Dear Friends,
In times like these, clear, factual, and courageous voices for Israel are more important than ever. The mission of Israpundit has always been to share truth, defend Israel against misinformation, and give readers a place to find clarity and conviction.
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger | “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” | April 12, 2026
Photo by Chris Hearn on Unsplash
In 2025, the number of Israel’s Jewish births was 139,676 – 74% higher than 1995 (80,400), compared to 44,029 Arab births – 21% higher than 1995 (36,500).
Update: Important interview with Trump and Maria Bartiromo above Trump’s posted statement. Highlights at the bottom.
Peloni: It was important for Trump to secure China’s support in using their influence with the Iranians towards accepting US terms. As America’s peer competitor and vocal critic of US actions regarding Iran, it was also surprising to see, but not too much so. China has no interest in fighting a war over Iran, even if they had the force projection capacity to do so, which they don’t. What China wants is to satisfy Chinese interests, and at all costs this includes keeping at least Chinese shipments from the Arabian/Persian Gulf flowing. The attempt to get Iran to accept US terms was the last gambit possible prior to closing the Gulf completely, and this is exactly why China offered its assistance via its proxy ally Pakistan in doing so. It remains to be seen if they will support or contest the US blockade as such a maneuver will come at a cost to China’s interests. Of course, as many other nations are currently doing, China is free to sail its oil fleet to America instead of the Arabian/Persian Gulf while Trump does what is needed to bend the crazy regime in Tehran to Washington’s will, if not break (hopefully) entirely. All of this comes at a price to Chinese prestige, in the region and the world, while Trump is also threatening China not to rearm Iran while this current showdown persists. So, as Iran and the US have each drawn their respective lines in the sand, it remains to be seen how China will react to this latest move to shut down Iran’s nuclear ambitions, if not the Iranian regime as well. One important tell might be that Pakistan is deploying troops to Saudi Arabia.
President Donald Trump | Truth Social
So, there you have it, the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not. Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz. At some point, we will reach an “ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT” basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen by merely saying, “There may be a mine out there somewhere,” that nobody knows about but them. THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted.
A multi-faction nation trapped in a two-party cage, protected by a permanent political class that has no incentive to fix it.
Michel Benchimol
By Sagearbor – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia
Let’s stop pretending.
It’s time to stop pretending. The United States of America likes to think of itself as a two-party democracy, a contest between Democrats and Republicans that has defined political life for nearly two centuries.
Peloni: Finally! Well, that makes one…
By Pamela Geller |
By Office of Representative Jim McGovern – Jim Mahmoud Khalil. McGovern in X, Public Domain, Wikipedia
The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.
Peloni: There has always been an underlying dichotomy guiding the current regime in Iran. There is their radical Islamist ambition of conquering and subjugating the world, and there is their need for ready cash, steady customers and a viable revenue stream. These two objectives are actually diametrically opposed, and we have seen the radicalism take the lead over the years as the it was pursued at the cost of the income based motivations. Despite this, over the years, Westerners have continuously held their heads in the sand, ignoring the obviously stronger impulses of the Mullahs and IRGC and focused exclusively on Iran’s cash based objectives. This didn’t moderate the Iranian regime, and instead it emboldened it and facilitated its ability to further the Iranian Jihadi focus. With their turning their back on Trump’s offer to come to terms, which was in fact a great opportunity for the Iranians to once again obfuscate their true Jihadi nature in a new hudna with the West, it seems that they have chosen to clearly demonstrated that they will not set aside their Jihadi aims under any basis at all. Perhaps the West will finally accept the truth of what they are facing in Iran. Using the anti-hawk Vance to lead the peace talks demonstrated with clarity that even the most earnest of efforts to gain some form of hudna for the Iranians was turned down. Note that there are still an additional 10-days for Iran to shape-shift into accepting the hudna being offered to them, so we will see what comes over these pivotal 10 days.
Harold Hutchison | Media Reporter | Daily Caller |
Screengrab via Youtube
Vice President JD Vance told reporters early Sunday morning that talks between the United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement for a permanent cease-fire.
Peloni: Terrorists don’t change their spots, even when they run an American equity posing as a reformed failed peace partner… America needs to finally and completely disown, disassociate and dismantle the Fatah entity know colloquially as the ‘Palestinian Authority’. Til they do, they remain complicit in every act of terror which the the PA facilitates.
Photo: Creative Commons
The Palestinian Authority (PA) was always just as bad as Hamas, even when Joe Biden viewed the PA as the best choice to govern Gaza after the Israel-Gaza war.
by Gerald A. Honigman
As of mid-April 2026, the latest round of peace negotiations collapsed with no real progress..
The previously Arabized/Islamized ARYAN Shi’a Islamic masters of taqiyya obfuscation and deceitful lying for their “holy” cause have been playing games with American Presidents for many years now.
By | April 12, 2026
Sunset … Strait of Hormuz – panoramio by Hadi Karimi, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
One thing is clear about the conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that is that nothing is clear. Is the ceasefire on or not? Is the Strait of Hormuz open or not? On Saturday, the leaders of the Islamic Republic, whoever they may be, threatened to attack any U.S. Navy ship that dared to venture into the Strait of Hormuz.
| All Israel News | Published: April 10, 2026
Candace Owens, Alex Jones, Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson (Photo: Screenshot)
When it comes to the very loud and, yes, antisemitic talk on the far right, it raises an obvious question: is it just a bunch of boisterous noise, or is the MAGA movement and the GOP overall actually changing before our eyes?
Peloni: Even if Iran were to make a full capitulation on the nuclear file, they have the knowledge needed to redo what they have already done. Any sanctions relief forthcoming would provide them the immense wealth with which to fund a rapid return to doing so in some new subterranean tomb in the vast openness of Iran’s mountains and desert areas. And of course, they will have the motivation to put all of this into play since the Islamist regime which has threatened the world with nuclear domination once will be the same regime which will still be committed to doing so once again. Regime change in Iran is the victory which was needed to secure the region and America’s role in it as it pivots to Asia. Failing to erradicate the current regime in Iran would simply delay the inevitable outcome already announced by the Mullahs and the IRGC. This will ultimately lead to a nuclear Iran in the distant or not too distant future. So it comes down to the question of whether it will be the children of the current generation or their grand kids who will face a nuclear Iran – again, should regime change fail to materialize under the current administration.
Andrea Stricker | April 10, 2026
The United States and Israel have delivered a near-devastating blow to the Iranian regime. In a sustained campaign of precision strikes, they have crippled Iran’s top military and political leadership, shattered much of its navy, air force, and ballistic missile and drone capabilities, and gutted key elements of its defense industrial base. Meanwhile, relentless attacks continue to dismantle what remains of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
By David Daoud | April 11, 2026
An image from an animated IDF illustration depicting strikes in Lebanon on April 8, 2026.
On the afternoon of April 8, Israel launched its deadliest and most intense wave of airstrikes in Beirut since the war with Hezbollah restarted in early March. Initial reports claimed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had dubbed this wave of strikes “Operation Eternal Darkness,” a nod to the ninth Passover plague. The IDF later clarified, however, that “Eternal Darkness” was the name of the operational order, not a standalone name for the wave of strikes or the initiation of a new operation under that name.
Update: US-Iran talks begin
Negotiations continue despite Iranian threats over Israeli strikes on Hezbollah
| Published: April 10, 2026
Screengrab via Youtube
The Pakistani government placed its capital, Islamabad, on lockdown Friday as U.S. and Iranian delegations prepared to arrive for the first round of negotiations over a final ceasefire agreement.
Peloni: Behold, the peacemakers of our current age…
By | April 11, 2026
Karachi local police Pakistan, Voice of America, Public domain
In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Christians frequently suffer at the hands of police and other authorities who are jihadis themselves, or sympathetic to the global jihad.
Peloni: The problem in Lebanon is indeed integral to the problem in Iran, and in all truth, there is no good solution for Israel with Hezbollah so long as the IRGC controls Iran. Unfortunately, resolving the threat from Lebanon is not the motivation bringing US pressure on Netanyahu to end the war in Lebanon, but rather it is clearly intended to satisfy the IRGC whose continued existence should, itself, not be considered as a viable outcome of this war, much less its proxy control in Lebanon. Meanwhile, as Trump is applying pressure on Netanyahu to negotiate with Hezbollah, the Israeli electorate is applying its own pressure to end the harrying attacks on Israel’s northern communities.
Netanyahu stresses: Strikes against Hezbollah to continue during talks
| Published: April 10, 2026
Following heavy pressure from the United States to tone down Israeli strikes against the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon in order not to endanger ceasefire talks with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday that direct negotiations with Beirut are set to begin “as soon as possible.”
Peloni: Notice that the Gulf members maintain their pre-war positions. Qatar remains ever the groveling submissive to its dominating Iranian neighbor. Oman remains closely alligned with its Iranian ally. UAE wants a way out from the capture and control of the radicals in Iran. And Saudi Arabia is willing to work with the radical Iranians remaining in power so long as it doesn’t affect Saudi interests.
By: Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez | MEMRI | April 10, 2026
Secretary Marco Rubio meets with Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States in New York City, New York, September 24, 2025. Photo by U.S. Department of State – Flickr, Public Domain, Wikipedia
The announcement of a ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran, brokered by Pakistan, evoked mixed reactions from the Gulf states, reflecting their fundamental differences regarding the conflict. While Qatar and Oman, which maintained a pro-Iranian line throughout the war,[1] warmly welcomed the ceasefire agreement, other states expressed significant reservations.
Peloni: The defeat of these measures as well as the fact that they were brought to a vote, carry with them important implications. The radicalism which is rife within the US Democratic party has been weaponized and focused towards support for radical candidates such as AOC and Mamdani, but this radicalism fails to gain significant support among the broader American public. Notably, the simple fact that these antisemitic resolutions gained enough support for the measures to be considered and voted upon demonstrates the influence which the antisemitic rancor has in the Democratic party.
Shoshana Bryen • JPC •
U.S. Sailor guides a Panther helicopter during a supply transfer between USS Pinckney and USNS Carl Brashear during Operation Epic Fury, March 20, 2026. (Photo: U.S. Navy)A ceasefire is, by definition, a temporary situation. In the best case, it is followed by peace. In other cases, the battle returns. Iran has already announced that it has reclosed the Straits of Hormuz. And just before that, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told a briefing audience this morning, US forces remain in place. In such a situation, there are a few rules for understanding where we are, Including why it has already been violated by Iran.
