May 18, 2026

Israel Watch

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President Trump says Iran is “in a State of Collapse” and wants the Strait of Hormuz opened “as soon as possible” while talks continue.

That is the pressure point right now: Tehran wants relief, global energy markets want the waterway open, and the U.S. blockade is still being used as leverage.

Fox News highlighted Trump’s latest comments Tuesday afternoon:

Axios put Trump’s Tuesday claim in the larger negotiating picture:

Trump said Iran had told the United States it wanted the Strait of Hormuz opened quickly while it worked through a leadership crisis. The key caveat is that Tehran has not publicly confirmed Trump’s version of the message, so the claim still sits inside a live diplomatic standoff rather than a settled public agreement.

President Trump has rejected the latest proposal by Iran to continue the ceasefire, which seems to be de facto over. The Supreme Leader has allegedly emerged and promised to free the Strait of Hormuz from U.S. presence. The progressive media is casting doubts on U.S. power while Trump’s base buckles in its support for the war.

Iran’s Missing ‘Supreme Leader,’ in Written Message, Vows ‘Future Free of America’ for Strait of Hormuz www.breitbart.com
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The alleged, but missing, “supreme leader” of Iran Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly issued a written message on Thursday declaring that his country will impose a “new legal framework and management system for the Strait of Hormuz” that will result in a future “free of America” in the waterway.

Khamenei’s message declared the Strait, in which Iran has for over a month attempted to endanger commercial traffic, a “divine blessing” for his nation that the Islamist terror regime takes seriously. His statement, issued on the occasion of Iran’s “National Persian Gulf Day,” also contained a commitment to continue the regime’s illicit nuclear development — the main issue that the administration of President Donald Trump is seeking to settle with Iran.

The message follows weeks of attempts to end hostilities between Iran and America that began on February 28, when the Pentagon launched Operation Epic Fury and killed Khamenei’s father, longtime brutal dictator Ali Khamenei. President Trump announced a ceasefire this month that was initially intended to last two weeks, but has since been extended indefinitely. In public statements on his website, Truth Social, President Trump has explained that the extension was necessary given the large number of senior leaders in the Iranian regime that have been killed, resulting in unclear leadership and an intense power struggle within the terror state’s government apparatus. Iranian officials have attempted to deny the discord among their ranks but also have not at press time been able to organize a coherent response to the White House’s attempts to construct a long-lasting peace agreement.

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Two Jewish Londoners were stabbed Wednesday in north London following a series of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in the area, as the prime minister and mayor of London led condemnation of the “appalling” assaults.

A man was arrested after he was seen running with a knife “attempting to stab Jewish members of the public”, the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch said on social media.

It added that two people were stabbed and were being treated by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer ambulance service.

The incident in the British capital took place in Golders Green, home to a large Jewish community.

It comes in the wake of a spate of arson attacks on synagogues and community sites in north London in recent weeks.

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For those familiar with the Old Testament narrative surrounding the ancient city of Sodom, a recent announcement from the Israeli government might sound like evidence that history is repeating itself.

Near the site many believe to be where that city was destroyed by God, largely due to the sexual immorality of its citizens, there will soon be a four-day LGBT “pride” event that the Israeli government noted would even include “children’s activities.”

TheBlaze provided this report:

The promotion of the event by the Israeli government — just one day after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that one of its soldiers smashed a statue of the crucified Christ outside a church with a sledgehammer — prompted significant backlash among some conservative Christians.

American theologian and pastor Dale Partridge tweeted, “The devil couldn’t have written it better. ‘The lowest place on earth’ ‘The Dead Sea becomes pride land.’”

BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre raised the matter of whether his tax dollars might be subsidizing the event, then asked, “Can anyone very carefully explain to me why American Christians owe anything to this?”

Conservative commentator Michael Knowles insinuated that the Israeli government’s announcement answered the question recently posed by the New York Times about the cause of the recent increase in meteor sightings overhead.

Knowles’ colleague, Matt Walsh, called the planned festival “absolutely evil and disgusting.”

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Pressure mounts on the disgraced chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, who was forced to “step aside” from his position in May 2025 after serious sexual assault allegations. Newly revealed witness testimony states that Qatar promised to “look after” him if he continued the witch hunt against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday

Following a May 2024 request by Khan, the Hague-based ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for the crime of overseeing a military operation to free 240 hostages from Hamas’ captivity in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre. By issuing the warrant, the ICC was requiring its 125 member states, including most of the European nations, to arrest the sitting Israeli prime minister and hand him over to the kangaroo court.

The latest testimony and supporting evidence also indicate that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was a target of the operation. The Qatar-linked “intelligence operation also sought to target two Americans: Tom Lynch, the senior ICC official who first reported the assault allegation, and Sen. Lindsey Graham,” the business daily added.

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Beyond the bubble of hardened MAGA cultists and a smattering of elite pundits, the joint American-Israeli war on Iran announced by a somnolent President Trump on February 28 is widely regarded as a pointless fiasco that is doing incalculable and growing damage to the global economy. The fact that the president once again unilaterally extended the ceasefire with Iran last week means that he still has no credible ideas about how to get traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz. He’s similarly flummoxed when it comes to imposing America’s settlement terms on an emboldened regime in Tehran—despite his constant insistence that the war has resulted in an unprecedented, monumental American victory.

Regardless of if or when Trump’s crack negotiating team featuring zero Iran experts returns to Islamabad to meet with Tehran’s delegation, the status quo in the Strait of Hormuz is untenable. Oil prices are creeping up again after dropping on President Trump’s flurry of hallucinatory statements on April 17 proclaiming that the war would be wrapping up soon. The end was inevitably near, Trump insisted, because Iran had agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, forgo the ability to enrich uranium forever and relinquish its stockpile of what the president with almost child-like wonder calls “nuclear dust.”

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70 structures. 11 US military bases overseas. Seven countries. $5 billion in damage.

The damage inflicted by Iranian forces on American and allied bases in the Middle East during the opening weeks of Operation Epic Fury will have substantial financial consequences. Not only will America’s now-degraded forward troop presence change as a result, but the deliberations over what to rebuild will be time-consuming and highly consequential.

After rebuilding and repairs, US military force posture across Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraq is likely to shift locations, and shrink in the Gulf overall. Given the way in which the war in Iran has revealed America’s shallow munitions stockpiles and limited air defenses, the remaining open question for US allies and partners is: Are US bases still a net benefit to their security? The implications for force planning and modernization could see major disruptions depending on how the US and Gulf governments answer this question.

Country Base Estimated Damage
Bahrain 5th Fleet Headquarters 2 SATCOM terminals, 2 radomes, and 3 large warehouses
Iraq Erbil Military Base 1 storage building
Jordan Muwaffaq Salti Air Base 1 general administrative building
Kuwait Ali Al Salem Air Base 3 hangars, parts of the runway, 15 small warehouses, 1 maintenance shed
Kuwait Camp Arifjan 6 radomes, 4 small and large warehouses, 1 general administrative building, 1 maintenance shed
Kuwait Camp Buehring 1 SATCOM terminal, 1 hanger, 4 small and large warehouses
Kuwait Shuaiba Port 1 general administrative building
Qatar Al Udeid Air Base Parts of the runway
Saudi Arabia Prince Sultan Air Base 1 small warehouse, 1 radome
UAE Al Dhafra Air Base 2 general administrative buildings, 2 small hangars, 1 medical clinic, 6 fuel storages, 1 barracks
UAE Al Ruwais Military Base 5 small warehouses, 2 general administrative buildings
Source: Author’s analysis.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took aim at the realities facing the United States in its war against Iran. Speaking to students in Marsberg, the German head of state did not hold back, stating that the “entire nation is being humiliated” by Iran.

When the war first broke out, Merz backed Trump and his actions in Iran, saying the U.S. was doing the dirty work for the world. Now, with the war dragging on, he is sharply changing his tune as his approval drops to rock-bottom support levels.

The chancellor specifically noted the role of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in putting the U.S. in its current predicament. He also took issue with having started the war, thinking it would be an easy win. And America, he made clear, should have learned from its own history by now from other failed wars.

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Friedrich Merz says Washington has “no convincing strategy” in talks with Tehran

The US lacks a coherent negotiation strategy and is being “humiliated” by Iran, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday.

Merz made the remarks as the vital Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most shipping, driving up global energy prices.

“The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected, and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” Merz said during a visit to a school in Marsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia.

“The problem with conflicts like this is always that you don’t just have to get in – you also have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq,” the chancellor said, according to Deutsche Welle.

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Iran is proposing to lift its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz without tackling its nuclear programme, two regional officials familiar with the offer said Monday, as the country’s foreign minister travelled to Russia in what he described as an opportunity to consult with Moscow about the conflict with Israel and the United States.

Iran also seeks the US to lift its blockade of the country as part of its proposal, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations. The fresh proposal, delivered to the United States through Pakistan, is unlikely to gain support from US President Donald Trump, who insists on ending Iran’s atomic programme as part of a comprehensive deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and secure a permanent ceasefire.

“We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us,” Trump told Fox News Channel on Sunday.

The Axios news outlet first reported Iran’s proposal. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in St Petersburg on Monday morning ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. His weekend trip has included two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with Iran.

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ISLAMABAD — ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran ‘s foreign minister briefly visited Islamabad again on Sunday as Pakistan’s political and military leadership scrambled to reignite ceasefire negotiations between Tehran and Washington, but President Donald Trump said they could talk by phone instead.

Abbas Araghchi had left Pakistan’s capital late the previous day, creating confusion around an expected second round of talks there, but he returned before continuing on to Moscow on Sunday, Iranian state media said. He had been in Oman, which previously mediated talks and is on the other side of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The White House last week said it would dispatch envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad to follow up on historic face-to-face talks earlier this month. But shortly after Araghchi’s departure Saturday, Trump said he had called off the mission because of a lack of progress with Iran.

“If they want, we can talk but we’re not sending people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. He said earlier on social media: “All they have to do is call!!!”

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On Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the joint work of regional offices in Charlotte, NC, and Houston, TX to foil an alleged terror plot by a Lexington, NC woman to incite a mass casualty event at a synagogue in Houston.

A Lexington woman is facing charges after allegedly plotting to murder congregants at a Texas synagogue, according to Davidson County warrants.

On Wednesday, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Angelina Han Hicks, 18, of Lexington, on two counts of felony conspiracy. According to warrants, the charges are for conspiring to commit murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

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The Israeli government announced on Monday that this June, “the Dead Sea becomes Pride Land, the biggest LGBTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East,” adding that “Pride rises at the lowest place on earth.”

This celebration of degeneracy and non-straight lifestyle choices — set to take place near what is believed to be the site of Sodom, the city razed by God because of its brazen sexual corruption — will run 24 hours a day from June 1 to June 4.

‘You won’t see this anywhere else in the region.’

According the Jerusalem Post, the non-straight festival will raise a city in the desert featuring parties, a central performance arena, art complexes, “relaxation” areas, and “family-friendly areas with children’s activities.”

“This is not just another festival; it’s the biggest thing we’ve done here,” Aaron Cohen, the main producer behind “Pride Land,” told the Post. “It’s an experience that lives 24/7, from quiet visits to nights of Pride, with a living envelope of music and people.”

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Global markets are entering the week balancing resilient risk appetite against renewed geopolitical strain as prospects of U.S.-Iran negotiations took a hit over the weekend.

U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped plans to send envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad for talks with Iran on Saturday, citing “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Tehran’s leadership.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi made a brief return to Islamabad on Sunday as Pakistan’s leaders pushed to revive ceasefire talks between Tehran and Washington, though Trump said discussions could instead take place over phone. Araghchi has reportedly departed Islamabad for Moscow.

Iran has offered a new proposal to the U.S. for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, while shelving nuclear talks to a later date, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official and two sources with knowledge of the matter.