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Fed Up with Benjamin Netanyahu?

By Philip Giraldi | Unz Review | May 9, 2025

I have in the past speculated that the day might come when President Donald Trump, he of a massive ego, might just become tired of his being manipulated and controlled by America’s Israel Lobby and by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular. I thought, and hoped, that he might become so annoyed that he might move to take control of the so-called tail wags the dog relationship that has for so long put Israel in the driver’s seat. While I am loathe to read too much into several recent developments, the first suggestion [is appearing] that all is not well in Washington’s relationship with what has been euphemistically referred to as “America’s best friend and closest ally.”

Many observers are now openly voicing their view that Israel and its all-powerful Lobby in the United States have corrupted and now control many aspects of government, starting at the top in Washington and working its way down to state and local levels. Witness the near worship of Netanyahu by groveling congress critters during recent visits to Capitol Hill if you want a tangible display of government serving no conceivable national interest. Or check out the “antisemitism” and anti-Boycott legislation currently moving through Congress that will strip all Americans of free speech and free association, leaving them able to demonstrate against or even criticize their own country or other nations with the single exception of the Jewish state. If you don’t believe that will happen, check out the current tale coming out of San Marcos in Texas at the hands of ardently Zionist Governor Greg Abbott.

Given that Jews constitute something like 3% of the US population the establishment of such control through bribery and the support of a compliant media is truly a remarkable achievement but one might plausibly argue that it has done terrible damage to the country as a whole and has contributed nothing to benefit the American people. Israel is currently carrying out a genocide against the Palestinians that is funded, armed and provided with political cover by the Trump Administration, following on to the model established by Genocide Joe Biden, which could be stopped with one phone call to Netanyahu from the White House. But, unfortunately, up until now no one has been picking up the phone.

I must admit to being shocked to have read some of the recent news coverage, mostly coming out of Israeli and other foreign media, of course, that is describing the rift between Trump and Netanyahu. The signs that trouble could be brewing might well be dated back to January 11th, with US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff demanding a meeting in Tel Aviv with Netanyahu. Netanyahu responded that it was a Saturday, the Sabbath, but Witkoff, acting under orders from Trump, insisted and the meeting was held. It turned out to be a tense exchange which included a demand that a ceasefire for Gaza drawn by the White House be implemented, and so it was, though Netanyahu later proceeded to withdraw from it and recommence hostilities before it entered phase two on March 1st. A demand by Trump that Netanyahu should visit him in Washington in early April followed and there were reported disagreements about the Administration’s tariff plan and about US negotiations with Hamas without Israel’s input. Discussions also concerned US discussions with Iran to restore a program (JCPOA), canceled by Trump during his first term in office, to monitor the Iranian nuclear program to prevent it from being weaponized. Netanyahu was demanding a “Libyan Solution” which would have been a war including US forces that would have basically destroyed Iran’s defensive capabilities, something that even a White House disinclined to deal with reality realized would never be accepted in Tehran. Netanyahu was reportedly also angry at the Trump Administration’s resistance to his own plans to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians while also going to war with the Iranians.

So, the US move to negotiate with Hamas directly, sidelining Israel, started the rebellion on the part of Washington and it was followed up by the negotiations with Iran, again without Israel’s input. And there was also the issue of US negotiations with Saudi Arabia, again without including Israel, over the Kingdom’s intention to develop its own civil nuclear program. And finally, there was last week’s decision to enter into a ceasefire with the Houthis after direct negotiations, described by the White House comically as a “capitulation” by the Yemenis. Some observers accepted the language but have been questioning who had done the surrendering in a war that cost in excess of $1 billion and which accomplished nothing. Israel, for its part, was not involved in either the talks or the agreement, leading an aggrieved Netanyahu to vow to “defend ourselves alone”.

But this week, Trump sent the clearest message of all to Netanyahu. He has been planning to meet with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the Middle East next week but will not meet with Netanyahu. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also canceled a planned trip to Israel at the same time, according to two Israeli officials, reinforcing the message sent by the president. The immediate cause of the rift was that Trump had apparently hoped for a major de-escalation and even a ceasefire in Gaza as a highlight of his trip for which he would have taken credit, but Netanyahu instead called up army reserves and ordered a major escalation. The Times of Israel reported that “Trump is disappointed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” citing two “senior sources close to the president.” And even opinion columnist Thomas Friedman in normally careful-about-its-reporting on Israel The New York Times is openly suggesting in a piece “This Israeli Government is Not Our Ally” that the Netanyahu regime is no longer behaving as an American friend because of its extremist agenda.

Several reports, relying on what are claimed to be multiple sources inside the Israeli government, have now claimed that Trump has de facto cut ties with Netanyahu and will have no direct contact with the Israeli Prime Minister. Israeli government Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and former Ambassador to the US was in Washington on Thursday and was welcomed and met with Trump. He was reportedly told flatly that the US “will move forward on regional plans without coordinating with Netanyahu, accusing him of manipulation.” One report on the development went on to emphasize that what Trump hates most is being looked down upon and being manipulated, “There is nothing Trump hates more than being portrayed as a fool or someone being played. That’s why he decided to cut contact with Netanyahu,” one US official speaking off the record added.

What is not being discussed in the media but is nevertheless being considered in intelligence circles in Washington is the possible connection of the excommunication of Netanyahu with various dismissals and relocations of high officials in Washington, including that of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz who was demoted to the post of UN Ambassador. It seems that there is strong evidence to suggest that Netanyahu did not exactly trust Trump and has been spying on him and his decision making through a number of officials in his cabinet, which explains to a certain extent the odd Signal phone calls where journalist Jeffrey Goldberg just happened to be listening in and other incidents that suggest that Mossad or the Israeli Embassy in Washington has established relationships that sought to go around the president and might be described as espionage. It would also help to explain the mixed signals coming out of the administration, suggesting that some “recruits” are being coached on what to say to advance the Netanyahu agenda.

How all of this will develop and where it will eventually wind up remains somewhat up in the air as the powerful Israel Lobby is almost certainly cranking up efforts to restore the Jewish state’s dominance of US foreign policy in the Middle East, what Trump is now defining as “manipulation.” Zionist uber hawks in Congress are already warning the White House that any agreement on nuclear developments with Iran will be rejected by the legislature if it does not include a “complete dismantling” of all nuclear enrichment by Tehran, something that is not likely to be acceptable and which means that no agreement will be possible. Wholly owned by Israel Senators Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and Victor Cruz are leading the charge and claim to have enough votes to block any such proposal, which means it will not be a “law” or treaty and could be “withdrawn from” by any new president, just as Trump did with the original JCPOA in 2017.

So, there has been some movement in the relationship between Israel and the United States. As it is headed towards Washington regaining some independence of action in its Middle Eastern foreign policy it can only be a good thing as the lopsided relationship with Israel has brought nothing but grief and suffering. One can hope that it will continue in that more positive direction but there will be strong resistance from Congress and the Media, directed by the powerful Israel Lobby. Trump and whoever supports him will find themselves assailed from all sides but we ordinary citizens who are watching all this from the sidelines will have to hope and pray for a good result.

Philip Giraldi is an American columnist, commentator and security consultant. He is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a role he has held since 2010.

May 10, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel’s US-made THAAD fails again as Yemen targets key airport with hypersonic missile

Press TV – May 9, 2025

Yemen’s Armed Forces have again targeted the Israeli regime’s BenGurion airportnear the city of Tel Aviv, with a hypersonic ballistic missile.

The development took place on Friday, spreading chaos across the occupied Palestinian territories and forcing millions of the regime’s illegal settlers to run towards shelters, the forces said in a statement conveyed by spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree.

According to the official, the “qualitative military operation successfully achieved its goal.”

The projectile triggered sirens across Tel Aviv and “more than 200 other locations,” the Israeli regime’s media outlets reported.

The development had the Israeli military scramble to activate its missile systems, including the American-made THAAD air defense system, the regime’s Channel 14 reported.

According to the channel, the missile system, however, failed to intercept the projectile, marking the “second” time that the expensive apparatus was falling short in the face of incoming Yemeni fire.

Various Israeli outlets, meanwhile, reported explosions in eastern Tel Aviv and the holy occupied city of al-Quds, where the THAAD had been activated.

Yemen’s Armed Force have been enforcing a naval blockade on Israeli ships and vessels sailing towards the territories since October 2023. The blockade came in response to the regime’s launching an overwhelmingly deadly war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, and simultaneously escalating its already stringent siege of the Palestinian territory.

Earlier in May, the Yemeni servicemen began imposing a comprehensive aerial blockade on the regime too, warning international airlines to suspend flights to airports in the occupied territories to ensure passenger safety.

Saree said the Friday strike came “within the implementation of the no-fly zone imposed on the criminal Israeli enemy entity.”

“The interception systems failed to intercept it (the missile), halting airport operations for nearly an hour.”

Separately, “The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) force of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation targeting a vital Israeli enemy target in the occupied area of Yaffa,” the official said, referring to an area lying near Tel Aviv.

‘Repeated warning to airlines’

The spokesman asserted that the Yemeni servicemen would not stop short of enforcing the aerial blockade.

“The Armed Forces reiterate their warning to airlines that have not yet complied with the ban, that they must immediately halt their flights to occupied Palestine, as others have done.”

Saree finally reasserted Sana’a’s stance that such operations targeting sensitive and strategic Israeli targets would last until the regime ceased its war on Gaza and ended the siege.

May 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

US pressures ‘Israel’ for Gaza deal; Witkoff’s Israeli rebuke leaked

Al Mayadeen | May 9, 2025

The administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly pressuring “Israel” to agree to a ceasefire and a captive deal with Hamas before Trump’s upcoming Middle East visit, according to Haaretz.

An unnamed source familiar with the negotiations stated that the US has warned Israeli officials that if they do not cooperate in advancing such an agreement, “Israel” will be “left alone”, implying a potential withdrawal of US diplomatic support.

The push for a deal comes as the Trump administration seeks to broker a resolution to the ongoing war in Gaza ahead of the president’s regional trip.

A recent report, without citing a specific source, identified Steve Witkoff as the unnamed senior US official referenced in a Channel 12 story earlier this week.

According to that report, the official had criticized “Israel’s” approach to the captive situation during a meeting with the captives’ families, while the nature of the criticism and the full context of the remarks remain unspecified.

The official was quoted as warning: “If until today, the hostages paid the price for not ending the war, then today the price will be much heavier for Israel, and not only the hostages.”

The remarks also criticized “Israel” for failing to leverage the emerging US-Saudi nuclear deal, an agreement that, according to reports, President Trump has reportedly decoupled from the requirement for Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with the Zionist entity.

“If Israel doesn’t come to its senses, the price of missing out will be higher than ever before,” the official, allegedly Witkoff, warned.

Haaretz further reports that Witkoff’s criticism of Netanyahu’s government was deliberately leaked to the media at his request, though his office has since denied that the Trump administration is pressuring “Israel” to reach a deal.

This comes amid an increasingly souring relationship between the United States and “Israel”, which is reportedly leading Trump to pursue US policy in the Middle East while sidelining its “greatest ally in the Middle East”.

The rift between Trump and Netanyahu

Sources close to Trump indicate he is increasingly disappointed with Netanyahu, following reports that Netanyahu has grown frustrated with the US leader, marking a turning point in their relationship as Trump begins to distance his administration from coordination with “Israel” on key Middle East strategies.

Two senior Trump administration officials, in closed conversations relayed to Israel Hayom, revealed that the president has decided to advance regional policy decisions independently rather than waiting for Netanyahu’s input.

Trump aims to strengthen US influence in the region, particularly with Gulf states, and while initial normalization efforts included coordination with “Israel,” the administration now sees Netanyahu’s reluctance, especially his refusal to publicly endorse a “horizon for a Palestinian state”, as a major hindrance.

Trump’s frustration has intensified following reports that Netanyahu and his associates pressured former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to take military action against Iran, leading to his ousting from the administration on May 3.

Although Netanyahu denies substantial involvement and claims he only spoke to Waltz once, Trump reportedly remains unconvinced and sees this as part of a wider concerning pattern.

May 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Travesty of justice’: Iranian student self-deports after weeks in US custody

A file photo of Alireza Doroudi, who was detained by US immigration officials in March 2025.
Press TV – May 9, 2025

An Iranian doctoral student at the University of Alabama has been forced to self-deport after six weeks of detention over unsubstantiated charges as the US administration ramps up pressure on foreign students and immigrants.

Alireza Doroudi was detained by immigration officials in March as part of US President Donald Trump’s widespread immigration crackdown and has been held at a facility in Jena, Louisiana, over 480 kilometers from where he lived with his fiancée, Sama Bajgani, in Alabama.

The State Department accused Doroudi at the time of posing “significant national security concerns,” with Doroudi’s lawyer, David Rozas, saying the US government had not offered any evidence to support the claim.

Rozas said Doroudi, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alabama who entered the United States legally in January 2023 on a student visa, had decided to self-deport and stop fighting deportation after the judge in the case, Maithe Gonzalez, gave him until the end of May to refile motions and denied Doroudi bond.

Bajgani said he has no criminal record, entered the country legally and was not politically outspoken like other students who have been targeted.

Describing her fiancé as a “nerd” and “a really big thinker” who spent long days in the lab, Bajgani said Doroudi does not deserve what happened to him and now the life they built in Alabama is over.

“I am not happy about the whole thing that happened to us, and I need time to grieve for what I am going to put behind and leave,” she said. “All the dreams, friendships and dreams we had with each other.”

In a letter to Bajgani from behind bars in April, Doroudi called his detention a “pure injustice.”

“I didn’t cause any trouble in this country,” he said. “I didn’t enter illegally. I followed all the legal paths.”

Rozas said he has not seen such a case in his 21 years as an immigration attorney, underlining that the authorities had denied his client due process and forced him to choose between indefinite detention and self-deporting.

“I’m absolutely devastated and I think it’s a travesty of justice,” Rozas said. “The government has provided no evidence in the record that Mr. Doroudi poses any national security threat.”

More than 1,000 international students across the US have had their visas or legal status revoked since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials.

They included some who took part in mass rallies across the US academic facilities in support of Palestinians and against Israel’s genocidal war in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts, was detained in March over accusations by the Department of Homeland Security of engaging “in activities in support of Hamas” after writing an opinion piece.

The article called on Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” and to “disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.”

Columbia University students Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi have also been placed under detention in relation to their alleged support for Palestine.

Like in Doroudi and Ozturk’s cases, the federal government has relied on vague claims that Khalil and Mahdawi pose “national security threats” to justify detaining them despite their status as legal residents.

May 9, 2025 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Defiant Trump advances US plans without Israeli approval: Report

The Cradle | May 8, 2025

US President Donald Trump has lost patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will not wait any longer for Israel before advancing initiatives in West Asia, Israel Hayom reported on 8 May.

According to two senior sources in the US President’s entourage, Trump is interested in making decisions that he believes will advance US interests, particularly regarding Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, without waiting for approval from Netanyahu.

Regarding a potential US–Israeli agreement with Saudi Arabia, Trump believes Netanyahu is delaying making the necessary decisions. The president is not willing to wait until Israel does what is expected of it and will move forward without it.

During the presidency of Joe Biden, the US and Israel were involved in talks with Saudi Arabia that would see Washington enter a defense pact with the kingdom, provide it with civilian nuclear technology, and sell it advanced weapons – all in exchange for normalization with Israel.

As part of any agreement to normalize relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia expects an end to the war in Gaza and an Israeli declaration of a “horizon for a Palestinian state.”

However, senior ministers in Israel’s current government have vowed to never allow a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, while promising to “destroy” Gaza, ethnically cleanse its population under the pretext of promoting “voluntary migration,” and to build Jewish settlements there.

The sources added that Trump was furious at what he saw as an attempt by Netanyahu to use US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who has since been dismissed from his position, to push for US military action in Iran.

Netanyahu claimed in response to the publication of the affair in the Washington Post that he had only spoken to Waltz once. However, Trump was not convinced.

The president’s anger likely explains why Trump did not involve Israel in the ceasefire he announced with the Ansarallah-led government of Yemen.

Even after Trump announced the agreement with Yemen, Israeli representatives handling relations with the US were reportedly unable to receive information from White House officials about what was happening for a day, Israel Hayom noted.

Additionally, Trump is not currently scheduled to visit Israel as part of his visit to the region next week.

The disconnect between Trump and Netanyahu likely explains why the Israeli prime minister and his Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced on Wednesday that they are prepared for a situation in which Israel will be left alone in the campaign against Yemen.

Defense Minister Katz said that “Israel must be able to defend itself on its own against any threat and any enemy. This has been true in the face of many challenges in the past and will continue to be so in the future.”

Trump has faced criticism for escalating the war against Yemen since taking office in January, including for withholding information about US military casualties resulting from a military campaign that has never received authorization from Congress.

The operation has involved over 1,000 US airstrikes against the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) and killed hundreds of Yemenis, including many civilians.

Writing for Haaretz, Israeli journalist Aluf Benn notes that each time US presidents have been angered by Tel Aviv’s actions, “Israel stood its ground, deflected the pressure and over time got what it wanted.”

Benn stated that Trump is also pursuing a deal with Iran over its nuclear program that is contrary to Netanyahu’s position on the matter.

Trump pulled the US out of the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 amid encouragement from Netanyahu. However, the president has been trying to come to a diplomatic understanding with Iran to halt the development of its nuclear program during his second term.

Three rounds of talks have taken place, mediated by the government of Oman and involving Trump’s special envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff.

May 8, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

US ceasefire in Yemen: Retreat masquerading as restraint

The US ends its Red Sea campaign not by victory, but by necessity – under relentless pressure from an underestimated Yemeni resistance

By Mawadda Iskandar | The Cradle | May 8, 2025

In a major recalibration of its year-long Red Sea military campaign, the US has agreed to a ceasefire with Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces, brokered by Oman. After months of escalating attacks under the guise of “protecting international shipping,” Washington now finds itself calling time on a conflict it launched – but failed to control.

While Yemen’s leaders stress that operations in support of Gaza will persist, the US pivot signals more than de-escalation: It is a tacit admission that its campaign has collapsed under pressure, unable to achieve even its most basic strategic goals.

With over a thousand airstrikes launched since March 2024, Washington’s failure to contain the Yemeni threat in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden stands as a stark indictment of its military planning. The war devolved into a costly, high-stakes exercise in attrition – one Yemen emerged from stronger, not weaker.

A flawed campaign from the start

From its inception, the US-led campaign ‘Prosperity Guardian’ lacked clarity. The mission to “protect shipping lanes” quickly became an open-ended confrontation with no political roadmap. American officials misread both the battlefield and Yemen’s resilience.

Despite the might of its airpower, Washington failed to dent Sanaa’s capacity or will to fight. Instead, the bombardment accelerated Yemen’s military innovation, forcing Washington into a deterrence game it could not win.

Yemen’s unconventional warfare style, grounded in its topography and culture, posed immense challenges. Leaders operated from mountainous terrain fortified by tunnel systems, well beyond the reach of satellite surveillance.

The US had little intelligence penetration into Yemen’s military hierarchy and no functioning target bank. Sanaa’s leadership, experienced from years of prior war against the Saudi and UAE-led coalition and its proxies, held the advantage.

Speaking to The Cradle, Colonel Rashad al-Wutayri lists five key reasons for the campaign’s failure. First, Yemen’s use of low-cost, high-impact weapons – ballistic missiles and drones – pierced even US carrier strike groups.

Second, the campaign failed to protect Israeli or allied shipping. Third, Ansarallah exposed Israeli-American spy networks and clung to its demands: Namely, an end to the war on Gaza. Fourth, apart from Bahrain, Washington’s Arab allies declined to join the US-led coalition. Fifth, the financial cost spiraled, with the US spending millions on interceptors to counter drones built for mere thousands.

No coalition, no ground game

Washington’s diplomatic push to build a regional anti-Yemen coalition fell flat. Persian Gulf states, still stung from their own failures in Yemen, wisely kept their distance. Saudi Arabia refused to be drawn back into a war it has been trying to exit since 2022. The UAE, meanwhile, limited its support to logistics. Egypt stayed silent, unwilling to be sucked into another regional escalation.

This reticence was not without reason. Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi issued direct warnings to neighboring countries: Any cooperation with the US – via bases or troops – would bring immediate retaliation.

The threat worked. When Washington explored the idea of a ground assault using US special forces and Persian Gulf-backed militias, the plan quickly collapsed. Yemen’s terrain, its entrenched resistance, and the bitter legacy of previous Saudi-Emirati attempts made such a venture untenable.

Political analyst Abdulaziz Abu Talib tells The Cradle that Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have internalized the cost of further escalation. While both continue to bankroll proxy militias, they are steering clear of overt military entanglement. Yemen’s ability to withstand this trilateral aggression – and to land blows on US and Israeli interests – further eroded faith in Washington’s protective umbrella.

Bombs, billions, and blunders

Between March 2024 and April 2025, the US launched over 1,000 airstrikes on Yemen. Yet, rather than break its adversary, the campaign emboldened it. In retaliation, Yemen escalated steadily – from targeting Israeli vessels in November 2023, to US and UK ships by January, the Indian Ocean by March, and the Mediterranean by May.

By July, Ansarallah struck Tel Aviv with hypersonic missiles. A direct hit on Ben Gurion Airport followed, redrawing the region’s military balance.

The costs piled up. In the first three weeks alone, the US burned through $1 billion. Weapons like Tomahawk and JASSM missiles – costing millions apiece – were deployed against drones worth a few thousand dollars. Yemen’s own achievements mounted: 17 MQ-9 Reaper drones shot down, a $60 million F-18 fighter jet destroyed, and a declared aerial blockade of Israel.

Wutayri highlights that Yemen developed its arsenal domestically, without foreign technical assistance. That included the hypersonic missiles that bypassed Israeli and US air defenses, and drones capable of striking both military and commercial ships. Even as Washington intensified its bombardment, Yemen’s operational tempo and range only grew.

Erosion from within

Back in Washington, the cracks were showing. The Pentagon quietly expanded military commanders’ autonomy to strike targets without White House clearance – an effort to shield the administration from political fallout. But the costs, both financial and reputational, were impossible to ignore.

US media outlets began questioning the purpose and direction of the campaign. Public patience waned. There were calls for countries benefiting from Red Sea trade – namely Persian Gulf monarchies – to shoulder the burden of maritime security.

Wutayri says the US suffered further humiliation: a destroyer and three supply ships were sunk, and both the USS Abraham Lincoln and Harry S. Truman aircraft carriers were targeted. Despite spending another $500 million on interceptors, the results were negligible. The image of US warplanes crashing into the sea, and of exhausted troops – some 7,000 deployed – unable to break Yemen’s resolve, dented American prestige.

More than just a response to Red Sea attacks, the campaign was part of Washington’s broader effort to counter China’s regional influence, particularly Yemen’s emerging Belt and Road links. But the military track backfired, hardening local resistance and undermining US credibility.

Abu Talib notes that even stealth aircraft and strategic bombers failed to achieve deterrence. The Trump administration faced two options: retreat under the weight of defeat, or engage in talks under Ansarallah’s terms – chief among them an end to the Gaza war.

A war without an aim

From the outset, Washington struggled to manufacture a narrative of victory. The Pentagon released videos of jets launching from carriers – empty spectacle, absent substance. There were no “shock and awe” moments, no milestones to sell as success.

Yemen, meanwhile, delivered iconic images; among them, a father shielding his child during a bombing raid – a powerful symbol of national defiance. As civilian casualties mounted, so did public fury. Scenes of women and children pulled from rubble circulated widely, drawing uncomfortable parallels with past US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to Abu Talib, Yemen’s social cohesion and rugged geography undermined every attempt to break its lines. Far from fracturing under pressure, the public rallied behind Ansarallah. The more the US escalated, the more entrenched Yemeni resistance became – both militarily and socially.

Now, the Trump administration is shifting gears, seeking peace without admitting defeat. But Sanaa is not standing still. It promises continued operations, and with them, new strategic equations that could further upend the regional balance of power.

May 8, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Collapsing Empire: AnsarAllah Defeats US Again

By Kit Klarenberg | Global Delinquents | May 8, 2025

On May 6th, Donald Trump made the shock announcement that the US was abandoning all hostilities against Yemen. A vast, multi-billion dollar naval and air campaign officials in Washington had pledged would last “indefinitely” has abruptly ended, in return for AnsarAllah pledging not to attack American shipping in the Red Sea. While the President has bragged the Resistance group “capitulated” to his administration’s renewed, much-intensified belligerence and “don’t want to fight any more”, the reality is that God’s Partisans have once again defeated the Empire.

As reported by the New York Times, it remains unclear whether the ceasefire will apply to other foreign shipping, “after a costly seven-week bombing campaign.” Meanwhile, AnsarAllah has “stopped short of declaring a full cease-fire, saying that they would continue to fight Israel,” while [portraying] the deal as a major victory for the militia and a failure for Mr. Trump, spreading a social media hashtag that read ‘Yemen defeats America’.” In other words, the Resistance campaign against the Zionist entity will endure, and could intensify.

Reinforcing the Empire’s trouncing, such was Washington’s desperation to extricate herself from the self-initiated conflict, Israeli officials apparently weren’t apprised of the deal, only learning the US was withdrawing from the Red Sea from TV news reports. Yet, the mainstream media has over recent weeks clearly been laying the foundations of the Empire’s surrender to AnsarAllah, for the second time in less than a year. A number of prominent Western news reports have been uncharacteristically critical of US performance in battling God’s Partisans anew.

For example, on April 28th, major media outlets became abuzz with news that the USS Harry S. Truman – which led the Trump administration’s effort to crush AnsarAllah’s anti-genocide Red Sea blockade – lost an F-18 fighter jet and tow tractor, while executing a hard turn to evade fire from the Resistance group. While a US Navy press release on the incident made no reference to Yemen’s assault, nameless American officials briefed several mainstream journalists that God’s Partisans were responsible.

Reporting on the disaster by dependably servile CIA and Pentagon propaganda megaphone CNN was extraordinarily candid. “US Navy loses $60 million jet at sea after it fell overboard from aircraft carrier”, its headline read. The outlet explicitly acknowledged this resulted from an AnsarAllah “drone and missile attack” on USS Harry S. Truman. CNN went on to note the aircraft carrier has “repeatedly been targeted in attacks” by Yemen, while suffering a series of shameful blunders since its deployment to the Red Sea in September 2024.

In December that year, a US fighter jet posted to USS Harry S. Truman was shot down while conducting a refueling mission over the Red Sea in a friendly fire incident. The USS Gettysburg, which was escorting the aircraft carrier, blasted the jet with a missile for reasons unclear. This gross misadventure remains subject to official investigation. Then, on February 12th this year, USS Harry S. Truman was extensively damaged after colliding with a commercial vessel near Egypt’s Port Said, at the Suez Canal’s northern end.

The aircraft carrier returned to service after a period spent in Greece’s Souda Bay for repairs. The US Navy refused to release details about the cost of these repairs, or the total damage USS Harry S. Truman sustained in the collision. Whether further repairs were required was also not clarified. However, the accident was apparently considered so catastrophic within the Pentagon, the carrier’s chief Dave Snowden was fired from his post on February 20th, “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command”.

These humiliating developments were completely ignored by the media. Concurrently however, mainstream outlets were engaged in a concerted effort to rehabilitate Operation Prosperity Guardian, the embarrassingly failed Biden administration attempt to smash God’s Partisans and end the Resistance group’s righteous Red Sea blockade. Launched with much hype following the Gaza genocide’s eruption, a vast US flotilla led by USS Eisenhower spent nine months getting battered by a relentless barrage of AnsarAllah drones and missiles to no avail, before scurrying back home.

‘Defensive Systems’

Throughout Operation Prosperity Guardian, current and former US military and intelligence officials expressed disquiet at the enormous “cost offset” involved in battling God’s Partisans in the Red Sea. The US Navy squandered countless difficult-to-replace missiles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars – if not millions – daily to shoot down the Resistance group’s drones. As Mick Mulroy, a former DOD official and CIA officer, bitterly told Politico:

“[This] quickly becomes a problem because the most benefit, even if we do shoot down their incoming missiles and drones, is in [AnsarAllah’s] favor… We, the US, need to start looking at systems that can defeat these that are more in line with the costs they are expending to attack us.”

There were no indications of this “cost offset” having been remediated by the time Operation Prosperity Guardian fizzled out in July 2024. Official US Navy figures on the “unprecedented” engagement suggest the USS Eisenhower-led carrier group fired a total of 155 standard missiles and 135 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, while accompanying fighter jets and helicopters “expended nearly 60 air-to-air missiles and released 420 air-to-surface weapons” – 770 munitions in total – over the nine-month-long conflict.

Independent analysis suggests these figures are likely to be even higher. Moreover, the US Navy did not provide a breakdown of the costs involved in Operation Prosperity Guardian. Still, even if one accepts the official totals, a single Tomahawk alone costs around $1.89 million, meaning firing 135 cost a staggering $255,150,000. There is also the enduring question of whether this astonishingly expensive arsenal failed to protect USS Eisenhower from direct AnsarAllah attack.

In February 2024, a cruise missile fired from Yemen penetrated so many layers of the aircraft carrier’s defences it was seconds from impact, forcing USS Eisenhower to employ the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System – its “last line of defense”. It marked the System’s first ever recorded use in battle. Then in June that year, the USS Eisenhower inexplicably withdrew from its sphere of operations in the Red Sea at maximum speed, immediately after God’s Partisans announced they had successfully struck the carrier. The media was silent on this incident.

Still, as this journalist recorded at the time, multiple news reports painted a dire picture of Operation Prosperity Guardian in its aftermath. Associated Press revealed participating sailors and pilots had found the experience “traumatizing”, as they “weren’t used to being fired on.” Many had repeatedly come within seconds of being struck by “Houthi-launched missiles”, before they were destroyed “by their ship’s defensive systems.” The Pentagon was thus considering providing “counseling and treatment” to thousands of US Navy employees suffering from “post-traumatic stress”, and their families.

‘Supplemental Funds’

Fast forward to February 2025, and Business Insider published a curious article, claiming based on documents exclusively obtained by the outlet that in fact, the US Navy had successfully “fended off” AnsarAllah’s Red Sea blitzkrieg throughout Operation Prosperity Guardian, “without firing a shot”. Instead, “undefined” and “unspecified” methods and weapons of a “non-kinetic” variety were “successfully” employed to protect “Navy and coalition warships and commercial vessels.” This was of course at total odds with literally everything the mainstream media had hitherto reported on the debacle.

With hindsight though, the report’s propaganda utility seems clear. It served to rehabilitate the US Navy’s performance in its war on Yemen, at a time the Trump administration was preparing to kickstart hostilities against God’s Partisans again. So it was on March 15th, US airstrikes began raining down on Sanaa anew, while the USS Harry S. Truman-led carrier force thrust stridently into the Red Sea. US officials talked a big game about the fresh assault continuing “indefinitely”, while Trump bragged that AnsarAllah was being “decimated”.

The April 28th loss of an F-18 fighter jet due to Yemeni attacks amply demonstrated these boasts to be bogus. The anonymous briefings furthermore strongly suggest Pentagon apparatchiks wanted it publicly known AnsarAllah was responsible. In the meantime, on April 4th, the New York Times reported Pentagon officials were “privately” briefing Trump’s belligerence was failing to graze God’s Partisans, while costing in excess of $1 billion to date. This not only meant “supplemental funds” needed to be mustered from Congress, but doubts about continued ammunition availability gravely abounded:

“So many precision munitions are being used, especially advanced long-range ones, that some Pentagon contingency planners are growing concerned about overall Navy stocks and implications for any situation in which the United States would have to ward off an attempted invasion of Taiwan by China.”

We can surmise this report, and the subsequent flurry of critical mainstream reporting on the USS Harry S. Truman’s troubles, were indicative of the Pentagon’s determination to end Washington’s renewed malevolence against Yemen before AnsarAllah inflicted yet another historic defeat on the US Empire. In a larger than life, farcical full stop to this debacle, on the same day Trump announced the Empire had been crushed again in the Red Sea, the USS Harry S. Truman lost another F/A-18. You couldn’t make it up.

May 8, 2025 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Iran categorically rejects involvement in alleged plot to attack Israeli embassy in UK

Press TV – May 8, 2025

Tehran has categorically rejected Western media reports about Iranian nationals being involved in an alleged plot to target the Israeli embassy in London.

In a post on his X account on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has not been informed of any allegations via “proper diplomatic channels”.

“Iran stands ready to engage to shed light on what has truly transpired, and we reiterate that UK authorities should afford our citizens due process,” he wrote.

The United Kingdom has arrested eight men, including seven Iranian nationals, as part of two investigations regarding alleged threats to national security.

London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrests on Sunday, saying five men, including four of the Iranian nationals, were detained on suspicion of “preparation of a terrorist act” while the other three were being held under national security legislation introduced in 2023 to counter the actions of hostile states.

They were arrested as part of a “pre-planned” investigation into an alleged plot to “target specific premises,” the Metropolitan Police said, adding that the “affected site” was made aware and is being supported by police.

As part of a separate investigation led by the Met, three other Iranian men were arrested in London on Saturday.

The Met said three men — aged 39, 44 and 55 — were arrested under section 27 the National Security Act at separate addresses in north-west and west London, and had been taken into custody while searches continued.

In his post, Araghchi pointed to the stories in the media about the alleged involvement of Iranian nationals in a supposed plot to target the Israeli embassy in London and urged the UK to engage so that Tehran may assist any probe into credible allegations.

The top Iranian diplomat warned that third parties are resorting to desperate measures, including false flag operations, to derail diplomacy and provoke escalation.

“Timing and lack of engagement suggest that something is amiss,” he said.

In a post on his X social media account on Tuesday, the Iranian foreign minister called on the UK to respect the rights of Iranians arrested in Britain, underscoring Tehran’s readiness to assist investigations in the incident.

“Disturbed to learn that Iranian citizens have reportedly been arrested by UK security services,” Araghchi wrote.

May 8, 2025 Posted by | Deception, False Flag Terrorism | , , , | Leave a comment

UK keeps sending arms to Israel despite ban: Report

Press TV – May 7, 2025

A new report says Britain keeps exporting arms and equipment, including F-35 fighter jet parts, to Israel despite a government suspension in September 2024.

The report released by three campaign groups says parts for the jet, which has been critical for Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza, appear to have arrived in Israel as recently as March.

Investigation using Israeli customs data says 8,630 munitions items were sent from the UK to Israel since the suspensions.

The munitions fall under a category of import labelled “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles, and similar munitions of war and parts thereof.”

Most of the shipments cited in the report happened after the government’s arms suspension.

Britain had said it suspended its direct exports over concerns they might be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Soon after the suspensions, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament that “much of what we send is defensive in nature. It is not what we describe routinely as arms.”

“On the basis of the evidence in this report, it appears that Lammy has misled parliament and the public about arms shipments to Israel,” according to the report.

Nearly two dozen MPs have written to Lammy, calling on him to come before parliament to respond to the allegations.

They said that the public “deserves to know the full scale of the UK’s complicity in crimes against humanity.”

“We urge the government to disclose the details of all arms exports to Israel since October 2023 and to immediately halt all arms exports to Israel,” they wrote.

“This could not be more urgent given the risk that British-made weapons could be used to enact Netanyahu’s plan to annex Gaza and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people.”

Former Labor shadow chancellor and MP John McDonnell and MP Zarah said the findings showed the government “has been lying to us about the arms it is supplying to Israel while it wages genocide in Gaza.”

“Far from ‘helmets and goggles’, the government has been sending thousands of arms and ammunition goods and [is] even still supplying components of the world’s most lethal fighter jets,” she said.

Emily Apple, media coordinator for the UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade, said the report had shattered the claim that the UK arms export regime is transparent.

“Our arms export regime is not fit for purpose and this government is complicit in Israel’s horrific war crimes. Time and again, it has either refused to act or manufactured loopholes to prioritize arms trade profits over Palestinian lives. This has to stop,” Apple said.

May 7, 2025 Posted by | Deception, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

War in Washington

By Karen Kwiatkowski | Lew Rockwell | May 3, 2025

The President values loyalty above all, and the war on leakers and whistleblowers is weapons hot, torpedo tubes flooded. The targets seem to be the “less loyal” among the current tribe of administration appointees and selected leftovers and hangers-on from the Biden regime. The shuffling of leaker-by accident NatSec Advisor Waltz over to the UN and the firing of his deputy Mr. Wong is what Trump voters wanted. Israel, maybe not so much.

This compelling Tucker Carlson interview with Dan Caldwell – one of three accused leakers in the administration let go a few weeks ago – reveals some things we ought to think about.  Caldwell, and others in the administration and the vast majority of Americans, don’t want stupid wars for even stupider reasons. Certain of Trump’s appointees, and a significant proportion of his loyal supporters, are realists on foreign policy, and this doesn’t sit well with the pro-war crowd infesting DC and inside the administration.

The recent jury trial of the federally prosecuted Uhuru activists sets the stage for understanding the long executive war against freedom of speech and association. Over 20 years ago under Bush 43  – advertised as non-interventionist at home and abroad – we saw “free speech zones” popularized and made par for the course. The charges against the Uhuru group were made up by the Biden administration and testify to not only elite requirements for our obedience in all things, but a direct contempt for an earlier Democratic Party that actually fought for freedom of speech and dissented against war.

The state demands loyalty. The loyalty construct is modeled by both major parties, all the way down to local Republican and Democratic committees, who operate in generally polite Bolshevik-mode. It is this very construct that we saw used under the Biden administration – where swearing that mostly peaceful cities burning is a national good, and under Trump – where criticizing a genocide conducted by an “ally” fueled and funded by the American taxpayer is verboten hate speech, illegal.

A Texas town is considering a non-binding resolution stating, among other things, that it no longer wishes for its State of Texas tax haul of $4.4 million being sent to Israel.  Read it for yourself, nothing in the resolution is false, and it represents – we may know for sure after the May 6th Town Council meeting – the wishes of the people of San Marcos.  Governor Abbott is beside himself.

DoJ’s charges against the Uhuru group had dwindled before the trial to only two: Failure to register as an agent of a foreign country, and conspiracy to fail to register as an agent of a foreign country.  AIPAC did not file an amicus brief, but they sure should have. There is a long history of AIPAC being accused of advocating for a foreign government in Washington, and in all 50 states.

The sheer reactivity of the pro-Israel lobby – and their paid for, bribed up, and reputation-blackmailed politicians – to the slightest whiff of disfavor about a small, corrupt, thoroughly militarized state of 9 million people is breathtaking.  This is becoming far more obvious, to far more people, far sooner than ever before. It’s starting to look frantic, desperate even. More than that, if “Princess and the Pea” is a strategy, it’s a bad one, very different than years of the behind the scenes maneuvering, cultivating and quietly placing key people in key positions in order to promote Zionist interests in Washington and to shape and leverage a sector of American Christian evangelicalism. Has the Israel lobby miscalculated what is happening in the US? Has Israel itself miscalculated what it needs to do to survive as a country?

Trump’s personality, a lingering Western recession, the common-man’s dawning recognition that DOGE has barely scratched the surface of tax-funded waste and idiocy, and emergent anti-war patriotism – none of this helps Netanyahu, or his successor.

Israel’s apologists in Washington and elsewhere are acting like addicts being nudged towards a rehab facility.  The Zionist lobby here and in Israel is not just exhibiting narcissism and denial, but a growing tone-deafness.

Matt Walsh has some useful observations on America today.  He told Tucker:

I don’t understand why, how do we get to a point where the dominant conversation in this country is about what’s happening in other countries…. My sense is… When I go on Twitter, go on X, and no matter what the topic is, it seems, it’s like, you know, it used to be six degrees of Kevin Bacon or whatever. Yeah. Uh, now it’s two degrees of Israel. I was like, no matter the topic, it always comes back for a lot of people to Israel one way or another. And, um, that’s not how I see it. I don’t see Israel as the centerpiece of any of these debates.

I think Matt is articulating what many Americans wonder about.  And the reaction to this national “wondering” is revealing the depth of the dependency, and the real fear Zionists in Israel and in America have that the Zionist project is going to be returned to them alone, no longer an experiment of interest to the United States, no longer a maximal or even existent line item on the foreign affairs and Pentagon budget. Matt suggests that if a country cannot organically survive, without significant aid and assistance from another country, maybe it isn’t a legitimate country. Maybe it doesn’t deserve the help – maybe it should demonstrate how it would manage its affairs on its own earnings, its own identity and value system. He observed,

… when I say that a country that can’t survive without us shouldn’t exist or doesn’t exist. That’s not any kind of like moral judgment. It’s just, this the way of human civilization. You have to be able to you have to be able to stand on your own two feet to be, to even qualify as a country. Right. And I think the American taxpayers have been saddled for many years now with propping up country after country after country.

Rational people, and rational Americans can’t argue with that. In fact, this kind of thinking is fundamental to the so-called “American dream.” It is how we think, and incidentally, it is also antithetical to both socialism and progressivism.

It’s time to cut the apron strings of foreign and military aid. We can’t afford it and it doesn’t work as advertised. Trump is looking to cut overseas enterprises that are obviously corrupt, deceitful, immoral and have no cards left to play. He has stated this publicly, about Ukraine.

Trump’s thinking on this topic may evolve to give Israel the same liberation. Trump’s over-the-top support for Israel allows him to safely chide Netanyahu, surprise him with direct talks with Iran, slow roll tariff relief, and tell him that he needs to allow food and water into Gaza. Without a doubt, Trump has staffed the most pro-Israel government since Lyndon Baines Johnson. I am ready for a new and inverted Nixon to China meme, where only uber pro-Zionist Trump can set Israel free.

The people advising Trump are important to him, but they are even more important to Israel. Moving Waltz out to the hinterland of UN talking points is a skirmish in a larger battle being waged in DC over personnel and policies. The last time we had this intensity of Zionists battling for power over a US President and his foreign policy, we got a violent regime change.

May 7, 2025 Posted by | Corruption, Wars for Israel | , , | 1 Comment

Official Arab alignment with Israel to eliminate the resistance

By Majeb Zebda – Palestinian Information Center – May 4, 2025

The media warning issued by the Lebanese Higher Defence Council to Hamas, accusing it of undermining Lebanese national security, not only contradicts the facts that Israel is the one undermining Lebanese national security and violating Lebanese territory through killing, bombing and occupation without deterrence or accountability, but also paves the way for the disarmament of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon and suggests that they pose a threat to Lebanon’s security and territorial integrity. I will not rule out the possibility of the camp weapons issue being used to distort the image of the Palestinian resistance and to drag Hamas’s name into any future conflicts on the ground. This desire aligns with the vision of Mahmoud Abbas, who is hostile to the Palestinian resistance in general and Hamas in particular and plans to visit Lebanon to discuss the issue of weapons in the camps in the coming days.

On the other hand, the sudden Lebanese warning comes in response to the vision of the US and Israel’s arrangements for the future of the Arab region, which is being re-engineered politically and on the ground to allow for complete and undisputed Israeli domination. It also aligns with other Arab measures, including, for example, Jordan’s criminalisation of support for the Palestinian resistance and the new Syrian regime’s efforts, under American pressure, to tighten the noose on Palestinian resistance factions and prevent their activities inside Syria under the pretext of “arms control.”

This allows us to come to the conclusion that the Lebanese warning is just one scene among several others that together form the American-Israeli vision of the region. It is a bleak future for Arab dignity, in which Israel violates Arab lands and capabilities daily in a provocative and humiliating manner, while Arab regimes undertake the task of clipping the wings of the Palestinian resistance and cutting off its supply lines under the force of American pressure. The US will implement what these regimes fail to, and the American bombing of Yemen in defence of Israel, which has been ongoing for weeks, is a prime example of this.

Unfortunately, official Arab alignment with Israeli-American goals is pushing some to treat the Palestinian resistance with arrogance and condescension, describing it as the weakest link. Therefore, there is no high political price to pay for antagonising it and distorting its positive image, even though it has the legitimate and legal right to resist military occupation and defend its land, people and holy sites. This is a chance to recall the shameless insults and obscenities uttered by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against the Palestinian resistance, which is the opposite of the official Arab approach to the criminal occupation, which violates the dignity of Arabs, their skies and their land around the clock. Yet, no one dares to threaten it or issue warnings—even as a formality—of resisting its attacks, which have become a daily occurrence on our television screens.

Arab identification with Israel’s desire to eliminate the resistance will strongly clash with the resistance’s popular support and its deep roots in the hearts of the nation’s free people. The resistance, which has persevered for 18 months against the Israeli enemies and sacrificed its best leaders and fighters without being broken, is capable of regrouping and rebuilding what the occupation has destroyed. When it does so, many of those who align with Israel’s goals today may seek to cosy up to the resistance after their strength weakens and they fail to eliminate it and uproot it from the land of Palestine and its surroundings.

Translation by MEMO

May 7, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

One martyred in Israeli drone strike on South Lebanon vehicle

Al Mayadeen | May 6, 2025

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in southern Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle in the university district of Kfar Rumman, located in Nabatieh Governorate. The attack resulted in the martyrdom of one individual.

The assassination occurred against a backdrop of intensifying Israeli aggression across Lebanon and Syria. Last night, Israeli warplanes conducted coordinated strikes targeting displacement shelters in Tayr Harfa, residential areas in Srifa, and border regions near Syria’s Serghaya.

These attacks follow Saturday’s disturbing incidents where Israeli drones dropped grenades near Marjayoun while others broadcast threats to farmers working in Wadi Khansa’s agricultural lands.

Local monitoring groups note an alarming trend in “Israel’s” violation patterns since the November 2025 ceasefire. Their latest data shows over 3,000 breaches, with a particular focus on southern Lebanon, where vehicle-targeted strikes have increased by 73%.

The cumulative toll now stands at 149 martyrs and 346 wounded, predominantly civilians caught in what human rights organizations describe as “a campaign of collective punishment.”

May 6, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

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