Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich:

Issuing arrest warrants against the Prime Minister is a declaration of war. Issuing arrest warrants against the Defense Minister and against the Finance Minister is a declaration of war.

And in the face of a declaration of war, we will respond with war.

I am not a submissive Jew. No. The Palestinian Authority started a war, and it will receive war.

From today, every economic or other target within my authority to strike — whether as Finance Minister or as a minister in the Defense Ministry — will be attacked. Not with words or gimmicks, but with actions.

And I announce here and now the first target that will be attacked: immediately after my remarks, we will sign an order for the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar.

I promise all of you — this is only the beginning.

Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich attacks Europe:

Unfortunately, many European countries never excelled in love for Zion.

Hypocrisy and double standards have become the trademark of many of those countries.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich:

I say here unequivocally: if Hezbollah does not surrender, we will take more and more territory from them.

NEW: A NATO Baltic Air Policing jet shot down a stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia's Lake Võrtsjärv on Monday — the first such intercept over Estonian territory.

The UAV likely drifted off course due to Russian electronic warfare jamming.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said Latvia provided advance warning, enabling early detection.

Baltic states had previously avoided shooting down errant Ukrainian drones to limit escalation.

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar:

The campaign is not over. We are still in the middle of it.

I met with Netanyahu and asked him: Why haven’t we achieved victory yet?

And his answer was: We will achieve it.

We will remove Iran’s nuclear threat. We will defeat Hezbollah, and we will defeat Hamas.

Latvia scrambled NATO jets and issued shelter-in-place alerts across eastern municipalities after unidentified drones were detected near its borders.

The alert expanded from southeastern regions toward central Latvia.

This is consistent with the ongoing pattern of stray drones spilling into Baltic airspace from the Ukraine war.

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar:

Messiah is something good. It’s something all of us want to arrive soon. Even the Chief of Staff, I think, would want the Messiah to come.

NEW: Sweden is buying four French FDI-class frigates from Naval Group for ~$4.25 billion — its biggest defense purchase since the 1980s.

First delivery expected 2030.

The frigates will triple Sweden's naval air defense capacity in the Baltic.

France beat out UK/Saab and Spain for the contract.

Russian soldier smashes a downed Ukrainian FPV drone with a stick.

The result is predictable.

An explosion hit the outskirts of Damascus.

Reuters cited a military source saying a car bomb exploded near Syria’s Armament Management Center in the capital.

Trump said he paused a planned U.S. strike on Iran after Gulf leaders requested more time for negotiations.

However, several Gulf officials later said they were unaware of any imminent U.S. attack plan.

Source: WSJ

NATO has confirmed that Romanian F-16 fighter jets participating in NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission in Lithuania shot down a drone that entered Estonian airspace.

China “completely” denies FT’s report on Xi-Trump meeting.

European intelligence agencies say China secretly trained around 200 Russian troops in drone warfare and counter-drone tactics last year, with some later returning to fight in Ukraine.

Documents reviewed by Reuters describe covert training in Chinese military facilities, including drone operations, electronic warfare, and explosives handling.

Source: Reuters

Denmark’s PM Mette Frederiksen:

The old world order is changing rapidly and it's not going in the right direction.

There is this idea growing right now that the middle powers in the world should act together, stick together, work together.

It’s not very easy to say that the Nordic countries are a middle power because we are too small to be a middle power. But when we are united, the Nordic countries, then we are a middle power.

Thomas Massie:

Just in case I lose, they gave me the number to call to concede — the area code is Tel Aviv.

India's Modi:

We will combine Sweden’s advanced manufacturing and defense, Finland’s telecom and digital technologies, and Denmark’s cyber security and health tech with India’s talent to develop trusted solutions for the entire world.

India's Modi:

Whether it is Ukraine or West Asia, we will continue to support an early end to the conflict and efforts for peace.

We agree that reforms of multilateral institutions are not only necessary, they are urgent.

On terrorism as well, our stand is clear and united.

No compromise. No double standards.

India's Modi:

We are going to begin a new golden period in the relations between India and the Nordic countries.

Germany's Chancellor Merz:

The AfD wants to take the Federal Republic of Germany back to the time before Adenauer.

I will not take this Federal Republic of Germany back to the time before Adenauer.

There will be no form of cooperation with the AfD.

Worlds separate us.

Germany's Chancellor Merz:

Even if we are not in the best mood right now, I am certain that we will get out of this.

I am certain that we can show the strengths of our country again.

I am certain that the majority of people in our country see the opportunities that we have in Germany.