[FoxNews] Her husband Abraham was recently diagnosed with extremely rare form of bone cancer, she wrote in resignation letter.
Wishing him a quick return to health.
Tulsi Gabbard is resigning from her post as Director of National Intelligence to support her husband through his battle with "an extremely rare form of bone cancer," Fox News Digital learned.
Gabbard notified President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office Friday. Her last day at ODNI is expected to be June 30.
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained her formal resignation letter, in which Gabbard says she is "deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half."
"Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026," she wrote. "My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer."
Gabbard said her husband "faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months."
"At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle," she said.
Gabbard added: "Abraham has been my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage — standing steadfast through my deployment to East Africa on a Joint Special Operations mission, multiple political campaigns and now my service in this role."
Gabbard said she has "made significant progress at the ODNI — advancing unprecedented transparency and restoring integrity to the intelligence community," but said she recognizes "there is still important work to be done."
"I am fully committed to ensuring a smooth and thorough transition over the coming weeks so that you and your team experience no disruption in leadership or momentum," she said.
"Thank you for your understanding during this deeply personal and difficult time for our family."
Gabbard added: "I will remain forever grateful to you and to the American people for the profound honor of serving our nation as DNI."
Gabbard posted her resignation letter to X later Friday afternoon, noting that, "It has been a profound honor to serve the American people as DNI."
Gabbard, as DNI, began a transformational effort to reshape the Intelligence Community— reducing the agency in size and saving taxpayers more than $700 million per year, dismantling DEI programs in the IC and more.
Gabbard, as of this month, declassified more than half a million pages of government records, including those related to the Trump-Russia investigation, the JFK and RFK assassinations and more.
Gabbard also declassified documents tied to the origins of the Trump-Russia "Crossfire Hurricane" probe, arguing they showed Obama administration officials politicized intelligence related to Russia’s 2016 election interference and used it to undermine Trump’s first presidential victory.
Meanwhile, Gabbard created the first-ever "Weaponization Working Group," aimed at coordinating efforts across the federal government to expose the Biden Admin’s weaponization of government.
As DNI, Gabbard’s National Counterterrorism Center prevented more than 10,000 individuals with ties to narco-terrorism from entering the country in 2025 and placed more than 85,000 similarly tied individuals on the terror watchlist.
[FoxNews] FBI director tells Hannity bureau putting 'national security first' while unraveling suspects' ties to terrorism
FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday that the FBI is "manhunting" terror suspects anywhere they hide after the bureau captured two high-value targets, including an alleged Iran-linked terrorist and a senior member of Tren de Aragua (TdA).
Patel highlighted the complexity of the simultaneous foreign transfers of custody on "Hannity" and warned that the FBI was "manhunting these people around the globe, putting national security first, and making sure their exploits and ties to terrorism are fully unraveled," calling it the bureau's greatest priority.
Jose Enrique Martinez Flores was extradited from Colombia, and Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi terror suspect, was sent to New York on federal terror charges.
Flores, also known as "Chuqui," was allegedly part of TdA's inner circle, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He is the highest-ranking TdA member to face justice in the United States.
He is charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel, including himself, and one count of providing material support to the organization.
Patel said Flores is "directly tied as a senior-most member of Tren de Aragua," adding that the FBI is trying to "clean up President Biden's open border policies."
Al-Saadi and his associates allegedly planned and coordinated 18 attacks in the name of Ashab al-Yamin, a pro-Iranian Islamist group that has taken credit for attacks against Jewish schools, synagogues and charities in Europe, as well as American, Israeli and Iranian opposition targets, according to the FBI.
He is running "a campaign of targeted attacks across Europe... And then he had specifically planned at the behest of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian terrorist organization, to conduct a flurry of attacks, terrorist attacks in New York, California and Arizona," Patel said, citing the indictment.
"We're capturing those that were allowed into our country under the corrupt policies of the prior administration and stopping those terror attacks on American soil," he added.
"And we're going to keep looking for every single one of these individuals who wish to do harm to our way of life and invade our country who got here illegally."
Posted by: Skidmark ||
05/22/2026 08:37 ||
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#1
Q: What was the Biden Coup era FBI doing?
A: Hunting Trump, Jan 6th, America 1st & MAGA supporters.
Sudan has essentially become an Islamic state in military uniform
Recently, the U.S. designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio citing the group’s “mass execution of civilians” as a primary reason.
Sudan has essentially become an Islamic state in military uniform
Recently, the U.S. designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio citing the group’s “mass execution of civilians” as a primary reason.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that roughly 20,000 Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood fighters have been trained by the IRGC.
However, the problem concerns most of Sudan’s military. An estimated 75% of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/22/2026 00:00 ||
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The Muslim Brotherhood is gaining ground again in Yemen after the Saudi-controlled National Shield Forces militia launched its offensive against the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in January this year.
The Muslim Brotherhood is gaining ground again in Yemen after the Saudi-controlled National Shield Forces militia launched its offensive against the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in January this year.
Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Al-Islah Party has been able to take advantage of the power vacuum that has been created in rural areas without STC presence and the party now also controls strategic oil-rich border zones in the Hadramrout region.
After years of diminishing presence, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is also taking advantage of the new situation on the ground without STC forces and UAE counterterrorism units there to combat AQ’s activities and the terrorist organization is now regrouping in the Abyan and Shabwah areas.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
05/22/2026 00:00 ||
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[1777 views]
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[IsraelTimes] At Wednesday’s opening of Oct. 7 memorial display, locals come to bear witness despite — and because of — security fears and a hostile climate for UK Jews
Down an alleyway behind a small pub in the hipster enclave of Shoreditch, visitors in the know will find the Nova Exhibition, which opened to the public on Wednesday.
The homage to the 364 people murdered at the Nova festival — who were among some 1,200 people in southern Israel slaughtered by Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... -led Death Eaters on October 7, 2023, in addition to 251 taken hostage that day — is understated by design, with little to announce it from the street. No signs point the way to the display, and curious passersby may wonder about the large traffic blockades and unusually high number of coppers patrolling the area.
Shoreditch is part of the London borough of Hackney, which has just elected a mayor from the Green Party — known for putting anti-Israel activism front and center in its campaigning. And the exhibition’s opening comes days after the city was brought to a virtual standstill by two opposing demonstrations, neither one a welcome sight for the Jewish community: a pro-Paleostinian march to commemorate Nakba Day, and a far-right rally led by anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.
That, along with a recent wave of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity in Britannia — including beatings, stabbings, arson and deadly terror attacks, against a backdrop of increasingly visible hate speech and vandalism — might have given potential visitors pause. But turnout is already high, say organizers.
Hundreds of people passed through the heavily secured doors on the first day, while thousands more tickets have been sold for the six-week run.
Among the first inside was Suzanne Bond, who came with her husband from Essex.
"I’ve seen so many documentaries on it — but out there [at the exhibition], you just feel like you’re there," Bond said through tears. "I can’t imagine what they went through that day. It’s very distressing, but I had to come."
"Watching [the documentary on the massacre] ’We Will Dance Again,’ you see them all dancing and then all of a sudden the evil just comes through. I know people support the other side, but I don’t know how they can," said Bond, who was wearing a badge bearing an intertwined Union Jack and Star of David.
The exhibition itself is a recreation of the chaos and carnage wreaked on the Nova festival, complete with burnt out skeletons of vehicles, empty tents, upturned portable toilets and countless shoes, clothes and other personal effects discarded by those who fled.
It features audio capturing the horrors — the piercing sounds of rocket fire, continual honking of car horns, distant screams of suffering, and cries of "allahu akbar" by the marauding Death Eaters — all while extensive footage and recordings from that day play out on TV screens and mobile phones.
The experience is guaranteed to turn your stomach and leave you with a dull, grinding headache. Yet Lisa Marlowe is determined to be here every day of the exhibition’s run.
Her son Jake Marlowe had moved to Israel in 2021 and was working as an unarmed security guard at the festival. When the rockets began flying and Hamas stormed the barricades, Jake didn’t run, but stayed to save others. Tragically, he died after being shot nine times.
"I feel like my Jakey is coming home for six weeks, which is just unbelievable," Marlowe told The Times of Israel. "Although I’ve got photos and things of him on the phone, I get to see him every day, larger than life, which is wonderful."
Together with her husband Michael, 64, Marlowe is determined for Jake’s story to be heard in the city where he grew up.
"It’s very important it comes here," she said of the exhibition, which includes a memorial for their son. "Everybody must know what happened there, and there can’t be any denying it."
The Nova festival massacre was the site of horrific atrocities, including widespread sexual assault. In addition to those murdered, hundreds more were maimed and dozens were kidnapped from the trance music party. Each day of the exhibition, survivors and bereaved relatives will share their experiences of the carnage and its aftermath. Many heartbreaking stories have emerged from October 7, but for the community here in Britannia, Jake has become almost emblematic.
The experience could have left Jake’s family feeling isolated, but Marlowe describes how they have been engulfed by love since their son was murdered.
"The people we’ve met — we’ve been beyond lucky," she said. "These people have opened their arms and enveloped us in their love and care."
One of those Marlowe now counts among her friends is Jo Woolfe, who spearheaded the campaign to bring the exhibition to London following stints in cities including New York, Berlin and Buenos Aires.
Half Israeli, Woolfe was heavily involved for two years after October 7 in campaigning to free the hostages being held in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... . Woolfe first heard about the exhibition while in LA two years ago and later became even more determined to bring it to London after seeing it in Toronto.
"I had a lot of people say to me, ’Do you really think this is the right time? It’s so hostile,’" said Woolfe. "Unfortunately, I think this is the only time to do it. It’s no good doing it in five years’ time when, please God, everything’s okay. It needs to be now."
"People need to learn about Nova," she said. "If my kids go to a festival or a concert, I don’t tell them to be careful of the terrorists, I tell them to have a good time. It could have been any of our kids."
Lizzy, a teacher visiting the exhibition who requested that her last name be withheld, felt the same.
"I have children who are also in their 20s, and the more that I’ve read, the more heartbreaking this story is," she said.
Lizzy said she knew little about the Middle East before October 7 but has since joined numerous vigils alongside the Jewish community.
"In London, every other week you have thousands of people marching [for Gaza], but when British Jews come together it’s really just British Jews," she said.
"My father fought during World War II, and he said, ’You have to bear witness to the atrocities that went on in Auschwitz,’ and I feel that’s what we as non-Jewish British people need to do now," Lizzy said.
Standing and taking in the smiling photos of the hundreds brutally murdered at Nova was Rosie Cresner. She said she felt it was an "important time to come."
Cresner said she felt nervous about coming to the exhibition, but the feeling was more about how "I was going to respond to seeing this" rather than concern about the security situation.
"At first, I think it was quite difficult to absorb. When I got inside and saw someone I knew, I just started crying," Cresner said.
Also visiting was Mary, a doctor who asked not to give her full name. She said she didn’t know about the exhibition until reading about it on Tuesday, and then felt compelled to come.
When asked what struck her most, Mary became tearful.
"The thing that probably was most painful is that in the pictures of the people who died at Nova, there’s a disabled girl, and I have a disabled daughter, and I found that particularly hard because they’re so vulnerable and they don’t understand — and whoever’s war it is, it isn’t their war," Mary said.
Sixteen-year-old Ruth Peretz was murdered at the festival along with her father, Erick, 58. Ruth was born with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy and used a wheelchair. Erick had taken her to the festival because of her love of music.
Visitor Patrick Seamus McGhee is an honorary research fellow in religious history at Durham University.
"I think it’s very important to see firsthand the scale and the depth of the evil that was perpetrated on October 7, especially at a time when a lot of people look away more, equivocate or try to make excuses for some of the geopolitical things happening," said McGhee. "What we need more than anything else is moral clarity and honesty about this terrible, inexcusable atrocity, so that’s why I wanted to make sure I came as soon as I could."
Prior to the opening, reports emerged that police had asked organizers to remove banners for the event out of concern that the location could be targeted by terror attacks or mobs of protesters. Woolfe, who took the call from the police, said it was because the banner had been put up earlier than expected.
It now stands proud, wrapping around the entrance to the impressive underground exhibition space. Nevertheless, it is clear that bringing the display to Britannia is no small achievement in the current climate.
As co-founder of the actual Nova festival, Yagil Rimony was in charge of its security. Since then, he has been responsible for securing the memorial exhibition wherever it is staged worldwide.
Rimony expressed solidarity with Britannia’s Jewish community at a time when "antisemitism is once again raising its ugly head openly and unashamedly," and went on to stress that people should not be deterred from visiting because of that.
"I want to reassure the London public that robust arrangements will be in place both inside and outside the venue, and that we are working in close coordination with the Metropolitan Police," Rimony said. "Visitors should come without hesitation, and see for themselves what 600,000 people around the world have already experienced."
Read @ncri_io's new expose on Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK's ties to Iran. These are the 'left-wing populists' some on the right are suggesting an alliance with. They're foreign agents. https://t.co/4bQwmnbIY0
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) May 20, 2026
[JewishInsider] The IHUA definition of antisemitism is now part of the city’s declaration of human rights this week
For Jake Rymer, a junior majoring in biological sciences at University of Chicago, and Michael Kaminsky, a senior studying criminology at DePaul, the push to pass the antisemitism ordinance was personal.
"I had only been on campus for two weeks when [the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel] happened and people I thought were my friends those first two weeks turned out not to be. They turned their backs on me when I needed their allyship," Rymer told Jewish Insider. "I also started to see flaws in the city of Chicago and that there were things that needed to get changed that we could actually accomplish."
Kaminsky, a vocal pro-Israel voice on campus, was attacked and injured by masked assailants on school property in 2024 in an alleged hate crime. He filed an ongoing lawsuit against DePaul, claiming the university failed to protect Jewish students.
"We were tired of being told by Jewish organizations to ’suck it up and deal with it’ or that ’help would come eventually," said Rymer. "We realized that we as students — even though we don’t have legislative experience — have the ability to make meaningful change, so we decided to go ahead with it."
The pair quickly learned the City of Chicago had never provided a clear definition of antisemitism in its municipal code. They garnered support from Alds. Raymond Lopez and Debra Silverstein last spring to begin drafting legislation to implement IHRA.
On Monday, Ordinance O2025-0019984 passed unanimously in committee and at the city council meeting. Because the ordinance is an updated version of one that already existed and it passed without objection, it becomes official upon publication — even though Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson was not involved.
Section 6-10 of Chicago’s Municipal Code is now amended to include antisemitism as discrimination in the Chicago City Council’s declaration of general human rights. Antisemitism is defined by IHRA as a "certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews." Progressive critics of the definition argue that its Israel-related examples risk conflating antisemitism with legitimate political criticism while conservative critics claim that the definition is anti-Christian because one of its affiliated examples states that it’s antisemitic to accuse Jews of killing Jesus.
"Chicago has taken a clear and historic stand against hate by officially adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism," Silverstein, the city council’s only Jewish member, said in a statement. "At a time when antisemitic hate crimes are surging locally, this unanimous City Council action sends an unmistakable message that anti-Jewish hate has no place in Chicago."
Chicago joins more than 1,200 entities worldwide, including 37 U.S. state governments and 98 city and county bodies that have adopted the definition.
[IsraelTimes] Holocaust-denying teens praised Hitler, called all women ‘evil,’ in violent writings; terrorists killed beloved security guard Amin Abdullah as he protected 140 schoolchildren
The two US teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, mosque were radicalized online, where they first met and shared white supremacist views, including antisemitism, according to authorities and writings they authored.
The pair "didn’t discriminate on who they hated," Mark Remily, the lead FBI agent in San Diego, said Tuesday.
The writings, some of which were circulating online in the days after the attack, glorified other holy warriors and included hateful rhetoric toward Jews, Moslems, LGBT people, African-Americans, and both the political left and right.
They were also vitriolically sexist, asserting that "after the Jew the most evil creature in this world is the woman." At least one of the shooters identified as an "incel," a term used by men online to refer to their failure to have sex with women.
In a lengthy manifesto, which police said they believed to be authentic, the shooter declared Jews "the universal enemy," responsible for war, famine, child abuse and various social ills, and wrote that the only solution is "to just kill them all."
The document heaped praise on Adolf Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like... , yet denied the Holocaust.
It also bore the trademarks of more recent antisemitic conspiracy theories, claiming that Jeffrey Want Some Candy, Little Girl? Epstein ...A high class pimp financier who was alleged to maintain a stable of underage whoressex slaves who were paid big bucks to entertain the rich and/or famous. He was really surprised when he commited suiciede in jail... ’s sex crimes were religiously motivated, and fixating on supposed Jewish hatred for "goyim," or non-Jews.
The latter rhetoric, long used by white supremacists, has also started to take root on the American left in recent years, amid openly hateful language ostensibly directed at Israelis.
The shooters expressed beliefs that white people are being eliminated, explicitly citing the "Great Replacement" theory that Jews are facilitating mass migration to the West in order to wipe out white people.
Moslems were described as one such "invading" force, who must be "exterminated."
The two suspects met online before discovering they both lived in the San Diego area, the FBI said. "In terms of how the radicalization occurred, we’re still digging into that," Remily said.
Investigators found at least 30 guns, ammunition and a crossbow at two residences after Monday’s attack in San Diego and were trying to uncover whether the shooters had broader plans, Remily said.
The shooters, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, killed themselves, according to police.
The teenagers had written of an intention to livestream the attack, using GoPro-type cameras to document the atrocity.
Footage online that purported to be such documentation could not be immediately verified.
James Canning, a front man for the San Diego Unified School District, said Clark had been attending school online since 2021 and was set to graduate next month.
In 2024, he was a member of the wrestling team at Madison High School. Canning said Clark had no record of disciplinary issues in high school.
Neighbors Marne and Ted Celaya said they last saw Clark a few hours before the shooting and that he waved as he got into a car alone and drove away. They described the family as good neighbors and recalled watching Cain grow up.
"It’s unbelievable," Marne Celaya said of the shooting. "He’s helped me bring in my groceries."
The families of the two teens could not immediately be reached for comment.
Authorities praised the three men killed in the attack — including Amin Abdullah, a beloved security guard — for slowing the attackers at the Islamic Center of San Diego and preventing them from reaching 140 schoolchildren just steps away.
Imam Taha Hassane said Abdullah engaged the suspects in a shootout and called for a lockdown on his radio. He "sacrificed his life to stop them from getting inside the classrooms."
VICTIMS WERE PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY
Police said the security guard opened fire when the shooters arrived at the Islamic Center and tried to barge inside.
As the shooters made their way into the lobby, they maimed the guard, who kept firing at them, forcing them back outside, where the attackers fatally shot him, Police Chief Scott Wahl said.
The pair went back inside and searched through rooms that were emptied during the lockdown, Wahl said. They exited into the parking lot, where they fatally shot Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad, according to police. The men drew the attackers farther away from the building, Wahl said.
Kaziha, known as Abu Ezz, "was everything" to the Islamic Center, Hassane said. "He was the handyman. He was the cook. He was the caretaker," Hassane said.
Abdullah had worked at the mosque for more than a decade.
"He wanted to defend the innocent so he decided to become a security guard," said family friend Shaykh Uthman Ibn Farooq.
Hassane cried as leaders of different faiths embraced him at a vigil Tuesday evening to honor the victims. He told the hundreds who had gathered at a park next to the center that they were there to celebrate the community’s unity.
"We are here to celebrate the patience, the resilience of the Moslem community," he said. "We are here to honor our heroes, our deaders."
MOSQUE LEADERS WERE USED TO HATE MAIL
The Islamic Center sits in a neighborhood with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. It includes Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Koran for students ages 5 and up, its website says.
Josie-Ana Edenshaw, who has been going to the mosque for three years, said it was especially welcoming to new Moslems.
"They’ve always opened their doors, even to people who aren’t Moslem, they invite people to Ramadan dinners," Edenshaw said. "Every person at that masjid will smile at you," using the Arabic word for mosque.
The center’s imam said Tuesday that the mosque and its community weren’t immune to threats over the years.
"We have never ever expected such things to happen at the Islamic Center of San Diego," Hassane said. "I mean we are used to receiving hate mails, hate messages, people driving by and cursing and all that stuff. But such a horrible crime, we have never expected this."
[IsraelTimes] When Israeli defense officials approached Massivit last year about using its unique 3D printers to make military drone parts, CEO Yossi Azarzar jumped at the chance.
Although the Israeli company had been producing large set pieces and other designs for the likes of Disney, DreamWorks and Netflix, the opportunity to instead quickly churn out large drone parts for the military was too good to ignore.
"I stopped thinking about Hollywood sets," Azarzar said. "The entertainment industry is a nice customer — defense is a necessity."
Business has been booming for the country’s arms sector, despite widespread condemnation of the country’s campaigns in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... and Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... in the years since the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on the Jewish state triggered a regional war.
Countries that have vowed to shun Israeli weapons makers are nonetheless quietly placing orders, according to industry officials. And manufacturers, including some like Massivit with no previous military know-how, can show that their innovations are being continually combat-tested and improved.
According to the Defense Ministry, Israeli weapons sales have more than doubled over the past five years, with a record high of nearly $15 billion in 2024. While the ministry hasn’t released overall 2025 figures, leading Israeli weapons makers, including Elbit and Israel Aerospace Industries, both reported double-digit sales growth last year.
More than half of the Israeli arms industry’s sales are for missiles, rockets and air-defense systems. For the first time, Israel has surpassed the United Kingdom in its share of global arms exports, making it the world’s seventh-biggest supplier, according to a March report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
"This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the [army] and defense industries... The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it," said Defense Minister Israel Katz.
SOLID SALES, DESPITE PUBLIC CRITICISM
This year’s Defense Tech Expo in Tel Aviv reflected the growing international interest in Israeli weapons, with manufacturers promoting arms and other equipment shaped by the country’s recent conflicts.
But it also highlighted the tension between showcasing the military technology and the political debate surrounding its use, with event protesters decrying the widespread destruction in Gaza as an alleged testing lab for Israeli weapons.
Last year, Spain canceled a deal for anti-tank missile systems sold by an Israeli company’s subsidiary. Slovenia, meanwhile, announced it would ban the import, export and transit of all weapons to and from Israel in response to the country’s actions in Gaza.
Israel says it uses its equipment to defend the country and its people, and denies that it uses battlefields as testing grounds.
Human rights activists claim Israel has deployed new weapons and technology during the war in Gaza, pointing to AI, big data and targeting.
"The regional war has drawn heavily on Israel’s deadly playbook and provided a boon to Israeli and other defense and technology companies able to parlay the use of their products in Gaza to attract more business," charged Omar Shakir, the executive director of DAWN, a US-based group founded by murdered journalist beloved martyr of journalism Jamal Khashoggi
...who was simultaneously a very well paid Washington Post columnist and a long time propagandist for the Moslem Brotherhood and Al Qaeda — he died while on the Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i payroll, but previously wrote at the behest of then-Saudi intel chief Prince Turki al-Faisal... that pushes for human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... in the Middle East.
Despite criticism that Israel’s weapons sector is profiting off technologies being used and improved on the battlefield, it’s hardly alone, according to experts.
"Countries have had to dramatically increase defenses because of the proliferation of global conflicts and they need systems that will work. And most countries don’t have the time right now to build their own defense systems locally and quickly," said Seth J. Frantzman, an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has covered Israel’s arms industry for a decade and wrote the book "Drone Wars."
A lot of countries are looking to Israel because they’re seeing in real time that these are munitions and systems that work, he said.
A DOUBLING OF INQUIRIES ON DRONE PARTS AMID IRAN WAR
For Massivit, sales have soared since it pivoted to making drone parts for the military, including a 200% rise in inquiries from interested buyers since Israel and the US attacked Iran at the end of February, according to Azarzar.
The company’s unique 3D printing technology allows it to make large parts for military drones within days instead of weeks. In addition to selling to the Israeli military, the company’s technology has drawn interest from the defense and aeronautical sectors in Europe, the US, Southeast Asia and India, he said.
Business has also been good for other defense contractors.
Tomer Malchi, co-founder and CEO of ASIO, said Israeli army orders for the company’s rugged smartphone unit, the Orion, have surged by 400% since Hamas’s attack in 2023 started the war in Gaza.
The phones use maps, augmentation and artificial intelligence to help soldiers plan missions, navigate and respond to real-time battlefield threats. ASIO recently signed a deal with a major US defense company and is in talks with about 20 other countries, Malchi said.
One area the Defense Ministry says will be a future priority for innovation is taking down drones, which has proven challenging during the war with Iran. Drones are hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles and can be mistaken for birds or planes.
Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), a local weapons maker, has developed a system to help soldiers more accurately shoot down tactical drones. At a shooting range in central Israel, an IWI instructor fired rounds at a makeshift drone to show how the system works. A computer chip is embedded into a soldier’s rifle, providing more accuracy and efficiency and significantly reducing the influence of fatigue and other factors by allowing the trigger to remain pressed.
The system, known as Arbel, came to market in 2024 and now has more than two dozen countries using it, said Semion Dukhan, head of Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... for IWI.
Among IWI’s buyers are countries that have said publicly that they won’t do deals with Israel, Dukhan said, though he wouldn’t name them.
"People and politicians say things they need to say... what they say is not necessarily what is going on underneath the surface," he said, noting that at the end of the day, countries want to equip their people with the best gear.
[IsraelTimes] US official says even more would be used if new war erupts because Israel sent its batteries for maintenance; other official claims Israel ‘not capable’ of winning wars on its own
The US reportedly used up more than half of its inventory of THAAD anti-missile interceptors while defending Israel from Iranian attacks during the recent war.
According to The Washington Post on Thursday, the United States used over 200 THAAD interceptors to shoot down missiles bound for Israel. It also launched more than 100 SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors to defend Israel, which itself used fewer than 100 Arrow interceptors and around 90 from the David Sling’s system.
A US official told the newspaper that if fighting renews with Iran, the US will likely need to use even more interceptors defending Israel because of a decision by the latter to send some missile defense batteries for maintenance.
"Israel is not capable of fighting and winning wars on its own, but nobody actually knows this, because they never see the back end," said a US official quoted in the report.
The Pentagon denied to The Washington Post that there is any issue of burden sharing with Israel, saying, "Ballistic missile interceptors are just one tool in a vast network of systems and capabilities."
The Israeli Embassy in Washington said in response that "the US has no other partner with the military willingness, readiness, shared interests and capabilities of Israel."
Israel has consistently denied claims that it is running low on interceptors, and last month, it approved plans to dramatically accelerate the production of Arrow interceptor missiles.
During the early days of the war, the US also insisted it had enough offensive and defensive munitions after a Post report said it may need to begin conserving interceptors.
Israel has a multi-layered air defense array, with a variety of systems intercepting threats at different altitudes.
The top tier consists of the anti-ballistic missile Arrow systems, with Arrow 2 operating both within the Earth’s atmosphere and in space, and Arrow 3 intercepting above the Earth’s atmosphere.
A single Arrow 3 missile has an estimated price of $2-3 million and takes a few months to produce, although the exact time frame has not been made public by Israel due to security concerns.
Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and "create the conditions" for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.
During the war, 21 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals were killed in Israel in Iranian ballistic missile attacks, along with four Paleostinians in the West Bank.
Some 650 ballistic missiles were launched from Iran at Israel during the war, killing 21 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals, along with four Paleostinians in the West Bank.
In all, at least 16 missiles carrying conventional warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives struck populated areas in Israel, causing extensive damage. There were also more than 50 incidents of missiles carrying cluster bomb warheads hitting populated areas, with hundreds of separate impact sites.
#1
Anyone failing to see the global picture of this Iran (Islamic Terrorist) war, needs to stop and do a serious re-look.
Radical Islamic Iran has openly stated and committed itself to killing ANY and ALL that do not follow its extremist Islamic teachings.
It has already has and is still financing a dozen Islamic Terrorist groups.
It has placed literately millions its followers in key locations worldwide (NYC, London, etc) and started Islamic terrorism on a global scale.
Serious IF it had build or somehow acquired a small portable nuke. Like the 100-KT Russia, still missing 45+ briefcase nukes.) Does any seriously think it would have waited a second to use such a device?
So taking the current government leadership out, that has never followed any international agreement and have openly dedicated themselves to a global religious genocidal agenda was a must not, and option.
PLUS, the leadership has openly stated, its Unholy book allows them to lie to INFIDELS, to accomplish their goal of world control?
#2
"Israel is not capable of fighting and winning wars on its own, but nobody actually knows this, because they never see the back end," said a US official quoted in the report.
I wonder how we managed to win 3 wars while USA was, at best, a hostile neutral.
[IsraelTimes] Israel on Thursday deported all of the approximately 430 international activists who were detained at sea in the latest flotilla attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , the Foreign Ministry said, a day after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir caused widespread outrage after filming himself taunting the bound, kneeling activists.
"Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," the Foreign Ministry said. The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... sent charter flights to collect the detainees from the Ramon airport near Eilat.
One participant, an Israeli citizen, was still being held in jug pending a hearing at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court, the Adalah legal rights group said, naming her as Zohar Regev.
Adalal said the charges against Regev were "absurd," noting that she was being held on for offenses including "’illegal entry into Israel,’ ’unlawful stay,’ and for an attempt to break the blockade on Gaza."
The legal group called the accusations "unfounded and contradictory" and noted Regev was "forcefully kidnapped" in international waters and "brought into Israeli territory entirely against her will."
A first group of deported foreign activists were seen inside the VIP terminal at Istanbul airport, as a crowd of supporters carrying Paleostinian flags gathered to welcome them.
Upon arrival at Istanbul airport, one of the activists shouted "the Paleostinian people are not alone!" as he emerged from the terminal.
"We’ve been tortured, we’ve been beaten, we’ve been arrested in international waters, but we won’t give up. We will return. Paleostine will be free from the river to the sea," he said to cheers from the crowd.
Several of the activists were seen being taken away in ambulances.
A front man for Adalah said activists from Egypt had been transferred to Taba at Egypt’s border with Israel, while those from Jordan had been transferred to Aqaba.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the flotilla activists be deported "as soon as possible," after rebuking Ben Gvir for a provocative video showing the minister taunting dozens of detainees who had their hands bound and were forced to kneel.
Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop "provocative flotillas of Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terrorist supporters," the way Ben Gvir dealt with the activists was "not in line with Israel’s values and norms."
The video caused an international uproar, with 30 countries issuing sharp condemnations, including many European countries whose citizens were among those detained, and eight countries summoning Israel’s ambassadors for reprimand and explanation following the incident, including some of Jerusalem’s closest allies.
CONDEMNATIONS KEEP COMING, POLAND LOOKS TO BAN BEN GVIR FROM COUNTRY
International condemnation of Israel’s treatment of the detained activists kept pouring in Thursday, with Britannia summoning Israel’s chargé d’affaires, saying the behavior seen in the video "violates the most basic standards of respect and dignity for people."
"We are also deeply concerned by the detention conditions depicted and have demanded an explanation from the Israeli authorities," the UK’s foreign ministry said. "We made clear their obligations to protect the rights of all those involved."
British Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mervis also issued a sharp condemnation of the incident, saying "such conduct is the antitheses of our core Jewish values."
European Council President Antonio Costa said he was "appalled" by Ben-Gvir’s treatment of aid flotilla members attempting to enter Gaza. "This behavior is completely unacceptable. We call for their immediate release," Costa said.
The Netherlands said it will summon Israel’s ambassador over what it called the "unacceptable" treatment of the activists. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said the images were "shocking," adding he had raised the matter with Israel’s foreign minister.
Going further, Italia pushed the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to adopt sanctions on Ben Gvir, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying Thursday that he had made a formal request to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas for the body to discuss such measures on account of the far-right minister’s "unacceptable actions" against the activists.
Also, Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday that Warsaw wants to ban the Ben Gvir from the country over the incident, saying: "Minister Sikorski has decided to ask the Ministry of Interior and Administration to ban Minister Ben Gvir from entering the territory of the Republic of Poland due to his actions."
"Poland firmly condemns the conduct of representatives of the Israeli authorities towards activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla detained by the Israeli army, including Polish citizens," Radoslaw Sikorski said on X.
Earlier the Polish minister had summoned the Israeli chargé d’affaires over the detention of Gaza flotilla activists, including Polish nationals, demanding their immediate release and an apology.
A spokesperson for the ministry later said that there were two Polish nationals detained and that they would be repatriated on Thursday night. "Today, our citizens, and not only our citizens, will leave Israel. This is very good news," Maciej Wewior told news hounds.
TURKEY SENDS FLIGHTS
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country was conducting special flights that would bring Ottoman Turkish citizens as well as third country participants to Turkey. "We will continue to uphold the rights of our citizens and fulfil our humanitarian responsibility toward civilians in Gaza," Fidan said.
Local media said 78 Ottoman Turkish nationals were among participating in the flotilla, and Ottoman Turkish foreign ministry sources said three flights with a capacity for more than 400 passengers would depart Thursday afternoon and arrive at Istanbul airport later in the evening.
The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, departed for Gaza last week from Turkey, near Cyprus. Organizers said they want to draw renewed attention to the conditions for nearly 2 million Paleostinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has called the flotilla "a PR stunt at the service of Hamas" with no real intent to deliver aid to Gaza. The boats carry a tiny, symbolic amount of aid.
Israeli forces began stopping the boats around 268 kilometers (167 miles) from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website. Israel also stopped 20 boats from the flotilla on April 30 near Crete.
A live feed on the Global Sumud Flotilla’s website showed IDF soldiers boarding the vessels as activists in life vests put their hands up. Soldiers then destroyed cameras mounted on the vessels.
’THEY BEAT US UP, THEY KICKED US’
Adalah’s legal director Suhad Bishara told AFP Wednesday that the group’s lawyers had been able to give legal counsel to "many" of the hundreds of activists, though she added that others had faced court hearings without legal assistance.
"We know of at least two participants who were hospitalized... both of them were shot by rubber bullets," Bishara said, adding that others said they feared they had broken ribs. Flotilla organizers claimed Israeli soldiers fired on five boats during the interdictions, with some damage, with Israel saying "non-lethal means were employed toward the vessel — not toward protesters — as a warning."
Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian journalist detained with the flotilla activists and deported before the others, told news hounds upon landing in Rome’s Fiumicino airport Thursday that he and others had been "taken to Ben Gurion airport in handcuffs and with chains on our feet and put on a flight to Athens."
"They beat us up. They kicked us and punched us and shouted ’Welcome to Israel’," he said of his treatment by Israeli security forces.
Dario Carotenuto, an Italian MP who was also detained and deported said: "It was really tough... They called us by number... with rifles pointed at us... I think those were the longest seconds in my life."
[IsraelTimes] Report says IDF used videos filmed by Hamas operatives during the attack and facial recognition tech to track down terrorists, has crossed ‘hundreds’ of names off the list so far
Israel has created a list of all Paleostinians who took part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... -led attacks and is working to kill or arrest each one, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing current and former Israeli officials with knowledge of the matter.
According to the report, the list includes all Gazooks who were identified as having crossed the border on October 7, as well as all Hamas leaders involved in orchestrating the massacre, during which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, mostly civilians, in the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Israeli intelligence agents tasked with compiling the list of names did so by studying the plethora of video and photographic evidence of the attack posted online by faceless myrmidons on and after October 7 and running the footage through facial recognition software, the report said, as well as the contents of intercepted phone calls from people who breached the border into Israel that day.
Israeli officials told the US newspaper that intelligence officials add people to the list once there are at least two pieces of evidence placing them at the scene of any of the atrocities that took place on October 7.
The campaign has continued despite the ceasefire that has been in place in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... since October, the report said, pointing to the killing of Hamas Gaza chief Izz al-Din al-Haddad in an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... last week.
The campaign began immediately after the attacks, and "hundreds" have since been crossed off the list, the report added, saying that "no participant is deemed too insignificant" for Israel’s attention, including people who were not affiliated with terror groups and joined the invasion of southern Israel on their own accord.
In one case presented in the report, Israel identified a Gazook man who was filmed driving a tractor through the border fence during the initial onslaught, striking and killing him nearly two years later. The report did not identify the man or specify if he directly participated in violence on October 7.
In other instances, it was high-level Hamas and Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... military wing operatives that Israel targeted years after they participated in the 2023 onslaught, including Ali Sami Muhammad Shakra, a platoon commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force who took part in kidnapping hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alon Ohel, Eliya Cohen and Or Levy from a roadside kaboom shelter near Re’im.
After Shakra was killed last month alongside several other Hamas operatives, the IDF posted images showing him sticking his head out of a car window while driving into Israel during the attack, with the caption: "Eliminated."
Another example cited in the report was the April killing of Abd al-Rahman Ammar Hassan Khudari, a Paleostinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who took part in the invasion and massacre of Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 onslaught.
While international law allows for the killing of those who participate in attacks, it stipulates that there must be an imminent threat in order to justify killing them long after the initial attack. Otherwise, their targeting would be an extrajudicial execution, taking Dire Revenge for actions taken months or years prior.
Thus, the IDF has insisted that each operative it kills in Gaza, including ones that took part in the October 7 attacks, posed an "imminent threat to troops" stationed nearby, were planning attacks on troops or on Israel itself, or crossed the "Yellow Line," which demarcates the current lines of IDF control within Gaza.
Rachel VanLandingham, a former judge advocate in the US Air Force and expert on military law, told the WSJ that while Israel’s campaign "feels retributive," there is "nothing inherently wrong with prioritizing people on a target list as long as they’re belligerents."
Israeli officials have invoked Munich as an example of precedent for the retribution campaign against the October 7 terrorists, pointing to the years-long Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... -led effort to track down and eliminate the leaders of the massacre of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic Games in Germany.
"It will take time, just as it did after Munich," Mossad director David Barnea said in 2024. "But our hands will reach them, wherever they are."
Commenting on Israel’s apparent campaign of retribution on those who participated in the attacks, a Hamas official claimed to the WSJ that it is "nothing but an extension of the policy of extrajudicial executions and systematic killing that Israel has practiced against the Paleostinian people for decades." Hamas itself openly executes dissidents in Gaza, and takes part in shootouts with rival clans.
Some experts justify Israel’s policy, saying that the rules of the game are different given the region and type of enemy that Israel finds itself fighting against.
"In the Middle East, Dire Revenge is an important part of the discourse. It is about how serious anyone in your environment sees you," said Michael Milstein, a former senior IDF intelligence officer and expert on Paleostinian society.
"Unfortunately, this is the language of this neighborhood," he told the WSJ.
[FoxNews] Fiscal year 2027 budget proposes steep reductions in Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook procurement while boosting drone investment
Army leaders signaled Wednesday that drone-heavy warfare and recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are reshaping the service’s aviation and missile defense strategy, driving new scrutiny of helicopter programs and costly Patriot interceptor systems.
The comments come as the Army’s fiscal year 2027 budget request sharply cuts the funding request for helicopter procurement, including reducing Apache funding from roughly $361.7 million to about $1.5 million, Black Hawk funding from about $913 million to roughly $39.3 million and Chinook procurement from roughly $629 million to about $210 million, while increasing investment in drones, autonomy and low-cost battlefield technologies.
The transformation push is already extending beyond procurement. The Army previously announced plans to cut roughly 6,500 active-duty aviation positions over fiscal years 2026 and 2027 — including pilots, flight crews and maintainers — as leaders shift resources toward unmanned systems and drone warfare.
It remains unclear whether the procurement reductions ultimately will shrink aviation fleet sizes, extend the service life of aging aircraft or delay planned replacement cycles.
Army leaders suggested the battlefield lessons driving the changes are already shaping budget decisions, as the service redirects money away from some traditional aviation programs toward drones, autonomy and low-cost mass systems.
"Absolutely, as we look across the aviation portfolio … we’re re-looking that," Assistant Army Secretary Brent Ingraham said during a Pentagon media roundtable Wednesday.
Ingraham said the Army is reassessing how traditional manned aircraft fit alongside larger unmanned systems increasingly capable of missions once handled by helicopters.
The proposed aviation cuts already have drawn concern on Capitol Hill.
During a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing May 12, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., warned that the Army’s budget request included "zero H-64 Apaches, zero Chinook Block IIs and one UH-60 Black Hawk," arguing the service was divesting critical capabilities before validating replacements.
"Your department’s budget request cuts over $5 billion from the industrial base in the aviation sector alone, effectively shutting down all current Army aviation platforms," Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, pressed War Secretary Pete Hegseth during a May 12 House Appropriations hearing. "How did the department arrive at the conclusion that reducing procurement for these Army aviation platforms strengthens rather than weakens the aviation industrial base?"
Hegseth acknowledged the Pentagon was reconsidering parts of the plan.
"There are some very good things in the Army Transformation Initiative, and there are some things that we’ve needed to get another look at," Hegseth told lawmakers during a House hearing after facing questions about the scale of the aviation cuts.
Hegseth said Pentagon leaders were focused on ensuring the Army does not create "aviation capability gaps" as it transitions toward more unmanned systems and next-generation technologies.
Army leaders said the rapid spread of cheap drones is forcing the Army to rethink how it buys and fields aircraft, missile defenses and battlefield technology.
"We know we don’t want to continue to use a Patriot missile to shoot down a cheap drone," Ingraham said. "You’ve got to get on the right side of the cost curve."
The concern has become increasingly urgent after the U.S. and its allies burned through large numbers of expensive missile defense interceptors during the Israel-Iran conflict and broader Middle East operations, fueling Pentagon concerns about stockpile depletion and the long-term sustainability of relying on multimillion-dollar defensive systems against cheap drones and missiles.
Officials also described a new allied drone and counter-drone procurement marketplace designed to speed foreign military sales and standardize interoperable systems across partner nations. Driscoll compared the effort to "an Amazon for war."
Officials said the marketplace is expected to become available to roughly 25 U.S. allies and partners worldwide, initially focused on drone and counter-drone systems before potentially expanding to additional capabilities and countries.
The platform will for now only allow allies to buy U.S. capabilities.
The Army also is launching a rapid competition to develop low-cost interceptors designed to counter drones and cruise missiles without exhausting multimillion-dollar Patriot missile stocks.
Ingraham said companies will have roughly 120 days after an upcoming industry event to demonstrate technologies ranging from rocket motors and seekers to fully integrated interceptor concepts.
"Even if you don’t have it all on the ground … bring it," he said.
The transformation effort reflects growing concern inside the Pentagon that cheap drones, autonomous systems and mass-produced weapons are rapidly changing the economics and survivability assumptions of modern warfare, particularly after conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East exposed vulnerabilities in traditional armored and aviation-heavy battlefield concepts.
[IsraelTimes] Move marks first time US has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, alleging they gave ‘illicit support’ and intelligence to terror group
A group of Hezbollah-affiliated parliamentarians, state security officials and allies of the terror group were hit with US sanctions Thursday, for allegedly seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group’s influence over Lebanese state institutions and obstruct disarmament efforts.
It’s the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the country’s General Security agency and the other from the military intelligence, both of them accused of providing Hezbollah with "illicit support" and intelligence during the ongoing conflict.
The announcement comes as pressure mounts on Beirut to take more decisive action in disarming the group.
Included in Thursday’s sanctions are former cabinet minister and senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Fneish, senior Hezbollah parliamentarians Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim al-Moussawi and Hussein Hajj Hassan. All have pushed against efforts for disarmament.
Mohammad Reza Sheibani, the Iranian Ambassador-designate to Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... — who was ordered to leave Beirut by Lebanon’s foreign ministry — was also hit with sanctions.
The US Treasury Department accuses the men of undermining Lebanon’s ability to disarm the Iranian-backed Shiite terror organization.
The announcement comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials continue holding low-level talks in Washington in a bid to end the monthslong war between Israel and Hezbollah that flared up again after Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in support of Iran.
Military officials from both sides are expected to hold their first direct talks in the Pentagon on May 29 as Israel mounts pressure on Lebanon to disarm the powerful group, and Beirut urges Israel to end its daily Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s and to withdraw its troops from large swaths of southern Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Hezbollah has dismissed the ongoing talks, instead backing Iran’s talks with the US mediated by Pakistain. It rejects calls, both locally and internationally, for its disarmament. Lebanon’s president and prime minister in early 2025 came to power on a reformist platform vowing to disarm all non-state groups, including Hezbollah. Washington and Israel have been critical of the slow process, but the authorities fear a more confrontational approach could risk armed conflict in the tiny Mediterranean country.
The sanctions announced Thursday deny the parties access to any property or financial assets held in the US. It’s unclear what kind of ties they have with the US financial system.
Hezbollah has been designated a "foreign terrorist organization" under the authority of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act since 1997.
"Treasury will continue to take action against officials who have infiltrated the Lebanese government," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, adding that Hezbollah has waged a "senseless campaign of violence against the Lebanese people."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Lebanese organization Hezbollah has lost a valuable supporter in the battles with Israel: engineer Mustafa Ahmed Al-Zein, believed to be at the origins of the movement's FPV drone program, was killed.
Despite the fact that the strike on the engineer's residence took place in March, the Israelis officially confirmed the successful destruction only a few days ago, which is highly unusual for them. Moreover, they attempted to post-factum shift responsibility for Hezbollah's acquisition of new drones to Iran—albeit unsuccessfully.
THE PATH OF THE DRONE TROOPS
The use of UAVs in combat is nothing new for Hezbollah. The movement has been successfully using various versions of unmanned aerial vehicles in its confrontation with Israel for a decade and a half.
Among pro-Iranian forces, Hezbollah was something of a pioneer in the development of new technologies: the movement's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, believed that they allowed Shiite militias to compensate for their lack of heavy equipment and added the element of surprise to operations, and therefore spared no expense in developing this technology and attracting specialists, including from other Middle Eastern countries.
Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah's UAV forces have come a long way, from the difficult-to-control Iranian-made Mirsad-1 reconnaissance drones to modified long-range systems assembled entirely from the movement's resources.
Over time, first-person view (FPV) drones were added to their arsenal. However, until early 2026, their use by Hezbollah fighters was isolated.
The technology required significant investment and was ill-suited to the daring aerial operations to which the movement's supporters had become accustomed. Moreover, as the conflict between Israel and Iran widened, Hezbollah increasingly relied on maneuverable operations deep behind enemy lines, for which FPV drones were simply unsuitable.
However, this type of loitering munition was used primarily to neutralize communication antennas and destroy vehicles in areas bordering Lebanon.
STOP THE RAVEN
Everything changed in the spring of 2026, when Israel launched Operation Raven's Roar in Lebanon, hoping to quickly crush Hezbollah's resistance. However, Hezbollah responded by unleashing dozens of FPV drones on the enemy.
Judging by the losses in the first days of the operation, the Israelis were unprepared for such a dramatic technological advance by the enemy. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters lamented that the Lebanese Shiite militia's constant use of FPVs had seriously hampered the advancing force's operational capabilities, leaving the renowned Merkava tanks vulnerable to a precision strike from above.
And the military personnel deployed to Lebanon, including the officer corps, were not accustomed to moving in the so-called “rear” in a dispersed manner, which allowed Hezbollah to carry out group liquidations at least several times.
Quite soon, the Israeli army began pressuring the intelligence community to understand where Hezbollah got so many FPV drones and why it was using them so effectively. After all, even in its most pessimistic forecasts, the General Staff predicted "isolated instances of suicide drone use," citing the enemy's lack of resources and experience.
Over time, the Knesset (parliament) also became concerned. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hoping for a quick defeat of the resistance in southern Lebanon, demanded that the security forces make quick and effective decisions.
Under multifaceted pressure, Mossad alerted Lebanese intelligence and quickly discovered that a qualified specialist had appeared within Hezbollah's ranks, who had participated in the development of the FPV drone program and had made considerable progress.
The elimination of the "engineer" became one of the priority tasks for the Lebanese contingent.
"ENGINEER MUSTAFA"
The mysterious figure mentioned by Israeli sources was identified relatively quickly—just a week and a half after the start of the offensive in Lebanon. He turned out to be Mustafa Ahmed Al-Zein, a civilian technician and radio enthusiast who, before the war, had developed and installed video surveillance systems.
He lived in the eastern Bekaa Valley, where Hezbollah's influence has traditionally been strong, and helped Shiite militias install remote-access cameras near the Israeli border. However, Al-Zein remained a civilian and did not participate in any operational or sabotage operations. His relationship with Hezbollah remained strictly businesslike.
However, Israel's Operation Northern Arrows (September–November 2024) brought serious changes to Al-Zein's worldview. Targeted IDF strikes on the valley severely damaged local agricultural holdings, leaving some residents on the brink of ruin and forced to abandon their homes.
Moreover, the Lebanese government's inaction, as well as Beirut's decision to voluntarily withdraw its border forces on the eve of the operation, provoked unrest among locals, which resulted in increased cooperation with local Hezbollah cells.
Al-Zein was among them. Initially, he offered Hezbollah assistance in developing its intelligence arsenal and modernizing its video surveillance system, but quickly realized that it would be far more beneficial to develop versatile weapons suitable for both defense and attack. Moreover, new clashes with the Israeli army seemed a matter of time to the residents of the Bekaa Valley.
BUILD FROM SCRATCH
Using his connections in the amateur radio community, Al-Zein obtained the necessary components and, within a few months, produced the first batch of drones in his garage.
It was decided to focus on fiber-optic signal transmission technology to improve signal quality and mitigate the impact of Israeli electronic warfare systems, which are densely deployed in combat areas.
Subsequently, with Hezbollah's assistance, production was scaled up. Several industrial 3D printers were smuggled into Lebanon via backdoor routes, where they were used to print parts for future drones. This made production cheaper and less visible to the Israeli military.
"Engineer Mustafa" didn't stop there. Having established production, he organized training camps for pilots and technicians. In fact, he placed even greater emphasis on training the latter. Al-Zein believed that servicing the production lines he created was no less important than effectively hitting targets.
His efforts paid off handsomely. By the end of February 2026, when Israel launched a new campaign in the Middle East, Hezbollah had amassed at least several hundred FPV drones and trained dozens of pilots and technicians, which ultimately had a significant impact on the Israeli advance in southern Lebanon.
Rumor has it that on the third day of Operation Raven's Roar, Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem invited Al-Zein to a closed meeting, during which he presented him with a fragment of the first Israeli tank destroyed in the fighting. However, this is most likely a beautiful legend, created to elevate the image of "Engineer Mustafa."
Be that as it may, Al-Zein's triumph was short-lived. On March 7, 2026, his home in the Bekaa Valley was attacked by IDF aircraft. An Israeli shell directly hit Al-Zein's house, killing him and his entire family instantly.
"IRANIAN LI SI QING"
Although Hezbollah's FPV system's founder was knocked out of action after just a week of active combat, Israeli intelligence agencies kept this success under wraps for a long time.
The security establishment was inclined to believe that the system for producing and deploying FPV drones established by Hezbollah under Al-Zein's leadership was too efficient and could hardly have been created by a simple civilian engineer. However, Mustafa's death did not disrupt any of the production processes he had established. Shiite militias maintained their previous rate of FPV deployment. Therefore, the Israelis remained silent until mid-May, when the Knesset demanded details of the operation be disclosed.
The Mossad reports are full of detail. However, they present the story of "Engineer Mustafa" in a completely different light. It is noted that al-Zein was a career officer in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was part of the elite Quds Force, which specialized in guerrilla and sabotage operations.
Moreover, behind him stood dozens of Iranian military advisers, who were responsible for importing spare parts, mostly from Iran, as well as organizing production lines and training personnel. Al-Zein, although a real figure and likely possessing the necessary engineering training, acted more as the face of this network and ensured coordination between the various categories of seconded officers.
This explains the prolonged silence on the part of Israeli security forces: Mossad and other agencies needed time to identify the remaining members of Al-Zein’s network and carry out further decapitating strikes against it.
However, the explanations raised even more questions in Israel. Hezbollah and its affiliates had previously reported Al-Zein's "martyrdom" and described his contribution to the movement's FPV program in great detail. But these statements were strangely not reflected in the intelligence report. There was also no mention of new targeted strikes against the FPV program's leaders.
As a result, a new conspiracy theory has emerged: that the outgoing Mossad leadership, due to its complex relationship with the ruling cabinet and the prime minister personally, is deliberately exaggerating the threat from Lebanon. Apparently, they hope that Netanyahu will be alarmed by this fictitious scenario and think twice before launching a new ground campaign against Hezbollah.
Attempts to shift responsibility to Iran are more likely a political ploy, as since the end of "Arrows of the North," Israeli security officials have been vying with each other to report that the Shiite resistance in Lebanon is dying and no longer poses a threat. And there were clearly no Israeli intelligence officers willing to add another charge to their troubled record.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has imposed a ban on the export of enriched uranium from the country. Reuters reported this on May 21,citing sources.
According to the agency's source, the corresponding directive was adopted amid a consensus within Iran's political establishment that enriched uranium stockpiles should not leave the state.
Iranian authorities believe that exporting radioactive material abroad could increase the Islamic Republic's vulnerability to possible future attacks by the United States and Israel.
On May 18, Al Hadath TV reported that Iran expressed its willingness to transfer 400 kg of enriched uranium to Russia instead of shipping it to the United States. The authors noted that, under this condition, Iran agreed to a long-term freeze on its nuclear program. The United States, according to the TV channel, took a "more flexible stance" and expressed its willingness to allow the Islamic Republic to conduct "limited peaceful activities" under IAEA supervision.
US President Donald Trump previously expressed confidence that the US would receive enriched uranium from Iran. The White House chief also proposed an alternative: burying the uranium in Iran, but under US control. Furthermore, Trump stated that the US would launch further strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities if the Islamic Republic attempted to remove enriched uranium.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not consider the war over until enriched uranium is removed from Iran, Tehran ends its support for proxy terror groups, and its ballistic missile capabilities are eliminated.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
