Israel's Terrorist Attack On Iran: For What?
For 20 months, Israel's government and occupation forces have pursued a campaign of genocide in Gaza, interspersed with destruction and land grabs in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Now Israel has indulged its long-held desire to attack Iran, a nation of 92 million people.
Israel claims that this was a pre-emptive attack, a necessary act of self-defence to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. US State Department intelligence findings flatly contradict that claim. While it calls Iran a nuclear threat, Israel is the only Middle Eastern state with nuclear weapons – undeclared, uninspected, and therefore all the more dangerous.
We, Jewish groups in 19 countries, believe that Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu acted to divert attention from Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza and its daily attacks and land seizures in the West Bank, and to extend Israel's imperial domination over more of the Middle East. He further seeks to extend his own rule (and evade jail). Netanyahu has long wanted to lure the US directly into war against Iran. Ultimately, he seeks to bring down the Iranian government, in denial of the right of the Iranian people to chart their own way forward.
Shortly before it attacked Iran, the IDF virtually cut Gaza's last communications and imposed a complete siege on the West Bank. Hourly, it pursues genocide in darkness. On June 20, Al Jazeera counted over 170 Palestinians killed in Gaza this week, while they were trying to obtain the food that they have a right to obtain.
It is too easy to condemn only Netanyahu, who is already on trial domestically and wanted internationally for crimes of genocide. The problem is wider. This regional war-crime spree is inherent in the logic of Zionism. Since 1947, the Zionist project has systematically expelled and murdered Palestinians. It has pursued territorial expansion and regional domination inspired by Western imperialism, while claiming victimhood as a persecuted Jewish collective.
Israel's role remains dependent on the full support – diplomatic, military and economic – of Western powers. Donald Trump, ever ready to claim destruction as his own, openly refers to Israel's attack as an action 'we' undertook. The German Chancellor says that Israel is 'doing dirty work for all of us.'
Global Jews for Palestine rejects Israel's atrocities and its racist narrative. This widening suffering and chaos will continue until all countries make it end. Governments must cease arming and justifying Israel's crimes, and instead they must impose effective sanctions on Israel. As the world's highest court has advised, we call on our governments to stop normalising and start bringing this disaster to its only credible end: ceasefire, accountability, and justice which realises the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
We, Jews from around the world urge all governments to abandon the racist, reckless project of Zionism and start the urgent work of justice. We pledge to continue and intensify our efforts to end occupation, genocide and the wider military adventures which threaten to engulf us all.
MORE ABOUT GLOBAL JEWS FOR PALESTINE
We are Jews from many countries, who are members of local, national and international networks and organizations. We are multi-ethnic and multigenerational and our members embrace a broad range of viewpoints on Jewish religious and ethical traditions. We are connected by our involvement in the struggle for Palestinian rights, and by our determination to work for justice. We oppose Zionism and all forms of racism and colonialism.
We believe that it is our particular responsibility to challenge Jewish organizations whose alliances and actions undermine Palestinian human and national rights, promote Jewish exceptionalism, and overturn Jewish social justice traditions. At the heart of our work is the fight for Palestinian liberation and the struggle for a world free of racial and ethnic hierarchy, colonial domination, and unbridled militarism.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump's new two-week negotiating window sets off scramble to restart stalled Iran talks
By Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler , CNN Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski US President Donald Trump's decision to open a two-week negotiating window before deciding on striking Iran has set off an urgent effort to restart talks that had been deadlocked, when Israel began its bombing campaign last week . The hope among Trump and his advisers is that Iran - under constant Israeli attack and suffering losses to its missile arsenal - will relent on its hardline position and agree to terms it had previously rejected, including abandoning its enrichment of uranium, according to US officials. The deferred decision, which came after days of increasingly martial messages from the president suggesting he was preparing to order a strike, also gives Trump more time to weigh the potential consequences - including the chance it could drag the United States into the type of foreign conflict he promised to avoid. Negotiating a diplomatic solution in Trump's condensed timeline appeared to face significant early hurdles. Earlier this week, discussions were underway inside the White House to dispatch Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance to the region for talks with Iran, but as Trump grew wary that diplomatic efforts might succeed, the idea never resulted in scheduled talks, and both Vance and Witkoff remained in Washington as of Thursday. Foreign ministers from Britain, Germany and France are travelling to Geneva on Friday to hold talks with Iranian representatives, and have been briefed on the details of the last deal Witkoff offered to Iran, which Tehran ultimately rejected, before the Israeli strikes began. US officials did not have high expectations of success for Friday's meeting in Geneva, but a White House official kept the door open to progress. "This is a meeting between European leaders and Iran," a White House official said. "The President supports diplomatic efforts from our allies that could bring Iran closer to taking his deal." Iran's consistent message to the US since Israel began its strikes has been it would not engage in further talks, until the ongoing Israeli operation ends, two sources familiar with the messages said. The US had so far not pressured Israel to halt its strikes, sources said, and Trump said this week that his message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been to "keep going". So far, Iran has offered no indication it is willing to move off its positions on enrichment, which it views as a red line. As of Thursday, no official talks between the US and Iran were on the books, US officials said. In putting off a decision, Trump appears to be placing more stock in a diplomatic solution that only a day earlier he appeared to suggest was out of reach. "I think the president has made it clear he always wants to pursue diplomacy, but believe me, the president is unafraid to use strength if necessary," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, after relaying Trump's new two-week timeline. "Iran and the entire world should know that the United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world, and we have capabilities that no other country on this planet possesses." New vehicle tracks and dirt piles over underground centrifuge buildings at Natanz enrichment facility. Photo: AFP / Maxar Technologies In a string of situation room meetings over the course of this week, Trump has quizzed advisers about the likelihood US bunker-buster bombs could entirely eliminate Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordow and how long such an operation might last, according to people familiar with the conversations. He has repeatedly insisted he wants to avoid taking action that could devolve into a multi-year conflict, something many of his own loyalists - including one-time top strategist Steve Bannon, with whom the president had lunch Thursday - argue would be unavoidable, should he make the decision to go ahead. While the president has seen the military options, he remains worried about a longer-term war. Any assessments on whether a strike would cause prolonged US engagement are predictive and, by their nature, not entirely satisfactory, one official said. The new, within-two-weeks time-frame for talks was not universally welcomed. An Israeli intelligence official expressed dismay that Trump would not make a decision - one way or the other. "This is not helping," the official said. Trump will continue to convene top-level intelligence briefings over the coming days, returning to Washington early from a weekend trip to his property in New Jersey to be updated at the White House. He has relied principally on CIA director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen Dan Caine in meetings to discuss his options, according to people familiar with the matter. At the centre of the diplomatic efforts will be Witkoff, the president's friend and foreign envoy, who has led negotiations meant to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Witkoff began direct-messaging with his Iranian counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, earlier this month and the administration has maintained some communications with Iranian officials over the past tense days, as Trump weighed a strike. The plan Witkoff last offered to Tehran would have required Iran to eventually end all uranium enrichment on its soil and, on Thursday, the White House said it still viewed a ban on Iranian uranium enrichment as necessary to a final deal. As the Europeans head into Friday's meeting, they will be "taking the temperature" on how receptive the Iranians are to finding a diplomatic solution, given their belief that strikes in both directions are not a solution, a European official said. European leaders believe the risks of Iran's nuclear programme persist even amid Israel's strikes, because Tehran maintains nuclear know-how and may still have clandestine nuclear-related efforts that won't get demolished by military strikes. Meanwhile, most US diplomats who are not in Trump's inner circle at the State Department have not been given specific guidance to offer US allies on the diplomatic efforts, a US official and a European diplomat said. That has led to many frustrating discussions with foreign interlocutors as US diplomats have very few answers to give the allies as they try to determine their diplomatic and military posture in the region, pointing only to Trump's own words. Marco Rubio. Photo: Pool / AFP / Jacquelyn Martin As Trump has weighed his options, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been close by, also departing early from the Group of 7 summit in Canada along with the commander in chief earlier this week. On Monday, the top US diplomat spoke with his French, British and European Union counterparts about efforts to "encourage a diplomatic path that ensures Iran never develops a nuclear weapon", according to State Department readouts of the calls. On Wednesday, Rubio "compared notes" on the matter with the Norwegian foreign minister. Rubio met with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday, before Lammy departed for the Geneva talks, and the two "agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon", according to the State Department. "Meeting with Secretary of State Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Witkoff in the White House today, we discussed how Iran must make a deal to avoid a deepening conflict," Lammy said in a statement Thursday. "A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution." US officials, including Witkoff, have also been actively engaged with officials in the region, many of whom have offered their help in mediating a diplomatic path forward. Sources said Iran had responded to messages from third parties, but their responses had not changed. - CNN
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Scoop
Israel's Terrorist Attack On Iran: For What?
For 20 months, Israel's government and occupation forces have pursued a campaign of genocide in Gaza, interspersed with destruction and land grabs in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Now Israel has indulged its long-held desire to attack Iran, a nation of 92 million people. Israel claims that this was a pre-emptive attack, a necessary act of self-defence to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. US State Department intelligence findings flatly contradict that claim. While it calls Iran a nuclear threat, Israel is the only Middle Eastern state with nuclear weapons – undeclared, uninspected, and therefore all the more dangerous. We, Jewish groups in 19 countries, believe that Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu acted to divert attention from Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza and its daily attacks and land seizures in the West Bank, and to extend Israel's imperial domination over more of the Middle East. He further seeks to extend his own rule (and evade jail). Netanyahu has long wanted to lure the US directly into war against Iran. Ultimately, he seeks to bring down the Iranian government, in denial of the right of the Iranian people to chart their own way forward. Shortly before it attacked Iran, the IDF virtually cut Gaza's last communications and imposed a complete siege on the West Bank. Hourly, it pursues genocide in darkness. On June 20, Al Jazeera counted over 170 Palestinians killed in Gaza this week, while they were trying to obtain the food that they have a right to obtain. It is too easy to condemn only Netanyahu, who is already on trial domestically and wanted internationally for crimes of genocide. The problem is wider. This regional war-crime spree is inherent in the logic of Zionism. Since 1947, the Zionist project has systematically expelled and murdered Palestinians. It has pursued territorial expansion and regional domination inspired by Western imperialism, while claiming victimhood as a persecuted Jewish collective. Israel's role remains dependent on the full support – diplomatic, military and economic – of Western powers. Donald Trump, ever ready to claim destruction as his own, openly refers to Israel's attack as an action 'we' undertook. The German Chancellor says that Israel is 'doing dirty work for all of us.' Global Jews for Palestine rejects Israel's atrocities and its racist narrative. This widening suffering and chaos will continue until all countries make it end. Governments must cease arming and justifying Israel's crimes, and instead they must impose effective sanctions on Israel. As the world's highest court has advised, we call on our governments to stop normalising and start bringing this disaster to its only credible end: ceasefire, accountability, and justice which realises the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. We, Jews from around the world urge all governments to abandon the racist, reckless project of Zionism and start the urgent work of justice. We pledge to continue and intensify our efforts to end occupation, genocide and the wider military adventures which threaten to engulf us all. MORE ABOUT GLOBAL JEWS FOR PALESTINE We are Jews from many countries, who are members of local, national and international networks and organizations. We are multi-ethnic and multigenerational and our members embrace a broad range of viewpoints on Jewish religious and ethical traditions. We are connected by our involvement in the struggle for Palestinian rights, and by our determination to work for justice. We oppose Zionism and all forms of racism and colonialism. We believe that it is our particular responsibility to challenge Jewish organizations whose alliances and actions undermine Palestinian human and national rights, promote Jewish exceptionalism, and overturn Jewish social justice traditions. At the heart of our work is the fight for Palestinian liberation and the struggle for a world free of racial and ethnic hierarchy, colonial domination, and unbridled militarism.
Newsroom
8 hours ago
- Newsroom
The Israel-Iran conflict may not end without a regime change
Analysis: The spiral of conflict in the Middle East took another dangerous turn when Israel, seemingly unprovoked, attacked Iran last Friday on an unprecedented scale, taking the region to the brink of full-scale war as Iran retaliates. The day before Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the still ongoing war, he went to the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) sacred to Jews and posted a note into a crack in the colossal stone blocks as per the ritual. The note quoted the biblical Book of Numbers: 'Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion.' Hence the name Operation Rising Lion. When I visited Jerusalem in 2023, I made it into the tunnels behind and beneath the Western Wall and saw long forgotten and faded notes scattered on the ground. My guess is that the current trajectory in the Middle East will see Netanyahu's vision for Israeli power and security cast in the dirt also. For most, the main question now is whether there is any justification or tangible reason for Israel's pre-emptive attack against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme. My response would be that mutual perceptions of existential crisis in Israel and Iran is driving the region deeper into crisis. To understand this, one could adopt a lens of ontological security. This means the very identity and essence of the political systems in Israel and Iran are intrinsically tied to ideologically conditioned language and behaviours without which the regimes would deflate and crash to earth like punctured hot air balloons. According to this understanding, Israel and Iran have been on a collision course since the formerly close allies parted ways 45 years ago after the Iranian revolution. Let me explain. The raison d'être of the Israeli state is to protect its citizens above all – this is perhaps the one universal principle of an otherwise diverse and increasingly politically divided nation. The more that Israelis feel threatened, the more the state's identity becomes anchored to an inflexible security paradigm willing to compromise the lives and human security of others who are perceived as a 'threat', including Palestinians and those who support them. On the Iranian side, the Islamic Republic emerged out of a popular revolution against the repressive western-aligned Pahlavi monarchy. Again, like the State of Israel the Islamic Republic immediately faced attack and isolation, which led to regression into a narrow, paranoid oligarchy with a theocratic veneer. To offset flagging internal legitimacy, the regime exaggerated the Islamic character of the state by taking up the cause of Muslim justice abroad. The Palestinian issue and anti-Israel sentiment – manifested in the Axis of Resistance alliance – came to rest at the core of the Iranian regime's identity. A senior cleric of the ruling oligarchy expressed this reality perfectly in 2013 when he stated: 'The destruction of Israel is the idea of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and is one of the pillars of the Iranian Islamic regime. We cannot claim that we have no intention of going to war with Israel.' The two core paradigms of both states are mutually reinforcing – Iran props up its internal legitimacy by proclaiming a desire to destroy the Zionist state on behalf of Muslims, and Israel commits atrocities against Muslims in its search for security for Jews. Since the 2000s, the spectre of a nuclear-armed Iranian state amplified this cycle immensely. Israel has been planning to strike Iran's nuclear programme since at least 2007. At that time Israel embarrassed the Syrian regime and its Iranian ally by effortlessly evading air defences to destroy a nuclear research facility in Northeast Syria. The Israeli Defence Force then made clear its intention and capacity to do the same in Iran. What prevented Israel were Iran's regional assets, located on Israel's borders. If Israel were to attack Iran directly, they would have faced a barrage of missiles and rockets from resistance axis allies, Hamas and other militia in Gaza, and from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Syria also posed a possible threat from the Golan. This was the Iranian regime's outer defence rim and insurance policy. This changed after the October 7, 2023 attacks. By the end of 2024, Hamas and Hezbollah were no longer able to threaten Israel as before, the Al-Assad regime was gone and the path to Tehran and the Furdow, Netanz and other nuclear facilities were wide open. If US president Donald Trump had not restrained Netanyahu in the first months of 2025, the latter may have pulled the trigger on the attack even earlier. Trump, in consultation with Gulf allies during his May visit to the Middle East, which tellingly did not include Israel, was persuaded to leverage the vulnerable Iranian state into a more favourable nuclear deal. Talks were being facilitated by the neutral Omanis in Muscat. Trump had scotched the 2013-15 deal negotiated by Barak Obama, also hosted by Oman, in 2018. The latest round of talks were due to be held in Muscat on Sunday, June 15. The Iranians relaxed their security personal protocols put in place after the assassinations of top leaders via pinpoint strikes through 2024, believing that they were safe until at least after the talks. Netanyahu sensed the opportunity and his war cabinet ordered Operation Rising Lion. (Apart from a spike in pizza deliveries to the Pentagon on the day before the attacks it remains unclear how much knowedge the US had of the operation.) Where the current conflict will lead is not clear. At this point, it seems neither the Israelis nor the Iranians can change the script. The Israeli regime will act according to an ingrained impulse to destroy anything and anyone they think poses an existential risk to the State of Israel. The Islamic Republic will continue to fire back as much as they can with missiles and inflammatory rhetoric about the final destruction of Israel. It may be that only regime change in Tehran and Jerusalem via the Iranian and Israeli peoples can arrest the cycle.
