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In Israel’s political turmoil, the Biden administration eyes a threat to US security interests
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden has not hidden his disdain of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned rehaul of Israel’s courts.
But bubbling beneath the surface of Israel’s political crisis is another concern: shared U.S.-Israel security interests.
As Israeli reservists pledge to boycott call-ups in protest of the controversial judicial reform legislation, experts say Israel’s enemies could see opportunity — and that the Biden administration is worried. Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is headed to Israel next week to check in on the Israeli military, reports claimed on Wednesday.
“The United States has lots of partners in the Middle East, but Israel is by far its closest and strongest partner in the Middle East,” said Shira Efron, the senior director of policy research at the Israel Policy Forum, a group that advocates for a two-state outcome to the conflict. “If Israel’s capabilities and its readiness is affected, the United States loses capabilities in the Middle East.”
Biden has cast his concerns about Netanyahu’s planned judicial overhaul by emphasizing the democratic values the countries share and that he has extolled for his entire political life. “They cannot continue down this road,” Biden said on March 28.
But just two days earlier, on March 26, a White House communications glitch revealed that military readiness was also front of mind. That was the day Neyanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for calling for a suspension of the legislation, in part because of the harm the political tensions were causing the military.
The Biden administration said it was “deeply concerned” by the firing. An early version of the National Security Council statement, released to the Times of Israel, read: “We are deeply concerned by the ongoing developments in Israel, including the potential impact on military readiness raised by Minister Gallant.”
The NSC removed the phrase about military readiness from later versions of the statement — NSC spokesmen never answered questions as to why — and Netanyahu rescinded his firing of Gallant.
But even as Gallant remains in place, deep questions remain about the degree to which Israel’s searing political divide have weakened its vaunted military and intelligence apparatuses. Netanyahu — and even his son Yair, on social media — has clashed with top military brass, and reports claim the prime minister aims to shake up parts of the army’s chain of command.
Netanyahu has batted down concerns, saying that the changes to the courts that have passed are minor and that he is no longer committed to other parts of the proposed rehaul his government rolled out in January. His opponents don’t believe him and continue to flood the streets at least once a week in massive protests.
He also remains bullish on U.S.-Israel relations, talking up cybersecurity cooperation and artificial intelligence research this month to a delegation of U.S. congressional Democrats who toured Israel on a mission sponsored by an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“The future belongs to those who innovate but the future also belongs to the free societies who cooperate with each other to assure that our people, our citizens, get the benefits of AI and not its curses,” he said. “I think in this regard, and in many other regards, Israel has no better ally than the United States and the United States has no better ally than Israel.”
Security cooperation very much underpins the U.S.-Israel relationship, said Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, an influential think tank that has as its main focus the threat posed by Iran.
“The bilateral relationship on the military and security level is as strong as ever,” Dubowitz said in an interview. “I think the concern is what” the political turmoil will do “specifically to Israeli military preparedness and security with Iran on the cusp of nuclear weapons.”
U.N. inspectors say Iran is closer than ever to enriching uranium at a weaponization level. But even absent a nuclear weapon, Iran poses multiple threats to U.S. interests in the region, ranging from its arming of Hezbollah in Lebanon to its upholding the Assad regime in Syria.
Israel has been key to keeping Iran off balance while the United States deals with other regional threats, Efron said. She cited U.S.-Israel coordination in Syria in the late 2010s, when the country was wracked by civil war, as an example.
“You have a partner with mutual goals,” Efron said. “If one of the partners, the IDF, can’t do one of the tasks, it’s suboptimal.”
The threat to IDF readiness stems from thousands of military reservists who have sworn to stop volunteering if Netanyahu advances his overhaul of the courts, which opponents say would sap the judiciary of much of its independence.
Israelis protest against the Israeli government’s planned judicial overhaul, near the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem, March 23, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
Most reserve duty in Israel is mandatory, but a subset of volunteers for elite service in commando units, the air force and intelligence are exempt. Reservists in each of those disciplines are prominent among the dissenters.
The greatest threat is to the airforce, where reserve pilots take weekly training flights in order to qualify as ready for combat.
“You know, 60% to 70% of missions by the Israeli Air Force are done by reservists and some of them are going on strike,” said David Makovsky, a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank with ties to the U.S. and Israeli governments. “If you don’t train, you can’t fly.”
Natan Sachs, the director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, said reservist defections would have an effect at least in the short term.
“In the short term, there could be operational issues, especially if particular units are not up to up to Israeli standards, which are pretty high standards,” he said. “The numbers are considerable, especially in some of the squadrons.
That lack of readiness could undercut the high-profile joint exercises the United States and Israel periodically stage as a show of unity and force, and as a signal that the United States is ready to keep Iran’s ambitions contained. The most recent exercise was one called Juniper Oak, in January.
Dubowitz said the political tensions are distracting Israel from other pressing diplomatic and security matters, including intensifying Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank, heightened tensions with Hezbollah on the Lebanese border and the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which both Netanyahu and Biden see as a priority.
“There’s a growing possibility we’ll have war with Hezbollah, the West Bank is on fire,” he said. “Judicial reform has eclipsed all other compelling national security priorities, and then also opportunities, there’s a 50-50 possibility of a deal with the Saudis by the end of the year.”
Another reason Biden does not need Israeli instability is his focus on other regions. Like his two predecessors, Donald Trump and Barack Obama, Biden sees the preeminent long term threat in Chinese ambitions. Short term, he wants Ukraine to roust Russia from its invasion of the country.
Israel’s preoccupation with its domestic turmoil “could mean that the U.S. needs to do more in this region,” Efron said. “The U.S. doesn’t want to do more in this region. They want to focus on Russia. They want to focus on China.”
Sachs noted that Israel’s enemies, including leaders of Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, have indicated that they see an opportunity in Israel’s crisis, depicting it as accelerating Israel’s demise.
Israel’s enemies would be wise to be wary, Sachs said. Israel’s military remains formidable, and its reduced readiness poses a threat to its enemies: With fewer soldiers on duty, Israel would use blunter means of retaliation than the highly targeted systems usually available, causing greater damage.
Efron identified a longer-term concern in the presence in Netanyahu’s government of far right extremists. That could affect intelligence sharing, which has remained intensely close whatever other tensions have afflicted U.S.-Israel relations. Spies are less naturally inclined to share information with regimes that have radically different cultures, she said.
“You do this with partners you see eye to eye with,” she said of intelligence sharing. “The lack of shared values creates a challenge for the United States.”
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The post In Israel’s political turmoil, the Biden administration eyes a threat to US security interests appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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New ‘Report It’ App Allows Users to Expose Antisemitic Incidents in Real Time
Car in New South Wales, Australia graffitied with antisemitic message. The word “F**k” has been removed from this image. Photo: Screenshot
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) launched this week a new mobile app that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
Report It is available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play. Users can easily share details of antisemitic incidents through the app – such as date, location, and even photos or videos – and verified reports are then forwarded to local leaders, law enforcement, media outlets, and community organizations who can intervene and respond when necessary. Users of Report It also have the option to remain anonymous when reporting an incident and their personal details are never shared.
“Research and reports have consistently demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of antisemitic incidents are unreported, frequently because of a mistrust of authorities, a lack of awareness of reporting systems, bureaucratic hurdles, and excessive ‘red tape,’” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said in a released statement. “With Report It, we are giving every individual a quick, safe, and effective way to shine a light on hate, hold perpetrators accountable, and drive meaningful change. Together, we can fight back against antisemitism and build safer, stronger communities.”
A survey commissioned by CAM last year revealed that 3.5 million Jewish Americans personally experienced antisemitism following the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) has monitored more than 12,000 antisemitic incidents across the world in the last half decade, including acts of graffiti, vandalism, harassment, discrimination, incitement, threats, and violence.
Each submission on the Report It app “contributes to a clearer picture of the scale of antisemitism and strengthens advocacy for stronger protections and policies,” CAM said in a press release. “CAM calls on individuals everywhere to join the fight against antisemitism: See it. Report it. Stop it.”
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Europeans Likely to Initiate UN Sanctions Process on Iran on Thursday, Sources Say
France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer pose as they meet on the sidelines of the two-day NATO’s Heads of State and Government summit, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 24, 2025. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
Britain, France, and Germany are likely to begin the process of reimposing UN sanctions on Iran on Thursday but hope Tehran will provide commitments over its nuclear program within 30 days that will convince them to defer concrete action, four diplomats said.
The trio, known as the E3, met Iran on Tuesday to try to revive diplomacy over the nuclear program before they lose the ability in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
Three European diplomats and a Western diplomat said Tuesday’s talks did not yield sufficiently tangible commitments from Iran, although they believed there was scope for further diplomacy in the coming weeks.
They said the E3 had decided to start triggering the so-called snapback of UN sanctions, possibly as early as Thursday, over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The West says the advancement of Iran‘s nuclear program goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
The UN process takes 30 days before sanctions that would cover Iran‘s financial, banking, hydrocarbons, and defense sectors were restored.
“The real negotiations will start once the letter [to the UN Security Council] is submitted,” the Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson said triggering the snapback remained an option for the E3. The British and French foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tehran has warned of a “harsh response” if sanctions are reinstated.
NUCLEAR INSPECTORS
UN nuclear inspectors have returned to Iran for the first time since it suspended cooperation with them in the wake of Israel and the United States’ attacks on its nuclear sites in June, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday they had been allowed into the country, although there was no agreement on what they would actually be allowed to do there or whether they would have access to nuclear facilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also told lawmakers Tehran had not reached an agreement on how it would resume full work with the watchdog, parliament news agency ICANA reported.
The E3 have offered to delay the snapback for as much as six months to enable serious negotiations if Iran resumes full UN inspections – which would also seek to account for Iran‘s large stock of enriched uranium that has not been verified since the attacks – and engages in talks with the United States.
Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60 percent fissile purity, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons-grade, and had enough material enriched to that level, if refined further, for six nuclear weapons, before the strikes by Israel started on June 13, according the IAEA.
Actually producing a weapon would take more time, however, and the IAEA has said that while it cannot guarantee Tehran’s nuclear program is entirely peaceful, it has no credible indication of a coordinated weapons project in the Islamic Republic.
Iran and the United States had held several rounds of talks before June.
One diplomat said Iran had shown signs of readiness to resume negotiations with the US in Tuesday’s meeting with the E3. An Iranian source said it would only do so “if Washington guarantees there will be no [military] strikes during the talks.”
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Iran Link to Australian Synagogue Attack Uncovered Via Funding Trail, Spy Agency Says
A flag flutters above the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expelled Iran’s ambassador, accusing Iran of orchestrating at least two antisemitic attacks on Australian soil. Photo: REUTERS/Peter Hobson
Australia’s intelligence agency traced the funding of hooded criminals who allegedly set fire to a Melbourne synagogue, linking the antisemitic attack to Iran, officials said, even as those charged with the crime were likely unaware Tehran was their puppet master.
A 20-year-old local man, Younes Ali Younes, appeared in Melbourne’s Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with the Dec. 6 arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue and theft of a car. He did not enter a plea and did not seek bail. His lawyer declined to comment to Reuters.
A day earlier Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s intelligence agencies had shown the attack, and another in Sydney last year, were directed by the Iranian government, and expelled Tehran’s ambassador, becoming the latest Western government to accuse Iran of carrying out hostile covert activities on its soil.
Security services in Britain and Sweden warned last year that Tehran was using criminal proxies to carry out its violent attacks in those countries, with London saying it had disrupted 20 Iran–linked plots since 2022. A dozen other countries have condemned what they called a surge in assassination, kidnapping, and harassment plots by Iranian intelligence services.
Australia’s spy chief Mike Burgess said a series of “cut outs,” an intelligence term for intermediaries, were used to conceal Iran‘s involvement in the attacks, and warned that it may have orchestrated others.
Security forces “have done rather extraordinary work to trace the source of the funding of these criminal elements who’ve been used as tools of the Iranian regime,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
The investigation worked backwards through payments made onshore and offshore to “petty and sometimes not so petty criminals,” he said in parliament on Wednesday.
Albanese was briefed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization on Monday on evidence of a “supply chain” that he said linked the attacks to offshore individuals and Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Australia’s diplomats in Iran were discreetly told to leave, making it out of Iranian airspace just after midnight, he said.
A public announcement, with Albanese flanked by his spy chief and foreign and home affairs ministers, came on Tuesday, prompting accolades from Israel.
Iran‘s Foreign Ministry said it “absolutely rejected” Australia’s accusation.
The turning point in the investigation came weeks earlier, as Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) seized mobile phones and digital devices from suspects arrested in Victoria state over the synagogue attack – and highlighted a stolen blue Volkswagen Golf sedan used in unrelated attacks.
CCTV footage of the night of Dec. 6 released by police shows three hooded figures unloading red jerry cans of fuel from the boot of the car, one of whom was wielding an axe, at the entrance of the synagogue and setting it alight before speeding away.
Victoria’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team alleged Younes, 20, stole the car to carry out the attack and recklessly endangered lives by setting fire to the A$20 million synagogue when people were inside, a charge sheet shows. No one was wounded in the attack.
A co-accused, Giovanni Laulu, 21, appeared in court last month on the same charges.
Police have referred to the sedan as a “communal crime car” linked to other attacks that were not politically motivated.
In a press conference on July 30 to announce seven search warrants had been executed and a man arrested over the synagogue attack, the Australian Federal Police’s then deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said it was politically motivated and involved offshore criminals.
“We suspect these criminals worked with criminal associates in Victoria to carry out the arson attack,” she said, also confirming a major Australian crime figure deported to Iraq in 2023 was “one of our ongoing lines of inquiry.”
Police were working with the Five Eyes intelligence network that also includes Britain, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, she said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio on Wednesday that those involved locally would not have necessarily known “who had started it.”
“You have a series of intermediaries so that people performing different actions don’t in fact know who is directing them or don’t necessarily know who is directing them,” he said.