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
See also Cutting Through (Mitchell Plitnick Interviews Lara Friedman on 6/25/25)
Jewish Anti-Zionism and the American Left (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with author Benjamin Balthaser about the history of Jewish anti-Zionism, its current forms in the US – whether it emerges from a more religious Jewish tradition or a more socialist, internationalist tradition – and what it means for the emerging Democratic socialist coalition in the US.
How Iranians Have Reacted to the US & Israeli Attacks (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist Negar Mortazavi about Iranian reactions to the recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. They discuss how Iranians rallied around the nation, not the regime; Iranian anger at Israel; and the level and manner of control that the Iranian regime maintains.
GAZA
‘It’s a Killing Field’: IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid (Haaretz 6/27/25)
“Israeli soldiers in Gaza told Haaretz that the army has deliberately fired at Palestinians near aid distribution sites over the past month. Conversations with officers and soldiers reveal that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear they posed no threat…According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 549 people have been killed near aid centers and in areas where residents were waiting for UN food trucks since May 27. Over 4,000 have been wounded, but the exact number of those killed or injured by IDF fire remains unclear…In a statement released following publication of this exposé, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz rejected the claims, which they called “blood libels.”’ See also Israeli Soldiers Killed at Least 410 People at Food Aid Sites in Gaza This Month (The Intercept 6/27/25); IDF confirms probe into killings near Gaza aid site, denies troops ordered to shoot civilians (TOI 6/27/25); Israeli-US food distribution scheme in Gaza is ‘slaughter masquerading as aid’ says MSF (The Guardian 6/27/25); U.N. agency slams U.S.-backed Gaza aid effort as “a death trap,” as health officials say dozens killed (CBS News 6/24/25); 18 killed in Israeli strike targeting Gaza police distributing flour, officials say (The Guardian 6/27/25); 44 said killed near Gaza aid sites; UN condemns ‘weaponization’ of food distribution (TOI 6/24/25); Trump administration authorizes $30 million for Israeli-backed group distributing food in Gaza (AP 6/24/25); The Lethal Risk of Seeking Food in Gaza (NYT 6/26/25);
100,000 Dead: What We Know About Gaza’s True Death Toll (Nir Hasson//Haaretz 6/26/25)
“On Monday of this week, Hamas’ Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip published an updated list of those killed in the war, a 1,227-page chart, arranged from youngest to oldest. The Arabic-language document includes the deceased person’s full name, the names of the father and grandfather, date of birth and ID number…Israeli spokespersons, journalists and influencers reject with knee-jerk disgust the data of the Palestinian Health Ministry, claiming that it’s inflated and exaggerated. But more and more international experts are stating that not only is this list, with all the horror it embodies, reliable – but that it may even be very conservative in relation to reality…In the meantime, even without the anticipated future waves of excess mortality, the combination of casualties from violence and those who died from diseases and hunger led to the death of 83,740 people prior to January, taking into account the survey and the excess mortality. Since then, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 10,000 people have been killed, and that doesn’t include those in the category of excess mortality. The upshot is that even if the war hasn’t yet crossed the line of 100,000 dead, it’s very close.”
Israel’s War in Gaza Has Killed Over 17,000 Children. These Are the Stories of 28 of Them (Sheren Falah Saab//Haaretz 6/26/25)
“According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, 17,121 children were killed in Gaza from the start of the war through to June 15. Of these, 937 were infants under the age of 1. Another 4,517 were between the ages of 1 and 5, 6,325 were aged 6 to 12, and the rest – 5,342 – were minors aged between 13 and 17. This death toll is almost without precedent, particularly given the population size and the war’s duration. The IDF’s standard response is that it operates in accordance with international law and makes significant efforts to avoid civilian harm.”
Gaza Without Gazans (Max Rodenbeck//Foreign Affairs 6/25/25)
“Since breaking this winter’s brief cease-fire in March 2025, Israeli forces have begun seizing large parts of Gaza, while moving and confining the territory’s population of 2.2 million into ever-smaller areas. The government has also unleashed a crushing campaign to limit and control the flow of humanitarian aid, including a total blockade that lasted for more than ten weeks. Yet despite its renewed onslaught, Israel has failed to secure freedom for any of the remaining 50 hostages, just 20 of whom are believed to be still alive…Nor does it appear to be in a hurry to reach a cease-fire agreement to bring them home…At a rare press conference on May 22, the prime minister stated that Israel no longer aims merely to free hostages and obliterate Hamas. When the war is over, he said, Israel will be in “full security control of Gaza.” He also enthusiastically endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal, announced in February, to relocate Gazans to other countries and redevelop the war-ravaged territory into a new Riviera—which he called “brilliant” and “revolutionary.” In other words, the Israeli government appears to be seeking precisely the outcomes that Netanyahu ruled out in January 2024: not only long-term military occupation of Gaza but also the large-scale displacement—or even expulsion—of its civilian population…But with the right combination of international pressure—especially from the United States, which has so far been more of an enabler of this Israeli government’s excess than a restraint—this outcome might still be prevented. There may not be much time left. As Israeli military reporters have noted, the process is already underway; it is approaching at speed.” See also Pope Leo decries ‘special interests’ and MidEast wars, calls Gaza ‘inhumane’ (Al Monitor 6/26/25); Five members of biggest British Jewish body suspended after Israel criticisms (The Guardian 6/24/25); 7 Israeli soldiers killed when armored vehicle hit by explosive in southern Gaza (TOI 6/25/25);
REGION//GLOBAL
Trump declares victory as Iran, Israel acknowledge shaky ceasefire (Axios 6/24/25)
“The Trump-brokered ceasefire between Iran and Israel has, for now, brought an abrupt and extraordinary end to one of the Middle East’s most explosive confrontations in decades…The 12-day war sent shockwaves through a region already reeling from nearly two years of historic volatility and violence, beginning with Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. President Trump’s military intervention to destroy Iranian nuclear sites brought the U.S. to the precipice of a major conflict that four of his predecessors had sought to avoid…Israel accused Iran of breaking the ceasefire overnight Tuesday, and launched jet fighters for a retaliatory attack with plans to bomb Tehran. A visibly frustrated Trump — speaking to reporters as he departed the White House en route to the NATO summit in Europe — said he was unhappy with both Iran and Israel, before he pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off most of the planned airstrike.” See also Trump successfully pressures Israel to scale back retaliation strike in Iran (Axios 6/24/25); Fragile Israel-Iran truce appears to hold after Trump’s fury at initial violations (The Guardian 6/24/25)
Trump wages all-out fight for control of Iran strike narrative (Axios 6/25/25)
“President Trump is going to extraordinary lengths to defend his claim that U.S. airstrikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, determined to cement the operation as a defining victory of his presidency…Trump has staked his credibility — and major parts of his foreign policy legacy — on the success of Saturday’s military intervention, which punctuated decades of U.S. debate over the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. He has treated the leak of an initial Pentagon battle damage assessment as an act of sabotage, launching an aggressive campaign to discredit the report as preliminary, inaccurate and already outdated.” See also U.S. initial damage report: Iran nuclear program set back by months, not obliterated (WaPo 6/25/25); Trump says key Iranian nuclear facilities ‘totally obliterated’ in U.S. strikes (WaPo 6/22/25); Israeli officials see “significant” damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities (Axios 6/25/25); Iran’s Khamenei claims U.S. strike didn’t cause major damage to nuclear facilities (Axios 6/26/25); IDF chief believes Iran no longer a nuclear threshold state after Israeli, US strikes (TOI 6/27/25); Iran’s Foreign Minister Says Nuclear Facilities ‘Seriously Damaged’ (NYT 6/26/25); Centrifuges at Fordo ‘No Longer Operational,’ U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Head Says (NYT 6/26/25)
Visualising 12 days of the Israel-Iran conflict (Al Jazeera 6/26/25)
An intense 12‑day conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13, 2025, after Israel launched air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing key nuclear scientists and military commanders. More than 200 Israeli fighter jets hit more than 100 nuclear and military facilities along with residential neighbourhoods across Iran. Iran retaliated with hundreds of ballistic missiles against Israeli cities. In the days that followed, Israel and Iran traded missiles as casualties mounted on both sides. The United States entered the military clash on June 22 with bunker-buster strikes on Iran’s Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan nuclear facilities. A fragile ceasefire was brokered by the US on June 24, hours after Iran had fired missiles at its largest airbase in the Middle East, based in Qatar. According to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, thousands of people were injured, hundreds were killed, and public infrastructure was damaged. As of June 24: Total injured: 4,746, including 185 women; Total people killed: 610…According to Israel’s Ministry of Health, as of June 24, the number of people killed and injured across Israel was: Total injured/hospitalised: 3,238. Total people killed: 28.” See also How the carefully planned US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities unfolded (The Guardian 6/22/25); Iran Retaliates by Firing Missiles at U.S. Base in Qatar (NYT 6/23/25);
Caught in the crossfire, Qatar again finds itself Middle East peace broker (The Guardian 6/24/25)
“Caught in the crossfire, Qatar on Monday night found itself in the unusual position of being asked by the US to mediate to end a war where one of the two parties was firing missiles at it. But then there are few countries as multifaceted as Qatar, or few conflicts quite as tangled as the Iran-Israel war. It seems Monday’s heavily signalled Iranian attack on Qatar’s 60-acre Al Udeid airbase, the largest US military facility in the Middle East, may even have become the opening to resume diplomacy. The attack, which caused no casualties, cleared the ground for Donald Trump and Qatar to work together to secure the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran. It once again highlights Qatar’s role as professional mediator – a bespoke service this tiny but massively wealthy country makes available from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Gaza.” See also Iran launches missiles at US base in Qatar in retaliation for bombing of nuclear sites (The Guardian 6/23/25);
Khamenei says Iran will strike back if US hits again in first remarks since ceasefire (The Guardian 6/27/25)
“Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened to respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East, in his first public comments since a ceasefire with Israel was declared. The 86-year-old, who has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on 13 June, said his country had “delivered a slap to America’s face” – a reference to an Iranian missile attack on a US base in Qatar on Monday, which caused no casualties. He also claimed that the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites “did not achieve anything” and Donald Trump had “exaggerated” their impact.” See also Iran’s parliament approves bill to suspend cooperation with IAEA (The Guardian 6/25/25);
Netanyahu, Trump said working on plan to end Gaza war and expand Abraham Accords (TOI 6/26/25)
“US President Donald Trump is pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude the 20-month-old war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the success of the 12-day war against Iran, several Hebrew media outlets reported Thursday, amid calls in Israel for the same. US President Donald Trump is pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude the 20-month-old war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the success of the 12-day war against Iran, several Hebrew media outlets reported Thursday, amid calls in Israel for the same. The Kan public broadcaster reported that Trump’s demand to cancel Netanyahu’s criminal trial was also linked to this effort…Meanwhile, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported that as part of the American president’s plan to end the war, new countries would join the Abraham Accords, and Israel would be required to commit to supporting a future Palestinian state.” See also PM [Netanyahu] denies reported plan to end Gaza war while backing Palestinian state (TOI 6/27/25); How Trump’s call to end Netanyahu’s trial is linked to broader Gaza deal (Al Monitor 6/27/25); Ceasefire in Iran gives rise to new calls for a deal to end Gaza war (WaPo 6/26/25); Netanyahu thanks Trump for public call to cancel his corruption trial (The Guardian 6/26/25)
Israel strikes Lebanon in one of biggest attacks since November ceasefire (WaPo 6/27/25)
“Israel pounded southern Lebanon with a series of airstrikes Friday in what analysts and officials on the ground said were some of the most significant strikes since Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
New Israeli directive expedites ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta (Yuval Abraham & Basel Adra//+972 Magazine 6/25/25)
“In recent months, Israeli forces and settlers have intensified efforts to expel roughly 2,500 Palestinians living in a cluster of villages in the southern West Bank region of Masafer Yatta. In early May, when the military razed most of Khilet Al-Dabe’, it was the largest demolition in the area to date. Now, a new military directive threatens to fast-track the destruction of a dozen more villages…The directive is based on a document issued last week by the army’s Central Command, which +972 and Local Call have obtained a copy of. According to the document, the residents of the area must be expelled “using the full range of civilian and security tools at [the army’s] disposal,” so that the army can practice live fire on their land “for the benefit of war in the various arenas — a war that has unfortunately become routine in the past year and a half and culminated in the events of Operation Rising Lions,” the Israeli name for the operation in Iran…According to [ Masafer Yatta Council head Nidal] Yunis, the Palestinian residents’ lawyers were struck by the military’s explicit language in its internal document, specifically the assertion that current security conditions allow for the army to transform the firing zone into a “sterile area” by “evacuating” residents.” See also Meanwhile, in Masafer Yatta, the Dispossession of Palestinians Surges Forward (Haaretz 6/27/25);
At least 4 Palestinians killed in West Bank as Israeli settler violence rises: What to know (Al Monitor 6/27/25)
“Israeli settlers attacked a number of Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank Friday following a month of escalation. At least four Palestinians have been killed in settlers’ attacks in June, according to local reports. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA documented at least 78 attacks involving Israeli settlers between May 27 and June 16, resulting in injuries, property damage or both. According to the UN organization, the attacks wounded 88 Palestinians, including three children. It also reported that 539 Palestinian-owned trees, mostly olive, and 33 vehicles were vandalized by the settlers. Between October 2023 and June 12, 2025, at least 947 Palestinians, including 200 children, have been killed in Israeli military raids or settler attacks in the West Bank, according to OCHA. Of those figures, 141 Palestinians, including at least 27 children, have been killed since the beginning of this year alone.” See also Three Palestinians shot dead during settler rampage of West Bank village — PA health ministry (TOI 6/25/25); Police free all settlers detained in Wednesday’s deadly rampage of Palestinian village (TOI 6/26/25); Armed settlers filmed expelling Palestinians from their field near Ramallah (TOI 6/27/25);
12 days that brought the war home to Israelis (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 6/24/25)
“Indeed, this war — which has taken the lives of at least 28 people in Israel — has made tens if not hundreds of thousands of Israelis, especially in Tel Aviv and its surrounding suburbs, genuinely fearful for their lives. For some of them, it’s the very first time. Fear has always accompanied life in Israel — whether from shootings and stabbings, intifadas, or “rounds” of fighting with Hamas and Hezbollah. But this time feels different. It’s not just existential anxiety; it’s an immediate, personal fear, especially in the country’s center. People feel death close by, in the sound of missiles exploding and the extent of the devastation that follows strikes that weren’t intercepted. What could previously be repressed or managed through some semblance of routine now requires confronting head-on. The killing, destruction of homes, and halting of daily life all point to one conclusion: Israel’s policies are making the country unlivable for its own population.” See also Israel’s Bedouin rely on makeshift shelters when missiles fall (WaPo 6/24/25); Iranian strikes hit Haifa as conflict stretches to eighth day (WaPo 6/21/25); ‘We thought it was the end’: Israeli town reels after deadly strike (BBC 6/24/25); How Israel’s ‘Onion Defense’ Systems Intercept Missiles, Drones and Rockets (Haaretz 6/24/25); Hamas took 251 hostages from Israel into Gaza. Where are they? (WaPo 6/26/25)
Israel’s euphoric ‘victory’ over Iran is quickly giving way to disillusionment (Meron Rapoport//+972 Magazine 6/27/25)
“Politically, Netanyahu may appear the winner of the “12-Day War.” But Israel achieved none of its military goals, and Gaza is once again impossible to ignore.”
U.S. SCENE
What the Iran Strikes Reveal About MAGA (Jon Allsop//New Yorker 6/27/25)
“Recently, media talk of a “MAGA civil war” reached its apex over the question of whether the U.S. should bomb Iran’s nuclear infrastructure…There are several reasons, it seems to me, why MAGA didn’t ultimately tear itself in two over the Iran strikes. The way the story unfolded offered something for everyone: the hawks within the movement got to claim that Trump acted decisively to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, while the doves, if that’s the right word, got to claim that Trump showed restraint and, after Israel and Iran (eventually) committed to a ceasefire, made peace…Above all, perhaps, MAGA diehards understand that Trump is both the charismatic glue holding an otherwise disparate movement together and its wrathful enforcer—what he says goes.” See also Trump’s military attack on Iran reveals split among Maga diehards (The Guardian 6/22/25); Majority of Republicans support US joining Israel-Iran conflict while majority of Democrats oppose (JTA 6/25/25);
How Support for Palestine Became a Hate Crime (Mari Cohen//Jewish Currents 6/17/25)
“In the weeks and months after the October 7th attacks, universities disbanded student clubs and fired nontenured faculty, media outlets severed ties with journalists, and hotels canceled planned conferences, all in the name of fighting antisemitism. From the start, this repressive response also included a criminal crackdown, in which police and prosecutors sought to stick protestors with serious felonies rather than the misdemeanor charges typical for civil disobedience…In a small but significant portion of these criminal cases, the defendant, like Lopez, has been charged with a hate crime—representing a relatively novel use of a statute that is widely understood as a civil rights protection. To charge someone with a hate crime, prosecutors must prove that the accused not only committed a crime—whether it be vandalism, assault, or murder—but did so due to an evident bias against the victim’s identity. (The types of crimes that are eligible, as well as the characteristics that are protected—such as race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and religion—vary by state.) A “hate crime enhancement” on a charge can bump a misdemeanor to a felony, increasing the potential sentence…by designating [an act as] a “hate crime,” prosecutors have construed political actions against Zionism or the state of Israel as anti-Jewish…at least three of those charged with antisemitic hate crimes in the cases identified by Jewish Currents are themselves Jewish.” See also Supreme Court rules unanimously to allow terror victims to sue Palestinian Authority, PLO (JI 6/21/25); Mahmoud Khalil renews devotion to Palestinian freedom at New York rally (The Guardian 6/22/25);
Mamdani stood firm in his support of Gaza. The Democratic party could learn from him (Yousef Munayyer//The Guardian 6/26/25)
“But one area where the contrast between the candidates could not be clearer was on the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Mamdani, for his part, stood with protesters, demanded the release of Mahmoud Khalil, and called out Israel’s war crimes. Mamdani even pledged he’d have the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, an indicted war criminal, arrested if he came to New York City while he was mayor. Cuomo, on the other hand, volunteered to be part of Netanyahu’s legal defense team before the international criminal court. Israel’s genocide in Gaza has tanked already waning support for Israel in the US, particularly among Democrats…Few issues highlight how out of touch with their party leaders are than the issue of Palestine. While opinion polls are clear and consistent about Democratic voters’ disgust with Israeli policies toward Palestinians, Democratic party leaders like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are stalwart defenders of Israel. Increasingly, a candidate’s politics on Gaza is a litmus test for authenticity and whether the candidate actually cares to represent the voters.” See also How the U.S. Locked Itself Into a Regime Change War (Yousef Munayyer//Foreign Policy 6/24/25)
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Plenty of Jews Love Zohran Mamdani (Michelle Goldberg//NYT 6/27/25)
“Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian politics have sparked enormous alarm among some New York Jews, but he’s also won considerable Jewish support. In a poll of likely Jewish voters done by the Honan Strategy Group in May, Andrew Cuomo came in first, with 31 percent of the vote, but Mamdani was second, with 20 percent. On Tuesday, he won most of Park Slope, a neighborhood full of progressive Jews, and held his own on the similarly Jewish Upper West Side…And while Mamdani undoubtedly did best among left-leaning and largely secular Jews, he made a point of reaching out to others…I can certainly understand why Jews who see anti-Zionism and antisemitism as synonymous find Mamdani’s rise alarming. There’s no question that he sympathizes with the Palestinians over the Israelis…He has consistently denounced antisemitism, and has spoken movingly about Jewish fear…Mamdani’s opponents will try to reduce him to a caricature, some mutant offspring of Jeremy Corbyn and Yahya Sinwar. They will say they’re doing it for the Jews, and plenty of Jews will believe them. But don’t forget that the vision of this city at the heart of Mamdani’s campaign — a city that embraces immigrants and hates autocrats, that’s at once earthy and cosmopolitan — is one that many Jews, myself included, find inspiring.”
The Attacks on Zohran Mamdani Show That We Need a New Understanding of Antisemitism (M. Gessen//NYT 6/24/25)
“The conflations that underlie most political conversations about antisemitism make it seem as if everyone wants to kill Jews — that antisemitism is not just common but omnipresent. If you believe that the whole world wants you dead, then you are much less likely to stand up for human rights or civil liberties, other people’s or your own. A casualty of this cynical era is our understanding of the actual scale of antisemitism, defined as animus against Jews as Jews. There are many reasons to think that antisemitic attitudes and attacks are on the rise, but the keepers of statistics often thwart the effort to get hard information, because they insist on conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Zionism and anti-Zionism with antisemitism.”
Timed for Impunity: Israel’s War on Iran (Yara Hawari//Al Shabaka 6/26/25)
“Israel’s war on Iran was a bold assertion of its regional dominance. It was and continues to be part of an effort to consolidate domestic support and deflect international attention from the mass killing of Palestinians. It also carries the potential to reshape the Middle East, as well as global dynamics of power and accountability. As the Iranian-Swedish policy analyst Triti Parsi observed, “Two nuclear weapons states have bombed a non-nuclear weapons state, without having been attacked. This will send shockwaves throughout the world, and more countries will conclude that they will need nuclear weapons to deter existing nuclear weapons states.” Indeed, what has become clear is that the so-called rules-based international order, which has dominated global relations since World War II, is now being decisively dismantled.”
Trump’s Afrikaner Refugee Policy: Religious Resistance & the Palestine Factor (Julie Schumacher-Cohen//Contending Modernities 6/20/25)
“The [Trump] administration’s February executive order also cut aid and assistance to South Africa based in part on policy differences on Palestine. In particular, the order cited that “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice.” Indeed, South Africa led the charge to bring international action against Israel’s assault on Gaza. In the end, the ICJ’s preliminary opinion in January 2024 ruled that Palestinians’ rights to protection from genocide were plausibly at risk and Israel should take steps to prevent genocide. Since then, many experts including Holocaust scholars and Amnesty International have concluded that a genocide is taking place in Gaza…As part of their motivation for bringing the case and for their solidarity with the Palestinian people, South African leaders cited their country’s history of repression and violence, human rights abuses and the crime of apartheid. For its part, the U.S. under the Biden Administration called South Africa’s case “meritless,” refusing to reckon with how U.S. and Israeli policies had so devalued Palestinian lives. The Trump administration has now further upped the ante with its retributive stance toward the South African government. They see no irony in their willingness to recognize a “White genocide” in South Africa, with no evidence, while supporting ongoing atrocities by Israel in Gaza; indeed, President Trump is colluding in such wrongdoing with his own plan, which coincides with Israel’s, to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the coastal enclave.”
What the UAE hopes to gain from Israel’s growing isolation (Mira Al Hussein//+972 Magazine 6/25/25)
“The assumption, evident in the Abraham Accords, that access to the United States was best secured via Israel seemed to be giving way to a new confidence that the Gulf can deal directly with Washington, and be heard on its own terms. As former Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash recently put it, the balance of power is seen to be tilting in the Gulf’s favor. Whether these assumptions reflect reality or are grounded in any tangible and lasting shifts in the international order remains to be seen. Indeed, Trump’s decision to join Israel in attacking Iran — and Iran’s retaliatory strikes against the Al Udeid U.S. military base in Qatar — sounded alarm bells in Gulf capitals, and leaders are now trying to ensure that the fragile ceasefire holds.”