HERZLIYA CONFERENCE MESSAGE – TIME TO TRANSITION

Failures leading to October 7 followed by poor policies since, necessitate a switch in direction and a ditch of leadership.

By David E. Kaplan

Addressing the 2026 Herzliya Conference at Reichman University, an exuberant and entertaining US Ambassador, Mike Huckabee said that when President Trump

“….. was looking who to appoint as the new ambassador for Israel, he said “Find me a ‘Maccabee”. Maybe, his folks didn’t hear him right so here I am instead – a Huckabee.”

All familiar with the biblical history, everyone laughed; it was witty but it was the proverbial ‘last laugh’ of the two-day intense conference such are the distressing existential issues confronting Israel today.

**Two-Way Street**. Following US VP JD Vance saying much of Israel’s defense was American-made and taxpayer-funded, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee says Israel provides technology, agriculture and intelligence that ‘saves, protects and takes care of Americans all over the world’.

PRESERVING DEMOCRACY

The tone of the Conference was set in a riveting interview of retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak by Maj. Gen. (Res.) Prof. Amos Gilead. The warm applause that greeted this retired jurist and judge was telling of a man who survived the Kovno Ghetto by being smuggled out in a sack before his family immigrated to Mandatory Palestine and who would serve as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006.

**Saving the State**. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Prof. Amos Gilead (right) interviews retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak at the 22nd Herzliya Conference, who delivers a stark warning about the state of Israeli democracy, cautioning that the country lacks critical checks and balances and is “moving away from being democratic.” The Hon. Prof. Aharon Barak | Herzliya Conference 2026

Known for his monumental impact on Israeli law, he warned Israeli democracy was unraveling. Undoing much of the safeguards he had contributed in securing, Barak warned that Israel was losing – under the current government – the necessary checks and balances, “placing the ultimate responsibility to protect the country’s democracy on the public.”

And why was he then still optimistic, Barak answered:

“There is an upcoming election; the people can change direction.”

The esteemed former Supreme Court justice was saying Israel’s salvation lay not with those today in office but with those tomorrow who will vote!

That “tomorrow” is October 27, 2026.

A DEFINING DIFFERENCE

There was something very different about 2026’s Herzliya Conference. Firstly, it was scheduled for weeks earlier but because there was the fear that the war with Iran would again flare up – which it now has – it was postponed, finally settling June 30 to July 1. Such uncertainty is the norm these days in Israel. As I write, the Maccabi Games or “Jewish Olympics” is being held, having being postponed from the previous year for the same reason – fear of war!

In these turbulent times, missiles raining down on Israel’s civilian population is less a surprise and more a question of:

“Are they from Iran, Hezbollah or the Houthis?” That covers north, east and south, and would also be from the west if Gaza had not been considerably neutralized.

One of the first questions the residents in my apartment complex collectively ask whenever we hurriedly assemble in the bomb shelter following a siren:

“Who is firing at us? Is the missile coming from Iran, Lebanon or Yemen?”

This bizarre scenario is a metaphor for life today in Israel. Our attackers could be coming at us from multiple directions and it could be separate or in concert. How frequently in our bomb shelter I would be on WhatsApp with my brother living in the north of Israel who was under attack from Hezbollah while we, in the center of the country, were under ballistic missile attack from Iran. Israel is surrounded by enemies who actively campaign for its demise hence the theme of this year’s Herzliya Conference was:

“Between National Security and National Resilience”.

A high-level strategic forum for evaluating Israel’s geopolitical standing and domestic resilience, the Herzliya Conference brings informed individuals from the Israel’s political, military, security, intelligence, academic and business communities together to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and build professional relationships.

All this in defense of Israel, but this conference in 2026 there was a difference because speaker after speaker conveyed the fear – Where lies the danger, in Tehran or Jerusalem? Between the crazy Ayatollahs and Bibi’s cobbled – and no less crazy – coalition, one had to try make sense of it all and plot a viable path forward.

As many of the speakers expressed that while Israel relies on “military power”, “economic stability” and “technical innovation”, it relies as much on “social cohesion” and “public trust”, both of which are currently being eroded. The lack of public trust in Netanyahu’s government was expressed in full throttle at the panel discussion surrounding Israel’s avoidance of a State Commission of Inquiry into the October 7 disaster.

Participating in the panel were two fathers who had lost children in the present war. One was Eyal Eshel, father of Roni Eshel, an IDF observation soldier, murdered at the Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023. Eyal has become a vocal advocate for accountability, demanding a state commission of inquiry and frequently challenging government officials over the security failures that led to the tragedy. What most exposed the Prime Ministers “disconnect” was when Yoram Yehudai, the father of Ron Yehudai, who was murdered at the Nova music festival related his revulsion to the Channel 14 interview when Netanyahu was asked how he had personally changed since October 7 and jokingly replied that he had “lost a little weight“.”

Really?

“I lost a son and he jokes that he lost weight,” and added “I haven’t laughed at jokes in a thousand days.”

Discussions surrounding Israel’s avoidance of a State Commission of Inquiry into the October 7 disaster were a focal point at the 2026 Herzliya Conference with experts, including military and legal analysts, weighing in on the implications of sidestepping this statutory investigative mechanism.

Avoiding a formal State Commission of Inquiry – which is the most authoritative, independent investigative body under Israeli law, possessing the power to subpoena witnesses and issue binding, personal recommendations – shifts the inquiry to internal government reviews or politically appointed committees.

Panelists at the Conference argued that bypassing this independent probe, threatens long-term military accountability and public trust exposing the prime minister and his governing coalition to the not unfair accusation “as being more concerned over political survival” and “preserving wartime coalition stability,” rather than the national interest.

WEIGHTY ISSUES

Also not sharing Netanyahu’s joke about having “lost weight” since October 7, was the former Chief of Staff and an aspiring future prime minister.

Interviewed at the Herzliya Conference by Channel 2’s prime time anchor, Dana Weiss, Gadi Eisenkot – now Leader of the Yashar Party – brought credibility to his criticism of the prime minister, having lost not “weight” but a son and two nephews in the current war. He stated that his primary goal is to defeat Netanyahu’s coalition, asserting that leaders in command on October 7 “are unfit for the future.” He makes the case that “Twice, there was a sovereign Jewish kingdom here in the land of Israel,” referring to the Hasmonean Kingdom and the House of David, and “twice, it collapsed and fell apart in the eighth decade of its existence. Once again, we stand at a fateful point.”

To avoid a repeat dissolution, Eisenkot argued for Israelis to unify and come election, to remove the prime minister who he asserts “is out of touch,” and “unfit” to remain in office.

Eisenkot characterizes the cabinet as lacking independent thought, stating, “We have a weak Cabinet of submissive people,” allowing Netanyahu to lead the country in the wrong direction without challenge.

UNFIT FOR OFFICE

Being “out of touch” and “unfit” was the shared view of many of the speakers of a government that was undermining (during a war) the unity, solidarity and sustainability of Israeli society by its support of the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) exemption from military and civil service. Conference participants could have opened the front pages of any of the daily papers and seen Haredi protests across the country, blocking traffic in support of their community’s “draft doggers.” This was no ‘Ivory Tower’ academic conference – the issues discussed were playing out on Israeli streets and Israel’s borders.

Experts warned that “demographic shifts and draft exemptions are fracturing national resilience and placing an unsustainable burden on the shrinking portion of the public that serves in the military and productive economy.”

The main concerns expressed regarding the Haredi threat was what was called the collapse of the “People’s Army” – so foundational and fundamental to Israel’s DNA. Experts highlighted that only about a third (35%) of each Israeli cohort completes significant military service. They warned that it is mathematically unsustainable for this minority to bear the security burden for the remaining 65% of the population indefinitely.

Reinforcing this concern, President Isaac Herzog used his address to warn of the “danger of social disintegration.” He stressed “the urgent need to renew the shared civic contract,” pointing to “the growing alienation between draft-exempt sectors and the broader Israeli public” that is actively bearing the costs of ongoing conflicts.

Despite the government pushing support for Hareidi draft dodgers, there is no dodging reality. Surveys presented at the Conference showed that a vast majority of the Israeli public demands equal burden-sharing, with 72% supporting the conscription of the ultra-Orthodox. The failure to integrate the Haredim into national and security service was cited as a “primary driver” of the extremely “low levels of social cohesion and trust in the government.”

**President’s Warning**. “Instead of being a diverse and thriving society of brothers and sisters, who quarrel and yet reconcile, we risk becoming a landmass that has broken apart into a handful of islands. Islands of exhausted, worn-out people…armed with a sense of absolute righteousness,” warned President Herzog addressing the 2026 Herzliya Conference. (Photo: GPO/Ma’ayan Toaf)

ECONOMIC STRAIN

Also flagged as existential long-term concerns were the failure of the Haredi educational system to incorporate core secular subjects (like math and science) and the community’s general lack of economic productivity.

Economists at the conference warned that as the productive tax base shrinks relative to the rapidly growing Haredi population, the burden on the working sector risks pushing skilled professionals out of the country.

All these discussions occurred against a backdrop of intense societal division, with the Haredi leadership threatening to dissolve the ruling coalition if the government did not advance laws that would permanently freeze draft enforcement and elevate Torah study to a foundational constitutional value.

EPILOGUE

Now post the conference, if ever there is an example why this government has failed to learn its lesson since October 7 and why is needs to be replaced is in the unfolding drama following Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir’s recent letter to PM Netanyahu and others warning against legislation that would freeze arrests of Haredi draft dodgers.

Following months of warning that the IDC is facing a critical manpower shortage and needs an influx of 12,000 soldiers, he wrote that such legislation would create “a disincentive to report for miliary service” since it grants immunity from prosecution and would thus “rather than encourage enlistment” – which is desperately needed – it would do the opposite.

“Such a move would, “ wrote Zamir, “cause a rapture with those who have borne the burden of fighting for the past two and a half years, and would increase the sense of inequality.”

How can one argue against this logic.

Nevertheless, this is precisely what this government is doing by attacking the country’s top military officer accusing him of indulging in politics instead of focusing on “winning the war,” as expressed by Likud backbencher, Amit Levy in an Army Radio interview.

As all at the Conference were reminded, was it not Netanyahu who had deflected any criticism for October 7 arguing that the IDF and intelligence services failed to warm him of Hamas’ planned invasion.

“I was not warned” has been his defense since October 8……

However, we now know this was NOT true. The head of Israeli military intelligence’s Research Division at the time had sent the prime minister a number of letters warning exactly this and the then-IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, repeatedly sought to meet with him in the days leading up to October 7 to warn him about the severe security risks posed by Israel’s internal divisions, but was frequently rebuffed. So too then Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, who too gave multiple warnings to Netanyahu about Hamas and the rising risk of war in the months and days leading up to October 7.

Now we can understand how Netanyahu and those around him ignored the warnings because they are doing it again – in the open – by publicly ignoring the warning of the head of the IDF that the “military lacks sufficient manpower” thus impairing its ability to fight. Not only are they ignoring the message but are attacking the messenger. They are doing so to preserve power at the expense of the people.

Is there any doubt that under a Netanyahu government the people of Israel are facing a ‘Clear and present danger’.

This was reinforced by Likud stalwart and former Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein who gave a sharp address at the Conference titled “A Half-People’s Army” where he criticized the unequal burden of military service. He advocated for “equality in service,” demanding that all Israeli citizens be subject to the same security service laws at age 18, and warned that the current system places an unsustainable burden on the nation’s reservists. As possibly a sign of a changing political landscape, Edelstein announced last month that he was leaving the party and would not run in the upcoming Likud primary.

**All must Serve**. Speaker of the Knesset, MK Yuli Edelstein stated that Israel’s current conscription model is unsustainable arguing that civic duty and security service must be mandatory for all citizens. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXcy3tVPmsY&t=6s)

The message of the conference:

There is an election coming up or as Gadi Eisencott expressed it in historical terms that we again “stand at a fateful point” and: “We are warned!”

**Wrong Direction**. Interviewed at the Herzliya Conference by Channel 12 anchor, Dana Weiss, Gadi Eisenkot characterized Israel’s governing cabinet as “weak” with “submissive people,” allowing Netanyahu to lead the country in the wrong direction without challenge.
(https://www.runi.ac.il/en/research-institutes/government/ips/herzliya-conference/hc2026/vod)

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HAIR-RAISING SITUATION

Surprise discovery of Iranian women’s hair raises serious concerns but reminds – you can imprison a person but not an idea.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

For nearly half a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has attempted to convince the world that it represents justice, morality, and the will of the Iranian people. But behind the propaganda lies a brutal reality that millions of Iranians know all too well. The regime’s systematic oppression of women remains one of the clearest examples of its cruelty and fear. For as little as showing a strand of hair, Iranian women are met with intimidation, imprisonment, torture, or worse.

Today, the world is once again witnessing the Islamic Republic’s relentless assault on the dignity and freedom of women.

Recently, reports emerged from Armenia that customs officials intercepted 143 bundles of natural hair weighing approximately 26 kilograms at the Agarak border crossing with Iran. The “best” case is that the hair belonged to impoverished Iranian women selling their hair simply to survive in an economy devastated by corruption, sanctions, and government mismanagement. The “good news” is that women may be seeking ways other than the religiously sanctioned prostitution racket of “temporary marriages” to earn money.

The worst case is that the hair came from women who have been gunned down or executed by the Islamic Republic, in one of the most inhuman forms of human trafficking possible: profiting from women’s bodies after they have been murdered.

Either way, the discovery is deeply symbolic. The Islamic Republic has spent decades subjugating women by forcing them to cover their hair, arresting and torturing them for showing a single misplaced strand. Now, as economic desperation deepens, the very symbol of control over Iranian women has become a commodity.

Whether Iranian women are driven to such severe poverty that they must sell parts of themselves to feed their families, or the regime chops off the emblem of freedom for Iranian women from the corpses of their victims, the bottom line is that a woman showing her hair has never been about morality.

It’s always been about control.

Another shocking example of this oppression has captured international attention. Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi was sentenced to 74 lashes after performing without a hijab during a livestreamed concert. In addition to the flogging sentence, she and members of her production team reportedly received travel bans and restrictions on their artistic activities.

**Iran Lashes Out**. The Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi reportedly sentenced to 74 lashes for singing without hijab. (Photo: Hosseinronaghi)

Think about what this means.

In the twenty-first century, a woman can be sentenced to brutal whipping simply because she sang a song with her hair showing. I witnessed such torture of my husband who was forced to confess to the “crime” of drinking wine, which he never did. Neither the physical nor psychological scars of his 80 lashes ever healed and led to his death at the hands of the Islamic Republic.

The Islamic Republic fears music because music inspires hope.

It fears artists because artists tell the truth.

It fears women because women have become the strongest voice of resistance against tyranny.

Parastoo Ahmadi’s case is not an isolated incident. It is part of a broader campaign against women who refuse to submit. Women have been arrested for removing their hijabs, imprisoned for posting photographs online, and physically assaulted for challenging discriminatory laws. The regime’s “morality police” and Basij militia have become instruments of terror directed primarily at women and girls.

I witnessed this firsthand during my nine-month imprisonment and death sentence for the “crime” of becoming a Christian. Numerous cellmates shared harrowing stories of all kinds of physical and sexual abuse, judges and prosecutors demanding sex in order to receive a favorable verdict, and misogyny so deep seeded in Iranian society that it’s passed off as normal.

No story illustrates this reality more painfully than the death of Mahsa Amini.

“WOMEN,LIFE, FREEDOM”

In September 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” for allegedly violating the country’s mandatory hijab regulations. She was brutally tortured and within days, she was dead. Her death ignited nationwide protests under the powerful slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom.”

Millions of Iranians recognized what had happened. Mahsa Amini was not simply one victim among many. She became a symbol of every woman humiliated, threatened, beaten, or silenced by the regime.

The protests that followed, demonstrated the courage of the Iranian people, especially Iranian women. Young women publicly removed their hijabs. Students challenged government officials. Mothers demanded justice. Despite brutal crackdowns, arrests, executions, and intimidation, the spirit of resistance did not disappear.

**An Iranian ‘Cover Up’**. An Iranian woman walks on a street amid the implementation of the then new hijab surveillance in Tehran in, April 15, 2023. (Photo: Majid Asgaripour/Wana/Reuters)

While I was saved from physical torture, I still bear many scars of my experiences and what I witnessed. My closest friend, Shirin Alamhooli, suffered such severe torture, for days on end she could not walk and every day suffered debilitating headaches because her torturers brutally beat her on the head. Knowing that she was savagely raped (according to Islamic doctrine of not permitting a virgin woman to be executed), is a pain and indignity that Iranian women deal with – causing widespread pain and suffering to survivors like me, as well as the victims.

The Islamic Republic may imprison individuals, but it cannot imprison an idea whose time has come: freedom and the end of the regime.

As someone who personally experienced persecution under the Islamic Republic, I understand the regime’s tactics. Fear is its primary weapon. It sets men in the position of controlling women, and seeks to convince citizens that resistance is futile and that freedom is impossible. Yet history repeatedly proves otherwise.

The courage of Iranian women continues to expose the weakness of the regime. Every woman who walks without a mandatory hijab, every artist who continues to sing, every activist who speaks out, and every family that demands justice for victims like Mahsa Amini represents a challenge to a government built upon coercion.

The discovery of smuggled women’s hair at the Armenian border and the sentencing of Parastoo Ahmadi to 74 lashes may appear to be unconnected. In reality, they are inseparable. Both reveal a regime that exploits, controls, and punishes women while claiming to defend their dignity.

The international community must not look away.

Governments, human rights organizations, churches, and freedom-loving people everywhere should continue to amplify the voices of Iranian women. Silence only emboldens oppressors.

The women of Iran constantly show extraordinary courage. They risk everything for freedom, dignity, and equality. Their struggle is not merely an Iranian issue. It is a human rights issue.

One day, the women of Iran will no longer fear arrest for showing their hair, imprisonment for speaking their minds, or lashes for singing their songs. One day, the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” will no longer be a protest cry but a lived reality.

Until that day arrives, the world must stand with them.

*Feature photo: Armenian customs officers seize 143 bundles of undeclared hair from Iran.

About the writer:

Marziyeh (Marzi) Amirizadeh, the founder and president of www.newpersia.org, an author, public speaker, and activist. She has written two books “Captive in Iran,” and “A Love Journey with God” which are available on www.marzisjourney.com. She is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death by hanging in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation in Evin prison- one of the most brutal prisons in the world.

TRUMP, NETANYAHU, IRAN AND THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Giving in to Iranian demands rather than achieve peace in the Middle East will instead facilitate perpetual war.

By Neville Berman

After publicly assuring the Iranian people, “Help is on the way”, Trump decided that America needed to do a deal with the world’s greatest exporter of terror and perennial liar about its nuclear program. Consequently, the Iranian regime has been given a lifeline.

Following the slaughter of tens of thousands of its own protesting citizens and Trump’s assurances, the US president has turned his back on the Iranian people who want democracy, freedom of expression, the rule of law, and human rights.

**Misleading Message**. “Help is on its way,” Trump tells Iranians as he urges them to keep protesting in January, 2026.

Initially, America held all the cards. The situation has now changed. The whole world is complaining about the increase in the price of petrol and gas. America does not want to be at war while it is co-hosting the soccer world cup. Once the tournament ends, campaigning for the midterm elections will take center stage. Americans are tired of fighting wars of choice in foreign lands thousands of miles away. Trump wants to end the war and be recognized as a peacemaker. In addition, Congress has not agreed to give Trump the green light to continue with the war.

The Iranian regime knows that it can rely on help from China and Russia. Russia is using thousands of drones supplied by Iran in its war against Ukraine, and Russia will veto any UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions on Iran. They also know that China will buy billions of dollars of Iranian oil at a discount. The regime also knows that it has the backing of Qatar, and that it can rely on the Europeans to seek appeasement no matter the cost.

Twenty percent of the world’s oil exports flow through the Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s southern coastline. The Strait is an international waterway that should remain open and never be subject to tariffs. Nobody has to pay to use the English Channel and nobody should ever have to pay to use the Strait of Hormuz. Closing the Strait of Hormuz is against international law, but the Iranian regime knows that no Iranian has ever been charged by the International Criminal Court for committing any crime. The bottom line is that Iran is already planning a massive victory parade.

The Iranian regime is going for the jugular and when Pakistan was accepted as the venue for negotiations, it was a dead cert that America would bow to Iranian demands.

The world’s greatest superpower would no longer be calling the shots!

The Iranians are demanding :

the immediate lifting of American sanctions,
over $100 billion of frozen Iranian money in foreign banks to be released.
The right to impose fees on oil tankers passing through the “international waterway” of the Strait of Hormuz – amounting to an act of extortion.
$300 billion as compensation for war damage ignoring the war was caused by their own actions
removal of all US armed forces from the Middle East.

**Lost** **Lever**age. With Pakistan the venue for negotiations, the US lost its edge and was no longer calling the shots.

To make matters worse, America is not insisting on restrictions on the Iranian missile program, nor is it insisting that Iran end its support for their proxy terrorist forces in the Middle East. In regard to the Iranian nuclear program, Iran is once again committing to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)to inspect its nuclear program and its stockpile of enriched uranium. Iran had agreed to this in the past, and then lied and lied, and prevented the IAEA from carrying out what was agreed to. No matter what is agreed to in a new deal, Iran will continue to lie about its nuclear program in the future. The deal gives the Iranians everything upfront, and in return the US gets a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear program at some stage in the future. The Iranian regime is laughing all the way to the bank. They also have no intention of ever abandoning their nuclear program. Trump has completely lost the plot of what should be happening.

For over a decade Netanyahu warned the world about the danger of a nuclear armed Iran. Finally, when it came down to attempting to destroy the underground nuclear facilities in Iran, the US and Israel operated with an unprecedented level of partnership, co-operation and intelligence sharing. Together they significantly reduced the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and its capacity to wage war.

The Iranians have spent decades and billions of dollars financing, training and supplying Hezbollah with an estimated 150,000 rockets aimed at Israel. Using incredible intelligence capabilities, and innovative tactics, Israel eliminated the leadership of Hezbollah, and greatly reduced its capacity to attack Israel. Hezbollah still has a stockpile of anti-tank missiles and drones that they continue to shoot into Israel. Israel has replied by attacking Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon. The IDF have discovered massive amounts of armaments stored in civilian houses and underground tunnels in Lebanon.

The Iranians are trying to save Hezbollah. They are demanding that any deal between Iran and America must include a ceasefire in Lebanon. What this signifies is that Iran does not consider Lebanon to be a sovereign independent country. What Trump should be demanding is that Hezbollah disarm, so that Lebanon and Israel can then conclude a peace treaty and live in peace with each other. The problem in Lebanon is Hezbollah, and not the actions of Israel. Surprisingly, Trump has taken the side of the Iranians and has demanded that Israel implement a ceasefire in Lebanon. Israel has refused. Trump has now turned against Netanyahu with a vengeance. Israel has been totally locked out of the negotiations with the Iranians and Trump has turned Netanyahu into a pariah in the White House.

**Money Talks**. The talks are becoming a battle to unlock the funds.

What is actually happening is that America has agreed to a framework deal to be signed immediately, and that negotiations will then be held for a maximum of 60 days, in order to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding that will result in a permanent peace between the United States and Iran.

The world is cheering. Gas prices are going down, and Iran has promised not to build or buy atomic weapons. At long last, peace in the Middle East seems to be possible. What can go wrong?

In his second term, Trump believes – having repeatedly expressed so – he is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize even though he has declared that:

– the US needs to own Greenland and would either take it the easy way or the hard way

– the US needs to take control of Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, and the Gaza Strip

– signaled a cut back of American support to NATO.

While none of the above are likely to help Trump in his quest for the Nobel Peace Prize, if he does manage to bring ‘peace’ – that is, some modicum of a cessation of hostilities to the region, he just might receive it. However, what Trump is negotiating with Iran will not bring genuine peace for it will empower the leadership to renew all its nefarious terrorist activities and revitalize the fanatical religious obsession set on eliminating the State of Israel. Over 80% of Shiite Muslims in the world are known as Twelvers. They believe that the 12^th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, who disappeared in the 10^th century, will one day reappear and bring Islamic rule and justice to the world. The Imams in charge of Iran believe that Israel needs to be eliminated in order to hasten his return. The general view of the Iranian people is that Israel has nothing to do with the return of the 12^th Imam and that Iran and Israel should resume normal relations that existed before the revolution in 1979.

**Trump’s Holy Grail**. Speaking to reporters back in January 2026 at the White House, Donald Trump said he couldn’t “think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me.”

The deal that America is negotiating with Iran will ensure that perpetual war in the Middle East continues. Successive American administrations have never understood the Middle East, and the current administration is no exception.

There is another small minority viewpoint that holds that Trump is actually the most brilliant politician around, and that all his capricious behaviour is part of his master plan to ensure that America becomes great again. The theory is that Trump will get the Iranians to agree to a deal, and after that the Republican Party will win a majority in both the Senate and the House in the midterm elections. Iran will inevitably not keep to its commitments, and Trump will then get Congress to approve military action against the Iranian regime. He will once again partner with Israel, and together they will cause the Iranian regime to collapse and be overthrown. Netanyahu will be completely vindicated, and will be invited back to the White House to celebrate the fall of the Iranian regime. Hallelujah.

No matter what happens in Iran, and despite all the problems that Israel is facing, Israel will remain a democracy, and will continue to innovate and prosper. It will continue to ensure the rights of Christians, Muslims and members of various other religions to freely access and pray at their respective holy sites in Israel. It will continue to act as a light unto the nations of the world, and will play a positive role in improving the lives of tens of millions of people around the world. Millions of Jews have a yearning to live in the land promised by G-d to the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The population of Israel will continue to grow. Empires have come and gone, but Israel is here to stay. I would not want to live anywhere else. One last thought, Trump will never receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

About the writer:

Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award. In 1978 he immigrated to the USA to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel. He is married with two children and one granddaughter.

THE DEADLY FLAWS OF THE DEAL

When it comes to self-preservation, they will lie at every turn and manipulate even the Dealmaker-in-Chief.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

We’ve been hearing for weeks, even months from the White House that Islamic Republic of Iran was about to sign a deal. True or not, for some reason President Trump‘s most recent statements have been taken more seriously. The stock market is up, oil prices are down and some sort of a deal may indeed be announced imminently.

As I read the terms of the proposed deal, whether true or not, my heart breaks because the outcome of the deal will be deadly. There are truly no good terms of the deal being reported, but as much as the terms are bad, the deadliest part is the deal itself.

Unfortunately, any deal will be dead on arrival.

**Divergence in the Deal**. Has ‘closing the deal’ come down to ‘opening the Strait’?

I spent most of my life living under the Islamic Republic, and most of my last year in Iran, in Tehran‘s notorious Evin Prison under threat of a death penalty and being executed at any moment. My “crime?” Converting to Christianity. Not very enlightened to say the least from a regime in control of the lives of 90 million Iranians, and threatening hundreds of millions more. As much as they tried to force me to deny my faith, I would not bend. That is how you make a deal with the Islamists, not by negotiating. By defeating them. Today I am blessed to live freely in the United States and proudly as an American citizen. I celebrate the freedom in America for which 90 million Iranians have sacrificed so much, only to be shot down literally by the evil and brutal Islamist regime.

As nice as it sounds, that the Islamic Republic regime may commit on paper to give up all their nuclear material and never have nuclear weapons, having lived under the regime and suffered its misogyny, seeing my friends and loved ones, including my husband, tortured and executed, I know that no deal they put their name to will ever be honored. I know that before the ink dries, they will be plotting their next move with the ultimate goal to hasten their extremist Islamic takeover of the world, the destruction of the United States, Israel, and the West – from outside and from within. I know that they will dig their nuclear facilities deeper under the vast Iranian mountain ranges to conceal their intentions, and the ability to get to the weapons themselves.

FLAW NO.1

While President Trump may indeed be the master of the deal, I know no deal they sign will ever be honored. That is the first deadly flaw of the deal: to think that these are rational actors and approach any deal in a way that is honorable or sincere is mistaken.

When it comes to self-preservation, the only goal is to do anything necessary, even signing a deal which makes it seem like they are abandoning their decades-long fantasy of having nuclear weapons. When it comes to self-preservation, they will lie at every turn and manipulate even the Dealmaker-in-Chief.

But mark my words, with a deal like this, in my lifetime, they will be back in business so that a future U.S. president will have to deal with the consequences of this deal, and an Islamic Republic that is either closer to achieving nuclear weapons than it has ever been, or will have actually done so. It should frighten us all!

FLAW NO. 2

The other deadly flaw of the deal is the abandonment of the Iranian people. In January of this year, the Islamic Republic regime executed as many as 50,000-60,000 Iranians in cold blood, in just two days. These were not foreign enemies, but Iranian citizens simply protesting for change, for freedom, to live, and have a future not under the heel of Islamic extremists who hijacked the country and who have been the singular source of the greatest terror network around the world for nearly half a century.

Making matters worse, President Trump actually gave Iranians hope when he sent a message encouraging the Iranian protesters to take to the streets and take over the institutions of the regime, stating “help is on the way.”

**Tehran Tyranny**. Expecting global support, particularly from the USA whose president promised, where are these protesters who put their lives on the line, today? (Photo: Anonymous/ Getty Images)

Unfortunately, that help never came even during the 40 days of joint American and Israeli attacks on the regime, weakening it, but not bringing it down. Make no mistake, the only deal that can be made is unilateral surrender, and the elimination of the regime. Anything short of that will continue the 47-year suffering of the Iranian people for generations to come. It will mean the regime can act with a free hand to execute tens of thousands at one time, or arrest, torture, and execute tens of thousands more, one by one, out of the public eye.

It will mean that when they arrest women like my former cell mate and best friend, Shirin Alam Hooli, before executing them they will torture them brutally and rape them because under their perverted Islam, it is unjust to execute a virgin. So, they seek their justice through the worst form of misogynistic, torture, and dehumanization.

I weep for the current generation which had hope and suffered so much these past several months and decades. I weep for future generations of Iranians, who will grow up as I did, with brothers becoming masters over their sisters, corrupting the thought of young people and their attitudes that will shape their lives unnaturally for generations to come.

FLAW NO.3

A third deadly flaw of the deal relates to Israel and the West. A year ago, I had the privilege of writing a thank you note to pilots who carried out the strike on Evin Prison administrative buildings where I was incarcerated. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to Israeli soldiers and civilians many times and apologize for their suffering at the hands of the regime that hijacked my beautiful country of birth. If there are any people in the world who understand and have experienced the suffering of decades of Islamic Republic terrorism outside of Iran more than anyone, it is the people of Israel, who simply pray to live in peace. But as much as generations of Iranians have suffered, also generations of Israelis have suffered. I have met them, I have prayed with and for them, and I weep that future generations will suffer the same as their parents and grandparents have.

**Defying Death**. During the 259 days the writer endured in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison, she was subjected to ruthless interrogations and told as she had been found guilty of apostasy, she was subject to death. While later released, a number of prisoners she knew, including her best friend, Shirin Alam Hooli, were executed by hanging.

I pray that President Trump will not be fooled, that there will be no deal short of complete surrender and an end of the Islamic Republic. Only that can ensure peace, that Iran can rejoin the family of nations, and that the outcome will not be decades more of suffering at the hands of an Islamic death cult.

About the writer:

TIME TO SHOOT, NOT TALK

Things I know and don’t know about a deal with the Islamic Republic.

By Jonathan Feldstein

Since barrages of missiles were fired at Israel Sunday night and again Monday morning this week, from the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Houthis in Yemen, there are some things that are clearer and some things that are less clear. One thing that is certainly clear is that this situation is unsustainable.

It seems clear that in a call to Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Trump insisted that Israel not respond to the Sunday evening barrage on the grounds that:

“The Iranian strikes didn’t hurt anybody,” and
“If Bibi strikes them back its just gonna keep going like the past 47 years, or the last 3000 years.”

I don’t know, I wasn’t alive 3000 years ago – but I do know that the Iran attack on Israel was because the Islamists know Trump is faking it about the “deal” that he’s been saying is close for months. You can imagine him in the role of Meg Ryan (Sally) at the deli in “When Harry Met Sally,” his performance earning complements from patrons at the next table, and Islamists around the world alike. “We are very close to a final deal with Iran; it’s going to be a good deal. I don’t want to blow it up because of what is happening now.”

Billy Crystal (Harry) and the rest of the world look on in disbelief.

**Take on Fake**. The most iconic fake scene in movies is sadly playing out live in geo-politics in the Gulf.

I know that the Islamic Republic attacked because they successfully linked themselves and a deal with the US to Hezbollah in Lebanon. So, when Israel attacked Hezbollah positions near Beirut, the Islamic Republic used it as a pretext to attack Israel, knowing that they would be goading Israel into a no-win situation as Trump truly believes he’s got a deal at hand. Ever the dealmaker, Trump, likely saw it as a draw, “Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one.”

I also know that the Islamic Republic attacked because as a possible peace deal between Israel and Lebanon may be inching closer, it’s bad for their proxy Hezbollah, and terrorists will always use terror to influence from the outside. Indeed, it’s a common Islamic terrorist strategy, literally to try to blow up peace through missiles or suicide attacks.

I know they attacked because they knew by now that Trump thinks he’s so close that he won’t let anyone ruin his “deal”. But he’s been saying that he’s “close” for weeks and weeks. They know that he wants a deal more than they are (ever) prepared to make a deal, so they attacked, calling his bluff.

They attacked literally because Trump’s words about a deal have been the fuel for the missiles they fired. They want no deal, they just want to play Trump, and will use any pretext to attack or otherwise harm Israel. They attacked because their agenda is clear and they are singularly focused on playing the US and the West as they have for “the past 47 years” but probably not “the last 3000 years.”

If there had been any doubt as to whether President Trump was bluffing, and his weeks and weeks of chanting about making a deal with the Islamic Republic were part of some mass deception campaign, that doubt has been late to rest. It is clear that his notion of ending the war and the threat to America and the West by signing “the best deal ever” has never been more mistaken than ever.

Unfortunately, the Islamic Republic saw his hand and played him. They demanded that Lebanon be included, and when Israel responded to a violation of a cease-fire with Hezbollah (nearly 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the ceasefire), Iran was given freehand to launch barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel.

**Deal Breaker**. Historic opportunity is the last thing Hezbollah wanted and tried sabotaging it by firing missiles into northern Israel.

Unlike President Biden, who said “Don’t, don’t” to deter Iran and Hezbollah in 2023, this week, President Trump essentially said “Don’t” to Israel to prevent the appropriate and massive response that should have taken place. This week we know the Islamic Republic knows that Trump is more eager for a deal than actually defeating the Islamic Republic. They know that they can continue to play him before and after a deal if there is one.

I know that there can be no deal with the Islamic Republic and its proxies. I know that in the real estate deals Trump is used to, they end by one party paying for a project and the other selling the land or rights to do the project. It’s a simple transaction. I know that with the Islamic Republic and its proxies, any deal now will mean that we are paying later, and later.

Yes, maybe for 3000 years!

I know that for the past 100 days and more (but probably not 3000 years), anti-Israel agitators have used every deceitful trope anyway to make Israel look like the bad guy, somehow controlling Trump and US policy. Yet the latest escalation and tying Israel‘s hands has made it clear not only was this never true, but in fact, Trump has tied Israel hands.

I know that Israel did retaliate, hitting Iranian sites Monday morning, and that this possibly could give Israel face-saving cover to appease Trump more broadly, while respecting the alliance between Israel and the United States are allies. It does not make sense to cross the president unless absolutely necessary. But the Islamic Republic is not only not an ally, but a dangerous enemy seeking the destruction of the United States. I know that as much as Trump may think he’s “close” to a deal, the Islamic Republic will never do or agree to anything that is not in its long-term interest. Even if that is suicidal. I don’t know if Trump realizes that any deal with the Islamists is itself suicidal.

**Iran Deal “round the corner”**. Its unsure if anyone knows what’s “around the corner”!

I know that if there is a deal, the Islamic Republic will play along but, before the ink is dry, they will use their decades of practice (47 years to be precise, but not 3000) to undermine that.

I know that to the Islamic Republic and their proxies, as well as to US allies in the region who are trying to assess what Trump is doing, it is clear that he seems desperate to end the war, even at the expense of not achieving the declared goals set out at the beginning of hostilities. This is while insisting that the Islamic Republic never obtains nuclear weapons.

Annoyed, maybe even angered that his deal might be sidetracked, he commented:

“I would say an agreement would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week.”

But the Iranians see it as crying wolf, as they suit up in their wolf’s clothing, ready to use Trump’s eagerness to make a deal as a time to pounce. This they have done in closing the Strait of Hormuz, creating a global energy crisis that they are able to tighten under a ‘deal’ down the road.

**Blocked Artery**. Time to free the global economy from the grip of Iranian Islamic tyranny.

One hundred days after the US and Israel begin a war together to – eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile capabilities

– its support for its terror proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, and

– create facts on the ground that could lead to the fall of the Islamic regime,

Israel was once again under attack and the Islamists clearly playing its hand while Trump was talking about a deal.

NOW I know it’s time to finish the job and win, not talk and talk about a deal.

About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Journal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.

FROM DEMOCRACY TO AUTHORITARIANISM

How democratically elected leaders are systematically undermining democracy.

By Neville Berman

“Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Winston Churchill

Elections are an essential part of democracy, but having elections does not mean that the country is democratic. Let us look at some examples of elections around the world.

Nothing beats the parliamentary elections in North Korea. The media reported that 99.93 % of the electorate voted. 100% of those who voted, reaffirmed Kim Jong Un as their leader. What an amazingly free and fair election result.

President Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad consistently received approval ratings of between 95 – 98% of the votes. The true position became absolutely clear in December 2024 when Bashar al-Assad was forced to flee to Russia where he was granted asylum.

President Muammar Gaddafi of Libya said that all his people loved him. Shortly thereafter he was forced to flee. He was found hiding in a ditch and was immediately executed. Obviously not all his people loved him.

Believe it or not, elections were actually held in Afghanistan. Only men over the age of 18 were allowed to vote. An American organization decided to attend the election in order to report if the elections were free and fair. The authorities in Afghanistan refused to allow the organization to be present inside the actual area where voting was going to take place. At one polling station, they stood outside for the entire time that the polling station was open. They counted less than 800 people who came to vote. The official count showed that over 15,000 votes were cast at the polling station. Obviously, elections mean different things in different parts of the world.

**From Russia with Love**. Thanks to his friendship with Putin, Bashar Assad who won in 2021 a fourth term in office as president with 95.1% of votes now lives in luxurious exile in Moscow having fled Syria in 2024.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. About a decade ago a senior Haiti official had a meeting with the Assistant American Secretary of State in Washington D.C. He asked what America would like to see happen in Haiti. The answer was that America would like to see free and fair elections in which all citizens over the age of 18 are allowed to vote. The official from Haiti agreed that this was essential. He then asked:

“After the vote, who do you want us to announce as the winner.”

Even the Islamic Republic of Iran has elections. Only candidates approved by the Iranian Guardian Council are allowed to become candidates. What a farce. No wonder that in 2024, less than 40% of those eligible to vote, actually voted. Clearly there is huge dissatisfaction at the way the country is governed. The amazing thing about the elections is the speed in which tens of millions of votes are counted. The results of the election are announced within hours of the closing of voting. It seems plausible that the results could be announced even before the voting started.

Every Israeli citizen irrespective of race religion or gender who is over the age of 18, has the right to vote in Israeli parliamentary elections. Israel claims to be the sole democracy in the Middle East. In actual fact, no Israeli political party has ever won a majority of 61 seats out of the 120 seats in the Knesset. What this means is that after every election, a coalition government has to be formed. The price demanded by the smaller parties to join the coalition is normally out of all proportion to the amount of support that they received in the election. Bribery, corruption and extortion are the correct names for what takes place. New ministries with huge budgets are created to satisfy the egos of political hacks who are neither qualified nor experienced enough to handle. In the end a coalition government is formed that costs billions of shekels from the coffers of the country. The present Israeli government is composed of five political parties. The Israeli coalition government is in reality a ‘’reverse democracy” as it is not based on the wishes of the party that won the most votes, but on the demands and policies of the minority parties that agreed to join the coalition provided the price paid to them was sufficient. This arrangement ensures that someone becomes prime minister by manipulation. Dan Bielski, a political commentator in Israel summed up the position succinctly when he stated that “Israeli politicians can commit suicide by jumping from their egos to their IQ’s.”

**Vote of ‘Approval’**. Iranians cast their votes at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, March 1, 2024 only for candidates approved by the Iranian Guardian Council. Was it any wonder that it was the lowest electoral turnout since the Islamic Republic’s founding in 1979. (Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Let us now look at how democratically elected leaders of countries have systematically turned their countries into autocracies. Although the sequence of what takes place may differ from country to country, and some events may not occur, the playbook of how this is done is basically the same all over the world. It usually starts with the election of a leader, who has delusional views that only he can lead the country to recover past greatness, and lead the country to new heights.

Once elected, he immediately starts by assuming greater executive power than the law intended. The separation of powers between and legislative, judicial and executive are slowly but systematically dismantled. People perceived as possibly posing a threat to his leadership such as the top leadership of the military and security forces are removed from their positions of power. Control of the press and TV stations by the government is the next goal. A crackdown on the liberal press and TV channels that the leader believes are acting against the wishes of the majority of the electorate is implemented. If the criticism continues, the newspapers and TV channels are closed down. The independence of the judiciary, that may rule against the government, is one of the things that elected officials cannot stand. At some point in time an attempt is made to change the way that judges are selected and appointed. In some countries, the entire judicial system is overhauled by arresting and holding judges in prison for months without any charges being filed. The civil service is always systematically subverted. This is done by retiring or firing civil servants whose views do not appear to be in line with government policy. Opposition candidates are then prevented from running in elections. This can happen because of “accidents”, or by trumped up legal charges against them. At this stage the judges in the courts understand that their own position is dependent on handing down prison sentences on those accused of committing certain crimes. Once in prison the opposition candidate is charged with additional crimes such as tax evasion and embezzlement. The end result is always long-term imprisonment or the mysterious death of the prisoner while in jail.

The Prime Minister or President always takes credit for everything positive that has occurred, even if he had nothing to do with anything that caused the positive situation. Anything negative that has occurred, is either blamed on the previous government, or the blame is shifted to external forces and enemies. This gives the government an excuse to massively increase the defense budget. This is funded by deficit enlargement. While billions of dollars of government contracts are awarded to well-connected companies, the leader of the country somehow becomes a multi-millionaire or a billionaire. No explanation is given as to how he accumulated his new wealth. At some point during the above process, the constitution of the country is changed to allow the President or Prime Minister to rule for life.

Waging war is another way that leaders of countries hope to gain support. In 1982, Margaret Thatcher became immensely more popular by waging war against the Argentinian takeover of the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands are situated nearly 12,900 kilometers from Britain, and have almost zero strategic value. Nevertheless, Thatcher went to war to regain control of the islands. A fleet of Royal Navy ships were dispatched to the Falklands. In total six British ships were sunk including the HMS Sheffield, which was sunk by an Exocet missile. Dozens of aircraft and 24 helicopters never made it back to Britain. 649 Argentinian soldiers and 3 Falklanders were killed in the war. The cost of the war in today’s terms was over a billion sterling and 255 members of the British armed forces were killed. Before the war, the British Prime Minister was behind in the polls. After regaining the Falkland Islands, the British press went absolutely overboard in praising the “Iron Lady”. Margaret Thatcher won the next election by a landslide. The lesson of going to war and winning in the election that follows has been noted by several of today’s leaders.

**“Iron Lady”**. While the Falkland War elevated British PM Margaret Thatcher to hero status as seen here surrounded by her troops on the island in January 1983, Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges called the Falkland War: **“… a fight between two bald men over a comb,”** inferring how useless the islands were to both nations.

Israel is not even close to the level of autocracy or dictatorship found in Russia, China, Turkey, North Korea, Afghanistan, and most Middle Eastern countries ruled by military dictatorships or royal families. However, Israel has fulfilled several of the steps outlined above that result in democracy moving towards autocracy. This is a slippery slope that is difficult to reverse.

**Contrived Coalitions**. In order to entrench his and his party’s position in power, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has no problem including in his coalition the ultra-religious parties who are non-Zionist and aggressively oppose military service of their followers. The PM is seen here in November 21, 2022 shaking hands with MK Yitzchak Goldknopf, leader of the United Torah Judaism party. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The coming Israeli election in October, will be an opportunity for the electorate in Israel, to do what is necessary to ensure that the slippery slope is firmly reversed. Bibi Netanyahu has used every trick in the book to remain in power, and he is prepared to use any means necessary to continue to be the prime minister. The coming election is going to be brutal and unethical. The present political leadership has failed to bring unity to the country. It needs to be replaced.

About the writer:

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

Any deal that leaves Iran’s Islamic Republic regime intact leaves the threat intact.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

I am not saying the goal of the United States is to do so, but any negotiation with the Islamic Republic only serves to keep the Islamic Republic regime alive.

Another day.

Another month.

Another year.

Another decade.

That, precisely, is the goal of the Islamic Republic. To stay alive. To control 90 million Iranians. To spread its extremist Islamic ideology across the world. And to threaten the United States, Israel, and the West at every turn.

The goal of the United States and the West should be to hasten the Islamic Republic’s demise, not to negotiate and prop it up.

What is happening in Iran today was exactly the plan of the reformists, who have cultivated significant influence inside the United States. Their goal has always been to appear rational, to present themselves to the West as the adults in the room. They are not. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, designed to subjugate Iranians for decades more while spreading their extremist ideology around the world. In America, that means undermining our values by hijacking the very freedoms they seek to eradicate.

The reformist plot was straightforward: remove Khamenei, capitalize on the deep dissatisfaction inside Iran to create a flicker of hope among its people, and then simply shed the skin of the regime through a cosmetic change in leadership. Put the reformists in charge. Allow America to claim credit for eliminating Khamenei, making him a martyr, while the system itself remains entirely unchanged.

Consider something most observers have missed. With the successful American and Israeli strikes across Iran, targeting Islamic Republic leaders including the former Supreme Leader and commanders of the IRGC and Basij, not a single reformist has been eliminated. Not one. Their agents outside Iran have only grown more influential. How is that possible unless those agents have already deeply infiltrated American and Western institutions? They have been promoted across major media platforms, granted credibility and influence, operating under the guise of being opposition voices while actively working to protect the regime’s survival.

People like me who genuinely oppose the regime have been blocked from mainstream media for years. Despite the war and the slaughter of Iranians, we are still prevented from reaching major platforms because the reformists and their agents work to keep us out. I remember this mafia-style system from my childhood in Iran. I know how they play the game. If eliminating someone from a rival faction is what it takes to keep the regime afloat, they will not hesitate. The regime’s survival always comes first.

**‘Deal’ing with Iran**. For the writer the goal of the United States and the West should be to hasten the Islamic Republic’s demise and not to negotiate and prop it up.

So, what is actually at risk from any deal with the Islamic Republic?

When the United States suddenly halted its military operation against the regime, it was clear something was happening behind the scenes. The regime was given a window to reach some arrangement, presumably centered on nuclear concessions and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

But what does “no nukes” actually mean? Will Iranian regime scientists forget what they have already know how to do, enriching uranium and leading toward a bomb? How long before they start up again, assuming that they ever stopped? What happens to the enriched uranium? We are told they already have enough to build ten bombs, and that it takes only weeks to enrich uranium from 60 percent to weapons-grade 90 percent. And what about the ballistic missiles that have struck targets across the Middle East and can now reach Europe. We did not even fully know the range of those missiles until they were already flying. Will the regime stop manufacturing and improving on their missiles just because of a deal on paper?

The West must accept one simple truth: the Iranian regime does not think in terms of coexistence. It is a religious, extremist, fundamentalist cult that is ideologically committed to conquering or destroying all who do not submit to it. Period. They have told us this in writing, in in their preaching, through their media, and via their agents. This is a revolution without borders, not merely one nation seeking its place among others. Americans have been killed for 47 years as a direct result of this regime’s nefarious aspirations.

Assuming a deal could be reached, that the regime could be trusted, and that any deal was not simply a vehicle to prop up the regime, who will enforce it? With any deal, the regime will cheat. It has lied and hidden its activities and violated every agreement it has ever signed. Who will have the political will to respond when they cheat again. Will President Trump as a lame duck? Will any possible successor: 48, 49, 0r 50? Look at how Americans react to a temporary rise in the price of gasoline. Would we have the will to act, even a few years from now?

**Playing for Time**. Operating under the pressures and constraints of time, who will give in first?

Will this deal eviscerate the Islamic Republic’s proxies? Hezbollah is still a potent terrorist force controlling much of Lebanon. Hamas is still standing in Gaza, propped up by Islamists in Turkey and Qatar. The Houthis can do nothing without Iranian support. Even if the Iranian regime promises not to fund them, who is monitoring this? Who will stop it? The Europeans will appease the regime. China and Russia will continue supporting the regime regardless of any deal. North Korea will do the same. Assuming that the regime could be trusted with any deal, there will be no control over their immediate breach of any agreement. Even without a nuclear weapon, the regime already knows the world’s Achilles heel: block Hormoz. They have done it, and will do it again. God help us if they have a nuclear umbrella to protect them.

The Islamic regime in Tehran is lying to the administration, the negotiators, and the world. Do not believe a word they say. It is still the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis are not going away because of any deal signed in a conference room.

**What’s at Stake**. While the current supply and price of oil is on everyone’s mind for the writer it’s the future of mankind.

All the talk about making the best deal, about what will be in the deal, about the art of the deal, only emboldens them. They see it as America wanting a deal more than Iran needs one. When they smell weakness, they grow stronger. That is precisely the lesson I carry from my own life. When the regime threatened me and demanded I renounce my Christian faith, I did not simply refuse. I challenged their theology to their face. Refusing to show weakness is the only model that works. I won. America needs to win.

**Machine guns to Machetes**. How do you ‘deal’ with a leadership that has does not blink as mass murdering its own civilians? Verified images of weapons that massacred thousands of civilian protestors earlier this year in more than 200 cities across Iran.

There is no negotiating with the Islamic Republic. Any deal that leaves the regime intact leaves the threat intact. And a regime that survives today will be back tomorrow, better armed, better funded, and more dangerous than before.

About the writer:

Marziyeh Amirizadeh (Marzi) is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com.

Marzi also is the founder and president of NEW PERSIA whose mission is to be the voice of persecuted Christians and oppressed women under Islam, expose the lies of the Iranian Islamic regime, and restore the relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. www.NewPersia.org.

WHY AMERICANS MUST PROTEST THE IRANIAN SOCCER TEAM’S INCLUSION IN THE WORLD CUP

Beware of what’s under the soccer jerseys the Islamic Republic regime wants to normalize on American soil

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

As the United States prepares to host FIFA, the World Cup, I have an urgent appeal to all Americans. While sports in theory should be above international politics, the inclusion of a soccer team from the Islamic Republic of Iran is an afront to the freedoms we celebrate as Americans. If the Islamic Republic soccer team is participating, it must also be a time to use our freedom to protest their presence and the Islamic regime that they represent. I call on all Americans to join me to do so.

**On the Way to the USA**. Iran supporters cheer during a FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia zone qualifiers between Iran and the North Korea at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran on June 10, 2025. (Photo: AFP/ Atta Kenare)

Why is this so important? I was born in Iran just months before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that plunged my beloved homeland into darkness. I grew up under the boot of the ayatollahs’ regime, where being a woman meant living as a second-class citizen, and daring to seek truth outside their intolerant radical Islam could cost you everything. In 1999 I became a Christian and in 2009, my friend Maryam and I were arrested for the “crime” of converting to Christianity. We were thrown into Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, interrogated, tortured, and sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy. Only international pressure secured our release after nine harrowing months. I came to America as a free woman, but my heart still bleeds for the millions left behind.

**Beauties and the Beasts**. For 259 days, the writer (left) and her friend Maryam Rostampour were imprisoned facing execution for spreading Christianity. Their case gained international attention, and human rights advocates around the world began calling for their release until growing pressure eventually led Iranian authorities to free them. After leaving Iran, both women moved to the US.

Today, as the Islamic Republic prepares to send its national soccer team to the 2026 World Cup on American soil, I raise my voice with urgency and conviction: Americans must protest this inclusion loudly, clearly, and without apology. Allowing this team to compete is not a celebration of sport. It is a betrayal of human rights, a whitewashing of tyranny, and an insult to every victim of the regime’s brutality – including the brave women, Christians, Baha’is, Kurds, and dissidents who suffer daily.

The Iranian national team does not represent the Iranian people. It represents the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the oppressive theocracy that has ruled through terror for nearly five decades. That’s why the Islamic Republic is protesting that the team including all its IRGC guards be allowed to come to America. It is literally allowing terrorists to come for a field day in our own backyards.

Players who are not IRGC are also not free. They may not express themselves, or think of defecting, lest the threats they have been made clear to them against their families be realized. God help them if they dare show solidarity with the protests sweeping Iran, or thank their American hosts for helping to free Iran. In past tournaments, we saw courageous gestures of players refusing to sing the regime’s anthem only to be met with intimidation from the IRGC. This is no game; it is propaganda. The regime uses the unifying sport of soccer and the World Cup to project an image of normalcy while executing prisoners by the hundreds, brutalizing and disfiguring women who do not wear the hijab “properly,” and funding terrorism across the Middle East.

**Crackdown to Kickoff**. Is it acceptable that the regime responsible for mass murdering its own citizens during a crackdown of protests, should be permitted to normalize its crimes by being allowed to participate at the World Cup in the US? Seen here are families searching for their loved ones among bodies outside the Kahrizak forensic center in the suburbs of Tehran, Iran, January 13, 2026. (Photo: SIPA)

I know this evil firsthand. In Evin Prison, I endured conditions designed to break the human body and spirit. Solitary confinement, psychological torment, and the constant threat of execution were tools to silence faith and freedom. Thousands of political prisoners, including Christians like me, have faced the same. The regime hangs people for “enmity against God.” Women are beaten and killed for “improper hijab,” as we saw with Mahsa Amini in 2022. Young girls are imprisoned, and minorities are persecuted. Women are raped before execution because the religion of peace does not allow execution of virgins, and so, according to their perverted Islamic ideology, they will not go to heaven. This is what’s under the soccer jerseys the Islamic Republic regime wants to normalize on American soil.

**Sing to Survive**. In March 2026, fears mounted for members of the Iranian women’s soccer team following being branded “wartime traitors” by Iranian state media for refusing to sing their national anthem in Australia. (Photo: AP)

My fellow Americans, we live in a land of liberty, founded on principles of God-given rights, where faith is protected and dissent is a cornerstone of democracy. How can you welcome representatives of a regime that executes Christians, stones adulterers (by their laws), subjugates women in every way – including as sex slaves under the banner of Islamic “temporary marriages” – and which calls for the destruction of Israel and America? FIFA officials speak of “inclusion” and “sports diplomacy,” but there can be no diplomacy with evil that slaughters its own citizens and seeks to annihilate other countries. Protesting the Islamic Republic’s participation honors the true spirit of competition one rooted in fair play, not state-sponsored terror.

Our protest also sends an urgent message to the Iranian diaspora and freedom-loving people inside Iran. Many Iranian-Americans fled this very regime. They wave the old Lion and Sun flag, not the blood-soaked emblem of the Islamic Republic. By allowing the team entry, America normalizes the mullahs’ lies. It tells protesters in Tehran – risking their lives in the streets behind an internet blackout – that the world prefers games over justice. It dishonors the memory of those executed, those blinded and disfigured by pellets, those raped in custody, and those who simply wanted to live without fear. It’s all a big show because Iranians living behind the internet blackout won’t even be able to watch an uncensored broadcast of a soccer game, only able to see what the regime allows them.

Most recently, and in an affront to all Americans, FIFA has barred people from displaying the original Lion and Sun Iranian flag which was hijacked and perverted by the flag of the Islamic Republic since 1979. Not only is this an obscene whitewashing of the presence of the Islamic Republic team on US soil, it undermines the First Amendment in a peaceful display of protest. If allowed to be enforced, it’s tantamount to America ceding territory and our freedoms to the Islamic Republic by giving ownership and authority of our rights to FIFA as the gatekeeper. There are and must be an infinite number of ways for Americans to assert that FIFA may be the organizer, but they have no authority on matters of freedom of expression. Would they do what the Islamic Republic does in such an instance: shoot down protesters? The Lion and Sun must be present inside and outside the stadiums and all Americans must resist this violation of our inalienable rights for which Iranians are being slaughtered in the streets.

**Football Façade**. Crowds gather for a public farewell ceremony for Iran’s national soccer team as they prepare to depart for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, on May 13, 2026. (Photo: Behnam Tofighi/UPI)

My faith in Jesus sustained me through Evin’s darkness. He taught us to stand for the oppressed, to speak truth to power. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). The Iranian people are crying out for freedom. Women lead the revolution with the cry “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Christians worship in secret house churches, risking everything for their faith. Jews, Baha’is, Kurds and other minorities face systemic erasure. Americans who value life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have a moral duty to stand with them.

Protesting does not mean hating Iranian athletes as individuals. Many are victims themselves, coerced by a system that controls their careers and families. True solidarity would be demanding FIFA ban the team until the regime releases political prisoners, ends executions, grants religious freedom, and stops its nuclear ambitions and terror sponsorship. Sport should unite humanity, not provide cover and whitewashing of systematic evil.

As an American citizen now, I urge my fellow citizens: Do not let commercial interests or diplomatic niceties silence you. Organize at stadiums. Rally in cities hosting matches. Protest any hotel that gives lodging to the Islamic Republic team. Contact your representatives. Flood social media with the truth. Demand visas be denied to regime-linked officials and IRGC affiliates. Support true Iranian opposition voices who envision a free, secular, democratic Iran at peace with its neighbors, including Israel. Support Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to return to Iran and lead the country to freedom and prosperity, the one name millions of Iranians support to do so.

I pray that the regime’s days are numbered, that its collapse is coming, through internal revolution and decisive external pressure. But while it clings to power, we must not legitimize it on the world stage, or on the soccer field.

The World Cup on American soil provides a moment of truth. Will we choose silence and spectacle, or courage and conscience? I survived Evin because people around the world raised their voices. My captors were angered by the broad international support and voices which ultimately made a difference in my being released. Now, I ask Americans to raise your voice. Protest the Iranian team’s inclusion. Stand for the Iranian people. Stand for freedom. The God who delivered me from death can deliver an entire nation – if we act with faith and boldness.

Let the games begin without the Islamic Republic’s symbol of oppression. Let the world hear the true voice of Iran: the voice of the oppressed, calling for liberty.

About the writer:

Marziyeh Amirizadeh is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com.
Marzi also is the founder and president of NEW PERSIA whose mission is to be the voice of persecuted Christians and oppressed women under Islam, expose the lies of the Iranian Islamic regime, and restore the relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. www.NewPersia.org.

MIDTERM ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Historically the midterm elections result in a loss of seats by the ruling party in the House of Representatives and a small change in the makeup of the Senate.

By Neville Berman

The United States President is elected for a four-year term of office. Half way through this 4-year period, an election takes place that is known as the midterm elections. The next midterm elections are due to take place on November 3, 2026. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and 1/3 of the Senate seats are up for re-election.

The United States Congress is the legislative body of the federal government of the United States. It is made up of an upper body known as the Senate, and a lower body known as the House of Representatives. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for 2-year terms and members of the Senate are elected for 6-year terms. There are 100 members of the Senate, with each of the 50 States electing 2 senators irrespective of the population or size of each state. In the event of a tie in a Senate vote, the vice president has an additional vote in the Senate There are 435 members of Congress elected by electoral districts in each state.

The US House of Representatives is the body that proposes federal laws. The Senate then needs to approve the laws passed by the House. Finally, the President needs to sign the bill before the bill becomes federal law. If the President chooses to veto the bill, in most cases Congress can then vote to override the veto and the bill then becomes federal law.

There have been 20 US midterm elections since the end of the Second World War. In 10 of these elections, the President was a Democrat, and in an equal number the President was a Republican. Let us look back at what happened in the first of these 20 midterm elections and see if there is any resemblance to the next midterm election.

In November 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected for an unprecedented fourth term of office as President. His vice president was Harry S Truman. They were sworn into office in January 1945. Eighty-two days after the inauguration, President Roosevelt died and Truman was sworn in as the 37^th President of the United States. He was the 7^th Vice President to become President due to the death of the President while in office. Truman was a poor farmer from Missouri, who never went to university, and never ran a successful business. He was now the President of the most powerful country in the world. On his desk, he placed a sign that read “The buck stops here”. Truman took this to heart. He took decisions that changed the world.

**Recalibration in the Capitol**. Riding widespread discontent with the postwar economic policies of the Harry Truman administration, Republicans in 1946, running on the slogan, “Had Enough”, recaptured majority control of the House from Democrats for the first time in 15 years. The GOP gained 55 seats for a 246 to 188 advantage.

Less than one month after Truman became President, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally. However, the War in the Pacific was far from over. In order to shorten the war and save American lives, Truman signed an order authorizing the use of atomic bombs in the war against Japan.

On August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb named Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later the second atomic bomb, named Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. Between 150,000 and 246,000 people were killed, almost all of whom were civilians.

Six days later, Emperor Hirohito addressed the nation on radio. He could not bring himself to use the word ‘surrender’. Instead, he said that Japan had agreed to an American proposal. Everyone understood that Japan had surrendered.

On September 2, 1945 the formal signing of Japanese unconditional surrender took place aboard the USS Missouri. The Second World War was finally over.

Having won the war, one would imagine that Americans would overwhelmingly vote to support the ruling Democratic Party in the midterm elections the following year. So, what happened?

During the war wages in America were frozen and price controls were instituted. With the war over, all the big military contracts were cancelled, and at the same time the labour unions were demanding a 30% increase in salaries. Millions of workers were laid off. The steelworkers’ union went on strike. Hundreds of factories including General Motors were closed due to labour strikes. At the same time millions of soldiers were returning and could not find jobs. Three weeks before the 1946 midterm elections the meat workers went on strike. People were despondent and fed up with the government. In the 1946 midterm elections the Republican party ran on the slogan “Had enough”.” The slogan resonated with the electorate. The Republicans won in a landslide and gained control of both the Senate and the House. The Democrats lost 55 seats in the House and 12 seats in the Senate.

At present, the Republicans have 218 seats in the House and the Democrats have 215 seats. The Republicans thus have a slender 3 seat majority in the House. Two members of the House resigned in April and their seats are presently vacant.

**Bush ‘on the Ball’**. To buck historical trends, presidents and parties go all out for the midterms. Seen here is President Bush holding a jersey from a local high school football team during a rally in LeMars, Iowa days before the 2006 midterm election. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

In 80% of the last 20 midterm elections the ruling party has lost control of the House of Representatives. The average number of seats in the House lost when Democrats were in power in the last 20 midterm elections is 27. In the case where the Republicans were in power, the average number of seats lost in the House over the last 20 midterm elections is 22. If this trend continues, the Republicans will lose control of the House in the next midterm elections.

**Democrats Rebound**. Popular U.S. President Ronald Reagan campaigns for the GOP in the 1986 midterms, but voters choose Democrats. (Photo: Douglas C. Pizac/AP)

In the Senate, the Republicans presently have a 53 to 47 advantage. Included in the 47 are 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats. In 60% of the midterm elections since 1946, the ruling party has retained control of the Senate with a reduced majority, and in 40% of the elections, the ruling party lost control of the Senate. Republicans under Eisenhower, Ford and Reagan all lost control of the Senate in the midterm elections. Based on the data of the past 20 midterm elections, there is a statistical likelihood that the electorate will again demonstrate that they have had enough and want change. If the past is any indication of what will happen, the Republican Party will in all likelihood lose their majority in the House. and will either have a reduced majority in the Senate, or will lose control of the Senate in the next midterm elections.

**Tea Party Turnaround**. 2010 was President Barack Obama’s first midterm test and the newly prominent Tea Party and a GOP pushback resulted in a change of course by voters. Republican gains were huge and Democrats lost the House

In 1947, the 22nd Amendment of the American Constitution was passed. The amendment limited the Presidency to a maximum of two terms of four years each. As President Trump is now in his second term in office, he cannot stand again in the next Presidential election due to take place in November 2028.

Trump on Trending. Historically, the party in control of the White House loses seats in the House during the midterm elections.

No matter what the actual outcome of the next midterm election will be, barring unforeseen circumstances, Trump will remain President until 2028. He will probably govern by signing more Presidential Decrees. America is indispensable in its role as a superpower and any weakening of American resolve will have a devastating effect on what happens in the future. The coming midterm elections will provide the first clue as to what can be expected after Trump leaves office. The situation does not augur well for a peaceful and prosperous future for the Middle East or for anywhere else.

*Feature photo: Capitol Hill. The western front of the United States Capitol, Washington DC. (Phoyo: Public Domain)

About the writer:

SACRED GROUND, SACRED SAFETY – HOLY SEPHULCHRE NEEDS A SHELTER NOW

The Church should be a protected sanctuary rather than a site for political standoffs- sanctity of life over frictions of the past.

By David Nekrutman and Jonathan Feldstein

The images from last month’s Iranian missile barrage remain seared into our collective memory, specifically the sight of ballistic streaks over Jerusalem’s Old City. Amidst this high-stakes war, a localized controversy erupted that touched the very heart of the faith communities with whom we spend our time building bridges. During Holy Week, Israeli police barred Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for a private, livestreamed Palm Sunday service.

**Cardinal Issue**. Need to provide a bomb shelter following the issue with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who is seen here holding a prayer service to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, March 29, 2026. (Photo: Ammar Awad/Pool Photo via AP)

Predictably, the incident became a Rorschach test for the region’s geopolitics. Critics of Israel seized upon it as evidence of anti-Christian bias, while defenders pointed to the genuine threat of falling shrapnel, noting that religious gatherings for Jews and Muslims were also restricted. The fallout was significant enough that Israeli government leaders, including the Prime Minister himself, condemned the police decision and intervened to ensure a solution was found for future services.

**Targeting Jerusalem**. Israel intercepts an Iranian missile above Jerusalem’s Old City on March 1, 2026. (Photo: AP/Mahmoud Illean)

While high-level political fixes can salvage a holiday, they do not address the underlying infrastructure failure. As leaders of The Isaiah Projects and the Genesis 123 Foundation, we believe the time has come to ask a glaring, practical question:

Why does one of the most significant religious sites on Earth, in a place that has been targeted by terrorist missiles, lack a bomb shelter?

STREAMLINING SECURITY FOR THE CLERGY

The absence of a shelter doesn’t just impact pilgrims; it hamstrings the ability of Israel’s Home Front Command to make nuanced security calls. When the sirens wail and the threat level is raised, as we experienced during last month’s state of war, the military’s default position must be the total shutdown of unprotected spaces.

**Under Fire**. Smoke in the Old City shows where fragments from an Iranian missile fell near the holy sites of all the three major religions. (Photo: IDF)

If the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had an on-site shelter, the logistical calculus would change overnight. It would provide the Home Front Command with the safety “cushion” needed to allow the Cardinal and his clergy into the building even during high-alert periods. While a shelter might not allow for full congregational attendance, it would alleviate some of the safety concerns that currently lead to total bans on public holy sites. A shelter turns a high-risk security gamble into a manageable situation, ensuring the liturgy does not have to go dark while protecting lives — a value central to both Judaism and Christianity.

A COALTION OF WILLING NEIGHBORS

Recognizing this gap between spiritual necessity and physical safety, our organizations have publicly offered to donate and install a bomb shelter within or adjacent to the church premises. We would be working in tandem with Operation Lifeshield, an Israeli organization with decades of specialized experience installing shelters for both Jewish and non-Jewish communities across Israel.

To date, however, the Church has yet to accept our offer. We understand the complexity of the “Status Quo” — the centuries-old web of agreements between different denominations that govern the Holy Sites. Historically, even moving a ladder can trigger an internal Christian crisis. Yet, as the region prepares for a potential “Phase 3” escalation with Iran and the lack of a long-term solution becomes glaring, the absence of modern safety infrastructure is a liability that prayer alone may not solve.

BEYOND THE STATUS QUO

The threats last month in Jerusalem and across Israel were real. While any physical change requires a delicate consensus among the various Christian denominations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, “bureaucracy as usual” is a luxury we can no longer afford when the stakes are human lives.

**Nowhere is Safe**. Following an Iranian missile exploding over Jerusalem’s Old City, its fragments fell on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter and on the Temple Mount near the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Iranian regime is firing missiles toward Jerusalem’s holy sites, endangering Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Israel, meanwhile, acts to protect worshippers of all faiths in its capital city.

Moving beyond these administrative hurdles would signal a profound shift in interfaith relations, especially as an initiative of two Jewish-led organizations supported by both Jews and Christians. We are currently sixty years post-Nostra Aetate, the landmark declaration that reshaped the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. We speak often of “rapprochement”, but it is often confined to high-level summits and theological papers.

We believe a bomb shelter for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, facilitated by Jewish neighbors with a proven track record of protecting all citizens, would be the ultimate modern manifestation of that vision. It would be a tangible, “concrete” sign of a brotherhood that prioritizes the sanctity of life over the friction of the past.

**Holy Sepulchre in the ‘Cross’hairs**. Missile debris from an Iranian attack landed just feet from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – one of the most sacred sites in Christianity, believed to be the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

LOOKING AHEAD TO PHASE III

As tensions with Iran threaten to escalate into a “Phase III” conflict, the issue of shutdowns in public and even sacred spaces will only intensify. Israel has recently appointed a new Christian envoy; while he is still getting his feet wet in this complex space, he cannot carry the burden of the Church’s safety alone.

The Church leadership must step up. It is easy to blame security forces for restrictions, but it is much harder to justify the lack of basic safety infrastructure in a high-profile target area frequently caught in the crosshairs of regional conflict.

Our offer stands. We are ready to work with the Church to navigate the technical and diplomatic hurdles. Accepting this shelter would ensure that when the next barrage of missiles from Iran, Hezbollah, or the Houthis comes, the Church remains a protected sanctuary rather than a site for political standoffs. Let us work together to ensure that the prayers at the Holy Sepulchre never have to be silenced by the sound of sirens.

To learn more about this initiative, please visit Shelters for Christian Holy Sites.

About the writers:

David Nekrutman is the Executive Director of The Isaiah Projects.

Jonathan Feldstein is the President of the Genesis 123 Foundation.

Category: Politics

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