The Eternal Riddle

 The following poem was written in 1914 byPhilip M. Raskin 

(how true this is even today)

Israel, my people, God's greatest riddle,
Will thy solution ever be told

Fought - never conquered, bent - never broken,
Mortal - immortal, youthful, though old.

Egypt enslaved thee, Babylon crushed thee,
Rome led thee captive, homeless thy head.

Where are those nations mighty and fearsome
Thou hast survived them, they are long dead.

Nations keep coming, nations keep going,
Passing like shadows, wiped off the earth.

Thou an eternal witness remainest,
Watching their burial, watching their birth.

Pray, who revealed thee Heaven's great secret:
Death and destruction, thus to defy

Suffering torture, stake, inquisition -
Prithee, who taught thee never to die

Ay, and who gave thee faith, deep as ocean,
Strong as the rock-hills, fierce as the sun

Hated and hunted, ever thou wand'rest,
Bearing a message: God is but one!

Pray, has thy saga likewise an ending,
As its beginning glorious of old

Israel, my people, God's greatest riddle,
Will thy solution ever be told

Kharg Island - Iran's Economic Lifeline

 Following the U.S. bombing of Iran’s three most fortified nuclear sites, the Iranian government swore revenge. The Iranian parliament voted to close the Strait of Hormuz.

However, this is more symbolic than real, given both that elected Iranian bodies have no power over security policy and that the Islamic Republic relies on the Strait of Hormuz both to export its oil and import much of its refined gasoline.

Still, the United States and its allies should counter any move to interfere with freedom of navigation and commerce across a major waterway, especially one in which its Arab allies depend for their commerce.

The U.S. response should be overwhelming. First, it should seize Kharg Island. Most tankers cannot safely get into Iranian ports because the Persian Gulf is so shallow, and the Iranian side is very rocky.

As a result, they load their supply from offshore terminals, the largest of which is the Kharg oil terminal on Kharg Island, 16 miles off the Iranian coast. Iran exports approximately 90 percent of its crude oil through Kharg.

However, bombing Kharg will be counterproductive because if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei falls and the Islamic Republic collapses, Iran could become a Western ally again; its new government will need Kharg to fuel Iran’s reconstruction and bring revenue to support the new government.

Occupying Kharg would strain the Islamic Republic financially, but preserve the infrastructure.

Strike the Navy

Continued Iranian aggression also merits a response against Iran’s two navies: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrols the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy speedboats regularly harass shipping. It is now time to sink the speedboats and the piers upon which the Revolutionary Guards depend for their vessels and the smuggling upon which the organization depends far more than its official budget.

The regular Iranian navy projects power far beyond the range of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps counterparts. Its submarines now ply the northern Indian Ocean, and its vessels, both official naval ships and cargo vessels operating on its behalf, support the Houthis.

The United States should issue an ultimatum: Either ships dock at key Indian Ocean ports and surrender to local authorities, or the United States will sink them.

Iranians should not complain; after all, they once launched Operation Morvarid, a 1980 operation in which Iranian forces largely sank Iraq’s navy, an event that for Iraq was equivalent to the 1941 Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor.

Limit the Damage The United States must take care to limit damage to Iran itself for two reasons: First, the Iranian people are not an enemy, and second, the less damage Iran suffers, the easier it will be for the country to recover once Iranians throw off Khamenei and his fellow clerics.

Occupying Kharg, an isolated island of less than eight square miles, and targeting the Islamic Republic’s two navies would fulfill the objective of preventing any meaningful damage to Iranian territory while ensuring freedom of navigation.

If Khamenei challenges Trump to continue, Trump must deftly call his bluff.

A Bit of Iranian History

 On January 3, 2021, The Iranian parliament announced a bill to eliminate Israel by 2041

A draft of a bill was published in which the parliament determined that the regime is obligated to act to destroy Israel within 20 years (following Khamenei's declaration 5 years prior. A countdown clock was placed in Tehran).

The declaration is under the section "Revenge for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani" alongside a statement that one percent of all Iranian exports to Iraq will be used as a budgetary source for revenge that will also work to remove American forces from the region.

An Iranian opposition channel mocked the declaration, noting that Israel's relations with countries in the region are expanding every day while Iran's isolation is increasing. This is in addition to the fact that, according to the channel, Israel has attacked targets of the Iranian Quds Force in Syria over 500 times in years prior without any significant Iranian response or retaliation.

Gaza Today

The above map show the areas (in yellow) now controlled by the IDF.

In the last 7-10 days the area  around Khan Yunis in the South and 

Jabaliya area in the northern Gaza Strip is coming under increasing control of the IDF

 

IDF Struck a Surface-To-Surface Missile Production Site 2,000 Kilometers Away

 Saturday 21.06.25

 (Saturday), IAF fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence from the Intelligence Directorate, struck a surface-to-surface missile engine production site of the IRGC in the Shahroud area of Iran, approximately 2,000 km from Israeli territory, the furthest reach of Israeli aircraft.

The site was struck for its planetary mixers and critical machinery used in the production of engines for missiles launched by the Iranian regime toward the State of Israel.

The site that was struck is part of the effort to damage the Iranian regime’s surface-to-surface missile production industry, which was intended to manufacture thousands of missiles in the coming years.

This is just part of the on going process to hit all Iranian assets involved in the manufacture of the various missiles developed by Iran.

Less Rockets, Restrictions Lifted

A graph by Aryeh Eisenman showing the quantities of Iranian missiles launched in each barrage, over time.  The elimination of the launchers is clearly achieving results.

This can certainly explain the decision on the easing of restrictions in our area approved 
by the Home Front Command starting at 18:00 today.

Small businesses can start operating (my wife can have her nails done!!), similarly cafes and restaurants.

The Iranian missile threat is steadily decreasing as time progresses. We have had two consecutive nights of sleep without alarms.

 

Gazans Claim Yet Another "Massacre"

The Gazans claim: “A new massacre among those waiting to receive aid packages.”

It seems the Gazans are trying to get some attention back, after “all eyes” are currently on Tehran… 

The Gazan Ministry of Health claims there are 45 dead and hundreds wounded as a result of gunfire directed at Gazans who were waiting for aid near “Al-Takhliya Junction” in Khan Yunis, in the southern part of the Strip.

The Gazan channels are endlessly “pumping up” the event, but it’s clear that there’s an “organized show” going on here. Videos from the entrance to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis  show there is a lot of noise, a lot of shouting, a lot of extras putting on a performance – but there are hardly any casualties…

They even bothered to bring in, as an extra, our acquaintance from previous videos, the TikTok star Awad Barbach – who shouts a bit at the hospital entrance.

Gaza is not the main event anymore, they want their stories back in the headlines...