Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Majid Rafizadeh • November 30, 2025 at 5:00 am
Iran's leaders appear to see nuclear weapons not simply as a strategic tool, but as an existential necessity — a shield for the regime's survival and a sword to advance its revolutionary ideology. Iran's leadership sees that one nuclear-armed missile aimed at Israel could accomplish what decades of proxy warfare, rhetoric, and regional maneuvering have failed to do. A nuclear weapon, in their ideological worldview, offers the possibility of wiping out Israel, fulfilling what they see as a historic, strategic, and religious prophecy. In the minds of Iran's rulers, a nuclear weapon is doubtless the ultimate insurance policy. They believe it can secure the regime's longevity by projecting an image of strength similar to North Korea's strategy: a nuclear-armed dictatorship that cannot be toppled from within or pressured from abroad. In their thinking, nuclear weapons elevate them to invulnerability. Iran has repeatedly used talks as a tactical pause, a chance to ease sanctions, gain financial relief, and reconstitute its nuclear capabilities behind closed doors. A flawed or partial agreement would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium, advance in missile technology, and expand its scientific base under the protection of international diplomacy. Far from slowing down Iran's nuclear ambitions, weak negotiations risk institutionalizing them. The Iranian regime clearly wants nuclear weapons – desperately – driven by strategic weakness, ideological ambition and fear for its own survival. The West must not give Iran the time or space it needs to complete its mission. The free world's objective must be to dismantle Iran's nuclear program completely, preserve no loopholes, and maintain pressure until Tehran's path to nuclear armament is permanently blocked. Anything less risks empowering a regime that seeks both regional dominance and ideological Islamist conquest under the secure shield of nuclear weapons.
Iran's leaders appear to see nuclear weapons not simply as a strategic tool, but as an existential necessity — a shield for the regime's survival and a sword to advance its revolutionary ideology. They see that one nuclear-armed missile aimed at Israel could accomplish what decades of proxy warfare, rhetoric, and regional maneuvering have failed to do. (Illustrative image generated by Google Gemini)
The Iranian regime has always sought nuclear weapons, but at the moment, this ambition may have taken on an unprecedented urgency. For decades, the ruling clerics have perceived nuclear capability as a symbol of power and ideological triumph. Now, more than ever before, the regime may be prepared to use every trick, tactic, and deception it has cultivated over the years to achieve that goal. Iran's leaders appear to see nuclear weapons not simply as a strategic tool, but as an existential necessity — a shield for the regime's survival and a sword to advance its revolutionary ideology.
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by Amir Taheri • November 30, 2025 at 4:00 am
[France's Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces General Fabien] Mandon... suggest[ed] that Russia was preparing for a war against Europe, with 2030 as a possible starting date. That the general wasn't talking through his cap became clear when President Emmanuel Macron, legally Commander-in-Chief, appeared to sanction the statement with his silence. A few days before the French general dropped his bombshell, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had come out with a similar warning, with the difference that he cited 2029 instead of Mandon's 2030 as the possible date for the putative Russian attack. Despite claims of "some progress" by all sides, including Moscow's, the latest Trump attempt at playing peacemaker may fade in the fog of hoped-for but seldom realized possibilities. What was lacking, Mandon hinted, was the psychological-political readiness of Europeans to switch to a bellicose mood rather than quarreling over early retirement, adding to public holidays and dreaming of their next touristic escapade. The current mood in Europe may be summed up this way: We are ready for sacrifices if Russia attacks us directly but are reluctant to pay for defending Ukraine, let alone die for it. [W]ith an estimated four million young men leaving the country, Russia faces a shortage of fighting men that cannot be corrected by bringing Wagner mercenaries from Africa and cannon fodder from North Korea. Though surprisingly resilient, the Russian economy is already showing signs of structural fatigue.
France's Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces General Fabien Mandon recently suggested that Russia was preparing for a war against Europe, with 2030 as a possible starting date. Pictured: Mandon arrives at Elysee Palace in Paris on November 17, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)
"The Russians are coming!" Throughout the Cold War, that phrase expressed the anxiety felt by Western democracies about the possibility of a surprise nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Half jest, the tongue-in-cheek quip evoked Russian chief Nikita Khrushchev's notorious braggadocio in 1956 addressed to Western powers: "We will bury you!" Later in an address at the United Nations, the Communist leader hinted that the promised burial could come by the year 2000. By 1992, however, another phrase was making the rounds in Western capitals: "The Russians are going!" While "the Russians are coming" had been a putative cause for concern, "the Russians are going" posed practical problems. The giant "superpower" didn't have the logistics to take its 300,000 troops and civilian staff plus unknown quantities of weapons out of eastern and central Europe.
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by Nils A. Haug • November 29, 2025 at 5:00 am
Jewish have been rooted to Israel (Zion) for nearly 4,000 years.... Israel's immediate enemy is violent extremist Islam -- particularly the brand espoused by ideological offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Qatar, Syria and Iran. Their worldview seems to be that "Islam is a faith and a ritual, a nation and a nationality, a religion and a state, spirit and deed, holy text and sword." The world is not just getting less safe for Jews. It is also rapidly becoming less safe for Christians, Hindus and Muslims deemed by other Muslims not Muslim enough. Unfortunately, many in the West appear not to believe that yet. Meanwhile, the doctrines of the Muslim Brotherhood are being spread throughout Europe and Canada, and most recently in New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, the heart of America, and Australia. "To place any religion beyond criticism just because some Muslims may feel offended is to ignore, as Salman Rushdie puts it, 'the battle against fanatical Islam, which is highly organised, well-funded, and which seeks to terrify us all, Muslims as well as non-Muslims, into cowed silence'." — Quadrant,, September 16, 2025. When the Third Reich pushed people into gas showers, or during the massacres of October 7, 2023, no one asked the victims if they were "rightist," "leftist," or "centrist." For the Jews, Christians and other "infidels," although many seem not to believe it yet, the choice is all or nothing: either survival or elimination. In this respect, Zionism – the safety of Israel – is the for persecuted Jews, the only sanctuary. If Jews are to be criticized for defending their minute piece of real estate on Earth, so be it: they hold the moral high ground; their critics and enemies do not.
On November 10, 2025, Israel's President Isaac Herzog unapologetically stated that Zionism is "the national liberation movement of the Jewish people; a return to an indigenous homeland after millennia of persecution." Pictured: Herzog addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
On November 10, 2025, Israel's President Isaac Herzog unapologetically stated that Zionism is "the national liberation movement of the Jewish people; a return to an indigenous homeland after millennia of persecution." This statement follows the response of his father, Chaim Herzog (then Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations) in 1975 to an antagonistic UN General Assembly on its shameful resolution that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination": "Zionism is nothing more – and nothing less – than the Jewish people's sense of origin and destination in the land linked eternally with its name."
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by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury • November 28, 2025 at 5:30 am
According to a shocking new report by the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), as well as Jihad in America: The Grand Deception, a 2012 film by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, the Muslim Brotherhood, along with its major patron, Qatar, has a dangerous ideological agenda aimed at undermining the West from within. ISGAP's latest report highlights a crucial and overlooked fact: the ruling family of Qatar has pledged Bay'ah -- a spiritual oath of loyalty -- to the Muslim Brotherhood, the intellectual parent of modern political Islam. This ideological commitment drives Qatar's global influence operations and informs the direction of its foreign funding. Qatar's influence does not end with funding. ISGAP identifies the Muslim Students Association (MSA) -- founded by Muslim Brotherhood activists -- as the primary vehicle for campus-level ideological entryism. Operating on 600+ US campuses, the MSA works closely with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Since the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, these groups have mobilized some of the most aggressive anti-Israel activism, including disruptions, protests and dissemination of pro-Hamas messaging. According to ISGAP's Executive Director, Charles Small, the Muslim Brotherhood aims to isolate Israel and weaken US-Israel ties, fragment US society through antisemitism and campus radicalization, and challenge democratic norms and replace them with Islamist ideological frameworks. Qatar's campaign is not confined to the United States. A credible security source, cited in a report by the Usanas Foundation, a "geopolitics and security affairs organization" based in India, indicates that Doha is funding Islamist-aligned academia, media, and campus activism across India, the United Kingdom, and EU nations. Money is flowing to journalists, professors, and influencers in India who promote political Islam under the guise of "Palestinian activism". Unless democracies take decisive action -- through transparency laws, foreign-funding oversight, campus reform, and ideological vigilance -- Qatar's anti-democratic ideological offensive will continue hollowing out the foundations of free societies throughout the world.
Qatar continues to conduct one of the most extensive foreign influence operations in modern history. Through hundreds of billions of dollars -- estimated at up to a trillion dollars -- funneled into Western universities, research centers, media platforms and political advocacy networks, Qatar has become the leading global patron of the Muslim Brotherhood in pushing an ideological agenda aimed at reshaping democratic societies from within. (Image source: Google Gemini)
Qatar continues to conduct one of the most extensive foreign influence operations in modern history. Through hundreds of billions of dollars -- estimated at up to a trillion dollars -- funneled into Western universities, research centers, media platforms and political advocacy networks, Qatar has become the leading global patron of the Muslim Brotherhood in pushing an ideological agenda aimed at reshaping democratic societies from within.
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by Drieu Godefridi • November 27, 2025 at 5:00 am
The terrorist designation by the US federal government, which is not a slogan, derives from Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1189) and from Executive Order 13224 (2001, Bush). Any foreign organization that threatens the security of US nationals or US national security must be placed on the FTO list and have its assets seized. The criteria are explicit: systematic use of violence, transnational scope, political intent. Antifa meets all three. It is a transnational terrorist organization whose existence much of the mainstream media stubbornly refuse to acknowledge. The State Department leaves no room for ambiguity: "Left-wing terrorism does not enjoy ideological immunity." Why is there not the same moral clarity in Western Europe? The American decision -- neither an ideological crusade nor a publicity stunt -- is a proportionate response to proven crimes. The four designated groups are not "radical activists": they are terrorists who kill, maim and destroy in the name of an outdated totalitarian utopia -- or even a not-outdated one -- that aligns itself with Islamic jihadists declaring that they would like to take over the planet. Liberal democracies have a duty to defend themselves — without complacency, without naïveté, and with the full rigor of the law. Can we in Europe expect Antifa members to be intercepted in the same manner as drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean?
The criteria for designation as a terrorist organization are explicit: systematic use of violence, transnational scope and political intent. Antifa meets all three. It is a transnational terrorist organization whose existence much of the mainstream media stubbornly refuse to acknowledge. (Image source: Google Gemini)
On November 13, 2025, the US State Department added four European terrorist organizations to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs): Antifa Ost (Germany), the International Revolutionary Front (Italy), Armed Proletarian Justice (Greece) and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense (Greece). This decision by the US administration was based on overwhelming evidence: knife and hammer attacks, shootings, bombings and the use of improvised explosive devices that targeted civilians, public infrastructure and private businesses. The move forms part of a wider transatlantic dynamic launched by Hungary. In September 2025, the Hungarian government -- after a series of attacks in Budapest in which Antifa Ost torched police vehicles, destroyed shops, and carried out targeted assaults on right-wing activists -- designated the group as a terrorist organization. Earlier in September, the US classified Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.
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November 27, 2025 at 4:00 am
Gatestone Institute is so thankful for you, our many friends, determined to keep as much of the world as free as possible for everyone. We have so much to be thankful for. With warmest best wishes for the Very Happiest Thanksgiving! All of us at Gatestone
by Gordon G. Chang • November 26, 2025 at 5:00 am
[I]t is time to delist Alibaba from the New York Stock Exchange and remove all other Chinese companies from U.S. stock listings. All of them are integral parts of a hostile regime assaulting America. The Communist Party of China runs a unitary state and demands absolute obedience from all individuals, businesses, and institutions in the country.... Washington must stop assuming that Chinese society is organized the same way as America's. [T]he People's Liberation Army has access to everything any Chinese company, state-owned or privately owned, or Chinese institution possesses. China's relentless gaming of the global trading system has given the worst elements in the Chinese political system the resources to accomplish their predatory ends. What matters is that Alibaba is part of the Communist Party's system. The Party has declared the United States to be its enemy and is now waging its brand of "people's war," which the Chinese military defines as "total war." The regime, although it denies employing "Unrestricted Warfare" tactics against America, is in fact doing so every day. It is time to delist Alibaba and all other Chinese companies from American stock exchanges and to prohibit Americans from doing business with any of them. All of them are America's enemies.
It is time to delist Alibaba and all other Chinese companies from American stock exchanges and to prohibit Americans from doing business with any of them. All of them are America's enemies. (Photo by Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images)
"Alibaba provides tech support for Chinese military 'operations' against targets in the U.S." That is what a White House memo charges, according to a November 14 report in the Financial Times. The White House has declined comment. The Chinese giant reportedly provided "access to customer data that includes IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records, as well as different AI-related services." Whether the FT report is accurate or not—it sounds accurate—it is time to delist Alibaba from the New York Stock Exchange and remove all other Chinese companies from U.S. stock listings. All of them are integral parts of a hostile regime assaulting America. As an initial matter, China's embassy in Washington denied the accuracy of the White House memo and charged the U.S. with a "complete distortion of facts." The embassy claims that China protects privacy.
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • November 25, 2025 at 5:00 am
The Palestinian terror groups clearly want to hold on to their weapons: they evidently see that having weapons is the only way for them to control, directly and indirectly, any new government established in the Gaza Strip. They also evidently see that whoever is in charge of security in the Gaza Strip will control all the humanitarian aid.... For now, it seems that the Arab and Islamic countries are not enthusiastic about joining an international force in the Gaza Strip. Some of these countries, such as Qatar and Turkey, support Hamas and doubtless want it to stay in power, while others are afraid of being branded "collaborators" with Israel against the Palestinian "resistance." Most Arabs and Muslims do not see Hamas as a threat to their national security; they therefore see no need to engage the terror group. This leaves Israel as the only country that has an urgent interest in disarming Hamas to prevent the terror group and its allies in the Gaza Strip from carrying out more atrocities against Israel. If the proposed international force does not want to, or is incapable of, undertaking such a task, the Trump administration and the rest of the international community should give Israel a green light to finish the job and rid the Gaza Strip of Hamas and all the terror groups. Unfortunately, total disarmament appears the only way to ensure Trump's vision that "Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors." More importantly, the Trump administration needs to make sure that members of these terror groups, including Hamas, are not incorporated into any new Palestinian police force that is established in the Gaza Strip. Recruiting Islamist jihadis and terrorists to such a police force would allow them to pursue their Jihad (holy war) against Israel with new uniforms and guns supplied by the international community. Regrettably, if radicals and jihadists are expected to transform themselves into legitimate law-enforcers, the deradicalization of the Gaza Strip will never take place.
Since its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has allowed various other terror groups to operate so long as they did not pose a threat to its rule. In 2018, Hamas established the Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions with the other groups to form a single front and command institution against Israel. Pictured: Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists share a moment of friendship for the crowds in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 28, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Hamas was not the only terror group that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Several other Palestinian armed groups also took part in the assault, which resulted in the murder of 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, the wounding of thousands, and the kidnapping of 251 people to the Gaza Strip. Some Middle East experts and political analysts tend to forget that Hamas is not the only terror group operating inside the Gaza Strip. Among the other groups: Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Popular Resistance Committees, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (affiliated with the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas), Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, and Palestinian Freedom Movement. Some of these groups were also involved in kidnapping and holding many of the Israeli and foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip.
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by Lawrence Kadish • November 24, 2025 at 5:00 pm
(Image source: OpenAI)
In announcing the Apollo lunar landing mission nearly 65 years ago, President John F. Kennedy said, "We choose to go to the Moon... not because it's easy but because it is hard." Our ability to safely land Americans on the Moon and return them to Earth defined our nation, our leadership, global prominence, and the ability of democracy to accomplish great things. It is time for Act Two. The 21st-century race to return earthlings to the Moon makes the Kennedy era appear quaint: the stakes today extend far beyond national pride. The United States must prioritize returning to the Moon before China, to secure strategic advantages here on Earth for generations to come.
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by Nils A. Haug • November 24, 2025 at 5:00 am
"Anti-Zionism is the demand that Israel cease to exist as a Jewish state," writes columnist Luke Tress. It is the existence of Israel – not settlements or other pretexts – that underlies most of the conflict between Israel and radical Islamists in the Middle East. Some countries in the area, such as Qatar and Turkey, appear less interested in "peace and prosperity" than in the elimination of Israel. In Western societies, anti-Zionism seems to be the "politically correct" root of social conflict wherever Islamists have settled. Unfortunately, as these Western societies have yet to find out, the wish to eliminate "undesirables" is not limited to Israel and Jews, but extends to Christians and all other "infidels" – including many Muslims not considered the "right" kind of Muslim... In Nigeria, Islamists have reportedly murdered more than 52,000 Christians just since 2009 -- with the additional incentive of then being able to seize their land. To various degrees, much of Western civilization is engulfed in this grave issue of "replacement." "Wherever individuals are persecuted because of their race, religion, gender, or political views, that place must, at that moment, become the center of the universe." — The late Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, December 10, 1986.
In Western societies, anti-Zionism seems to be the "politically correct" root of social conflict wherever Islamists have settled. Unfortunately, as these Western societies have yet to find out, the wish to eliminate "undesirables" is not limited to Israel and Jews, but extends to Christians and all other "infidels." Pictured: Students participate in a demonstration in support of Hamas outside Columbia University campus on November 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A small reminder: Jews were expelled from England during the decade of 1290; from France in the 1390s; from Spain in the 1490s; from Sicily in the late 1400s; from Portugal in the 1500s; Ukraine in the 1640s; Russia in the 1880s; Germany in the 1930s; and various Arab countries in the 1940s to 1960s. Now, in the decade of 2020, when "Statistical data shows the doubling and trebling of anti-Semitic incidents on America's streets," where are Jews to go? The only place that welcomes them with open arms is their ancestral home of Israel. Jews from anywhere in the world now have the absolute right of return to Israel, at state expense. Western countries have allowed in Jewish immigrants in the last several decades, but history shows that might always be temporary, subject to the winds of prevailing ideologies and political whims. In the West, as Islam starts to dominate the political, religious, and social landscape, including in the US, the Jews' options narrow.
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by Gordon G. Chang • November 23, 2025 at 5:00 am
The Pentagon should not have withdrawn the [Typhon missile system from Japan]. Worse, it chose the worst possible time to do so. Now, in the middle of a confrontation that China has picked with Japan, the Chinese propaganda machine is pushing the narrative that the withdrawal of the Typhon battery shows that Washington is abandoning Tokyo. [T]he U.S. Department of War should have foreseen that China would try to score points by making it look as if the U.S. had just caved in the face of Beijing's pressure. More important, the U.S. and Japan might actually need the firepower now. The Chinese reaction was swift — and unhinged. On November 8, Xue Jian, China's consul general in Osaka, posted on X that "the dirty head that sticks itself in must be cut off," widely interpreted as a threat to assassinate Takaichi. First, Takaichi has unnerved China's leadership because, unlike most of her predecessors, she has not wilted in the face of Chinese pressure. Takaichi, who continues to refuse to retract her comment, has shown the rest of the world what defiance looks like and can encourage others to stand up to the grand celestial court. Second, Xi Jinping thinks he can isolate Taiwan, and Takaichi's statement showed that instead he will be facing a coalition of free societies. No wonder he is not happy. Xi needs a confrontation not so much to distract the Chinese people — the last thing a deeply unhappy populace wants now is war — but to prevent other senior Communist Party leaders from further challenging him.
The U.S. should not have withdrawn the Typhon missile system from Japan. Worse, it chose the worst possible time to do so. Now, in the middle of a confrontation that China has picked with Japan, the Chinese propaganda machine is pushing the narrative that the withdrawal of the Typhon shows that Washington is abandoning Tokyo. Pictured: A Typhon missile system launches a Standard Missile-6 during Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 on July 16, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Perla Alfaro)
On November 17, Japan's Ministry of Defense notified the Iwakuni city government that the Pentagon had withdrawn its Typhon missile battery from the U.S. Marine Corps air station there. The battery had been deployed in September for the Japan-U.S. "Resolute Dragon 2025" exercise. This was the first time that the U.S. had installed a mid-range missile in Japan. China had bitterly complained about the deployment, claiming that the missile system "seriously threatens regional security." It is not hard to see why Beijing was so upset: The Typhon system, mounted on trucks, launches Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles and vastly complicates the plans of China's People's Liberation Army in the region. Tomahawks from Japan can reach Beijing and Shanghai in eastern China, all of North Korea, and Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East.
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by Amir Taheri • November 23, 2025 at 4:00 am
The current phase started in February 2022, with what looked like a full Russian invasion. But that was only a sequel to the invasion and occupation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. That episode was itself a sequel to another politico-military operation two years earlier... According to some usually reliable sources, the US, having rejected the idea of a meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Putin in Budapest, is working on a framework for talks aimed at halting the war. What that phrase might mean isn't quite clear.
Pictured: A Ukrainian soldier checks the sky for Russian drones in the frontline town of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Iryna Rybakova/93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade/AFP via Getty Images)
How long might the war in Ukraine last? This was a question discussed and debated at a recent conclave in Paris of historians and strategic experts from different backgrounds. The real answer not given at the meeting was another question: how long is a piece of string? The current phase started in February 2022, with what looked like a full Russian invasion. But that was only a sequel to the invasion and occupation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. That episode was itself a sequel to another politico-military operation two years earlier to impose a Russian stooge as president of Ukraine while pouring in Russian troops into Sevastopol to force Kiev to sign a long lease for a Russian aero-naval base. And all that is just recent history.
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by Majid Rafizadeh • November 22, 2025 at 5:00 am
While global focus has shifted to other crises, Iran has rapidly and aggressively been accelerating its ballistic missile production at the speed of light. If the West is serious about stopping Iran's missile expansion, dismantling these missile networks must be part of the strategy. Every intercepted shipment delays Tehran's ambitions and weakens its ability to radiate threats. The US should have let Israel keep on going when it wanted to, after the Trump administration took out three of Iran's nuclear plants: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows what he is doing. Iran must not be allowed to grow stronger, more dangerous, and more emboldened. The stakes are global, affecting every nation that depends on a secure free world.
While global focus has shifted to other crises, Iran has rapidly and aggressively been accelerating its ballistic missile production at the speed of light. Pictured: A Fattah hypersonic ballistic missile is displayed during the annual military parade in Tehran, on September 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Little attention is being paid to Iran in the aftermath of the 12‑Day War, but the threat it now poses is growing significantly. While global focus has shifted to other crises, Iran has rapidly and aggressively been accelerating its ballistic missile production at the speed of light. The Iranian regime is proudly announcing its manufacture of vast quantities of missiles, expanding assembly lines, and is openly boasting about its growing arsenal. Iran is not concealing these developments; it is bragging about them. The regime, despite a crippling drought, appears to feel emboldened, empowered, and determined.
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by Lawrence Kadish • November 21, 2025 at 5:00 am
The sabotage this week of a Polish railway line appears to be a test of whether NATO has the backbone to defend itself not just from tanks, but from shadows where Russia currently prefers to hide. Pictured: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks with authorities near a sabotaged railway line between Warsaw and Lublin, on November 17, 2025. (Photo by Chancellery of the Polish Prime Minister via Getty Images)
Deliberate drone incursions into sovereign NATO airspace. Suspicious damage to undersea cables. Calculated attacks that test the West's cybersecurity. All these actions by Russia have just been a prelude to the latest effort to intimidate the West from aiding the embattled Ukrainian nation. Of late there has also been a deliberate effort to sabotage the Polish railway system. No surprise: the gateway had become a crucial gateway for sending military aid to Ukraine. That attack signals Russia's willingness to escalate warfare beyond Ukraine's borders and into NATO territory. This "anonymous" incident, however, reveals an extremely calculated strategy to intimidate European nations while Russia maintains plausible deniability. The latest sabotage reflects surprisingly sophisticated strategic thinking by the Kremlin: Seek to inflict damage significant enough to complicate operations supporting Ukraine's military, but still avoid an actual NATO military response.
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • November 20, 2025 at 5:00 am
Hamas claims it agreed only to the first phase of Trump's plan, which calls for an end to the war and the release of all the hostages – alive and deceased – within 72 hours. That was on October 9, 2025; by now, weeks have passed. The only reason the terror groups agreed to the first phase of Trump's plan was so that the war would end and they could maintain their rule over the Gaza Strip. The main reason the terror groups oppose the presence of international forces or an international governing body inside the Gaza Strip is evidently that they fear this coalition would obstruct their plan to pursue Jihad (holy war) against Israel. For them, the October 7 massacre was just another phase in their Jihad to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamist state. The only plan the Palestinian terror groups apparently will accept is one that legitimizes their Jihad and allows them to rearm, regroup and prepare for another October 7-style attack on Israel. To that end, just this year, Iran, despite sanctions, has already managed to smuggle $1 billion to Hamas. The last part of the PIJ statement is actually a direct threat to launch terror attacks against members of the proposed International Stabilization Force in the Gaza Strip. That is why, even if the international troops sent to the Gaza Strip are granted a clear mandate to use force to disarm the terror groups and dismantle their military infrastructure, not one of them will use it. No one, after all, wants to get shot at, especially when, as the world has seen for years with UN forces in Lebanon, it is so much easier to look the other way, or even be rewarded for helping a terror group reconstruct its power. Even with such a mandate, Hamas and its captive subjects in the Gaza Strip will steadfastly continue to serve as one of the largest bases for Iranian-backed Islamist terrorists in the Middle East.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other Palestinian terror groups have rejected UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which welcomes the establishment of a "Board of Peace" and a temporary "International Stabilization Force" in the Gaza Strip. A PIJ statement actually included a direct threat to launch terror attacks against the proposed International Stabilization Force. Pictured: Hamas terrorists stand next to an International Red Cross (ICRC) vehicle in Gaza City on November 2, 2025. (Photo by Omar Al-Qataa/AFP via Getty Images)
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other Palestinian terror groups have rejected US-backed United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on November 17, which welcomes the establishment of a "Board of Peace" and a temporary "International Stabilization Force" in the Gaza Strip. The resolution is based on US President Donald J. Trump's 20-point peace plan for ending the war in the Gaza Strip, which erupted in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led invasion of Israel. On that day, Hamas terrorists and their supporters murdered 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, and wounded thousands more. Another 251 were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where the remains of three hostages – two Israelis and a Thai – are still being held. Hamas claims it agreed only to the first phase of Trump's plan, which calls for an end to the war and the release of all the hostages – alive and deceased – within 72 hours. That was on October 9, 2025; by now, weeks have passed.
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