Israel is bleeding and burning All fronts...

All Israel News May 6, 2025

During a recent tour for journalists in southern Israel, Brigadier General (res.) Oren Solomon, the former head of the Security Doctrine and Use of Force in the National Security Council, shared his assessment that Hamas is still in full control of much of Gaza.

Solomon told the journalists “Hamas is an organization that operates under full command and control,”

He also said that the organization has been able to recruit thousands of new operatives in the past few months, especially during the recent ceasefire.

Solomon also stated that Hamas does not consider itself to be defeated — because it is not saying the group is still planning further attacks against Israel, hoping to wear out Israel and delay until the army and the public become tired of fighting.

Solomon affirmed the need for the IDF to expand its operations in Gaza and ultimately defeat the Hamas terror organization.

Those anti-Hamas in Gaza should be come bigger, but we must understand it is also very dangerous to do it.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in fighting in Rafah
Two Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday in clashes between Hamas and the Israeli army in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced. Four soldiers, including two officers, were seriously injured.

Hamas said it was involved in heavy fighting near Rafah in southern Gaza and had killed and wounded several soldiers in an ambush. Earlier this week, Israel announced it was expanding its attacks on Gaza , seeking to capture and occupy more territory.

Rafah, a city of 200,000 before the war, has been almost completely destroyed. Israel wants it to become part of a "buffer zone" from which the Palestinian population will be expelled.

From: The Times of Israel May 9, 2025

US envoy says:
1. Trump-backed Gaza aid mechanism to take effect soon,
2. denies rift with Israel

Mike Huckabee says IDF involvement in aid plan will be limited to securing aid distribution zones; stresses that many challenges remain in carrying out effort.

Huckabee described the relations as very close, also rejected the notion that:
1. Washington was “pulling away” from close ties with Jerusalem or
2. it was trying to sidestep the Israeli government

He made these comments, the day after a report claimed that the Trump administration was no longer demanding that Saudi Arabia recognize Israel as part of a nuclear pact with Riyadh.

“Under Trump, the special relationship has never been stronger,” he told reporters at the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Saudi Arabia and the US were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement when he visited the kingdom in April.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters Thursday that ties with Israel were no longer an American prerequisite.
Huckabee did not comment on the report specifically.

From: The Jerusalem Post May 9, 2025
Trump and Saudi Arabia in talks:

Senior Biden administration officials consistently told the Saudis during months of dialogue about normalization with Israel that they could have a civilian nuclear program — but only if a peace agreement with Israel was in place.

Trump is expected to arrive in Riyadh next week, where he is set to sign a multi-billion-dollar arms deal.

This, too, was a condition previously set by the Biden administration to advance normalization.

Saudi Arabia is pulling off an astonishing transformation
Muhammad bin Salman is going from troublemaker to peacemaker.

From: The Jerusalem Post May 9, 2025

Meanwhile, Hebrew media reported Friday that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had canceled a visit to Israel that had been planned for the coming days.

An Axios report earlier this week said Hegseth was intending to arrive in Israel on May 12, a day before Trump begins his trip to Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

It would have been Hegseth’s first trip to Israel as defense secretary, and he was slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. But several outlets said the visit had been canceled, though no explanation was given.

He was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, according to a Saturday Axios report.
Hegseth will still travel with Trump to Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Arab media reports US open to dropping demand for Hamas disarmament pre-ceasefire:
According to the report, US negotiators conveyed this position during recent conversations with Egyptian mediators.

Trump administration officials reportedly signaled openness in talks with Egypt to delaying the issue of Hamas' disarmament until after a ceasefire agreement is reached, an Egyptian source told Qatari-backed Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Friday.

The source also said US officials believe deporting thousands of Palestinian terrorists from Gaza is unrealistic, due to concerns from potential host countries and the large number — between 3,000 and 5,000 people — proposed by Israel.

According to the report, US negotiators conveyed this position during recent conversations with Egyptian mediators.

Rather than insisting on immediate disarmament — particularly of Hamas — the American side is reportedly open to addressing this issue at a later stage in the implementation process.

The same source also noted that US officials believe deporting Hamas military leaders or fighters from Gaza is not a viable option.

Securing the release of all Israeli hostages:

In exchange for flexibility on these points, the US side reportedly emphasized its commitment to:
1. securing the release of all Israeli hostages still held in Gaza
2. and retrieving the bodies of those who have died in captivity.

Arab media suggests that internal discussions within the US administration have led to a reassessment of the effectiveness of Israel’s current military strategy.
Intelligence reportedly shared with American officials indicated that renewed Israeli operations since mid-March have increased risks to remaining hostages.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, there is growing optimism among mediators about reaching a broader agreement.

The Egyptian source cited terror group Hamas’s stated willingness:
1. to release all hostages simultaneously and
2. potential flexibility on post-ceasefire arrangements involving weapons and personnel movement.

Will Donald Trump recognize a Palestinian state?
Gulf diplomatic source claims: "Donald Trump to announce US recognizes Palestinian state"

Saudi Arabia will host a Gulf-US summit in mid-May during Trump’s Mideast visit.
Speculation swirls over a major announcement on a Palestinian state, and peaceful US-Saudi nuclear cooperation.

A Gulf diplomatic source, who declined to be named or disclose his position, told The Media Line:
1. "President Donald Trump will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it,
2. and that there will be the establishment of a Palestinian state without the presence of Hamas."

The source also added: "If an announcement of American recognition of the State of Palestine is made, it will be the most important declaration that will change the balance of power in the Middle East, and more countries will join the Abraham Accords."

The source confirmed that economic agreements will certainly be present, but many of them have already been announced, and we may witness the Gulf states being exempted from tariffs.

Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, a former Gulf diplomat, told The Media Line: "I don't expect it to be about Palestine."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan have not been invited.
They are the two countries closest to Palestine, and it would be important for them to be present at any event like this."

Al-Ibrahim also said:
"There will be major deals coming, perhaps similar to what happened at the 2017 Gulf-US summit, with Saudi deals worth more than $400 billion.

Let's not forget that:
1. the UAE announced investments in the US worth more than $1 trillion,
2. and Saudi Arabia announced investments worth more than $600 billion."

He continued, "This is clear because President Donald Trump intends to visit the UAE and Qatar after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia.
These are two important economies with significant financial resources and major investments in the United States."

Ahmed Boushouki, a Saudi political analyst, told The Media Line: "This is about major economic deals that will take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Perhaps US President Donald Trump hinted at this when he told the American people to 'buy stocks now, before his big announcement in the next two days.'"

Regarding the news of a peaceful US-Saudi nuclear cooperation to generate electricity in Saudi Arabia, Boushouki said:
1. "Saudi Arabia has had a program announced since 2010 and it has been discussed several times before.
2. International companies are now working to implement these projects in Saudi Arabia."

Plans are currently underway in Saudi Arabia to build the kingdom's first nuclear reactor, with several international companies competing to design and build the reactor.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Gulf country, the United Arab Emirates, already owns the Barakah reactor and is the only Arab country with a four-reactor nuclear power plant, in collaboration with a Korean company.

Israel and the Kingdom of SA need each other.
The Arab Kingdoms also have a good relation with the European Kingdoms.

Money talks!

Let's also not forget that: The country invested $2 billion in a firm formed by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, after Trump left office, and there are plans to build two Trump towers in Jeddah and Riyadh.

From: The Jerusalem Post May 9, 2025
US-Israel relations at a crossroads: Trump's Middle East trip leaves Jerusalem confused.

The US president heads to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar in search of deals and diplomatic wins — leaving Israel out of the itinerary, but not out of the equation.

Trump embarks on a high-profile trip to the Gulf — stopping in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, but notably skipping Israel.
US goes after its own interests, leaving Jerusalem confused.

Don't know... They don't act like they need each other

Uh -- Mr. Hollander could you, uh -- amplify a bit?

Iran is the arch-rival of both countries and the USA are their main sponsor (Of Egypt also btw) when it comes to weapons. In spite of not having official diplomatic relations, they cooperate with each other by intelligence exchange, especially about Iran.

Palestinian President Abbas was in Moscow for Victory Day. Not suprising a recent survey indicates that 82.3% of Palestinians believe the PA is corrupt. The Global Corruption Index ranks Palestine among the least transparent. Abbas is widely known as a corrupt leader, siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid.

If I may! please....

As far as I can remember.... Trump was clever!
Trump did not show his hacksaw Trumpism hand until after he won except immigration which is a contentious, touchy issue in every western country

• Australian Federal Election — May 2025

According to most local and International News agencies — opposition Liberal National party LNP leader Peter Dutton wanted to be Australia's Prime Minister but a 'Trump effect' thwarted him — Maybe.... Maybe not....

It was indeed a bruising night for Dutton, a 54 years old political veteran who also lost his Dickson, Queensland, parliamentary seat of 24 years, in a humiliating defeat, to a candidate from prime minister Anthony Albanese's victorious reelected Labor Party

An awkward, jumbled, inconsistent, undisciplined and disastrous campaign that did not do enough to reassure voters was mainly to blame but the "Trump effect" and “Trumpism” perhaps played not an insignificant part

Dutton, whether he liked it or not, was a man who many saw as Australia's Trump but as it turns out Australians do not appear to want that
It's a likeness Dutton has rejected but then his Coalition LNP pursued policies that seemed to have been borrowed from the Trump administration

Dutton's brand of hard-line conservatism, his support for controversial policies and his fierce criticism of China, all led to comparisons with US President Trump

Australia has long balanced its military alliance with the US and its economic relationship with China, Australia's biggest trading partner
But a US-China trade war, along with an unpredictable and unreliable White House, is tricky territory for any country — even an US ally like Australia

• Australian Federal Election — May 2025

Peter Dutton's own inconsistent policies and the Trump-esque rhetoric and decisions appear to have driven away an electorate that is deeply concerned about a new, tumultuous world order

What also didn't help was that Dutton's was never a smooth campaign
1. "Dutton's message was confusing... reelected prime minister Albanese had a tight and very disciplined campaign"
2. "Dutton has seemed more comfortable attacking Labor than presenting a strong alternative"

Dutton kept asking the voters,but never presented any alternative as to how he would make things better

This inconsistency confused voters and became an unfortunate theme in his campaign

Dutton announced and then walked back plans for huge changes to the bureaucracy, including job cuts — DOGE style that rankled as similar cuts, led by Elon Musk, brought chaos in the United States — and the plans to end work from home arrangements which he said was "a mistake"

But "the backflips on working from home and Dutton's uncertainty over public service cuts" complicated his message

An awkward, jumbled, inconsistent, undisciplined and disastrous campaign, lack of coherent, constructive, productive Domestic policies to address the local issues — voters couldn't understand — were the main factor for Dutton's loss than the Trump effect

• Australian Federal Election — May 2025

The best results! Minor party, The Greens, leader Adam Bandt losing his Melbourne, Victoria seat of 15 years — Good riddance!

Peter Dutton was pro-Israel but not extreme anti-Palestine whereas Bandt was pro-Palestine and extreme anti-Israel inciting / encouraging Jew-hatred and antisemitic vitriol, accusing Australia of being complicit, in Gaza genocide which Israel has denied

Bandt “keep Dutton out” Voters kept Bandt out as well

Australian election campaign, all things considered is civilised, personal attacks rare and peaceful transfer of power
We have an independent statutory agency, Australian Electoral Commission AEC and voting is compulsory

Both the government and opposition figures had accused the Greens of using the Israel-Palestine conflict for political gain by spreading misinformation and encouraging antisemitism and extremist rhetoric

Melbourne had seen some of the worst antisemitism violent attacks in Australia including arson on the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, Victoria with worshippers inside Never ending destructive, disruptive, malicious, violent attacks, senseless vandalism and despicable protests including burning of the Israeli flag

Bandt would 'condemn' the attacks but then would be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with these thugs, at their next / ongoing protests
I reckon, Bandt was the main reason Melbourne was the most antisemitic in Australia

The Greens had four seats in the Lower House of Representatives Lost 3 [one in Victoria - leader Bandt's own Melbourne seat and Two in Queensland - Brisbane and Griffith] Fourth one Ryan also in Queensland on a knife edge as counting continues.... but tilting towards the Greens member
though the Greens did well enough in the Upper House Senate and would hold the balance of power If the opposition Liberal National party "Doesn't play ball"

We have two weeks of early voting leading up to the election day This time record nearly 40% voted early and postal votes as well —Talk about disengagement!

former Greens member for Griffith, Queensland, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with an Union of intimidating thugs, protest
among others: signs depicting prime minister Anthony Albanese as a Nazi — I rest my case

This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally
The New York Times by Opinion Columnist Thomas L. Friedman 09 May 2025

Extracts:

• This Israeli Government Is Not US Ally — Dear President Trump

There are very few initiatives that you’ve undertaken since coming to office that I agree with — except in the Middle East

The fact that you are traveling there next week and meeting the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar — and that you have no plans to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel — suggests to me that you are starting to understand a vital truth:
Netanyahu did think he could make you his chump though which is why I am impressed by how you have signaled to him through your independent negotiations with Hamas, Iran and the Houthis that he has no purchase on you — that you will not be his patsy It clearly has him in a panic

I have no doubt that generally speaking, the Israeli people continue to see themselves as steadfast allies of the American people — and vice versa
But this ultranationalist, messianic Israeli government is not America’s ally

Because this is the first government in Israel’s history whose priority is not peace with more of its Arab neighbors and the benefits that greater security and coexistence would bring

Its priority is,
1. the annexation of the West Bank
2. the expulsion of the Palestinians of Gaza
3. and the re-establishment there of Israeli settlements

This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally
The New York Times by Opinion Columnist Thomas L. Friedman 09 May 2025

Extracts:

• This Israeli Government Is Not US Ally — Dear President Trump

The notion that Israel has a government that is no longer behaving as an American ally and should not be considered as such, is a shocking and bitter pill for Israel’s friends in Washington to swallow but swallow it they must

Because in pursuit of its extremist agenda this Netanyahu government is undermining our interests

The fact that you are not letting Netanyahu run over you the way he has other US presidents is a credit to you
It is also vital to defend the US security architecture your predecessors have built in the region

The structure of the current US-Arab-Israel alliance was established by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger after the 1973 October War, to push out Russia and make America the dominant global power in the region which has served our geopolitical and economic interests ever since

The Nixon-Kissinger diplomacy forged the 1974 disengagement agreements between Israel, Syria and Egypt

• Those laid the foundations for the Camp David peace treaty
• Camp David laid the groundwork for the Oslo Peace Accords
• The result was a region dominated by America, its Arab allies and Israel

But this whole structure depended to a large degree on a US-Israeli commitment to a two-state solution of some kind — a commitment that you yourself tried to advance in your first term with your own plan for a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank next to Israel — on the condition that the Palestinians agreed to recognize Israel and accept that their state would be demilitarized

This Netanyahu government however made annexation of the West Bank its priority when it came to power in late 2022 — well before Hamas’s vicious invasion on October 7, 2023 — rather than the US security-peace architecture for the region

This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally
The New York Times by Opinion Columnist Thomas L. Friedman 09 May 2025

Extracts:

• This Israeli Government Is Not US Ally — Dear President Trump

For almost a year, the Biden administration beseeched Netanyahu to do one thing for America and for Israel,
That would then pave the way for passage in Congress of a US-Saudi security treaty to counterbalance Iran and freeze out China

Netanyahu refused to do it because the Jewish supremacists in his cabinet said if he did so they would topple his government — and with Netanyahu on trial on multiple charges of corruption, he could not afford to give up the protection of being prime minister to drag out his trial and forestall a possible jail term

So, Netanyahu put his personal interests ahead of Israel’s and America’s

Normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the most important Muslim power — built on an effort to forge a two-state solution with moderate Palestinians — would have opened the whole Muslim world to Israeli tourists, investors and innovators, eased tensions between Jews and Muslims the world over and consolidated US advantages in the Middle East set in motion by Nixon and Kissinger for another decade or more

After Netanyahu’s spinning everyone for two years, both the Americans and Saudis have reportedly decided to give up on Israel’s involvement in the deal — a true loss for both Israelis and the Jewish people

Reuters reported Thursday that,And now it may get worse

This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally
The New York Times by Opinion Columnist Thomas L. Friedman 09 May 2025

Extracts:

• This Israeli Government Is Not US Ally — Dear President Trump

Netanyahu is preparing to re-invade Gaza with a plan to herd the Palestinian population there into a tiny corner, with the Mediterranean Sea one side and the Egyptian border on the other — while also advancing de facto annexation at ever greater speed and breadth in the West Bank

In doing so it will be courting more war crimes charges against Israel (and particularly against its new army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir) that Bibi will expect your administration to protect him from

• Hamas

I have zero sympathy for Hamas. I think it is a sick organization

Hamas has done enormous damage to the Palestinian cause Hamas is hugely responsible for the human tragedy that is Gaza today
Hamas’s leadership should have released its hostages and left Gaza a long time ago, removing any excuse for Israel to resume the fighting

But Netanyahu’s plan to reinvade Gaza is not to stand up a moderate alternative to Hamas, led by the Palestinian Authority In fairness....
It is for a permanent Israeli military occupation, whose unstated goal will be to pressure all Palestinians to leave
That is a prescription for a permanent insurgency — Vietnam on the Mediterranean

This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally
The New York Times by Opinion Columnist Thomas L. Friedman 09 May 2025

Extracts:

• This Israeli Government Is Not US Ally — Dear President Trump

Addressing a conference on May 5 sponsored by the religious Zionist newspaper B’Sheva — Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far right finance minister, spoke like a man who couldn’t care less what you think Smotrich saidThe local population will be squeezed into a less than a quarter of the Gaza Strip

As the Haaretz military expert Amos Harel noted,
Indeed, this strategy, if executed, may not only trigger more war crime accusations against Israel but will also inevitably threaten the stability of Jordan and the stability of Egypt

Those two pillars of America’s Middle East alliance structure both fear that Netanyahu aims to drive Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank into their countries which would surely foment instability that would spill over their borders even if Palestinians themselves did not

This hurts us in other ways

As Hans Wechsel, a former senior policy adviser to US Central Command, put it to me,

This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally
The New York Times by Opinion Columnist Thomas L. Friedman 09 May 2025

Extracts:

• This Israeli Government Is Not US Ally — Dear President Trump

On the Middle East, you have some good independent instincts Mr. President Follow them

Otherwise you need to prepare yourself for this looming reality:
I will leave you with the words of the May 7 Haaretz editorial,
We can continue,

• to ignore the number of Palestinians in the Strip who have been killed — more than 52,000 including around 18,000 children;
• to question the credibility of the figures;
• to use all of the mechanisms of repression, denial, apathy, distancing, normalization and justification;

None of this will change the bitter fact:
1. Israel killed them
2. Our hands did this
3. We must not avert our eyes
4. We must wake up and cry out loudly: Stop the war

Thomas L. Friedman is the foreign affairs Opinion columnist He joined the paper in 1981 and has won three Pulitzer Prizes
He is the author of seven books, including “From Beirut to Jerusalem” which won the National Book Award


Though — I doubt, Israel is going rogue.... Everyone knows! you don't mess with Trump

It is a double standard the way Israel government act is out of proportion, but come on we can not deny the prejudice against or hatred of Jews in the world. WAR always brings lot of suffering on all sides.