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Once Mr. Security, Netanyahu failed to meet Israelis’ most basic security needs. How?
(JTA) — In the aftermath of the worst coordinated attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur War exactly 50 years ago, Israel is in shock. Amid the fog of the ongoing developments, questions abound. First and foremost: how could this happen?
How could military intelligence have failed so colossally? How could IDF bases be so easily overrun? How could Gazans bombard Israel from the air, land and sea, occupying Israeli communities, slaughtering soldiers and civilians alike, and taking dozens of hostages, without any seeming resistance? With harrowing images and videos of Israelis being held hostage or hiding in shelters, how could it take so long for military or police forces to respond? How could Gazans simply bring a bulldozer to tear down the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip?
Israelis planned to commemorate 50 years since the surprise Egyptian attack on Yom Kippur in 1973, with public discussions underway on the lessons learned from what was once Israel’s greatest intelligence failure. But a new, unimaginable catastrophe has now taken place that will mark Israeli history with yet another failure to anticipate an enemy attack coinciding with a Jewish holiday. Now, as then, inevitably there will be investigative commissions to understand the leadership and operational failures that enabled this unprecedented terrorist assault. Now, as then, the ramifications will be long-lasting.
But for now, as the situation continues to unfold, more immediate questions emerge about the IDF’s response and the days ahead:
What will be the extent of the IDF response, and what will be its goals? How will Israel confront the reality of more than 50 Israelis reportedly being held hostage (from civilians to IDF commanders)? Will the leadership of Hamas be targeted for assassination? Will the IDF reoccupy Gaza? Will Mahmoud Abbas and the PA survive the aftermath amidst increasing irrelevance? Will Hezbollah join in rocket barrages? Will the West Bank and Jerusalem see a wave of attacks? Will Israel-Arab riots commence in the days and weeks to come, reminiscent of the conflict witness during the last Hamas-Israel round in May 2021? And most of all: How does this end?
These events will influence Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legacy. Once billed as Mr. Security, Netanyahu and the Israeli government failed to provide the most basic security needs of Israel’s citizens.
For nearly a year, my colleagues and I at Israel Policy Forum have joined with others in expressing concern about the nature of Israel’s far-right government, which absurdly placed Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister for national security with authority over Israel’s border police despite his history of radicalism and his lack of any security credentials or experience whatsoever. Our hope, alongside so many others, was that a government influenced by inexperienced, far-right leaders would not be tasked with managing a security crisis, let alone one of this magnitude.
Now, the political future is also murky: Can this government proceed as presently constituted in response to the Hamas assault? In normal times, such a crisis moment would be cause for the creation of a national unity government. Yair Lapid has now called for an emergency unity government, one without Ben-Gvir and other extremist ministers, and Netanyahu seems amenable. Could this be a moment for Netanyahu to upend his coalition?
Lapid’s call for a unity government and other immediate statements from opposition and protest leaders affirm that Israel’s unity in response to this attack — as typically expressed in times of security crisis — is strong. Israeli resiliency in times of crisis has repeatedly been tested and remained steadfast. And yet this crisis comes after months of the fiercest political and societal divisions Israel has ever experienced. Social media is abuzz with outrage over the government’s clear failures, but also with finger-pointing at protest leaders who refused reserve duty in protest of the overhaul for contributing to Israel’s lack of preparedness. Can Israeli unity, so clearly needed in response to this assault, hold?
Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s pursuit of Israel-Saudi normalization will face an enormous test. The administration will be forced to directly engage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, working to ensure that regional stability can be restored at the end of this round.
But how this ends is deeply uncertain. This round, launched by a horrendous Hamas attack, will be forever remembered for yet another historic intelligence failure by Israeli intelligence, but also for the horrific brutality of the terrorists’ actions, which will not soon be forgotten by a traumatized Israel.
A turning point has arrived. How long this current crisis will last, whether and how the current Israeli and Palestinian leaders survive it, and what comes next for the Israeli and Palestinian people, are all deeply in question. What is not in question: Change is coming.
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The post Once Mr. Security, Netanyahu failed to meet Israelis’ most basic security needs. How? appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.