The US military buildup in the Middle East continues unabated, indicating a desire to preserve the military option against Iran. It is entirely possible that the volatility in Trump’s posts is misleading.
Prof. Eyal Zisser | May 17, 2026
Image via Truth Social
For many years, we have not known, in Israel, in the Middle East and indeed around the world, a situation in which so much depends on the will and decisions of one man, US President Donald Trump.
God’s Promise Is Never Up for Negotiation
Aynaz Anni Cyrus | May 14, 2026
David Ben-Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14 1948, Tel Aviv, Israel, beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl. Photo by Rudi Weissenstein – Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Public Domain, Wikipedia
May 14, 1948 (5 Iyar 5708) – Friday – Tel Aviv Museum
37 Jewish leaders gathered at the Dizengoff House, the Tel Aviv Museum.
Gulf states hesitant to adopt aggressive stance against Iran amid uncertainty about US plans
| Published: May 17, 2026
Amid reports of a possible resumption of military operations in Iran, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing the United Arab Emirates to become more involved in those operations, The Telegraph reports.
Peloni
Muslim mobs chased down Israelis following a football match on Nov. 7, 2024. Screengrab via Youtube.
On November 7, 2024, following a football match held between Maccabi Tel Aviv & Ajax, the match ended with what could hardly be described as other than a modern day Jew Hunt on the streets of the Amsterdam. Muslim groups across the city were chasing down and assaulting Israeli Maccabi fans resulting in stabbings, vehicle assaults, and severe physical violence throughout the evening. More than 30 Israelis were taken to hospitals, while others remained in hotels out of fear of leaving. The apparent organized and coordinated assault on Israelis came amid the backdrop of both the Gaza war and the pro-Hamas rallies around the world which had been ongoing for more than a year. The need for a national response to such an event in the future was patently clear.
By Walter E. Block and Oded J.K. Faran
Nobel Peace Prize. By ProtoplasmaKid – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia
See Part 1 Here
III. Just Peace and Unjust Peace
The classical liberal and natural rights traditions, from Locke through Bastiat and Mises, have consistently distinguished between the initiation of force and the defense against it.
Peloni: This is a really significant statement spoken by Bill Maher addressing the libels which support and expand antisemitism. I would argue that Maher’s false portrayal of the statement by Rep. Randy Fine as being that of a bigot, rather than recognizing it as a statement regarding the intolerance which Muslims actually do have for dogs, stands out among the truths carried in this monologue.
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Peloni & David Fieldstone
Mark Levin Show of May 16, 2026. His 2 guests interviewed after his long hard to follow speech – were (1) Lawyer Mark Goldfeder, CEO and Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc., who has been his guest many times. He spoke so fast to get everything in he had to say – that even aside from taking notes, he was difficult to follow. (2) The esteemed Lt. General Keith Kellogg (retired) who was the highlight of the broadcast.
Linda Goudsmit | May 17, 2026
William Gawthrop, Ph.D. has impressive military, intelligence, and academic credentials. His 2021 dissertation in Criminal Justice from Walden College argues that crimes involving Islamic religious utterances are not conventional crimes. Titled “The Doctrinal Basis of Islamic Utterances Associated with Domestic Assaults,” the dissertation explains how these attacks are not random domestic assaults, they are examples of Jihad applied as street crime that are motivated by codified religious Islamic texts.
The ongoing intrusion, infiltration, and expansion of Islam inside America is not accidental––it is doctrinal. I am providing a sampling of Dr. Gawthrop’s extraordinary work because I believe it is impossible to solve a problem without understanding the problem. The American people have been misled––but knowledge is empowering and there is still time to save America from the creeping Islam that has engulfed Europe.
Iran’s narrative was that some of the Gulf states hosted US forces, or in the case of the UAE and Bahrain, had signed the Abraham Accords with Israel.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN | MAY 14, 2026
![The Persian Gulf Nations and their neighbors. By Palosirkka, author of source file Furfur - File:Golf-Kooperationsrat.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74630345 [Added Detail and Changed size]](https://www.israpundit.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/8d2b10d5-873e-418e-9987-9a9ca3a65583-300x169.png)
The Persian Gulf Nations and their neighbors. By Palosirkka, author of source file Furfur – File:Golf-Kooperationsrat.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia [Added Detail and Changed size]
The Gulf states were victims of Iranian attacks during the war that began with US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran lashed out, attacking a dozen countries in the region.
By Jalal Tagreeb
Video Loads at Bottom
In a recent video that has been circulating widely across Arabic-speaking platforms, Egyptian commentator Khaled Hassan delivered what can only be described as a devastating — and unwitting — vindication of Israel’s strategic position in the Middle East. Hassan’s analysis, sharp and unapologetic, was aimed squarely at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its contradictory, fear-driven posture toward Iran. But in laying bare Riyadh’s paralysis, Hassan inadvertently stripped away the last fig leaf covering a truth that pro-Israel observers have long argued: Iran is the existential menace in this region, and Israel, far from being the aggressor, is the rational actor that much of the Arab world secretly wishes it could emulate.
Peloni: The future is what we make of it. The weight of what we might settle to accept after suffering the sacrifices made by men such as Maoz Recanati will be borne on the shoulders of our children and our grand children.
Avi Abelow | Meta | May 15, 2026
Cpt. Maoz Israel Recanati, IDF Platoon Commander in Golani Brigade’s 12 Battalion was mortally wounded following a drone strike on Israeli position in Southern Lebanon. (Israel Defense Forces)
Over Shabbat, another young IDF officer, Maoz Israel Recanati, was killed in battle in Lebanon.
He was supposed to get married in just one month.
Think about that for a moment.
Peloni: Rabbi Pesach Wolicki offers an analysis into the attempt by the Iranian regime to win back support of key aspects of the Iranian people.
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Janet Levy
Amid a crisis of trust in America, marked by the proliferation of manufactured news, tainted AI, and apocryphal social media populated by bots (up to 50% of posts), along with purchased likes and retweets, media consumers are deeply skeptical. According to a recent poll, only 38% believe the three assassination attempts on Trump were genuine.
Believing the unbelievable about Jews is another story. When the gray lady of ill repute reports a whooper that defies belief: that Israel trained dogs to rape Palestinians, released on the very day the results of a two-year investigation into the weaponization of sex during the October 7th Massacre were published, readers believe it.
Peloni: Trump retreats on Iran nuclear program, from “they can NEVER have a nuclear weapon” to “twenty years is enough.” This was a devastating shift in Trump’s rhetoric, which is notably aimed at negotiating a settlement with a terrorist death cult which has NEVER adhered to any agreement into which they previously entered. Best case scenario from such a deal would be to hand the threat which brought Trump to war with Iran to the next generation, something for which he himself has criticized every president which preceded him.
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by Majid Rafizadeh • May 16, 2026
![Iranian protestors. Screengrab via Youtube [Cropped] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DliDl9lP2hc](https://www.israpundit.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-26-120342-300x250.png)
In 1979, 1999, 2009, 2017-2018, 2019, 2022, late 2025 and early 2026, the Iranian people rose up in massive nationwide protests against economic collapse, repression, and governance failures. Each time, the regime responded with ruthless massacres. Millions of unarmed civilians, no matter how courageous, cannot easily overcome such force. Pictured: Iranian protestors. Screengrab via Youtube [Cropped]
Brigitte Gabriel and TAFSIK embody a rising movement defined by urgency, courage, resilience, and an unwillingness to remain silent.
Michel Benchimol
Brigitte Gabriel. Screengrab via Youtube
On May 13, I had the distinct privilege of attending an interview and presentation by Brigitte Gabriel — a remarkable woman whose life story, courage, intellect, and extraordinary energy left a profound and lasting impression on everyone in attendance.
Peloni: A must read article. The United Nations is a systematic tool used to imbed corruption, weaponize migration, and embolden radicalism. It is not by chance that Europe has so quickly fallen prey to the Islamization of the continent, and America is next on the agenda. Such enemies of Western civilization as the UN can not be reformed because its fundamental basis has become the perversion of civilized norms so as to cripple the very basis of national identity. When President Trump next talks about the tale of the Snake, think of this report by Amil Imani, and consider what the West is doing by advancing any attempt to maintain such an evil and vile institution in any place of authority or power. Instead, this institution should be stripped to its foundation and its leadership should be prosecuted for Crimes against its Nation State members and their respective populations.
Each and every apparatus working against our sovereignty and greatness.
May 14, 2026
Image: Public domain.
The United Nations functions as a predatory cartel dedicated to the systematic liquidation of national borders. Its agenda demands the total eradication of the nation-state to pave the way for a centralized, unelected global tyranny.
Beyond the battlefield, Iran wages a war of diplomacy and perception, aiming to shape outcomes far beyond direct combat.
Abbas Araghchi. Photo by Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, Wikipedia
We are living with multi-pronged and multi-layered fighting in the Middle East. There is the straightforward military conflict that is multi-faceted, featuring overwhelming military might against asymmetrical fighting that seems more like terrorism than warfare.
Update: Haddad killed in Israeli strike!
Peloni: Haddad was integral to the abuses suffered by Hamas’ hostages, and managed the hostages in the prison dens beneath Gaza. His final elimination should be recognized as a significant achievement in and of itself.
By Joe Truzman | May 15, 2026
Israeli military aircraft attacked an apartment building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood on Friday, targeting Hamas’s military chief, Izz al Din al Haddad. The strike, if successful, would be the third Hamas leader in Gaza to have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the Islamist group and its allies initiated the war with Israel on October 7, 2023.
