Hezbollah
June 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The terms of the Memorandum of Understanding to the contrary notwithstanding, the IDF continues at least some of its efforts to remove the threat of Hezbollah from its northern border with Lebanon. Havind discovered a massive underground weapons cache in recent days, the IDF destroyed if on Sunday evening after warning Israelis that the resulting explosion might feel like an earthquake. The explosion could be heard across northern Israel. Now
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June 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Vice President Vance unloaded on Israel in a White House press conference (video here, transcript here) and other media appearances yesterday. He called out “people within Bibi’s cabinet” — let’s just say Israel — for attacking President Trump personally over the deal. I don’t think they have done that, but that’s what the man said. He called out Israeli forces for wanton killing in Lebanon while defending Israel against Hezbollah.
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June 9, 2026 — Scott Johnson
In the early days of Israel’s war on Hamas after 10/7, we frequently relied on the assessments of IDF Lieutenant Colonel (reserve) Jonathan Conricus to understand the state of play. Conricus was the IDF spokesman then. He is now a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Via X, this is his current assessment of the new status quo — he calls it “the interim score” — following this
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April 17, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is commonly referred to as Iran’s proxy. I don’t know, maybe they have been admitting it all along. But I found this to be clarifying: Hezbollah will “never, ever disarm… not until a proper ceasefire, a real one,” said Wafiq Safa, a senior leader of the militant group. *** Hezbollah and Iran are “two souls in one body,” Safa added. “There can be no Hezbollah without Iran,
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April 16, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Democratic Party has become the anti-Israel party. I think that means they have become the anti-American party as well. although they have been that for a while now. Mark Penn observes on X that this is a critical moment in the war with Iran. Whoever is running the show over there has to decide whether to fold or attack America’s ships. Penn asks, “And so what do Democrats do?
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April 16, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The State Department hosted a meeting earlier this week with the participation of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Counselor Michael Needham, United States Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Issa, Ambassador of Israel to the United States Yechiel Leiter, and Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad. This meeting marked the first major high-level engagement between the governments of Israel and Lebanon since 1993. Can’t we all just get
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April 11, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Borrowing a phrase Yeats’s poem “Sailing to Byzantium,” I want to flag Brendan O’Neill’s Spiked interview with historian and former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. Spiked itself flags the interview as “We can’t make peace with a terrorist state.” I have posted video at the bottom. In the interview O’Neill and Oren take up where we were, where we are, and what lies ahead in our conflict
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April 10, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday Israeli journalist Amit Segal joined CNN International’s One World With Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga to discuss Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. We all missed it, but Segal has posted the video clip on his YouTube channel. I touch on the issue in the adjacent post. The ladies of CNN International channel the opinions and attitude that are suffocating us right now. Segal addresses their questions in the
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April 1, 2026 — Scott Johnson
“Michigan man” Ayman Ghazali had mass murder on his mind and all the equipment necessary to commit it when he plowed into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan on March 12. In doing so, he was inspired by Hezbollah to kill as many Jews as possible. He assidously sought out the site and gathered the means. On Monday Detroit FBI Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan called a press conference
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March 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The photo of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali all but shrieks, “Don’t Cry For Me, New York Times.” The Times, however, wanted it known that the guy with mass murder on his mind — the mass murder of Jewish children at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan — was just a grieving family guy. He was grieving the loss of his Hezbollah brother and wanting to contribute to the cause in his
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March 16, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Under three bylines, the Wall Street Journal reported on its news pages in its March 14 edition: The family of the man who rammed his vehicle into a synagogue outside Detroit was recently killed in Lebanon by an Israeli attack, officials said. Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old who was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. citizen in 2016, died in Thursday’s attack at Temple Israel, a Reform Jewish synagogue
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March 8, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Matthew Chance is a British journalist working for CNN as the network’s Chief Global Affairs Correspondent. Chance is working his global beat as Israel is engaged in efforts to suppress Hezbollah’s attacks on the northern part of the country emanating from Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the video below, historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States comments on Chance’s report from Lebanon. Oren comments on Chance’s blinkered coverage of
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August 9, 2025 — Scott Johnson
In Israel’s death struggle with Hamas, we have seen the organs of the mainstream press emerge as instruments and mouthpieces of genocidal terrorists. This week the Associated Press delivered another classic installment of Sympathy for the Devil in “Survivors of Israel’s pager attack on Hezbollah struggle to recover,” by Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb. Would that the perceptive Mr. Jagger could add a verse to the song in honor
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July 8, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Tablet’s The Scroll — I don’t know where it is now to be found online — has just adopted a Quote of the Day in the spirit of our own occasional series. Today it highlights Great Moments in Trump Officials Saying Random Stuff Disconnected From Policy. Park MacDougald recognizes U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack on Monday, speaking to reporters after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun: “Hezbollah is a
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April 8, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday I posted video of Gadi Taub’s March 28 interview with Prime Minister Netanyahu — the latest episode of the Israel Update series on which Michael Doran usually joins Taub. In the interview Netanyahu walks us through all the major decisions that shaped the Iron Swords war thus far. The interview is conducted in Hebrew and posted with English subtitles. This is a remarkably illuminating document on the critical decisions
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April 7, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Gadi Taub is an author, historian, and columnist as well as co-host (with Michael Doran) of Tablet’s Israel Update podcast. Last week I recommended his Tablet column “Netanyahu Takes On Israel’s Deep State” for its understanding of the internal political turmoil that is roiling Israel. On March 9, Quillette’s Pamela Paresky sat down with Taub in Tel Aviv to discuss the war in Gaza, the failures of Israel’s security establishment,
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December 9, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Close observers can tell that alleged President Biden is on his way out the door some time soon. He’s letting his forehead go to hell, as one can see in the video (below) of his statement yesterday afternoon on developments in Syria. He appears to have abandoned the Botox injections now that his exit from the White House is imminent, though it cannot come soon enough. In his statement Biden
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