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IDF Chief Warns of ‘Collapse’ as Israel Delays Ultra-Orthodox Draft

The Israel Defense Forces is “on the verge of collapse” due to acute personnel shortages, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has warned, according to local media. Opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of stalling on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Military service is mandatory for most Israeli citizens, both men and women. However, members of the Haredi community have historically been exempt from conscription. While the Israeli Supreme Court revoked the exemption in June 2024, Netanyahu’s cabinet has so far delayed drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Parties within the ruling coalition representing the Haredi community have repeatedly threatened to withdraw support for Netanyahu should he introduce the measure.

Addressing the cabinet on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Zamir said he was “raising ten red flags for you before the IDF collapses,” as quoted by The Jerusalem Post.

In addition to its ongoing campaign against Iran, the Israeli military is continuing its years-long operation against Hamas in Gaza. The IDF also launched an incursion into southern Lebanon in early March, targeting Hezbollah militants. (Read more from “IDF Chief Warns of ‘Collapse’ as Israel Delays Ultra-Orthodox Draft” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Uganda’s Military Chief offers to Fight for Israel

Uganda’s military chief has offered to fight alongside Israel in its war against Iran.

Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted a series of messages on social media saying his country could enter the conflict if hostilities escalated.

He called for a swift end to the fighting while warning that any attempt to destroy Israel could prompt Uganda to enter the war on Israel’s side.

“If Israel needs help, it only need ask. Their Ugandan brothers are ready to assist,” said Gen Kainerugaba, who is the son of Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s president.

He framed his support based on historical ties, acknowledging Israel’s past support for Uganda. (Read more from “Uganda’s Military Chief offers to Fight for Israel” HERE)

Netanyahu’s Jesus Remark Sparks Outrage: ‘One of the Most Disgusting Anti-Christian Comments I’ve Heard From a World Leader’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (March 19) delivered a press conference amid the war between the US-Israel and Iran. Even as he spoke about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, a comment he made about Jesus Christ and Genghis Khan sparked a row, with many accusing Netanyahu of being “anti-Christian.”

In his address, Netanyahu said: “Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan. If you are strong enough, ruthless enough, and powerful enough, evil will overcome good.” His comments seemed to come in reference to a 2019 interview where he summarized historian Will Durant’s book “The Lessons of History.”

The clip of Netanyahu’s remark went viral, with many interpreting the comments as anti-Christian.

“This is one of the most disgusting anti-Christian comments I’ve heard from a world leader. Just another example of Netanyahu exposing his anti-Christian beliefs. And many Christians will again choose to ignore it,” one user said. . .

“Is there any more proof this guy is pure evil and anti Christian?” wrote another.

(Read more from “Netanyahu’s Anti-Christian Jesus Remark Sparks Outrage” HERE)

Father of Killed US Military Member Disputes Hegseth’s Claim He Said to ‘Finish’ the Job in Iran

By The Guardian. The father of a US military member killed in the Iran war has contradicted Pete Hegseth’s claim that bereaved families urged him to “finish” the job in the Middle East.

Hegseth, the defense secretary and a former weekend Fox News host, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that he had spoken with relatives of all six service members killed in last week’s refueling tanker crash during a “dignified transfer” of their remains at Delaware’s Dover air force station the night before.

“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve, was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said.

However, on Thursday night, Charles Simmons, the father of Tech Sgt Tyler Simmons, 28, from Ohio, said he had no such conversation.

“I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News. (Read more from “Father of Killed US Military Member Disputes Hegseth’s Claim He Said to ‘Finish’ the Job in Iran” HERE)

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Father of dead serviceman says he never told Hegseth to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: report

By The Independent. The father of a dead U.S. serviceman has denied claims by Pete Hegseth that he told the Defense Secretary to “not stop until the job is done” – referring to the war in Iran.

“No, I didn’t say anything along those lines,” Charles Simmons told NBC News in an interview Thursday, recalling his encounter with Hegseth at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. “I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about.” . . .

Simmons told NBC that he had spoken to Hegseth and President Donald Trump, and that both men had treated him warmly. He had mostly spoken about his son’s impressive service record, he said.

The 60-year-old, from Columbus, Ohio, added he has “questions” about the conflict, which has now killed at least 13 American service members, and cannot draw “definitive conclusions when I don’t have all the data.”

Simmons said he told Hegseth: “I understand there’s a lot of peril that goes into making decisions like this, and I just certainly hope the decisions being made are necessary,” according to NBC. (Read more from “Father of dead serviceman says he never told Hegseth to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: report” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Oman’s Foreign Minister Says War in Iran Is Trump’s ‘Greatest Miscalculation’ in Scathing Attack

Oman’s foreign minister has said that the war in Iran is Donald Trump’s “greatest miscalculation” and urged Washington’s allies to push him to end the conflict immediately.

In the most scathing attack on Washington’s foreign policy yet by a Gulf state, Badr Albusaidi said “this is not America’s war” and criticised Mr Trump for supporting Israel.

Writing in The Economist, he called on American allies to help extricate the country from the conflict, which has continued for a third week despite failing to achieve the US and Israel’s stated aim of instigating regime change in Tehran or stopping its nuclear programme.

Since the war began, Iran has launched retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, most recently targeting oil and gas facilities – a development that shook global energy markets. Oman has been targeted on several occasions.

Mr Albusaidi said being drawn into the war was the “American administration’s greatest miscalculation” and implied that Israel didn’t have the right intentions for Iran. (Read more from “Oman’s Foreign Minister Says War in Iran Is Trump’s ‘Greatest Miscalculation’ in Scathing Attack” HERE)

Netanyahu Confirms ‘Israel Acted Alone’ in Attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that “Israel acted alone” and that President Donald Trump had asked Israel “to hold off on future attacks” after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars Gas Field.

During a press conference on Thursday, Netanyahu poked fun at online rumors that he was dead, stating that he was “alive.” Netanyahu also gave an update on Operation Roaring Lion, explaining that both Israel and the United States were “acting together in Iran with great determination.”

Netanyahu responded to a question from a reporter who stated that Trump “did not like the Israeli strike on the Iranian gas fields,” and asked if Trump “was aware of Israel striking that gas field.”

“Well, I’ll say two things. Fact number one, Israel acted alone,” Netanyahu answered, referring to the news that Israel had launched airstrikes on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field. “Fact number two, President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after Trump took to Truth Social to reveal that Israel had “violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran.”

(Read more from “Netanyahu Confirms ‘Israel Acted Alone’ in Attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field” HERE)

US Drops 5K-pound Bunker-Buster Bombs on Underground Missile Sites near Strait of Hormuz

The US military dropped 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on underground Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, according to authorities.

The massive attack announced by US Central Command came as the war with Iran had stanched the flow of shipping through the vital Persian Gulf waterway.

“Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” the regional command said on X around 7 p.m. ET.

“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait,” CENTCOM added.

A US official told CNN that the munitions were the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator, an explosive first released by US aircraft in 2021. (Read more from “US Drops 5K-pound Bunker-Buster Bombs on Underground Missile Sites near Strait of Hormuz” HERE)

Iranian Police Commander Pleads with Israeli Agent ‘Please Come Help us’ in Dramatic Leaked Call

A senior Iranian police commander recently told an agent of Israel’s renowned Mossad intelligence service “I swear on the Koran I’m not your enemy” and begged the Jewish state to “please come help us” overthrow the Islamic Republic, according to the contents of a leaked phone call.

The call, reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, was one of several placed by Israeli intelligence threatening Iranian security officials and their families by name if they did not stand aside in the event of a popular uprising to overthrow the mullahs.

“We know everything about you. You are on our blacklist, and we have all the information about you,” the Mossad agent told the police commander in Farsi. “I called to warn you in advance that you should stand with your people’s side. And if you will not do that, your destiny will be as your leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]. Do you hear me?”

“Brother, I swear on the Koran, I’m not your enemy,” the commander responded. “I’m a dead man already. Just please come help us.”

The US and Israel have sought to create the conditions for the Iranian people to take down the theocratic regime by systematically striking its military infrastructure and targeting top political leaders for assassination, respectively, since Feb. 28. (Read more from “Iranian Police Commander Pleads with Israeli Agent ‘Please Come Help us’ in Dramatic Leaked Call” HERE)

Israel Claims to Have Eliminated Iran’s De Facto Leader Ali Larijani

The Israeli military on Tuesday announced it has eliminated Iran’s de facto leader, Ali Larijani, with an airstrike.

If the remnants of Iran’s government confirm his death, he will be the highest-level leader of the terrorist regime to be eliminated since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei died in the first hour of the war, and he could prove to be a greater operational loss than the elderly cleric was.

“I was just informed by the Chief of Staff that the Secretary of the National Security Council, Larijani, and the head of the Basij — Iran’s main suppression body — Soleimani, were eliminated tonight and joined the head of the destruction plan, Khamenei, and all the thwarted members of the evil axis in the depths of hell,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

Gholamreza Soleimani was the commander of the Basij, the thuggish militia deployed by the Iranian regime to keep its people in line during uprisings.

Soleimani assumed command of the Basij six months ago, meaning he was in charge during Iran’s violent suppression of the “Bloody November” protests in 2019, the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in 2022, and the massive popular uprising in January 2025. The regime admitted to murdering almost 10,000 of its own people to suppress the latest uprising and some observers believe the true death toll was over three times that high. (Read more from “Israel Claims to Have Eliminated Iran’s De Facto Leader Ali Larijani” HERE)

US Argues ‘Emergency’ of Iran War Means Israel Needs 20,000+ More Bombs Without Congressional Approval

The US State Department is hiding behind the war against Iran that was started by US President Donald Trump last week to justify an emergency order to ship more than 20,000 bombs—estimated at a value of $660 million—to Israel, skirting a pending approval process for the sale by Congress.

In a statement issued quietly on Friday night, the State Department said 12,000 BLU-110A/B general purpose, 1,000-pound bombs had been determined for approval, noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has “provided detailed justification that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and defense services is in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act.”

Not included in the statement, according to the New York Times, were additional parts of the sale that “include 10,000 bombs of 500 pounds each and 5,000 small-diameter bombs.”

According to the Times:

The State Department did not mention these details in the announcement, but two current US officials and a former, Josh Paul, who worked on weapons transfers at the State Department, said they were part of the emergency sale. The current officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive arms transactions.

This is the first time that the second Trump administration has formally declared an emergency, allowed under the Arms Export Control Act, to bypass Congress to sell arms to Israel. The administration has bypassed the informal approval process in Congress three times to sell arms or send weapons aid to Israel, but previously has not declared an emergency.

(Read more from “US Argues ‘Emergency’ of Iran War Means Israel Needs 20,000+ More Bombs Without Congressional Approval” HERE)