IRAN - Iran is once again trying to present itself as the main power fighting for the Palestinians and the Muslim nation. A poster issued by Supreme Leader Khamenei's office clearly illustrates the changing balance of power. In Tehran's view, the Palestinians have progressed from stones to missiles, while Iranian nuclear power will provide the strategic blanket to enable continued terror and subversive activity. The poster, based on the Supreme Leader's speech on al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, reads: “Today, the balance of power has shifted in favor of the Muslim world.” Khamenei added that today, “the hope of achieving victory is stronger than ever.” One of the most prominent features of al-Quds Day is mass “Death to Israel“ and "Death to the United-States" marches. Khamenei stressed that Iran is arming Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza and allowing them to strike a balance in the armed struggle against Israel. IRGC General Asghar Emami, a Quds Force commander, said on May 6: “Whenever we want to strangle America, to exert pressure on it, extract concessions from it, and get what we deserve, we can easily tighten our grip around the throat of the Zionist regime, because it is surrounded from all directions.”

ISRAEL - You, who march through the streets of Italy, the UK or Germany with Palestinian flags and shout slogans accusing Israel of crimes against humanity, tell me, what should Israel do? You, who don't rush to protest against the blatant crimes against humanity contained in targeting innocent civilians when terrorists are bombing homes, schools, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. You, who solely condemned the right of Israel to defend itself from those ready to murder its citizens by blowing up buses and pizzerias, when suicide terrorists killed almost 2,000 Israelis during the Second Intifada.

GAZA - For many years, Gaza has been a major location for an army of international aid providers. Their reports consistently portray an impoverished Palestinian enclave on the brink of disaster, usually blamed on Israeli policies. The suffering of innocent children is a frequent theme used to raise donations, which exceed $1 billion annually. Yet no one talked about the massive arsenal of rockets deployed by Hamas and its allies, and the costs involved. Instead of using very limited resources for economic development and to create real jobs, Hamas diverted hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to build a vast war machine. Aid materials disappeared into the rocket assembly lines, and the concrete provided for housing was used to build cross-border attack tunnels. Now, with millions of Israeli citizens targeted and terrorized by Palestinian missiles, many are demanding an end to the years of impunity for Hamas and the international organizations involved in or complicit with this ongoing assault.

ISRAEL - The recent fighting has revealed two new realities: the US’s once-automatic backing of Israel is fraying, and the much-parroted resolution for the conflict is a non-starter. Are we approaching seismic change in the Middle East? For starters, the conversation on this subject in the United States – Israel’s largest benefactor – has changed forever. As Ryan Grim of The Intercept described in a recent piece, this is the first time ever that members of the United States Congress have expressed disapproval against Israel. What we’re seeing is a generational change over how the public sees the conflict and I think it has to do with the fact that this is the most diverse Congress in history, in a country that is becoming more and more racially diverse.

ISRAEL - The next round will be worse, unless Israel reasserts control of its destiny. The Hamas terror-state is causing violence on many fronts, fueling internal Israeli hatreds, harming us globally. It opened this round of conflict on Monday, May 10, by launching a barrage of rockets at Jerusalem — at a stroke staking a claim among the Palestinians as the ostensible defender of the contested city, where tension and violence had been building at and around the Al-Aqsa mosque atop the Temple Mount. At a stroke, too, by extension, it marginalized the West Bank Palestinian leadership under Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

UK - Scientists in the UK working as advisors for the government have expressed regret for using what they now admit to be “unethical” and “totalitarian” methods of instilling fear in the population in order to control behaviour during the pandemic, according to a report. The London Telegraph reports the comments made by Members of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviour (SPI-B), a sub-committee of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) the government’s chief scientific advisory group.

GERMANY - Germany will continue to make it possible for Israel to defend itself as long as there are forces seeking its destruction, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said during his visit to Israel aimed at promoting “ceasefire.” Germany’s solidarity with Israel “is not limited to words only,” Maas said as he arrived in Israel for a one-day visit on Thursday. The diplomat insisted the Jewish state had every right to defend itself against what he called “massive and unacceptable attacks.” “As long as there are states and groups that threaten Israel with annihilation, it must be able to protect its citizens,” Maas said, adding that Germany would “make contributions” to ensure Israel’s ability to do just that.

USA - Companies are increasingly chasing next-gen consumers: America’s youth. What’s new: Fidelity today said 13 to 17-year-olds can trade stocks using an account in teens’ full control once it's opened by a guardian. It’s an industry first — and other brokers could follow. Why it matters: Kids are a lucrative market given how much younger they are developing online habits (something the pandemic has only made worse). What they're saying: “It’s basically hook ’em as young as you can, period,” says Jim Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media, a children’s advocacy group that's called for more regulations on this front. It's happening across a slew of industries. Media companies like Netflix and ViacomCBS are pouring millions of dollars into content for kids. The New York Times is testing kid-friendly digital subscriptions. One toy retailer now “lets kids as young as 3 years old shop for gifts … without requiring further signoff from an adult,” the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

USA - They keep telling us that economic conditions are improving, but if that is true why are the shortages worse than ever? For a moment, I would like to take you all the way back to 2019. Before the pandemic came along, we didn’t have any shortages. If you wanted something, you just went to the store and got it or you ordered it online. Prices were low, global supply chains were functioning smoothly, and to most people it seemed like it would stay that way for the foreseeable future. But then the pandemic hit, and “panic buying” caused short-term shortages of certain items such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer. It was understandable that people would want to hoard those things, because there was a lot of fear in the air. But we also knew that those shortages were only going to be temporary. Now here we are in 2021, and we were told that things would be getting back to normal by now. But instead, there are severe shortages everywhere around us. In fact, the shortages are far worse than anything that we experienced in 2020.

TURKEY - Turkey’s anti-Israel rhetoric has rapidly increased during the past eight days of fighting. The rhetoric targeting Israel and Jews has reached such heights that the US has condemned Turkey’s president for antisemitic comments. While the US works to bring an end to the Hamas war against Israel, Turkey is fanning the flames. Among its recent statements is a demand by Turkey to separate Jerusalem from Israel. The latest comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were to demand a “separate arrangement” for Jerusalem. Since 2020, when Turkey turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque, the Turkish religious and political leadership of the AKP Party, which supports Hamas, has sought to “liberate” al-Aqsa Mosque and claims it will take over Jerusalem.

EUROPE - The EU’s political director has hailed the progress made at negotiations to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and said he is confident an agreement can be reached, as the fourth round of talks concludes in Vienna. “We have made substantial progress over the last 10 days, but there are still things to be worked on and we will reconvene next week, and we will continue working,” Enrique Mora told reporters in the Austrian capital on Wednesday. The negotiator has been among those facilitating indirect talks between Iran and the US for both parties’ return to the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015. The treaty was designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons – an aim it denies pursuing – in exchange for sanctions relief from the US and European signatories.

ISRAEL - The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is, at its heart, about two competing national movements, and the only logical way to resolve it is by a negotiated settlement. The UN recommended a two-state settlement as early as 1947. It was accepted by the Jews, rejected by the Arabs. From 1948 to 1967, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and Gaza were all in Arab hands. A Palestinian state could have been created at any time. It wasn’t. Israel, joined by President Bill Clinton, offered a viable two-state accord to the Palestinians during 2000-2001. Clinton describes in his autobiography how they refused.

ISRAEL - During the Gaza war this summer, it became clear that one of the most important aspects of the media-saturated conflict between Jews and Arabs is also the least covered: the press itself. The Western press has become less an observer of this conflict than an actor in it, a role with consequences for the millions of people trying to comprehend current events, including policymakers who depend on journalistic accounts to understand a region where they consistently seek, and fail, to productively intervene.

ISRAEL - To hear most of the Western media tell it, war's afoot in the Middle East, fueled once again by Israel's unquenchable belligerence. “Israel struck the Gaza Strip again Monday,” began the Washington Post's report. Not often or ever mentioned is the inconvenient fact that the Palestinians, not Israel, began the current round of violence. As of Monday, Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups have hurled 3,313 rockets at Israel.

ISRAEL - Why are there no demonstrations on behalf of the Kurds, the Chechens, the Uyghurs, the Tibetans? The answer can be summarized in one word: Jews. The enemy of these groups is not the Jews. Hence, there is little concern for their plight. If the perceived enemy of the Palestinians were not the Jews, there would be little concern for their plight as well. This was proved by the relative silence that greeted the massacre of Palestinians by Jordan during “Black September” in 1970, or the killings of Palestinian Authority leaders in Gaza during the Hamas takeover in 2007, or the 4,000 Palestinian civilians killed by Syria during that country's civil war. I support the legitimate rights of Palestinians to a peaceful state because it would be good for peace in the region and for Israel. But I refuse to prioritize it over other equally compelling claims just because Jews are on the other side.