WHY SO MANY ISRAELIS FEEL THE TABLE HAS SUDDENLY TURNED

 With thanks to Israel Realtime

For the past several days there are lots of questions that need answering 

Not about a specific Hezbollah attack. 

Not about a specific statement from Washington.

Not even about the details of the latest U.S.-Iran negotiations.

The question is much simpler: How did the pressure suddenly shift from Iran to Israel?

Only a short time ago, Iran appeared to be on the defensive. Israel and the United States were closely coordinated. Tehran and its proxies were under pressure. Hezbollah was constrained. The strategic momentum appeared to be moving in one direction.

Today, many Israelis feel as though the entire table has somehow been turned.

Whether that perception is fully accurate or not, it is worth examining why so many people have reached that conclusion.

The first thing that stands out is that the pressure did not only shift onto Israel, it appears to have shifted back onto America as well.

The United States was also presenting the Strait of Hormuz as a point of American leverage. The message was clear: Iran was surrounded, pressured, weakened, and unable to freely control the regional equation. Then came the ceasefire framework. From that moment, the logic of the arena changed.

After the ceasefire, Washington's priority shifted toward preserving the U.S.-Iran diplomatic track, stabilizing the region, reopening Hormuz, protecting global energy flows, and keeping negotiations alive.

That created a dangerous opening for Iran.

Tehran appears to have understood that once Washington became invested in protecting the agreement, Iran could use both Lebanon and Hormuz as leverage.

That is the deeper strategic reversal. The pressure did not only shift onto Israel. It also shifted back onto America.

Hormuz was supposed to be the symbol of American leverage over Iran. Instead, Iran is trying to turn Hormuz back into leverage over America. Because if Iran can threaten the Strait of Hormuz, pressure global energy markets, and then extract concessions through negotiations, the lesson for Tehran is obvious: Hormuz works.

Iran was militarily weakened. Its air defenses were hit. Its navy was pressured. Its regional infrastructure was damaged. But through Hormuz, Tehran still had a way to threaten the global system. That is why the negotiation looks so troubling from an Israeli perspective.

America had pressure on Iran.

Israel had pressure on Iran.

Iran's proxies were under pressure.

Hormuz was being used by Washington as a pressure point.

Then the ceasefire framework appears to have allowed Iran to reverse the equation. Instead of Iran being forced to prove it would stop threatening Hormuz and restrain its proxies, Israel and America are now the ones being pressured to avoid actions that might collapse the deal.

That is the strategic inversion. The pattern is becoming clear:

Hezbollah attacks.

Israel responds.

Iran accuses Israel of endangering the broader agreement.

The United States tries to preserve the diplomatic track.

Pressure shifts onto Israel.

That is the trap.

The problem is not that America is negotiating with Iran. The United States is free to pursue its own diplomatic track if it believes that serves American interests.

The problem is that Iran appears to be trying to turn that U.S.-Iran track into a restraint on both Israel and America. On Israel, by limiting its freedom of action against Hezbollah.

That is what makes this so troubling.

If the agreement is about Iran, nuclear de-escalation, Hormuz, sanctions, or regional stability, then why should Israel be expected to absorb Hezbollah attacks in Lebanon?

Iran's conduct suggests it is testing whether it can enjoy the benefits of diplomacy while preserving the coercive power of its proxy network and its control over strategic chokepoints.

Tehran wants sanctions relief, oil revenue, access to global markets, and reduced pressure. At the same time, it wants Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed forces to remain tools of pressure against Israel, regional states, global shipping, and Western interests.

That cannot become the new normal.

A diplomatic agreement that restrains Iran is one thing. A diplomatic agreement that restrains Israel while Iran's proxies keep attacking is something very different.

A diplomatic agreement that reopens Hormuz only because Iran has demonstrated it can threaten Hormuz again is also something very different.

That would not be de-escalation. That would be reward for coercion.

The repeated Hezbollah attacks against IDF forces should not be viewed as isolated skirmishes. They appear to fit into a broader Iranian strategy: keep pressure on Israel through Hezbollah, then blame Israel when it responds, while warning that the wider U.S.-Iran track may collapse.

That gives Tehran a powerful tool. It can attack indirectly, negotiate directly, and then demand restraint from the country being attacked.

If that equation is accepted, Hezbollah becomes more than a proxy. Hezbollah becomes a bargaining chip protected by diplomacy.

Instead of: Hezbollah attacks → Hezbollah pays a price.

The equation becomes: Hezbollah attacks → Israel responds → Iran threatens the talks → pressure shifts onto Israel.

And with Hormuz, the equation becomes: Iran threatens shipping → markets panic → America seeks calm → Iran gains leverage.

That is exactly the structure Tehran wants to create.

The West's real test is not whether it can sign an agreement with Iran.

The real test is whether it can prevent Iran from using that agreement as cover for continued proxy aggression and strategic blackmail.

Because if the message Tehran receives is that it can threaten Hormuz, activate Hezbollah, pressure global markets, and still move toward relief and reintegration, then the lesson will be obvious:

Escalation works. Proxy warfare works. Hormuz works. Regional blackmail works. 

And Israel is left facing the consequences on the ground. Both Washington and Jerusalem need to recognize the game being played.

Iran is trying to turn the ceasefire from a restraint on Tehran into a restraint on Israel.

It is trying to turn Hormuz from a point of American pressure into a point of Iranian leverage.

That is the danger. And that is why so many Israelis feel that the entire table has suddenly turned.

Secret Maps Expose Iran's Plan to Conquer Northern Israel

 IDF forces operating beneath Lebanon's strategic Beaufort Ridge have uncovered chilling evidence of Iran's long-term plan to dominate northern Israel: detailed maps plastered on tunnel walls showing Hezbollah's intended control over Galilee communities and the border town of Metula.

The maps were discovered during intensive operations to clear the sprawling underground network that Iran spent years constructing as a forward assault base against Israeli territory. According to IDF sources familiar with the operation, the maps were found in the same tunnel section where terrorists attempted to flee before being eliminated in a precision airstrike earlier this week.

"The maps illustrate in stark detail the Iranian regime's strategic vision for this sector," a senior military source stated. "This wasn't defensive infrastructure. It was designed as an offensive platform for terrorizing Israeli civilians from underground positions immune to air attack."

Underground Fortress Designed for Years of War

The Beaufort tunnel complex represents one of Iran's most significant strategic investments in its proxy war infrastructure. The underground network was engineered over multiple years to serve as a protected command center for directing attacks against Israel while shielding Hezbollah operatives from Israeli airstrikes.

Forces clearing the tunnels have uncovered massive weapons stockpiles including Kornet anti-tank missiles, RPG launchers, mortar shells, fragmentation grenades, and anti-aircraft machine guns, all positioned to transform the underground labyrinth into a fortified combat position. The discovery reveals the extent to which Iran prepared Hezbollah to wage sustained warfare from beneath Lebanese soil.

The operation intensified dramatically when a Yahalom unit drone conducting tunnel reconnaissance detected a terrorist cell inside the underground passage. The terrorists opened fire on the drone in a desperate attempt to destroy it, then fled toward the surface to escape the compromised position.

The Beaufort operation is part of a broader IDF campaign across southern Lebanon that has targeted more than 70 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in recent days alone. The strikes have destroyed rocket launchers, operational buildings used for planning terror attacks, and forward positions threatening both IDF forces and northern Israeli communities.

Strategic Implications for Regional Security

The discovery of Iranian planning maps in the Beaufort tunnels carries significant implications for any potential ceasefire framework currently under negotiation. Military analysts warn that any U.S.-Iran agreement that fails to address Hezbollah's massive arsenal and infrastructure would leave Israel facing the same strategic threat that necessitated the current operation.

"Hezbollah's 150,000 rockets and this tunnel network aren't Lebanese assets," noted one security expert tracking the negotiations. "They're Iranian force-projection tools positioned on Israel's border. A deal that brackets Hezbollah as a separate issue isn't a peace agreement, it's a deferred crisis."

IDF forces have made clear they will continue systematic operations to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure throughout southern Lebanon. "We are dismantling the terror organization's assets layer by layer," military sources confirmed. "The goal is to achieve operational control over this sector and prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing any foothold that threatens Israeli communities."

Iran has no Intention of sign an agreement

 Sunday 23.30

Explosions rocked Beirut’s Dahiyah district on Sunday afternoon as Israel struck Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital, marking the clearest implementation yet of Jerusalem’s newly announced policy of responding to attacks from Lebanon with strikes in Beirut.

The operation followed several days of Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks on Israel, including repeated aerial infiltrations that triggered sirens across Israel's northern communities and sent residents to shelters.

According to an Israeli reports, Israel provided advance notice to the United States through military channels before carrying out the strike.

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the attack was carried out in direct response to Hezbollah fire toward Israeli territory.

“Under the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the IDF has struck Hezbollah terror targets in Beirut’s Dahiyah district in response to Hezbollah fire toward Israeli territory,” the statement said. “Israel will not tolerate attacks on its territory.”

The strike came after a weekend of repeated Hezbollah attacks. On Sunday, multiple drones infiltrated Israeli airspace from Lebanon, triggering alerts across northern Israel. The IDF later confirmed that several aerial targets crossed into Israeli territory and fell near the border. No injuries were reported.

The incidents followed rocket fire toward Metula and additional drone launches, adding to what Israeli officials describe as a growing pattern of Hezbollah ceasefire violations.

Shortly after the attack, the IDF announced that it had conducted a precise strike on a Hezbollah command center in Beirut.

It is quite clear that Hezbollah's attacks on Israel were approved by Iran, this in order to give Iran an excuse to not sign any agreement with Trump. They can now firmly place the blame on Israel

The Arab Oct. 7: Iran’s attacks collapse coexistence

 This moment came when Iranian regime missiles and drones targeted the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. 

The pragmatic and rational approach adopted by several Arab states failed to moderate the erratic behavior of the ideological regime ruling Iran. Arab nations pursued coexistence through trade, financial engagement, and, in Qatar’s case, political alignment with Islamist movements. The outcome proved catastrophic.

Despite extensive trade and financial ties with Tehran, the UAE was targeted more than Israel itself. Qatar, meanwhile, reportedly lost nearly 17% of its liquid gas capacity, amounting to an estimated annual revenue loss of $20 billion.

Why?

Because the regime in Tehran resents the Arab world’s vision of development, stability, and prosperity, a model increasingly admired by ordinary Iranians.

As long as this regime remains in power, sustainable regional development will remain impossible, as any progress can be quickly reduced to ashes.

It is a well-established economic truth that capital is timid, fleeing at the first sign of instability. International investors and global markets understand the risks of coexistence with an unpredictable ideological regime that prioritizes revolution and terror over peace and prosperity.

Just as Israel could not live peacefully alongside Hamas and Hezbollah, Arab states will struggle to achieve lasting stability while the ideological center of regional militancy remains in Tehran.

Any support for “peace” with this regime is ultimately little more than a temporary plaster over a deep and widening wound.

The long-term peace and prosperity of the Arab countries neighboring Iran are inseparable from the interests of both the Iranian people and Israelis: The end of the regime in Tehran and of the ideology that has destabilized the region for decades.

The writer is an Iranian journalist and former editor-in-chief of ManotoTV.

Qatar Buys Influence Through USA Education

 Is it any wonder that anti Semitism is on the rise in the USA, when vast amounts of Qatari money are pumped into the education system almost without control. These details taken from the Foundation of the Defense of Democracies recent report.

It should be remembered that Qatar is the main sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood

HIGHER EDUCATION. The U.S. Department of Education launched a foreign funding dashboard in January 2026 showing that Qatar has pumped $8.8 billion into the U.S. higher education system since 2001. That sum positions Qatar as the largest foreign funder of U.S. higher education, surpassing China by approximately $2 billion.

Section 117 of The Higher Education Act requires schools to disclose gifts and contracts from foreign sources that exceed $250,000. The schools that receive the most funding from Qatar are those with satellite campuses in Doha: Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Texas A&M University, Georgetown University, Northwestern University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Texas A&M announced in 2024 that it will close its Doha campus by 2028. In March, the House Education and Workforce Committee released a report explaining that “financial incentives are a motivating factor” for universities to maintain their campuses in Qatar, and that the incentives often benefit their home campuses. Northwestern, for example, “annually transfers part of its management fee” from Qatar to its communication and journalism schools in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern and Georgetown are also “contractually required to abide by the ‘applicable laws and regulations of the State of Qatar,’” which has allowed schools to “perpetuate antisemitism without apparent consequence” and left them “struggling to uphold free speech principles.”

The funds disclosed to the Department of Education are only part of the story. Researchers at universities across the country receive funds from Qatari sources that they are not required to disclose. Qatar has funded projects at Northwestern University, Rutgers University, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington to the tune of more than $6 million. This is not an exhaustive account of Qatari-funded research projects.

K-12 SCHOOLS. There is no equivalent reporting requirement for K-12 schools. Public records from a range of school districts in major cities across the country document over $8 million in support from Qatar Foundation International (QFI) since 2010. QFI is the American arm of the Qatar Foundation, which is run by the Qatari royal family. QFI primarily funds teacher trainings, Arabic language and culture programs, and student trips to Doha.

The $8 million figure here is likely an undercount because it reflects spending only in selected districts. Moreover, The Wall Street Journal reported that QFI gave $30.6 million to dozens of schools between 2009 and 2017.

YOUTH PROGRAMS. In addition to direct funding for schools, Qatar has disbursed grants to a range of youth programs, including Boys & Girls Clubs; Learning Undefeated, which brings STEM education to underserved communities; and Break the Barriers, which provides extracurricular programming for students of all ages and abilities.

The report by FDD provides a good first glimpse at Qatari dollars in America. It is certainly not the final word on the problem. But it should prompt a serious discussion. From there, one can only hope that a more serious national dialogue, followed by legislation or other government measures, can begin to tackle the problem.

 

The Giving Tree

 (Cross posted from Grandma's Army )

There's a well-known children's book by Shel Silverstein about a boy and a tree. The boy keeps taking from the tree. The tree keeps giving. The boy never says "thank you" the tree never says "no". Until the stump of the tree is all that's left.

This is similar to the story of Israel and the "Palestinians": Israel is the tree. The "Palestinians" are the "boy". Ungrateful, entitled, and permanently dissatisfied. In addition, the "boy" is invariably hostile.

Baum/Boim (tree in Yiddish), is a common Jewish surname: applebaum (apple tree), birnbaum (pear tree), kirschbaum (cherry tree), nussbaum (nut tree), feigelbaum (fig tree), mandelbaum (almond tree).

Here are a just a few examples of THE GIVING BAUM:

Rescue from neglect and poverty:

From 1948 until 1967, the "West Bank" of the Jordan river was controlled by Jordan. Jordan treated it as far less important than the "East Bank". King Abdullah revoked citizenship from many of the residents who, overnight, became stateless. They couldn't visit or buy land in Jordan. The area remained neglected and underdeveloped.

In 1967, Israel was attacked by Jordan from this territory and won a war of self-defense. It took control of this region. This is what followed: Israel connected the local population to water and electricity; life expectancy rose by decades; medical services became accessible; infrastructure was built; modern agricultural was introduced; Arab men were given employment in agriculture and building; a modern economy was formed.

But the "boy" responded in only one way: RESISTANCE!

Even after a terrorist committed a horrifying attack, was arrested, and sent to prison - Israel treated him in a highly unusual way: Comfortable living quarters; education and hopefully, rehabilitation.  And the "boy"?

He waits for a hostage exchange, gets released and returns to terror.

Peace offers:

Israel has agreed to several major peace offers, from the Peel Commission in 1937, to the Abraham Accords in 2020. Always making concessions that could have ended the conflict and brought prosperity to the region.

The "boy refused every single one of them.

Life saving:

Most people are unaware of the fact that Yahyr Sinwar, the instigator of the horrendous events of October 7th, was treated for brain cancer in an Israeli prison. Israel saved his life. Israeli hospitals treated family members of Hamas and Palestinian Authority leaders, as well as thousands of "Palestinian children from Gaza and the "West Bank." And the "boy"? He recovers and returns to terrorism.

Humanitarian Aid:

Israel sent tons of food into Gaza. Another highly unusual practice of feeding the civilian population of one's enemy, many of whom supported terrorism. Hamas prevented their own citizens from accessing the aid - selling it at inflated prices to their fellow Gazans. The money was used to pay fighters and to recruit new ones. And the "boy"?

He convinced the world that the bad tree was starving them.

The question is: Why is Israel the eternal giver? And why are the "Palestinians" the eternal takers?

It has nothing to do with the so-called Nakba of 1948. It has nothing to do with the so-called "Palestinians". This dynamic existed long before the Arab "Palestinians" ever existed. It is time for the tree to learn what the book doesn't teach. That endless giving without boundaries is not morality. It is self-destruction.

What Happens When Jihadists Smell Weakness

 by Khaled Abu Toameh

Full article at https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22582/jihadists-smell-weakness

§  The message emerging from Hamas -- and Iran -- is unambiguous: Hamas and Iran believe they are winning.

§  Iran has been dictating to Washington when and with whom it will negotiate. Washington apparently never insisted upon face-to-face negotiations with Iran. Why not? By discontinuing talks with the US, Iran also succeeded in maneuvering the Trump Administration into two huge victories for the current regime. First, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out in "Iran Gets Trump to Rescue Hezbollah," US President Donald J. Trump demanded that Israel stop defending itself against attacks from another proxy of Iran: Hezbollah in Lebanon. Second, Iran -- as a result of a much-publicized shouting match between Trump and Netanyahu – masterfully created "daylight" between its two main adversaries: Israel and the United States.

§  These are not the words of a defeated terror organization. These are the words of a group that believes time is on its side.

§  Abu Obeida's remarks are particularly alarming because they come after nearly three years of war, the elimination of many top Hamas leaders, and countless declarations by international mediators that Hamas would eventually be removed from power.

§  Instead, Hamas is still standing. Hamas, like Iran, appears increasingly confident.

§  The "Board of Peace" was supposedly created to bring stability to the Gaza Strip, end Hamas rule, and establish a new political reality after the war.

§  The truth is that the "Board of Peace" has failed in its central mission.

§  Recent reports that the Trump Administration pressured Israel to cancel a planned strike against Hezbollah targets in Beirut's Dahiya district sent a troubling message throughout the region.

§  For Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, any indication of friction between the US and Israel is good news. Terrorists thrive on the perception that their adversaries are divided.

§  Across the Middle East, terrorist organizations constantly search for signs of weakness among their enemies. Jihadists interpret "restraint" quite differently from the way Western policymakers do. What many Western leaders describe as diplomacy, patience, or de-escalation is frequently seen by Islamists as surrender, fear or exhaustion.

§  Weakness, hesitation, and public divisions send exactly the wrong message to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Every appearance of indecision only encourages further aggression and convinces terrorist leaders that persistence will eventually bring victory.

§  The latest Iranian and Hamas statements are not merely propaganda. They are a warning. The question is whether decision-makers in Washington are listening.