaron as war criminals. The International Criminal Court would issue arrest warrants charging the Israelite leaders with genocide.
The successful creation of Israel and its survival remains the core “crime.” The 1947 UN Partition Plan (the original two states for two peoples) and the victory of the Jews over the invading Arab armies were spun into nefarious Zionist plots, aided by the imperialist West. For Israel’s critics, Israelis have no inherent right of self-defense – all military actions, including after the October 7 atrocities, are automatically and cynically defined as war crimes.
In parallel, Palestinian Arabs are perpetual victims, and any act against the hated Zionists, no matter how brutal, is embraced as “resistance.” Today the EU, NGO and UN network would denounce the ten plagues as a highly disproportionate use of force, and demand the return of the Israelite slaves to their Egyptian owners.
The writer is founder and president of NGO Monitor and professor emeritus of political studies at Bar-Ilan University.
