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Khamenei Threatens Israel, US with ‘Crushing Response’
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2, 2022. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stepped up his bellicose rhetoric on Saturday, threatening both Israel and the United States.
“The United States of America and the Zionist regime will definitely receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran and the Resistance Front,” the ayatollah tweeted.
An hour earlier, Khamenei had tweeted: “We will definitely do everything necessary to prepare the Iranian nation for confronting the Arrogant Powers, whether militarily, in terms of armament, or politically. Our officials are already working on this.”
Although he did not specify when and how Tehran was intending to act, the threat comes on the backdrop of a New York Times report suggesting that Khamenei recently instructed the country’s Supreme National Security Council to prepare for another assault on Israel.
Such an attack would be Iran’s third on the Jewish state, after ballistic missile assaults in April and October.
The US has warned Tehran that it would not be able to restrain Jerusalem in the event of another attack, Axios reported on Saturday, citing an American and a former Israeli official.
“We told the Iranians: We won’t be able to hold Israel back, and we won’t be able to make sure that the next attack will be [as] calibrated and targeted as the previous one,” the US official was quoted as saying.
In retaliation for the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack, on Oct. 26 dozens of Israeli aircraft, including refuelers and spy planes, struck targets across Iran in several waves over the course of a few hours. The targets reportedly included missile and drone manufacturing facilities and launch sites, as well as air-defense batteries, but not Iran’s nuclear program or energy infrastructure.
On Friday, Khamenei adviser Kamal Kharrazi told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen outlet that the Islamic Republic would respond to Israel’s aerial attack at the appropriate time and manner.
According to the Times, Khamenei made that decision after reviewing a report from senior military commanders on the extent of the damage caused by the Israeli strikes.
Khamenei was said to have told his associates that the scope of Israel’s unprecedented Oct. 26 retaliatory strikes was “too large to ignore.”
The sources said that military commanders were readying a list of dozens of targets inside the Jewish state, but that the attack would likely occur after the US presidential election on Nov. 5 due to concern in Tehran that additional tensions in the region could boost Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump.
US deploys B-52 bombers to Middle East
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday that B-52 bombers had arrived in the Middle East amid the Iranian threats against Israel and the United States.
“B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base’s 5th Bomb Wing arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility,” CENTCOM tweeted, with an accompanying picture of one of the massive planes on final approach.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of the bomber aircraft along with US Navy warships, the Pentagon announced on Friday.
“In keeping with our commitments to the protection of US citizens and forces in the Middle East, the defense of Israel, and de-escalation through deterrence and diplomacy, the secretary of defense ordered the deployment of additional ballistic missile defense destroyers, fighter squadron and tanker aircraft, and several U.S. Air Force B-52 long-range strike bombers to the region,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.
The US did not provide specific numbers of planes and ships sent to the region.
“These forces will begin to arrive in coming months as the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group prepares to depart,” Ryder added.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group of three destroyers are scheduled to depart the Mideast in mid-November for their home port of San Diego.
The Lincoln and two of its destroyers are stationed in the Gulf of Oman, and the third destroyer is with two other warships in the Red Sea.
Eventually, the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its three warships will move to the Mediterranean Sea, but not before the Lincoln departs. The three destroyers will fill in the gap.
Ryder mentioned in the statement that the force buildup in the Middle East adds to the recent deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to Israel and the Amphibious Ready Group Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU) posture in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“These movements demonstrate the flexible nature of US global defense posture and US capability to deploy world-wide on short notice to meet evolving national security threats,” Ryder said.
“Secretary Austin continues to make clear that should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people.”
Jerusalem warns Baghdad it may attack Iraqi militias
Jerusalem has warned Baghdad that unless it reins in Iranian-backed militias launching drones and missiles at Israel, it could attack Iraq, according to a report in the Saudi website Elaph.
According to the report, Israel has identified and is monitoring targets belonging to the Iranian-backed militias and also Iraqi state targets and could start attacking them if the militias keep firing at the Jewish state.
Unnamed officials told Elaph that satellites are monitoring the movement of ballistic missiles and related equipment from Iran to Iraq, which could be used in an attack on Israel.
Iraqi sources expressed concern to the outlet that Tehran could be using Iraq to shift the fighting away from its territory.
The AP reported last week that Israel is under daily drone attack from Iraq, which the US and its partners have had to intercept.
According to the report, the UAV launches have been a problem since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, and are not related to any Iranian attack. However, a regional security official said that the drone attacks have increased in recent weeks, with an average of five a day and eight drones launched over a 24-hour period in the past week.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is an umbrella organization composed of several Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, including Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhadaa. These groups operate both in Iraq and Syria under IRGC command.
Regime supporters mark 1979 hostage crisis
Supporters of the Iranian regime gathered outside the former US embassy in Tehran on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 hostage crisis with shouts of “Death to Israel, Death to America!”
The former embassy is currently a museum called the “Den of Spies” and is covered with anti-American murals.
The crowd also set Israeli and American flags on fire in the annual tradition.
IRGC chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, in a speech at the Tehran rally, said that Israel and the US “cannot survive by slaughtering and killing Muslims.
“We always warn them that if they don’t change their behavior, they will go toward collapse and destruction,” Salami said.
Iranians took over the US embassy in Iran on Nov. 4, 1979, and kept 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage for 444 days. The hostage crisis ended on Jan. 20, 1981, when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president of the United States. No hostages were killed. Washington severed ties with Tehran in 1980, halfway through the crisis, and they have been frozen ever since.
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Australia Cracks Down on Antisemitism Amid Unrelenting Surge in Hate Crimes Targeting Jewish Community
Car in New South Wales, Australia graffitied with antisemitic message. Photo: Screenshot
The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has introduced a proposal to criminalize specific protests outside places of worship in response to a recent wave of hate crimes targeting Jews in Australia.
“We have seen disgusting acts of racial hatred and antisemitism,” the NSW premier Chris Minns said in a statement outlining the proposed laws. “These are strong new laws, and they need to be because these attacks have to stop.”
Part of a broader set of measures, the reforms aim to address a recent wave of arson attacks and antisemitic vandalism across Australia over the past two months.
“These laws have been drafted in response to the horrifying antisemitic violence in our community, but it’s important to note that they will apply to anyone, preying on any person, of any religion,” Minns said.
The legislation also followed Israel’s call for the Australian government to take stronger measures against the “epidemic of antisemitism” that has swept across the country. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has maintained that his government is doing everything possible to combat attacks, including acts of domestic terrorism.
The attempted antisemitic terror attack at a synagogue in Sydney is intolerable. This joins a long list of antisemitic attacks in Australia, including setting fire to a childcare center in Sydney, firebombing a synagogue in Melbourne, and many other antisemitic attacks.
The…— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) January 29, 2025
On Sunday, the NSW Jewish Board said that in three weeks they had seen 10 publicly reported antisemitic incidents, primarily in the Sydney area, which included arson and vandalism — including property defaced with messages reading “f—k Jews.” The group said that number “doesn’t include the graffiti appearing in our streets on a daily basis or the abuse and harassment that goes unreported.”
Last month, Australian police said they foiled a potential mass-casualty antisemitic terrorist attack after discovering a caravan in a suburb of Sydney filled with explosives and material containing details about Jewish targets.
Under the new proposed laws, it would be an offense to block access to places of worship or harass, intimidate, or threaten people there, with a maximum penalty of two years in prison. The legislation gives the police heightened powers to enforce he law.
It would also become a crime to display a Nazi symbol near a synagogue, with a maximum two-year prison sentence, and the Graffiti Control Act would be amended to make graffiti on places of worship an aggravated offence.
These potential changes would come after two synagogues in Sydney were vandalized last month with swastikas, and an attempt was made to set one on fire.
Under the new legislation, sentencing could take into account whether an offense was “wholly” or “partially” driven by hatred or prejudice.
“The entire community will be safer as a direct result of these changes. The proposed changes will mean that divisive and hateful behaviors will not succeed in dividing our community,” said Michael Daley, the attorney general.
As authorities work to counter the alarming surge in anti-Jewish incidents, law enforcement has made several arrests across Australia.
On Wednesday, two 27-year-old men were arrested and charged for spray-painting antisemitic symbols and words on walls, bus stops, and signs in several Perth neighborhoods in western Australia.
“The Western Australia Police Force will not allow vile acts of hatred and racism to go unchecked,” a WA Police spokesperson said in a statement. “This swift outcome should send a clear message to anyone engaging in this kind of behavior. We will find you and you will be put before the courts to face the consequences of your actions.”
In Melbourne, a 68-year-old man has been charged with criminal damage, unlawful assault, and offensive graffiti after allegedly vandalizing a family home in a Jewish community and throwing bacon at a passerby who tried to intervene.
In Sydney, a woman was found guilty of sending a threatening message to a Jewish school just 11 days after Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. However, she has escaped conviction.
In the letter, the 21-year-old wrote: “You are the children of Satan … get cancer and die a slow, painful death.”
“Praise Hitler. If only he was here to continue the mass destruction of your bloodline,” the message continued.
Many observers have expressed outrage over the woman escaping conviction. The verdict came as Jewish students were reported to be hiding their school uniform logos and avoiding public transport, in the wake of rising antisemitic attacks on Jewish schools, daycare centers, and synagogues.
AUSTRALIA’S SHAME – ANTISEMITISM EMERGENCY
This pic is the front cover of the Wentworth Courier, the local paper for much of Sydney’s eastern suburbs which is home to much of the Jewish community in NSW.
“Jewish children under police watch” in order to attend school.… pic.twitter.com/L6Itct35L9
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) February 4, 2025
Last month, the NSW government also proposed a new law making it a criminal offense to intentionally incite racial hatred, with a maximum two-year prison sentence.
In their efforts to combat hate speech, this change would make inciting racial hatred a criminal offense, rather than just a civil one under the Anti-Discrimination Act.
The state government also announced an increase of $525,000 in funding for the NSW police engagement and hate crime unit, along with a $500,000 boost to a grants program for social cohesion.
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Pro-Trump Arab American Group Changes Name After US President Floats Controversial Gaza Plan
Then-US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, US on Nov. 13, 2024. Photo: ALLISON ROBBERT/Pool via REUTERS
A prominent organization that sought to forge strong ties between US President Donald Trump and the Arab American community has changed its name in opposition to Trump’s proposal for the US to “take over” over Gaza.
On Wednesday, “Arab Americans for Trump” announced a rebrand to “Arab Americans for Peace,” criticizing the president for his failure to hold meetings with “key Arab leaders” and his support for removing “Palestinian inhabitants to other parts of the Arab world.”
“We strongly appreciate the president’s offer to clean and rebuild Gaza. However, the purpose should be to make Gaza habitable for Palestinians and no one else,” the group said in a press release explaining the name change.
The group explained that it supports a separate independent state for Palestinians encompassing Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, expressing disappointment that Trump has not attempted to carve out a “path to a permanent peace process.”
Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group, told the Associated Press that the organization is “completely opposed” to Trump’s suggestion to transfer Gaza’s civilians out of the coastal enclave.
“The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously we’re completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in historic Palestine,” Bahbah said. “And so we did not want to be behind the curve in terms of pushing for peace, because that has been our objective from the very beginning.”
On Tuesday night, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting the White House, held a press conference following their private meeting in the Oval Office. Trump asserted that the US would assume control of Gaza and develop it economically into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.”
Earlier in the day, Trump referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” and said its residents have “no alternative” but to leave, suggesting Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states as possible relocation sites.
Trump performed remarkably well with Arab American voters in the 2024 presidential election. In the majority-Arab American city of Dearborn, Michigan, 42 percent of voters backed Trump, compared to 36 percent who supported Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Other Arab American leaders and organizations slammed Trump’s proposal to vacate Palestinians from Gaza.
Layla Elabed, the co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement, said she was “sad, angry, and scared for our communities.”
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, called Trump’s comments “dangerous, provocative, illegal, and callously insensitive to Palestinian needs.”
Wa’el Alzayat, leader of EmgageUSA, an organization that advocates on behalf of Muslim Americans, rebuffed Trump’s proposal as a “violation of international law.”
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Liri Albag Celebrates 20th Birthday at Hospital With Other Hostages Released From Gaza
Liri Albag, center, standing from a balcony inside Israel’s Rabin Medical Center and watching an orchestra performance for her birthday alongside Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, and Naama Levy. Photo:
American Friends of Rabin Medical Center
Liri Albag, who was recently released from captivity in Gaza as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, celebrated her 20th birthday on Tuesday with other former hostages at Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah, Israel, where she is recovering after returning home 10 days earlier.
An orchestra came to the hospital to perform a small concert for Albag, who celebrated her previous birthday in Hamas captivity. The songs included Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and “Happy Birthday.” She watched from a balcony on one of the upper floors of the hospital alongside other freed hostages Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, and Naama Levy. All five women were serving as surveillance soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces when they were kidnapped from an IDF base in Nahal Oz by Hamas-led terrorists during their deadly rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Albag, Gilboa, Ariev, and Levy returned together after 15 months in Hamas captivity as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Five days later, Berger was also released as part of the ceasefire deal.
Albag uploaded a post on Instagram about her birthday and wrote: “Today I get to celebrate my 20th birthday with my loved ones. The only wish I asked for — is for all the hostages to return.”
Her older sister, Roni Albag, shared a photo from the birthday celebrations on Instagram and wrote in the caption: “Our Lirosh, our number 1. I dreamed of this moment countless times and here you are. Today you celebrate your 20th birthday at home!!! Today you celebrate the life that was given to you again. You are our victory, our heart and the light of our home. I love you and am here for you forever and ever.”
Liri posted on social media on Friday for the first time since returning from captivity. In an Instagram post, she thanked the people of Israel for their “support, love, and help.” She said, “Together, we are strength.” She also thanked the IDF and members of Israel’s security forces “who sacrificed their souls and fought for us and our country! There isn’t a morning that I don’t pray for their safety.”
“Finally got to reunite with my family! But our fight isn’t over and I won’t stop fighting until everyone is home!” she added. “I want us to continue to stay united, because together nothing can break us. The unity and hope we have in us scares all our enemies, amazes all our lovers, and comforts the people among us. A sentence that used to accompany me was ‘at the end of every night, darkness disappears.’ And I wish that everyone can see the light.”
Seven surveillance soldiers were abducted from the Nahal Oz base on Oct. 7, 2023, including Noa Marciano, who was killed in Hamas captivity, and Ori Megidish, who was rescued by the IDF in October 2023.
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