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War Update: Operation Rising Lion: June 17, 2025

June 17, 2025 | Ahron Shapiro

Today’s AIJAC Iran war update once again brings you rare and exclusive…

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Five timely takes in the Hebrew media on the war with Iran

June 16, 2025 | Ahron Shapiro

At a time when Israeli cities are coming under unprecedently large and…

Image: Shutterstock

The humanitarian aid funding cuts you never heard about

June 13, 2025

Displaced Palestinians receive food in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip (Image: Anas Mohammed/ Shutterstock)

No, Gaza is not “the hungriest place on earth”

June 8, 2025

Image: Shutterstock

World a safer place if Iran doesn’t have nukes

June 18, 2025 | Oved Lobel

The most recent IAEA report in June said Iran had accumulated more than 400kg of 60% enriched uranium, an increase of nearly 50% since the IAEA’s February assessment and potentially enough for at least nine nuclear weapons. There’s no civilian use for such material…

Image: Shutterstock

Israel’s attack on Iran: The nuclear ‘point of no return’ and the operational window

June 17, 2025 | Ran Porat

Israel has taken a tremendous risk, aiming to place the final stamp on a dramatic shift in the regional balance of power. For this to happen, a diplomatic “end game” in the form of an agreement that eliminates Iran’s capacity to destabilise the region must follow the military campaign.

Image: Shutterstock

Peace first, then statehood

June 3, 2025 | Bren Carlill

Recognition would be a no-brainer if Palestine was a state. The 1938 Montevideo Convention provides the definition of statehood, and Palestine doesn’t meet it (and never has). Which means recognition is about messaging: a country recognises Palestine to reward it; punish Israel; and/or signal its virtue.

“Palestine” may have a flag, but it does not currently meet the criteria for statehood. Prematurely recognising it will not bring the day it does closer (Image: Shutterstock)

Nine reasons premature recognition would be bad for Palestine

May 28, 2025 | Bren Carlill

France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting a UN conference this month about creating a Palestinian state. Before or during the conference, France will likely recognise Palestine as a state, and is urging other countries to join it. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong keeps indicating she is considering similar recognition.

The raw anti-Israel hate on Western streets is a symptom of a deeper social malaise, writes Murray (Image: Shutterstock)

Biblio File: Israel and the pathologies of the West

May 28, 2025 | Peter Berkowitz

In On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, Douglas Murray excoriates the Western hypocrisy, mendacity and malignancy that fuel enthusiasm for Hamas’ butchery of Jewish civilians and antipathy toward Israel’s exercise of its right to self-defence.

A wounded Palestinian arrives at Al-Najjar Hospital in the Gaza Strip (Image: Anas Mohammed/ Shutterstock)

Scribblings: Interpreting Hamas’ casualty numbers

May 28, 2025 | Tzvi Fleischer

The Hamas statistics show that combat-age men are far more likely to be killed, compared to their proportion of the population, than women, children or the elderly. Hamas data doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the only sensible explanation for these numbers is that Israel is doing its best to target combatants.

The IDF’s new stategic plan calls for taking and holding Gaza regions until they can be completely cleared of Hamas fighters and infrastructure (Image: IDF)

“Gideon’s Chariots”

May 28, 2025

Trump’s surprise meeting with Syrian President and former jihadist Ahmed al-Shara’a (right), mediated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Israel now on the Road to Damascus? 

May 28, 2025

Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya has always rejected exile, but other Hamas leaders may be reconsidering (Image: Palestinian Information Center)

The Hamas deportation solution

May 28, 2025

“Operation Rough Rider” in the Red Sea (Image: US Navy)

A rough end to “Rough Rider” in Yemen

May 28, 2025

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher falsely claimed that 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours (Image: UN)

Deconstruction Zone: Stop quoting the UN

May 28, 2025

Vibrant community: An alumni reunion of Johannesburg’s Yeshiva College (Image: Yeshiva College)

The Last Word: South Africa to Australia and back again

May 28, 2025

The theft of aid by Hamas has gravely affected humanitarian efforts (Image: X)

Editorial: A new chapter

May 28, 2025

Image: Shutterstock

Noted and Quoted – June 2025

May 28, 2025

US President Trump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh (Image: Flickr)

Trump’s landmark visit to the Gulf

May 28, 2025