New Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Leader Said Wiping Israel Off the Political Map Is Their Strategy

Iran’s leadership remains anti-Israel.
Illustrative official meeting. Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Wiping Israel off the map, forcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to flee via the sea, threatening Europe with missile capabilities if efforts are made to disarm the Iranian missile program—these are just some of the sentiments expressed in the last year by the new leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami. And all of these sentiments were reported by Iranian media.

The IRGC is a powerful military body in Iran that also wields significant economic influence. The IRGC was recently designated by the United States as a terrorist organization due to their involvement in terrorism around the world.

The Mehr News Agency reported in January that Salami went beyond calling wiping the “Zionist regime”—Iran’s codename for the State of Israel—off the political map as just a dream, stating it was in fact a strategy for Iran. He further warned that if Israel went to war with Iran, Israelis wouldn’t even have a cemetery left to them in “Palestine” to bury their dead. … Continue Reading

Israeli President, IDF Chief Hold Passover Meal with 400 Lone Soldiers

President Rivlin celebrating Pesach Seder with lone soldiers. Photo courtesy of Tzalamim Be’Klik

It’s always challenging to celebrate holidays without any family, and when one is serving in the military as well, that can make it even more so. In response to that, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and leader of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on Friday celebrated the traditional Passover meal—known in Hebrew as a Seder—with 400 “lone” soldiers, or IDF troops who do not have family in Israel to support them.

“Despite the difficulties of being a soldier, and even more so of being a lone soldier, you chose to serve the state in order to protect us all,” Rivlin told the event per an Israeli press release. “You are brave and wonderful people. It is a great honor to sit with you here tonight… It is an opportunity for us to give something back to you.”

The Passover meal marks the Israelite’s freedom from slavery in Egypt as described in the Biblical book of Exodus and involves multiple special foods to recall that experience. Rivlin highlighted those themes as important to today’s times as well—especially for the military. … Continue Reading

Majority Recommends Netanyahu as Next Prime Minister of Israel

President Rivlin with United Right faction. Photo courtesy of Mark Neiman (Israeli GPO)

It’s official. Barring an unexpected breakdown in political negotiations to form a new governing coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu will once again be prime minister of Israel. Tuesday was day two of the Israeli political parties informing President Reuven Rivlin of their recommendations for the next prime minister of Israel, and a majority of legislators in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) nominated Netanyahu.

Appropriately, it was the politically right-leaning United Right party whose support pushed Netanyahu past the 60 legislator threshold to form a majority ruling group in the 120-member Knesset. Rivlin, in comments published in an Israeli press release, highlighted this honor when United Right recommended Netanyahu.

“With your recommendation, you have formed a majority of the people in favor of the candidate,” said Rivlin. “Your recommendation is of great significance to the discussions we are holding here.” … Continue Reading

Syria Claims Israel Struck ‘Military Position’; Israel Vows to ‘Continue to Act’

PM Netanyahu in the north of Israel. Illustrative.
Photo courtesy of Haim Zach / Israeli GPO.

The official Syrian news agency on Saturday reported that Israeli forces attacked a “military position” in the western area of the country, leading to the destruction of buildings and wounding multiple “fighters”. One day later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not officially claim credit for the attack, but he did allude to it by referencing action to the north of Israel in comments at an event for families of fallen IDF soldiers.

“We do not rush to battle. Who like us knows that the cost of war is terrible? But let no one misunderstand us—when the security of Israel is at stake, we act with all our strength. Whoever puts us in danger puts himself in far greater danger,” said Netanyahu in comments released by his office.

“We will continue to act on all fronts, including in the north, because we are not prepared to allow anybody to entrench in strength and endanger the State of Israel. Strength is the guarantee of our existence, and it is the essential and fundamental condition in achieving peace with our neighbors.”

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) claimed that Syrian air defenses managed to take down some of the Israeli missiles in the attack, although the incident still resulted in damage and casualties. … Continue Reading

Israel Calls International Criminal Court Dismissal of Trial of US Forces ‘Very Important’

Israel believes they benefit from the US court victory. PM Netanyahu meets with VPOTUS Pence. Illustrative. Photo courtesy of Amos Ben-Gershom (Israeli GPO)

The Israeli military won a victory on Friday, not on the battlefield but in the courtroom. The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague rejected the request of the prosecutor to bring war crimes charges against US forces involved in the Afghanistan conflict. The decision, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is far-reaching and sets a precedent for dealing with soldiers from Israel—who like the US has a robust judicial system and is not party to the ICC treaty.

However, while Israel and the US responded to the decision as though it is broad in scope, the ICC decision itself did not appear to exclude the US or other parties from war crimes cases in the future and dismissed this prosecution mostly due to circumstantial reasons, according to the ICC website.

Nonetheless, Netanyahu called the ICC decision “very important” in comments released by his office on Sunday. “This blocked a move that would have upended the original goal of establishing the international court,” said Netanyahu, who said the court emerged after crimes such as genocide intending “to deal with countries and regions that have no true legal system.” Israel and the US, he noted, are not in that category. … Continue Reading

How He Became the Unbeatable Bibi Netanyahu

PM Netanyahu oppose. Photo courtesy of Haim Zach (GPO)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—known also by his nickname “Bibi”—is expected to be named as Israel’s leader for the fifth time, extending his record-setting run as prime minister to well into it’s eighth straight year. It will also give him a chance to catch Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, for the longest total time serving as Israel’s leader at a little over 13 years, thanks to Netanyahu’s earlier 3-year run in the 1990s. But how did he do it? How did Netanyahu not only manage to return to power, but stay there longer than anyone else in Israeli history? … Continue Reading