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In-Depth Issues:
Israeli Defense Officials Preparing to Expand Gaza Operation - Moran Azulay ( Ynet News)
Israel is preparing to expand its military operation in Gaza due to the deadlock in hostage deal negotiations, a defense official said Monday.
The decision was delayed due to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz's desire to exhaust diplomatic channels to reach a deal before proceeding.
A political source said Monday that currently there is no realistic alternative plan to secure the hostages' return. As a result, Israel is preparing for an intensified military path.
The source said, "There is no chance we will agree to a hudna [truce] with Hamas that would allow it to rearm, recover, and continue its war against the State of Israel with even greater strength."
"We still want to exhaust every effort to bring the hostages home, but our patience is not unlimited."
IDF Targets Hizbullah Weapons Warehouse in Beirut - Lior Ben Ari ( Ynet News)
IDF forces on Sunday attacked a warehouse where Hizbullah precision missiles were stored in the Dahieh district of Beirut that "posed a significant threat to the State of Israel."
The IDF warned local residents ahead of the strike.
Large Majority of American Jews Maintain Elevated Engagement after Oct. 7 ( Jerusalem Post)
A year and a half after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Jewish communal engagement in the U.S. remains significantly elevated, according to a new study published by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) on Tuesday.
"People continue to feel the pain of this moment and, relatedly, continue to seek connection," said Chief Impact and Growth Officer for JFNA Mimi Kravetz.
The study, conducted in March with 6,000 respondents, found that 72% of those who initially increased their Jewish engagement after Oct. 7 are still doing so today.
79% of American Jews reported an emotional attachment to Israel and 72% said Israel makes them proud to be Jewish.
At the same time, 79% said they are deeply worried about rising antisemitism.
Jewish young adults (ages 18-34) continue to support Israel in large numbers (83%), though at lower rates than older Jews (93%).
Jordan's Ban on the Muslim Brotherhood: Extremist Ideas Can Die Too - Mamdouh Al-Muhaini ( Al Arabiya)
Extremist Sunni and Shia Islamist groups have intensely targeted Jordan for years, trying to turn it into another chaotic arena for weapons smuggling, clandestine cells, and logistical support.
Jordan has now banned the Muslim Brotherhood. Allowing the Brotherhood and its ideology, members, and activities to flourish unchecked for a long time essentially poisons a society from within.
Being lenient with extremist groups, compromising with them, or trying to contain them is like keeping a venomous snake company.
History tells us the Muslim Brotherhood has often turned on its sponsors at critical, pivotal moments, weaponizing its followers and aligning with adversaries to eliminate them.
The Muslim Brotherhood's ideology, like other extreme ideologies such as Nazism and fascism, can die - if it's defeated on security, cultural, and economic fronts.
Only defeating it militarily while letting it thrive intellectually and culturally will guarantee its return.
People must be offered a successful economic and cultural alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood's ideology, which has lasted far longer than it should have.
Get the U.S. Out of UNESCO - Eugene Kontorovich ( Wall Street Journal)
President Trump's Feb. 4 executive order mandated a review of U.S. membership in the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A decision is due by May 5.
UNESCO's executive board meeting in Paris in April demonstrates that the organization is beyond reform.
This year, three of the 11 "program issues" on the agenda related to criticism of Israel.
Two of the three "general matters" items revolved around "occupied Palestine" and "the occupied Arab territories."
Ukraine and Syria merited only one item each at the entire two-week conference.
In 1984 Ronald Reagan withdrew the U.S. from UNESCO over the organization's politicization.
George W. Bush rejoined in 2003, but in the years that followed, UNESCO admitted the "State of Palestine" as a full member, passed resolutions denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, and designated Jewish holy places as "Palestinian World Heritage sites."
This led Mr. Trump to pull the U.S. out of UNESCO in 2018, only for President Biden to reverse the move five years later.
The writer is a professor at George Mason University Law School and a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Human-Rights Bodies Corrupt Human Rights to Vilify Israel - Peter Berkowitz ( Real Clear Politics)
America is founded on the rights inherent in all persons, and the nation's political traditions revolve around them.
Ordinary Americans as well as Washington policymakers, therefore, should condemn prominent human-rights organizations' abuse of human rights to defame Israel and to legitimate jihadists' efforts to destroy the Jewish state.
In the 21st century, powerful human-rights organizations have politicized human rights, wielding human rights as a propaganda tool, inflating the claims of favored groups and disparaging the claims of the disfavored.
Nowhere do human-rights organizations more crudely politicize human rights than in the case of Israel.
Human-rights organizations' attacks on Israel tend to suppress such basic international laws-of-war principles as the prohibition on combats' embedding themselves within their own urban areas to use civilians and civilian infrastructure as shields.
The organizations also ignore that these reprehensible tactics give Hamas presumptive moral and legal responsibility for the collateral death and destruction that result from Israel's exercising its right of self-defense to eliminate threats to its territorial integrity and political sovereignty.
The writer, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, was director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department (2019-2021).
Independence Day 2025: 77+1 Reasons I Love Israel - Barbara Sofer ( Jerusalem Post)
The Ayalon Mall shut down to allow the five returned hostage young women to shop in privacy.
Yuval Raphael, representing Israel at Eurovision this year, is a survivor of the Supernova music festival massacre.
She's singing "New Day Will Rise," which includes a quote from the "Song of Songs" (the Song of Solomon) - part of the Hebrew Bible.
The music of the late Aner Shapira, who tossed back seven grenades thrown at the shelter near Re'im, was turned into an album.
Israel has the highest per capita rate of altruistic kidney donations.
The writer is the Israel director of public relations at Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America.
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We wish our readers a Happy Israel Independence Day!
Daily Alert will not appear on Thursday, May 1
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- U.S. Strikes 800 Houthi Targets in Yemen
U.S. Central Command said Sunday that since March 15 its "forces have conducted an intense and sustained campaign targeting the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen to restore freedom of navigation and American deterrence...using detailed and comprehensive intelligence ensuring lethal effects against the Houthis while minimizing risk to civilians."
The U.S. has struck over 800 targets, killing hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including senior Houthi missile and UAV officials. "We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met."
(USCENTCOM)
- ICC Judges Order Prosecutor to Stop Publicizing Applications for Arrest Warrants in Palestinian Case - Harry Davies
In an order issued behind closed doors in April, International Criminal Court judges told ICC prosecutor Karim Khan that he can no longer make public announcements referring to applications for arrest warrants in the court's Palestinian case. The new order comes as Khan is preparing a fresh round of applications for Israelis in connection to alleged war crimes.
According to court officials, the publicity generated by Khan's statements has frustrated ICC judges and staff within the prosecutor's office due to concerns his actions have departed from routine practice and placed pressure on the judges considering the applications. In their secret order, the judges ordered Khan to refrain from disclosing any forthcoming requests unless he receives their permission.
(Guardian-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Netanyahu: "Without Our Help, Assad's Regime Wouldn't Have Fallen" - Itamar Eichner
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Sunday that Israel moved up its pager operation against Hizbullah by several weeks after intelligence indicated that three pagers sent from Lebanon were being scanned in Iran. "We launched the campaign in Lebanon three weeks earlier than planned," he told the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) conference in Jerusalem on Sunday. "Within six to seven hours, we destroyed most of the weapons Nasrallah had stockpiled over 30 years."
Netanyahu also disclosed that Israeli F-16 fighter jets were deployed to intercept Iranian aircraft en route to Damascus to prevent the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime. "Without our help, Assad's regime wouldn't have fallen," he said, adding that Israel destroyed 90% of the Iranian weaponry transferred to Syria to ensure Assad's survival.
Turning to Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu noted that Israeli operations had delayed Iran's progress toward a nuclear bomb by about a decade. He warned that Iran had made significant advances in uranium enrichment and weaponization. "It's not enough to prevent enrichment - they must lose the capability altogether," he said, stressing the need to destroy centrifuges and remove enriched uranium from Iranian territory.
He rejected the idea of establishing a Palestinian state, saying, "We tried that already" in Gaza. "Hamas won't be there. But we're not putting the PA there either," he said. "Why replace one regime sworn to destroy us with another regime sworn to destroy us?" He added that Israel would continue to maintain military control over Gaza after the fighting ends. (Ynet News)
- Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer: "I Am Confident that Trump Will Distance Himself from a Bad Deal with Iran" - Ariel Kahana
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told the JNS Conference in Jerusalem on Monday:
"I am confident that Trump will distance himself from a bad deal with Iran, just as he did then [during his first term]. When he is in office, he will not enter a bad deal. He made it clear that any new agreement would not allow Iran to maintain a nuclear infrastructure."
"I don't think the Iranians have recovered from the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, and I believe Hizbullah will not recover from the assassination of Nasrallah. When dealing with Syria and any regime, you have to examine both intentions and capabilities. First, you remove the capabilities, and then you examine the intentions through diplomacy. Within 12 months, the seven-front war will end, and Israel will win. You will see many peace agreements. Many countries want to make peace. But the key to this is victory." (Israel Hayom)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran
- Negotiations with Iran Must Address Iranian Sponsorship of Terrorism - Matthew Levitt
The debate around the Trump administration's current negotiations with Iran focuses on curtailing or terminating Iranian uranium enrichment. But Iran's sponsorship of terrorism should be central to the talks as well.
After President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum in February reinstating "maximum pressure" on Iran, a White House fact sheet stated that the goal included not only denying Iran "all paths to a nuclear weapon," but also "countering Iran's malign influence abroad." Iranian support for terrorism was also a central component of Trump's decision in 2018 to pull out of the Obama deal - the JCPOA.
As long as any new deal is limited to the nuclear portfolio and does not cover Iran's other illicit activities, some sanctions will remain in place. There is a wide array of international sanctions on Iran which are intended to punish it for its support of terrorism, human rights abuses, and other issues.
Iran cannot enjoy the economic benefits it seeks while under sanction, and some sanctions will remain in place so long as Iran continues to engage in these illicit activities. The only way to square this circle is to expand negotiations to include not just nuclear weapons but Iranian sponsorship of terrorism as well.
The writer is director of the Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
U.S.-Israel Relations
- The Anti-Israel Stronghold inside the State Department - Jonathan S. Tobin
A band of activists seeking to delegitimize Israel's efforts to defend itself and acting as tacit advocates for Hamas in falsely depicting the war in Gaza and against other Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Yemen as acts of "genocide" have been operating from a base inside the U.S. government.
Thanks to a reorganization of the U.S. State Department announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that may now be coming to an end.
As Rubio explained, the State Department has operated several bureaus that "provided a fertile environment for activists to redefine 'human rights' and 'democracy'." Until now, no one in the White House or at the head of the State Department has tried to rein in what Rubio rightly termed "rogue" elements that have operated with impunity within the government.
Rubio is an ardent supporter of human rights and encouraged using American power to advocate for freedom abroad during his 14 years in the U.S. Senate. He has not changed his mind about the importance of the issue. Rather, he is attempting to rescue the cause of human rights and democracy from activists who have turned it into a crusade against Israel.
Under his plan, there will still be plenty of people at the State Department who will be tasked with monitoring human rights around the world and seeking to promote American values of liberty. The administration will also preserve the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. (JNS)
- How Israeli Military Technology Continues to Improve the U.S. Military - Maj. (ret.) John Spencer and Col. (ret.) Liam Collins
After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the U.S. Department of Defense commissioned 37 separate evaluations of the conflict. American military personnel walked the battlefields alongside Israeli commanders who had fought there, analyzing the strategies and technologies that enabled Israel to prevail against overwhelming odds. The lessons drawn from Israel's battlefield successes would profoundly shape U.S. military doctrine. New operational approaches emphasizing speed, firepower, and joint-force coordination would redefine modern warfare.
Since those studies, the U.S. military's enduring engagement with Israeli defense innovations continues to influence U.S. combat strategies and systems. From tank protection systems to artificial intelligence-powered warfare solutions, Israeli defense firms and research institutions have consistently delivered cutting-edge innovations that have found their way into the American military. The U.S. military has adopted many of Israel's systems and integrated them into combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and various counterterrorism operations worldwide.
The Emergency Bandage - a simple yet highly effective hemorrhage control dressing developed by an Israeli military medic - has saved countless American lives. First introduced in the 1990s, the bandage features a built-in pressure applicator that allows soldiers to treat severe wounds with one hand. It is now standard issue in the individual first aid kits of American soldiers, special operations forces, and first responders.
The Israeli military's adaptation of the D9 bulldozer into a heavily armored combat bulldozer offered a battlefield-tested model that directly influenced American operations in Iraq. In 2003, the U.S. military procured 14 Israeli-armored D9s for use in combat zones.
The Trophy Active Protection System (APS) has dramatically increased the survivability of armored platforms in combat, providing a layered defense against incoming anti-tank guided missiles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), automatically detecting, tracking, and intercepting threats before they reach the vehicle. The U.S. Army integrated the Trophy APS onto M1 Abrams main battle tanks beginning in 2018.
During the Iraq War, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) produced a majority of U.S. casualties. Having faced IED threats for years, Israel's counter-IED capability far exceeded that of the U.S. Israel shared these technologies, providing the U.S. with vehicle-mounted microwave devices. These devices helped jump-start U.S. counter-IED efforts.
Israel has pioneered cutting-edge counter-tunneling technologies, integrating ground-penetrating radar, seismic sensors, AI-driven detection systems, and rapid tunnel-neutralization techniques. Anti-tunnel cooperation has directly influenced U.S. border security strategies along the U.S.-Mexico border, where drug cartels and human smugglers have constructed increasingly sophisticated underground passages.
John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.
Liam Collins was the founding director of the Modern War Institute. (Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)
Europe-Israel Relations
- Macron Fights for a Palestinian State - Amb. Freddy Eytan
The process adopted by President Emmanuel Macron and French parliamentarians to end hostilities in the Middle East is unsuitable and unfeasible after the terrible event of Oct. 7, 2023. Since that horrific pogrom, the overwhelming majority of Israelis are fiercely opposed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israelis reject diktat, unnecessary risks, and suicide.
The cancellation of the visit to Israel by 17 French parliamentarians exposes trickery.
Their intentions were not to engage in dialogue, but to provoke and sow discord, and to demonstrate violently against Israeli policy. We deplore the role of the French Consulate General in Jerusalem, which for several years has transformed itself into a veritable "diplomatic representation to Palestine."
Without prior and serious consultation with the Israeli government, Macron launched a peace plan that clearly defines the final status before even being able to negotiate all the issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict. How dare Macron imagine the creation of a Palestinian state without a single legal-political attribute?
Who will lead this new state? Hamas, which already has a strong presence in Jenin and Hebron? Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, 89 years old? How can we not first condemn a Palestinian leader who continues to support incitement to hatred and terrorist acts by paying salaries to the perpetrators and their families? How can we not expose human rights violations, torture in Palestinian prisons, corruption, and the lack of transparency within Abbas's government?
It is clear that the creation of a Palestinian state is becoming a dangerous solution and an existential threat to Israel. It will encourage Islamist organizations to continue terrorist and antisemitic acts in Europe, particularly in France. Macron demonstrates France's disconnection from the realities of the Middle East.
The writer, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center, is a former Foreign Ministry senior adviser who was Israel's first ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Turkey
- Turkey's Expanding Military Footprint Threatens Israel - Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah
In recent years, Turkey has emerged as one of the most active military powers in the Middle East and Africa, establishing bases, deploying troops, and forging new military alliances from Cyprus, northern Iraq, and Syria to Somalia and Qatar, and from Libya to Chad. However, these moves bring Turkish forces potentially into conflict with other regional players, including Egypt and Israel.
Turkey maintains a strong and expanding military presence in northern Iraq in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Moreover, Turkey maintains tank battalions and special forces in northeast Iraq. In Syria, Turkey controls parts of the north and Turkey has posed itself as the protector of the new regime against Iranian subversion. In Qatar, Turkey has deployed 4,000 troops to the Tariq bin Ziyad base near Doha as an assertion of its role as a protector of its ideological ally.
Turkey operates its largest overseas military base in Somalia at Camp TURKSOM, near Mogadishu. Turkish troops are also deployed in the two mains cities of eastern Chad, Abeche and Faya Largeau, along the border with Sudan. Turkey maintains over 30,000 troops in Northern Cyprus, a symbol of the unresolved conflict since the 1974 division of the island.
Turkey's support for Hamas, its criticism of Israeli policies in Gaza and Jerusalem, and its ambitions in Syria are significant flashpoints in the Israel-Turkey equation. Israeli air operations in Syria - primarily targeting Iranian assets - frequently occur in airspace close to Turkish-controlled areas.
As Turkey deepens its entrenchment in Syria through new military outposts and intelligence activities, the risk of accidental or intentional encounters rises. Moreover, Turkish cooperation with anti-Israel actors could draw Israeli responses. Yet, a direct military clash between the two is unlikely in the short term. Both Ankara and Jerusalem are skilled at managing tensions through diplomatic channels.
The writer, a special analyst at the Jerusalem Center, was formerly Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Other Issues
- We Honor the Fallen with Unshakeable Determination - Editorial
This week, as sirens pierce the air, bringing an entire nation to a standstill, Israel stands united in grief on Remembrance Day - as we remember fallen soldiers and victims of terror. These sirens remind us with devastating clarity why Israel must remain resolute and strong in a region that has rarely allowed peace.
Critics fail to comprehend that Israel carries the sacred obligation to safeguard its people. International law does not demand suicidal generosity toward those who have written Israel's destruction into their founding charter. The same nations that condemn Israel would never allow aid to flow unchecked into territories controlled by forces planning their citizens' massacre.
Israelis remember the unbearable price paid - generation after generation - simply to have a state at all. Each name read aloud at memorial ceremonies tells the story of why Israel cannot bow to international pressure when it comes to the security of its people. Israelis stand at gravesides and reaffirm a painful truth learned through centuries of persecution: without strength, there is no Israel.
This Remembrance Day, Israelis honor their fallen not just with tears but with unshakable determination. They will continue to fight - with courage, with morality, and with unwavering strength - for their right to live freely in the only place they have ever truly called home. (Jerusalem Post)
- This Is a Fight for Basic Human Rights - Jennifer Hauth
The term "pro-Israel" should not exist. No one says "pro-humanity" or "pro-equality" because those are seen as basic human rights - they're automatic. According to the UN, "The right to self-determination [is] an integral element of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Why then do Israelis and Jews have to fight for a basic human right? Why is it a controversial opinion that we deserve the same fundamental freedoms given to literally every other group of people? It is worrisome that many people on college campuses cannot seem to agree that Jews deserve these basic human rights.
What has become mainstream is not support of human rights but the demonization of the Jewish state. I shouldn't have to fight for my right to exist. I shouldn't have to fight for my history to be remembered. I shouldn't have to fight for information to be factual.
The writer is a senior at San Jose State University. (Jewish News of Northern California)
Observations:
- The European countries currently leading the move to recognize a Palestinian state - France, Spain, Ireland, Norway - are not doing so in a rational political process, but due to domestic political pressure: tumultuous demonstrations, a public arena dominated by Muslim voices, and militant campuses.
- France has 6.8 million Muslims (10% of the population); 2.5-3 million Muslims live in Spain; Germany's Muslim population is 5.5 million.
- Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state has become an act of domestic appeasement. It is motivated by the need to appear moral, but ignores the destructive consequences – for Israel's security, regional stability, and for the future of the Palestinians themselves.
- The Western attempt to differentiate between the "jihadist terrorist" and the PLO-type "nationalist fighter" reflects a fundamental failure to understand the conflict. Both have the same underlying strategy: an ongoing struggle whose ultimate goal is not an accord but the destruction of the Zionist enemy.
- Even if Hamas temporarily disarms, is exiled, or is "distanced from the arena," its ethos will continue to thrive: in the mosques, the textbooks, the local police force, the discourse of the street. The struggle will not end.
- The budgets of both the PA and Hamas are based mainly on external aid. There is no effective taxation, independent central bank, or orderly economic policy. A state that is established in such a condition will be a completely dependent entity - not an independent, sovereign one.
- It will be both a terror state and an institutionally failed state that will soon become a plaything of external or internal forces.
As long as the Palestinian educational, religious, and media systems propagate a discourse of hate, supremacy, and victimhood, no society can be built when its language is one of perpetual conflict.
The writer, Senior Director for Security, Diplomacy, and Communications at the Jerusalem Center, has served in senior government positions for over 25 years.
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