NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up June 20, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Note: The annual Christians United for Israel Summit [“Together, we will make Israel stronger and her people safer as we obey the Biblical mandate to bless God’s Chosen“] will take place in DC June 29 – July 1, including lots of lobbying Congress [“visit your elected officials on Capitol Hill with other constituents from your state to advocate for Israel and the Jewish people.“] Watch the intro video to the summit here (these folks pull no punches in telling the world who they are and what they are doing — people would do well to pay attention/believe them).
REGION/GLOBAL
Trump to decide on Iran action within two weeks, White House says (Axios 6/19/25)
‘”I have a message directly from the president: ‘Based on the fact that there is a chance for substantial negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision on whether or not to go within the next two weeks,'” [White House press secretary Karoline] Leavitt said at Thursday’s White House briefing.” See also Regime change emerges as unstated goal of Israel’s war in Iran (Axios 6/17/25); Trump demands Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’ and says US won’t kill supreme leader ‘for now’ (The Guardian 6/17/25); Donald Trump not seeking ceasefire but wants ‘complete give-up’ by Iran (The Guardian 6/17/25); Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader – report (The Guardian 6/15/25); If the U.S. joins Israeli attacks, Iran will retaliate ‘wherever we find the targets,’ an official says.; (NYT 6/18/25); Iran Rejects Trump’s Call for ‘Surrender’ in War With Israel (NYT 6/18/25); Iran’s Khamenei threatens US with ‘irreparable damage’ if Trump joins war (Al Monitor 6/18/25); Hezbollah vows loyalty to Khamenei as Iran-Israel war approaches week 2 (Al Monitor 6/19/25);
The U.S. could join Israel’s war with Iran to deploy this 30,000-pound bomb
“A 30,000-pound bomb might be the most important weapon for Israel’s war with Iran — and it’s in the U.S. military’s hands…The U.S. alone possesses the world’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb — and it’s uniquely capable of targeting key Iranian facilities that Israel can’t hit with its own weapons…The bomb in question is 30,000 pounds and precision-guided: the GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, also known as the “MOP.”…Iran’s Fordow facility is built into a mountain and hundreds of feet underground — the kind of fortress the MOP is designed to penetrate…”The entire operation … really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told Fox News on Friday.” See also US targets Iran’s defense industry with sanctions as Trump weighs strikes (Al Monitor 6/20/25); ‘I’ve had it’: Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ Iran nuclear sites (Al Monitor 6/18/25); US dispatches second aircraft carrier toward Middle East as Israel-Iran strikes escalate (Al Monitor 6/16/25); A Long Way Down: What It Takes to Hit Iran’s Deepest Nuclear Site (NYT 6/20/25); From Beersheba to Babylon: Netanyahu casts himself as liberator of Iran (The Guardian 6/19/25)
What Iran’s hospital strike reveals about Israel’s missile defense limits (Al Monitor 6/19/25)
“Iran’s strike on Beersheba’s Soroka hospital on Thursday, which severely damaged a building, underscores the limitations of Israel’s vaunted aerial defense system in intercepting every ballistic missile fired at the country…Tehran has launched more than 450 missiles at Israeli cities since last Friday. Of those, some 50 missiles got past Israeli air defense systems, striking buildings or landing in open spaces, according to Ynet. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that close to 90% of the Iranian missiles launched since Friday were intercepted, though significant damage has been caused to civilian infrastructure and 24 people have been killed by the missile barrages.” See also Israel calls Iran’s hospital missile strike war crime, vows escalation (Al Monitor 6/19/25); Iran’s barrages hit at least 10 Israeli cities, towns: What to know (Al Monitor 6/16/25); Israeli minister says Khamenei ‘can no longer be allowed to exist’ after hospital strike (Guardian 6/19/25); IDF chief says Israelis must prepare for ‘prolonged campaign’ against Iran (Times of Israel 6/20/25); Israel’s Military Says Iran Struck Israel With Missile Armed With Cluster Munitions (NYT 6/19/25); Will Israel’s Interceptors Outlast Iran’s Missiles? The Answer May Shape the War. (NYT 6/19/25); Israelis reeling from Iranian barrages brace for a new kind of war (WaPo 6/17/25);
Crypto looted, TV hijacked: Iran grapples with wave of cyberstrikes (Al Monitor 6/19/25)
“The war between Israel and Iran is being fought not just in the air with missiles and drones, but also online, with cyberattacks and psychological intimidation.” See also Pro-Israel hackers claim cyberattack on Iranian bank (Axios 6/17/25); A hacking group steals at least $90 million from Iranian crypto exchange in cyberattack. (NYT 6/18/25); Israeli Strikes in Iran Killed 639 People, Including 263 Civilians, U.S. Rights Group Says (Haaretz 6/19/25);
Israel bombs Iranian state TV during live broadcast (Axios 6/16/25)
“Iranian state television was broadcasting live on Monday when a massive explosion rocked the studio, with the anchor fleeing her desk amid smoke and rubble. The broadcast then went dark…Israel’s strike on the IRIB state media building signaled a broadening of its bombing campaign in Iran…The Israeli military had claimed it was only striking targets connected to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. But Israel has now issued several evacuation orders for civilians in Tehran, in areas where hundreds of thousands of people live…Israel’s strikes have killed around 250 Iranians since Friday, according to the health ministry. Iran’s missile strikes on Israel have killed 24 Israelis, according to the Israeli emergency service. Iranian missiles hit Israel’s oil refinery in Haifa on Monday…The Israeli military says it has full control of the airspace over Tehran after knocking out Iran’s air defense systems.” See also State TV to IRGC elite: Here are Israel’s main targets in Iran war (Al Monitor 6/16/25); Iranian opposition supporters grapple with US and Israeli regime change plans (The Guardian 6/18/25);
Tehran is about as densely populated as New York City. (NYT 6/18/25)
“Israel has expanded its attacks on Iran’s densely populated capital city, in recent days warning many of Tehran’s residents to evacuate ahead of strikes. With around 10 million people within its nearly 300 square miles, according to the C.I.A. World Factbook, Tehran is comparable in density to New York City. About one in 10 Iranians lives in Tehran proper, and millions more live in its greater metropolitan area. Photos and videos taken in the capital in recent days show long lines of cars at gas stations and congested traffic on the roads as people try to flee…President Trump also warned in a Truth Social post that the entire population of Tehran should “immediately evacuate.”’ See also Israeli Strikes Kill Civilians Across Iran (NYT 6/18/25); Israel Expands Attack to Include Iran’s Oil and Gas Industry (NYT 6/14/25); Israel Diminished Iran’s Air Defenses in Rounds of Strikes (NYT 6/15/25);
U.S. Spy Agencies Assess Iran Remains Undecided on Building a Bomb (NYT 6/19/25)
“U.S. intelligence agencies continue to believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to make a nuclear bomb even though it has developed a large stockpile of the enriched uranium necessary for it to do so, according to intelligence and other American officials. That assessment has not changed since the intelligence agencies last addressed the question of Iran’s intentions in March, the officials said, even as Israel has attacked Iranian nuclear facilities. Senior U.S. intelligence officials said that Iranian leaders were likely to shift toward producing a bomb if the American military attacked the Iranian uranium enrichment site Fordo or if Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader. The question of whether Iran has decided to complete the work of building a bomb is irrelevant in the eyes of many Iran hawks in the United States and Israel, who say Tehran is close enough to represent an existential danger to Israel. But it has long been a flashpoint in the debate over policy toward Iran and has flared again as President Trump weighs whether to bomb Fordo.” See also Mossad says Iran 15 days from bomb, US agencies still say up to a year – report (TOI 6/20/25); As Israel Targets Iran’s Nuclear Program, It Has a Secret One of Its Own (NYT 6/17/25); Israeli strikes have not knocked out Iran’s nuclear programme – or its nuclear ambitions (The Guardian 6/18/25)
Macron lays out broad European offer for Iran to end war with Israel (The Guardian 6/20/25)
“Europe is to make Iran a comprehensive offer to end its war with Israel that would include an Iranian move to zero uranium enrichment, restrictions on its ballistic missile programme and an end to Tehran’s funding of terrorist groups, Emmanuel Macron has said…Macron aired his ideas on Friday as European foreign ministers held talks with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in Geneva. It is the first time Araghchi has met western-based diplomats in person since the launch of the surprise Israeli offensive against Iran a week ago. Araghchi has spoken this week by phone to the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and has told him he will not revive US-Iran talks in person until Israel ends its strikes.” See also Mapping strikes in the Israel-Iran conflict (WaPo 6/20/25)
Germany’s Merz says Israel ‘doing dirty work for all of us’ in Iran (DW 6/17/25)
“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed respect for Israel’s attack on Iran, calling it a service to Western allies. “This is the dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us,” Merz said Tuesday on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF. “We are also victims of this regime. This mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world,” he added. “I can only say: the greatest respect for the fact that the Israeli army and the Israeli leadership had the courage to do this.” Merz said Israel’s attacks on Iran could lead to the downfall of the Islamic Republic’s leadership.” See also These countries are harshly critical of Israel in Gaza but have its back with Iran. Why? (Ron Kampeas//JTA 6/16/25); Alarming Signs Spurred Israel to Bomb Iran – and Its Arab Neighbors to Cheer It On (Amos Harel//Haaretz 6/20/25)
GAZA
‘The Hunger Games’: Inside Israel’s aid death traps for starving Gazans (Ahmed Ahmed and Ibtisam Mahdi//+972 Magazine 6/20/25)
“After two months without a single drop of food, medicine, or fuel entering Gaza, a trickle of white flour and canned goods has been allowed in since late May. Most of it has gone to sites in Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), guarded by private American security contractors and Israeli soldiers…Starving civilians gather in massive crowds, waiting for permission to approach. In many instances, Israeli troops have opened fire on the masses — and even during distribution itself — killing dozens as they try to collect a few kilos of flour or canned goods to bring home in what Palestinians have dubbed “The Hunger Games.” Since May 27, well over 400 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 wounded while waiting for aid, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basel. The deadliest single attack on aid seekers occurred on June 17, when Israeli forces fired tank shells, machine guns, and drones into a crowd of Palestinians in Khan Younis, killing 70 and injuring hundreds.” See also Dozens more people killed or injured seeking aid in Gaza (The Guardian 6/19/25); At least 37 Palestinians killed in Gaza food site shooting, local authorities say (The Guardian 6/16/25); 50 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in Gaza, Many Near Aid Sites While Seeking Food, Ministry Says (Haaretz 6/16/25); At least 35 killed in new Israeli attack on Gaza aid seekers (Al Jazeera 6/20/25); Israel Turns Gaza Aid Distribution Sites Into Open Killing Fields (Hamza M.Salha and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 6/20/25); A Fatal Failure: Israel’s Gaza Aid Policy Leaves Dozens Killed Daily as They Seek Food (Haaretz 6/18/25);
Unicef warns children could die of thirst in Gaza amid collapse of water systems (The Guardian 6/20/25)
“The collapse of water systems in Gaza is threatening the territory with devastating drought as well as hunger, Unicef has warned, as medics reported that Israel had killed more desperate Palestinians seeking aid…There is also an acute shortage of fuel, which is needed for pumps on boreholes and Gaza’s sole remaining desalination plant. None has been allowed into Gaza since the collapse of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in March. Elder added: “We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza. Children will begin to die of thirst … Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional.”’
Rafah Is Gone. Razed to the Ground. And It’s Not the Only City Wiped Out by the Israeli Army (Haaretz 6/12/25)
“On the eve of the war, the Rafah metropolitan area in Gaza had a population of 275,000. Jabalya refugee camp had 56,000 residents. Beit Lahia had 108,000. Today, those are little more than ruins. The scale of destruction wrought by Israel stands out even among the most extreme wartime cases in modern history…Effectively, the proportion of structures that have been eradicated in Rafah and in Jabalya refugee camp is higher than what was destroyed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Egypt’s Crackdown on the Global March to Gaza (Ahmed Dahaby//Drop Site 6/14/25)
“Egyptian authorities are cracking down on hundreds of international activists who arrived in the country to take part in a planned march to the Rafah border crossing and call for an end to Israel’s siege of Gaza. The grassroots movement, called the Global March to Gaza, made repeated requests for permission at Egyptian embassies abroad in the days and weeks leading up to the planned action to cross into Sinai and gather in al-Arish for the march. But, according to organizers, Egypt has refused authorization and participants from 80 countries arriving in Cairo this week have instead been subject to hotel raids, harassment, arrests, and deportations.” See also Trump’s Yemen bombings killed nearly as many civilians as 23 previous years of US attacks, analysis shows (The Guardian 6/18/25)
RIVER TO THE SEA
Unprotected from Iranian missiles, Palestinians in Israel decry neglect (Baker Zoubi//+972 Magazine 6/17/25)
“The tragedy suffered by the Khatib family, who join some 20 other casualties of Iranian missiles in Israel since the Israeli army launched its attack on Iran last Friday morning, exposed once again the systemic inequality inherent in Israel’s civil defense infrastructure. According to a 2018 State Comptroller’s report, 60 out of 71 Arab municipalities in Israel have no public shelters. Tamra, a city of 37,000 residents, is one of them. For comparison, Safed, a Jewish city of similar size (about 42,000 residents), has 138 public shelters…At-home safe rooms (which are known in Hebrew as a “Mamad”, and considered less effective at withstanding blasts than larger public shelters) are few and far between in Arab towns and cities. Under Israeli law, safe rooms cannot be built in houses that were constructed without the necessary permit. Yet many Palestinian families in Israel are forced to build without permits due to discriminatory housing policies that make it almost impossible to build legally in Arab municipalities…Urban renewal projects, which require the building of safe rooms in new homes, could offer a partial solution — but according to the NGO Sikkuy-Aufoq, not a single urban renewal project was approved in an Arab town between 2010 and 2023, compared to more than 5,600 projects in Jewish communities.”
With Iran war as pretext, Israel suffocates the West Bank (Shatha Yaish//+972 Magazine 6/19/25)
“After striking Tehran, the army closed hundreds of gates to seal Palestinians inside towns and strand them on roads — proof of annexation in all but name.”
U.S. SCENE
Mahmoud Khalil To Be Released From ICE Detention (Zeteo 6/20/25)
“On Friday, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered Palestinian Columbia University student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil to be released from ICE detention on bail. Khalil, a green card holder, was detained by masked immigration agents in the lobby of his Columbia-owned housing in March. Khalil’s arrest was the first in a string of abductions that expanded into a much larger operation against student protesters and international students generally. The Trump administration targeted Khalil on the spurious and previously little-tested grounds that he was compromising US foreign policy – a determination made personally by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Khalil, as with other students and academics targeted in this way, was not accused of committing an actual crime.”
Americans largely disapprove of U.S. involvement in Israel and Iran war: Poll (Axios 6/19/25)
“60% of 1,512 polled Americans think the U.S. military should not get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released this week. Only 16% support U.S. military action, and 24% are unsure. That largely holds up across party lines, with 65% of Democrats, 61% of independents and 53% of Republicans opposing U.S. military intervention in Iran…Similarly, most Americans think the U.S. should engage in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program — that’s true across 58% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans.”
Tucker Carlson splits from Trump, advocates ‘dropping Israel’ (JI 6/13/25)
““If Israel wants to wage this war, it has every right to do so. It is a sovereign country, and it can do as it pleases,” Carlson wrote of Israel’s preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “But not with America’s backing.”’ See also The key moments from the testy Tucker Carlson-Ted Cruz showdown (JI 6/18/25); Far left and far right converge in opposition to U.S. involvement in Israel-Iran war (JI 6/17/25); As Trump signals willingness to join Iran fight, tensions roil MAGA movement (JTA 6/17/25);
Trump’s Iran War Critics on the Home Front: MAGA Warriors and Progressive Democrats (Ben Samuels//Haaretz 6/17/25)
“An inorganic coalition of prominent far-right isolationists and progressive Democrats are quickly consolidating as the limited yet vocal opposing force to U.S. President Donald Trump’s potential decision to strike Iran. The lawmakers from opposing sides of the aisle – who find themselves at bitter loggerheads over virtually every other policy matter – are jointly warning that Trump cannot unilaterally decide to start a war without Congressional approval, and that it is not in America’s best policy interest to enter another significant military conflagration in the Middle East. The coalition is further united in its belief that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a bad-faith actor who is manipulating Trump into advancing Israel’s policy goals at the expense of American interests. Senator Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate, introduced a war powers resolution that would require prompt debate and voting on any U.S. military force against Iran…Following Kaine’s privileged resolution – meaning it must be debated and voted upon once Kaine pulls the trigger – several Senate Democrats introduced the No War Against Iran Act, which would prohibit the use of federal funds for military force in or against Iran absent specific Congressional authorization…Representative Thomas Massie, the House Republican who is the greatest enemy of the pro-Israel establishment within the GOP, and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna introduced Tuesday a bipartisan war powers resolution as counterpart to Kaine’s effort.” See also How Democratic Party Leaders Quietly Support Trump’s March to War With Iran (The Intercept 6/19/25); Several Progressive Jewish Groups Refuse to Back Israel’s ‘Defensive Actions’ Against Iran (Haaretz 6/18/25); AIPAC Demands Democrats “Stand With Israel” on Iran (Drop Site 6/18/25);
Australian deported from US says he was ‘targeted’ due to writing on pro-Palestine student protests (The Guardian 6/15/25)
“An Australian man who was detained upon arrival at Los Angeles airport and deported back to Melbourne says United States border officials told him it was due to his writing on pro-Palestine protests by university students…“The CBP explicitly said to me, the reason you have been detained is because of your writing on the Columbia student protests,” he told Guardian Australia on Sunday.” See also How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation (Alistair Kitchen//New Yorker 6/19/25); U.S. to Review Social Media Posts of Student and Scholar Visa Applicants (NYT 6/18/25);
The Secret Operation Funneling Foreign Cash to Israel’s Far-right, via a Settlement Home (Haaretz 6/14/25)
“From his home in the settlement of Efrat, Jay Marcus transfers hundreds of millions of shekels from anonymous sources to settler organizations, anti-LGBTQ groups and regime-coup supporters. The budget of his family fund is three times greater than that of the left-wing New Israel Fund”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Crimes of the Century: How Israel, with the help of the U.S., broke not only Gaza but the foundations of humanitarian law. (Suzy Hansen//New York Magazine 6/16/25)
“But what then of the psychology of those sending the weapons? Do the Americans believe the killing is justified? After decades of superpower status and 25 years of the “War on Terror,” has human suffering as a means to unending dominion simply become justifiable in the American psychology? Gaza has by now become part of the American story, and it is not surprising that it mirrors the contradictions of U.S. history, with the protection of one minority group and the elimination of another. The Americans and the Israelis have created a world in which such hypocrisy is endemic: Children are terrorists, safe zones are killing fields, and the norms to protect civilians against violence are used to annihilate them. The U.S. might have long been on the same page as Netanyahu’s Israel, but, perhaps faster than it recognized, Netanyahu became Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, so the U.S. too is a far-right country, one that is fanatical and inured to death.”
Can the United States Really Be Marching Toward This Madness Again? (Yousef Munayyer//TNR 6/19/25)
“The eerie echoes of Iraq and 2003 are numerous. But there are some key differences—and they make going into Iran an even greater act of folly.”
There Is No Such Thing as a Quick U.S. War on Iran (Murtaza Hussain and Mahmoud Shaban//Drop Site 6/18/25);
“Israel has framed the U.S. entering the fray as a way to bring its conflict with Iran to a quick conclusion. But, absent an immediate Iranian diplomatic capitulation, a U.S. attack would likely only be a prelude to a much longer and drawn-out military engagement with Iran. A U.S. war with Iran focused on stopping Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, rather than beginning and ending with the destruction of Fordow, would need to extend to a much broader campaign of searching for and destroying new and undisclosed nuclear sites across the country, particularly as Iran is likely to respond to an attack by diverting nuclear equipment to other sites across its vast territory…Despite their statements about the nuclear program and desire for U.S. help in addressing it, Israeli officials have been open that their own objectives are much broader. In recent days, Israeli officials have suggested that their real aim is U.S.-supported “regime change” in Iran, or even the wholesale partition and destruction of the country itself, for which Tel Aviv would require U.S. military assistance over an extended period.”
Israel’s greatest threat isn’t Iran or Hamas, but its own hubris (Orly Noy//+972 Magazine 6/15/25)
“We Israelis must understand — we are not immune. A people whose entire existence depends solely on military might is destined to end up in the darkest corners of destruction, and ultimately, in defeat. If we haven’t learned this most basic lesson from the past two years, let alone the past eighty, then we are truly lost. Not because of Iran’s nuclear program or Palestinian resistance, but because of the blind, arrogant hubris that has taken hold of an entire nation.”
No War With Iran Will Erase Israel’s Crimes in Gaza. Don’t Get Distracted (Michael Sfard//Haaretz 6/16/25)
“No war with Iran will erase our crimes in Gaza…Look at the satellite photos. This is us, the 21st-century people of Israel. We erase cities, destroy towns, pulverize villages. There’s no military explanation that could even come close to justifying this destruction, which, legally speaking, is a blatant crime. And we haven’t even mentioned yet the starvation tactics and the weaponizing of humanitarian aid to perpetrate a population transfer. Generations of Israelis will have to live with the mark of Cain we have put on ourselves through our actions. These deeds are in the best case crimes against humanity and war crimes, and in the worst case they raise suspicions of genocide. So forgive me if my greatest fear about the war with Iran is that the little international and domestic opposition there was to the ethnic cleansing and mass killing in Gaza will dissipate.”
The Tangled Knot of Anti-Zionist Violence (Daniel May//Jewish Currents 6/11/25)
“Yet those seeking to hold specific individuals and institutions accountable for their support for the ongoing destruction in Gaza will get no help from the Jewish world, whose representatives continually insist that there is no difference between a synagogue service, a march for hostages, or an AJC event for diplomats—or that a municipal ceasefire resolution, a college protest encampment, and a firebombing at a peaceful march are all, equally, signs of pernicious anti-Jewish hatred. The terrible irony is while such declarations are made in the name of Jewish security, they do nothing to make Jews safer. By reinforcing the view that Jews are at risk no matter where they live and no matter what they do or say, such calls distract from addressing the conditions that produce such violence. Rather than demanding generic support for “the fight against antisemitism,” those looking to actually protect Jews will eventually need to turn their eyes from the violence of recent attacks towards the bombing and starvation of millions in Gaza. Doing so will require recognizing recent attacks not as evidence of an eternal hatred but as destructive responses to an unconscionable war.”
Why everything Israelis think they know about Iran is wrong (Orly Noy interviews Lior Sternfeld//+972 6/20/25)
“The fantasy that an Iranian opposition will seize this moment to overthrow the regime and free the country from the Ayatollahs’ grip is also gaining traction in Israeli public discourse, as can be heard in nearly every TV panel discussion. But for Professor Lior Sternfeld, who teaches the modern history of Iran at Penn State University, this is a complete delusion, resting on the distorted Israeli perception of the political relevance of the Iranian opposition in the diaspora. “In Israel, the voices being amplified are those of Reza Pahlavi [the exiled Iranian crown prince] and his supporters — people with no real credibility or influence inside Iran,” he told +972 Magazine in an interview. “In the past 10 years, a lot of money has been invested in building up his image, and suddenly he’s gone from being seen as a sixty-something slacker to a crown prince with a whole kingdom behind him.”’
Netanyahu’s Iran gambit aimed to realign the world behind Israel. It may backfire (Amos Brison interviews Ori Goldberg//+972 Magazine 6/17/25)
“For Iran expert Ori Goldberg, Israel overreached in starting a war with Tehran, and can only avoid getting bogged down by dragging the West into the conflict.”