Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett:

Imagine for a moment we don't exist. Okay. And you've got the Middle East festering with jihadists and al-Qaeda type and ISIS and we know what'll happen. They're going to hit the Twin Towers, 9/11.

Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett:

I was in Manhattan when 9/11 happened. I saw those buildings on fire. That’s what happens when you say, ‘The Middle East isn’t our problem—we don’t care.’

The radical Islamists will come to the Big Satan—to Manhattan, to California, to America—but with nuclear ballistic missiles.

Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett:

A Jew—an Israeli Jew—is not complete if he does not serve his country in the military.

Israel is using Greece to advance its regional goals and will exploit its fears, UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese said.

“You think that you have chosen Israel… I don’t think so,” she said. “Israel has chosen you, and it’s going to exploit your fears and your insecurity.”

Source: Al Jazeera

French President Macron:

We are experiencing the cost of our overdependencies when we speak about the American umbrella in terms of defense and security.

Let’s be honest, this is the elephant in the room.

Keir Starmer:

Some of the alliances that we have come to rely on are not in the place we would want them to be.

There is more tension in the alliances than there should be.

Zelensky:

Russia has announced a May 9 parade in Moscow without military equipment; if that happens, it will be the first time in many, many years...

They cannot afford military equipment and they fear drones may burst over Red Square.

This is telling — it shows they are not strong now.

Canadian PM Mark Carney:

It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt — but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.

Canadian PM Mark Carney:

The world is undergoing a rupture across several dimensions — in technology, in energy, in commerce and geopolitics.

Integration is being used as a weapon by some, and the rules are not constraining the hegemons.

NEW: Iran's Fars says Iran fired two missiles at a U.S. Navy vessel near the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored Iranian warnings.

The ship was reportedly damaged and forced to retreat.

Trump has grown frustrated with the “no deal, no war” stalemate with Iran and is pushing for more decisive action in the Strait of Hormuz.

As one official put it, “The president wants action… He wants pressure. He wants a deal.”

Source: Axios

French President Macron:

We are trusted by the U.S., but we are respected and trusted by the Iranians.

A senior U.S. official denies that a U.S. ship was hit by Iranian missiles.

Source: Axios

CENTCOM:

No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned an Iranian drone attack on an ADNOC-linked tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Two drones hit the vessel, but no injuries were reported.

BIG: U.S. official says the rules of engagement for U.S. forces in the region have been changed, and they were authorized to strike immediate threats against ships that cross the strait, like IRGC fast boats or Iranian missile positions.

Source: Barak Ravid