Israel
April 19, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Reports overnight indicate that Israel struck a military base in Isfahan from which Iran launched drones against Israel in last weekend’s massive Iranian attack. The Times of Israel story is posted here. The attack is described as “limited.” Reliable information about the attack is itself “limited.” There was a message or two or three in the attack. Yonah Jeremy Bob makes this point at the Jerusalem Post in his a
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April 17, 2024 — Scott Johnson
NRO staff reporter James Lynch embedded himself in the New York City edition of the April 15 Kill the Jews rallies staged by A15 around the United States on Monday. I wrote about the rallies yesterday in “From sea to shining sea.” NRO has published Lynch’s story in “‘Israel Is a Terrorist State’: Scenes from New York City’s Disruptive Anti-Israel Rally.” Lynch’s story reflects the hatreds coursing through the mob,
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April 16, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Two friends of mine comment on the Obama/Biden administration’s bizarre partiality toward Iran. In the New York Post, Glenn Reynolds writes: Post-[Iran’s] attack [on Israel]— going further yet beyond parody — the Biden administration’s chief effort has been aimed at demanding Israel not retaliate. That’s right. Israel has had more than a thousand of its citizens raped, tortured, murdered and kidnapped, it’s been subjected to a massive missile attack, and
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April 15, 2024 — Scott Johnson
When it comes to Iran’s massive missile and drone attack on Israel this past Saturday evening, President Biden has instructed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to let bygones be bygones. I don’t think he cited Sun Tzu in support of the Biden doctrine, but the White House has not released a readout of Biden’s call to Netanyahu following the attack. Rather, the White House released this statement publicly seeking to deter
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April 14, 2024 — John Hinderaker
That’s a post title you won’t often see on this site! I want to move on to Iran, but first, what did Joe Biden actually tell Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday? I can’t see that an official readout of the conversation has been published, but this account, based on conversation with a “senior White House official,” seems as authoritative as any: Biden told Netanyahu the joint defensive efforts by Israel, the
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April 14, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The Iranian regime has been at war with Israel, the United States, and the West roughly since the Ayatollah overthrew the Shah of Iran. It is not a war that Israel has chosen. It is a war that has been thrust upon it by a regime of genocidal maniacs. Thirty years after the fact the Court of Cassation in Buenos Aires issued a ruling blaming Iran for bombing the Asociación
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April 13, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Would that President Biden had not warned the Iranian regime not to attack Israel with his pitiful “don’t” yesterday. In Bidenspeak, “don’t” is an invitation. It something like the shout-out for contestants to “come on down” on The Price Is Right. And as night follows day, the Iranian regime has launched a large drone attack on Israel from Iranian territory. At the moment the targets are unclear. Among the many
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April 13, 2024 — Steven Hayward
It is hard to conclude from media accounts exactly what is up between Israel and Iran right now, because for all of the leaked and disclosed information, there is always more going on behind the scenes that we never find out about for a long time. But this news item just breaking a couple hours ago seems possibly significant: Biden Rushes Back to White House as Iran Weighs Attack on
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April 12, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Aaron MacLean is host of the School of War podcast and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Before that, Aaron worked on Capitol Hill as senior foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Senator Tom Cotton and served on active duty as a U.S. Marine for seven years, deploying to Afghanistan as an infantry officer in 2009–2010. Following his time in the operating forces, he was
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April 11, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Tucker Carlson must be one of the most popular conservative commentators in the country. His show on X attracts clicks by the hundreds of thousands. This week he sought falsely to blacken Israel’s reputation by promoting the views of a Bethlehem pastor that Israel mistreats Christiand. In so doing, he obviously seeks to drive wedge between Israel and Christian supporters of Israel. While Israel is engaged in a fight for
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April 10, 2024 — Scott Johnson
In an interview that was recorded last week but aired last night on Univision — transcript and video here — President Biden criticized Israel’s conduct of the war and called for a ceasefire without tying the demand to the release of the hostages held by Hamas. Indeed, the name “Hamas” does not appear in the interview. “Well, I will tell you, I think what [Prime Minister Netanyahu is] doing is
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April 10, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Tucker Carlson devoted the October 9 episode of his X show to the Hamas/Israel war. He opened by searching for “the wise path forward” and asking what we should “do next in this chaotic moment.” For some reason, he didn’t directly answer his own question. We were to infer, however, that it’s none of our business. It might be best to avert our eyes. “War begets more war,” he advised.
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April 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The site formerly known as Twitter covers a lot of news that you won’t easily find anywhere else, if at all. When it comes to the Hamas-Israel conflict, most of it is of the heartbreaking or infuriating variety. The tweet below, for example, falls into both categories — “Hamas Negotiators have reportedly told International Meditators in Cairo that it has No Ability to Release the 40 Hostages in the Humanitarian
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April 7, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Very discouraging news out of Israel today that the IDF is pulling its forces out of southern Gaza, supposedly to “rest, regroup, and re-supply” after four months of hard fighting. Let us hope this is true, but one can’t help but suspect that this move may be in response to demands from the Biden Administration that will inevitably lead to a permanent cease-fire which will amount to a Hamas victory,
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April 7, 2024 — Scott Johnson
President Biden used the IDF’s accidental killing of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza to demand that Israel capitulate to Hamas. That’s my translation of the White House readout of Biden’s April 4 phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I posted the crucial excerpt here last week. I also noted that Secretary of State Blinken added a twist in his April 4 press conference. He declared that
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April 5, 2024 — Scott Johnson
We have traced President Biden’s retreat from the public defense of Israel in its war on Hamas to his adoption of the Hamas line. He has now taken up the strategery of Dr. Jill to demand an immediate ceasefire. The White House readout of Biden’s call yesterday with Prime Minister Netanyahu has Biden demanding Israel’s agreement to Hamas’s terms: [Biden] made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement
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April 1, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The IDF has struck the IRGC’s Syria/Lebanon leadership inside the building next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus. The strike reportedly killed seven members of the IRGC including the top Iranian commander in Syria. If so, that would be seven for the price of one. The Times of Israel reports the story here. The Israelis have awesome intelligence. Israel cannot live with the daily attacks from Hezbollah across its northern border.
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