In a historic move, Israel sent an Iron Dome battery along with Israeli army personnel to the United Arab Emirates to help defend the Gulf ally during the Iran war, according to an Israeli media report.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid on his merger with Naftali Bennett:

"In order to win the elections, the entire Israeli center needs to stand behind Naftali Bennett. Bennett is a clear right-winger, but he is a liberal right-winger, decent, law-abiding. He was an excellent Prime Minister, and he will be an excellent Prime Minister. This is what we need now."

Bennett to Israeli voters who voted for the current Netanyahu-led government: “I’m sure you are disgusted by the pandering to the ultra-Orthodox.”

The rhetoric from Bennett and Lapid so far, as expected, is very much focused on Netanyahu’s reliance on the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and they are promising to reverse all political and economic benefits the ultra-Orthodox now enjoy if they win the election.

While these reversals are policies most Israelis would agree with, the stage is being set for an explosion on the streets of Israel.

Netanyahu’s court testimony scheduled for this morning was canceled at the last minute for security reasons.

Arab media reports that Iran has presented mediators with a three-stage plan for resuming talks with the Trump administration.

1️⃣️ A guaranteed end to all hostilities and military action in both Iran and Lebanon. This will preserve what remains of Hezbollah and allow the IRGC to rebuild its forces;

2️⃣️ A new legal framework under which Iran and Oman control passage through the Strait of Hormuz;

3️⃣️ After the first two conditions are met, Iran will agree to talk about its nuclear program (with no commitment to halt it).

A classic delaying tactic that is right out of the Iranian negotiating handbook, literally. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote a book on this titled Negotiations: The Power of Diplomacy in which he outlines the Iranian style of buying time and wearing down the other side through delay.

A dramatic scene unfolded in Southern Lebanon when a Hezbollah suicide drone struck just meters from an IDF rescue helicopter as it was evacuating Israeli soldiers wounded in an earlier drone attack.

No one was wounded during the evacuation under fire, and the helicopter was undamaged.

Lebanese journalist Kinda el-Khatib mocks Hezbollah with a photo of civilians again fleeing southern Lebanon in the direction of Beirut as the Israeli army ramps up operations against the Iranian-backed terror group.

“Image of victory.”

Israel’s deepest divide is not merely left vs. right.

It runs through culture, class, religious identity, and the unresolved tension between the old Ashkenazi liberal establishment and the more traditional Sephardic, Mizrahi, and religious majority that now shapes much of Israel’s right.

The old elites still speak the language of democracy and pluralism.

But too often, their contempt for conservative and religious Israelis slips into plain view.

One former Labor figure said it outright: his camp is the “good Israel.”

Which leaves the rest of the country as what, exactly?

The tragedy is that Israelis still unite when survival is on the line — soldiers, reservists, families, communities, all bound to the eternity of Israel.

But between wars, the divide deepens.

👉🏼️ Read the full commentary

Netanyahu: Not only does Israel protect its Christians, there are many Christian soldiers in the IDF protecting Israel!

Why is the IDF demolishing homes across Southern Lebanon? Because Hezbollah has turned them into weapons depots.

Israeli soldiers document assault rifles and RPGs found in a child’s bedroom in the Aadshit al-Qusayr area.

Open source flight data shows a continued steady stream of US military transport aircraft to Israel, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem again declares that the Lebanon-based Iran-backed terror army will never agree to disarm.

The first poll following yesterday’s merger between opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett shows the following results if elections were held today:

Likud – 28 seats
Together (Lapid and Bennett’s new party) – 27
Yashar (Gadi Eizenkot) – 15
The Democrats – 9
Israel Beiteinu – 8
Shas – 8
Otzma Yehudit (Itamar Ben-Gvir) – 8
United Torah Judaism – 7
Ra’am – 5
Hadash-Ta’al – 5

The poll was conducted by Walla News.

The outcome would give the current governing coalition 51 seats, and the current opposition (excluding Arab parties) 59 seats.

A poll conducted shortly after by the right-wing Channel 14 gave a slightly different election outcome:

Likud – 34 seats
Together (Lapid and Bennett’s new party) – 20
Shas – 11
United Arab List (does not presently exist) – 11
Yashar (Gadi Eizenkot) – 9
The Democrats – 8
Israel Beiteinu – 8
United Torah Judaism – 8
Otzma Yehudit (Itamar Ben-Gvir) – 7
Religious Zionism – 4

This outcome would give the current governing coalition 64 seats, and the current opposition (excluding Arab parties) 45 seats.

School children in Turkey rip up American and Israeli flags and photos of US President Donald Trump in protest over the Iran war.

Trump insists that Turkey "loves" him and is a great ally to the US.

For Israel, Iran’s nuclear program is an existential threat.

For Europe, it is apparently an oil-price problem.

That is the uncomfortable divide now shaping the crisis in the Middle East.

Trump is tightening the pressure through sanctions, blockade, and military readiness. Tehran is playing its old game: delay, bargain, exhaust the West, and wait for someone else to blink.

But Israel does not have the luxury of treating Iran as a market disruption.

For us, this is survival.

And when survival is on the table, patience has limits.

👉🏼️ Full article here

The IDF announces an escalation of its operations against Hezbollah, including strikes against targets in the Beqaa Valley.

The hypocrite speaks: Vladimir Putin praises Iran for fighting with "bravery and heroism to defend their sovereignty" against American and Israeli attacks.