English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 01/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12/33-37/"‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgement you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.’"

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 30-October 01/2026
Joseph Aoun: The Diabolical Clone of Michel Aoun and Emile Lahoud/Elias Bejjani/September 30, 2026
With Ambassador Mouawad and With All Lebanese Who Believe in Peace With Israel and With All Peoples of the World, We Pray for the Healing of the Son of the Israeli Ambassador to America/Elias Bejjani/September 29/2026
A Cheap and Fake Theatrical War of Words Between Hezbollah and Gebran Bassil/Elias Bejjani/September 28, 2026
Video link and transcript of the Israeli Prime Minister’s interview with Hannity Channel-Fox news/Netanyahu explains in English (Arabic translation attached) the details of the miraculous survival of the Emirati aircraft that was carrying 170 passengers, most of them Israelis
Lebanon-Israel talks to resume in Florida on October 20, report says
Army says four wounded in explosion, not Israeli strike
Salam says Rubio was 'very understanding' during Washington meeting
Salam says Lebanon wants 'state-to-state relation' with Iran
Hezbollah denies any link to cell dismantled in Syria
Hezbollah, FPM try to contain fallout after war of words
Lebanon’s Rajji calls for Hezbollah disarmament, end to Israeli occupation during Washington talks
Lebanon justice minister: Hezbollah arms handover won’t harm sects, Beirut port indictment by year-end
Israeli strike on army vehicle in Nabatieh al-Fawqa seriously wounds Lebanese army serviceman, 3 civilians
Two Years After Nasrallah’s Death, Hezbollah Is Outsourcing its Survival and Revival /David Daoud/FDD-Policy Brief/September 30/2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 30-October 01/2026
Video link from Israel rabbi Pesach Wolicki/ The CRAZY Unnoticed Details in the Plane Hijacking + EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE
Netanyahu orders security to brace for more possible threats after flydubai incident
Katz says 'jihadist' pilot tried to crash flight from Dubai
What happened on board the rerouted flydubai plane?
Wounded Indian pilot from flydubai flight being treated in Saudi hospital: Embassy
Israeli PM hails Indian pilot wounded in diverted flydubai flight
Israeli airline El Al says planning to resume flights to Dubai in November
Iran says received US response to its proposal to end war
Attack on bus in Syria kills five: Security source to AFP

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 30-October 01/2026
Don’t let our next UN secretary-general be a shill for China, Cuba and Hamas/Ben Cohen and Richard Goldberg, opinion contributors/Hill/September 30/2026
America runs on GPS. It needs a backup plan/Johanna Yang/Threat Beat/September 30/2026
Board of Peace unveils Gaza recovery plan, Israel reports 18 ceasefire violations Sept. 15–29/Samuel Ben-Ur/FDD's Long War Journal/September 30/2026
America First Does Not Mean Israel Last/Pierre Rehov/Gatestone Institute/September 30/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on September 30/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 30-October 01/2026
Joseph Aoun: The Diabolical Clone of Michel Aoun and Emile Lahoud
Elias Bejjani/September 30, 2026
Where was Joseph Aoun on the day he delivered his oath speech, and where is he today? An exposure and a backward U-turn that has dashed hopes, and a blatant replication of Emile Lahoud and Michel Aoun.

With Ambassador Mouawad and With All Lebanese Who Believe in Peace With Israel and With All Peoples of the World, We Pray for the Healing of the Son of the Israeli Ambassador to America
Elias Bejjani/September 29/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157939/
With Ambassador Mouawad and With All Lebanese Who Believe in Peace With Israel and With All Peoples of the World, We Pray for the Healing of the Son of the Israeli Ambassador to America. With a heart wrenched with pain, and with an unwavering faith in the value of man and the sanctity of life, I stand today, as I stood the moment I heard the news of the heinous crime, to raise my prayer in reverence and supplication for the healing of the young man Neriya Leiter, the son of His Excellency the Ambassador of Israel to the United States, Mr. Yechiel Leiter.
This faithful young man, a family man and a father of four children, was subjected to a cowardly terrorist attack in the West Bank, where a Palestinian Jihadi terrorist deliberately rammed his car into him at full speed while he was on reserve duty. The terrorist criminal was killed in the confrontation with the Israeli security forces, while the Ambassador's son was transported with extremely serious wounds and injuries to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he underwent several delicate surgical operations, and he is still to this moment between life and death, unconscious.
The bitter cup of death is being tasted by the Ambassador's family for the second time. Just recently, at the beginning of the Gaza war, he lost his eldest son, who was a father of six children and fell defending his country and his people. And today, the same terror of hatred comes to target his second son. Yet despite all this pain, he remains a pillar of the wisdom of peace, and heads his country's delegation in the peace talks with Lebanon, believing deeply that peace is our destiny.
What happened is not merely a ramming attack. It is a direct attack on peace itself. It is a despicable attempt to assassinate everyone who believes in peace and works for it. They target you because you are a man of peace. They target you because you chose the language of dialogue instead of the language of rockets, and the culture of life instead of the culture of death.
Therefore, I repeat today what I said on the day he was injured: I, Elias Bejjani, the Lebanese expatriate activist, together with every free, honorable, faithful, and patriotic Lebanese who shares my national, political, and faith-based orientations, bow before your pain, and we pray with you and with your family, and we join our prayers to the prayers of hundreds of thousands around the world whom you yourself asked to pray for your son. "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)
And in this painful yet honorable context, I must pause with reverence and respect before the noble humanitarian and moral stance of Her Excellency the Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States, Mrs. Nada Homsi Mouawad, who heads our country's delegation in the peace talks with Israel alongside her colleague Ambassador Leiter. Israeli media reported that Ambassador Mouawad, out of purely humanitarian motives, contacted her Israeli colleague and wished his son a speedy recovery. This is the bare minimum dictated by human conscience, and the most basic rule of peaceful, moral, and diplomatic values.
But, as expected in an occupied and hijacked Lebanon, a savage, barbaric, and hateful campaign was launched against her by the groups of hatred, bigotry, obscurantism and inhumanity, represented by the terrorist, jihadi, and criminal Hezbollah, its media mouthpieces and its electronic flies, and she was forced to deny this humanitarian contact.
Today I extend a salute of admiration and reverence to Ambassador Nada Mouawad for her courageous humanitarian and moral gesture. She represents the true Lebanon, the Lebanon of the message, the Lebanon of peace, the Lebanon that the majority of my Lebanese people want. As for those who criticized and attacked her, they represent nothing but the culture of death and graves, the culture of hatred that has destroyed our homeland and turned it into a cemetery for the living.
I say to them loudly: "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes." (Proverbs 26:5)
And I conclude my prayer and solidarity with these holy words which are the constitution of my life:  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9). "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)
O Lord, God of Peace, place Your healing hand upon the body of Neriya Leiter. Bring him back safely to his wife and his four children, and to his bereaved father and mother. Grant the Leiter family strength and hope. And let his healing be a message that life will always triumph over death, and that peace will inevitably triumph over terrorism. I pray, and all free Lebanese who support my positions pray with me.

A Cheap and Fake Theatrical War of Words Between Hezbollah and Gebran Bassil
Elias Bejjani/September 28, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157883/
Gebran Bassil, who is listed under U.S. OFAC sanctions, and Nawaf Moussaoui, a member of Hezbollah, exchanged insults and verbal attacks on social media through a series of accusations, disparaging remarks, and personal attacks. We note here that this media campaign is a coordinated theatrical performance between the two sides aimed at boosting Gebran Bassil’s Christian popularity, which has fallen to very low levels., Bassil is a hypocrite, a charlatan, an opportunist, and a corrupt politician. He is a product of Hezbollah, just like the rest of the MPs in his Trojan-style political party. This type of media deception is well known among party leaders who come to each other’s aid in order to raise their popularity through verbal campaigns that, in practical terms, mean nothing, since they are all corrupt and cut from the same narcissistic cloth.

Video link and transcript of the Israeli Prime Minister’s interview with Hannity Channel-Fox news/Netanyahu explains in English (Arabic translation attached) the details of the miraculous survival of the Emirati aircraft that was carrying 170 passengers, most of them Israelis
September 30/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/09/157978/
Note: The interview was transcribed and its text, including all its wording, introduction, table of contents, summary, and translation into English, was formulated by Elias Bejjani freely with extensive assistance from Artificial Intelligence.
Introduction
In this exclusive interview with Sean Hannity, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells in detail what happened on the FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and what he learned from the passengers who stepped in to save the plane.
Headlines
Chapter 1: Heroic intervention on flight
Chapter 2: Radical terrorism and 9/11 parallel
Chapter 3: Geopolitical alliances – Trump, Iran and the West
Chapter 4: Investigation and conclusion
FULL SCRIPT – Regular Style
Sean: Jeff Paul, thank you tonight. Joining us now is Israeli Prime Minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for being with us. First of all, our deepest condolences. What can you tell us about who was responsible for this hijacking that took place in the sky, and I know you met with some of the heroes today, what can you tell us about what happened?
Netanyahu: Well, look, on a flight from Dubai to Israel, as they were approaching Israel, there was an attack by one of the pilots against the other pilot. Apparently he stabbed him or he hit him with an axe. He was bleeding profusely and the plane began to go out of control and began a nose dive. The pilot who was there, who was an Indian pilot, very badly wounded, he’s fighting I think for his life right now.
But in an act of unbelievable courage, he managed to unlock the door to the cockpit, and an Israeli citizen, passenger, rushed from row 16, he rushed to the cabin, but as the plane was swerving, he was knocked to his feet – knocked off his feet, in the place where the stewardesses are or the stewards are, and he managed in the moment, where the plane somehow had stopped – didn’t really stop but momentarily maybe hit an air bump or something, managed to enter the cockpit.
He saw the attacker not at the instruments, the other pilot, the attacking pilot trying to jam the instruments. He grabbed him from behind, pulled him back, got into the pilot’s seat, pulled the stick back, okay, and two others, an Israeli and another passenger, came in, or one of the air crews, corralled the attacker and then the reserve crew that was sitting with the passengers came in and managed to stabilize the plane.
I met with this Israeli, this unbelievable Israeli, his name is Hayoun, who did this thing. And I asked him, you know, how did you do it? And he said, well, I just had to do it. I had to act to save – his family was there, 174 passengers, most of whom were Israelis were there. He had to save them. And he acted with coolness of judgment and heroism that is just tremendous courage that prevented another 9/11.
I asked him, what do you do for a living? And he said, I’m a plumber. I unplug, you know, unclog sewage clogs. I said well you certainly unclogged a big one this time. An amazing act of heroism of his, of the Indian pilot, the people who helped him, they stopped a disaster that could have been global.
Sean: This is something you have experienced firsthand in your own family. We have been friends for 30 years. I have such admiration for your strength, the strength of the Israeli people under this constant threat of radical Islamic terrorism, and you lost your own brother at the rate, you have experienced this firsthand in your own life, and this constant threat, and yet meanwhile worldwide we see the rise of anti-Semitism I hear tonight the halls of Congress, college campuses, in the U.S. on the air waves some bigoted people. They don’t understand that your small population, October 7th, we are nearly at the third anniversary, that’s like the equivalent of 40,000 dead Americans, as you pointed out at the UN. What are they missing in terms of what radical Islamists are doing.
Netanyahu: Well, you just saw what they were doing. I don’t know the exact background of this person, the attacker, but he obviously hated Israelis because he was going to kill about 170 of them on this plane, killing himself, too. So that’s fanaticism and hatred of an incalculable level but that’s what we’re facing and that’s what the entire Western world and America are facing.
And I think President Trump understands it, many of the American people understand it. But there’s some who have fallen prey to this propaganda, you know, primarily carried out on social media that vilifies Israel. Israel is the David here fighting this Goliath of global Islam, Islam fundamentalists, fundamental that seeks death to Israel, death to America, that’s what they chant, death to everything in between and this is something we recognize and I think we recognize it with incredible heroism.
Because look at what happened here. Look at what happened on 9/11. I don’t know if you know this, Sean. The first casualty of 9/11 was a brilliant Israeli entrepreneur, Daniel Lewin, he had been an officer in my unit, special unit in the military. And you’re right, this is the unit, I myself was wounded in the rescue of a hijacked Belgian airplane when we rescued passengers again taken by Islamist terrorists.
So, you know, what happened here, what happened then is that Lewin took – basically attacked the attackers, the hijackers, that were en route to the White House with one of those suicide planes and he was then stabbed in the back by another hijacker. He was the first casualty of 9/11, an American/Israeli. He was the first casualty.
Now you had the possibility of having another 9/11, and an Israeli passenger, a civilian, I met this guy, he’s an incredible hero. Look at what he did under impossible circumstances. I spoke earlier today with President Trump who really was appreciative of this. And he said, you know, when a plane is nose diving, the passengers, including 30 children, are already saying their prayers, they know they’re gone from this world. And this young man just acts with incredible, incredible heroism and saves the day along with the Indian pilot who was there and the others who came to help.
But without his daring deed, without his courage, we would have faced a disaster of unbelievable proportion. Think about it. I don’t know your next hijack make sure an Israeli is sitting next to you.
Sean: Thank God everything worked out. That plane dropped 18,000 feet. That is a massive drop.
You know, under the two years that President Trump has been back, this powerful relationship between you and the President has prevented the radical regime in Iran that chants death to Israel, death to America, the number one state sponsor of terror, this powerful partnership has rid the world of any chance that the Iranians will ever have nuclear weapons.
I know you’re up for a critical election coming up in October, and I hope the people of Israel understand this powerful partnership of moral clarity needs to continue. Because I don’t have a lot of hope in our Western European and NATO allies. I do not. They don’t have the moral clarity. They didn’t join with Israel and the U.S. in stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons. They allowed unfettered illegal immigration with unfettered assimilation. We saw in Great Britain. Their lack of clarity which is why your role and President Trump’s role is so critical right now in my view. I’m saying to my friends in Israel get out and vote for my friend Bibi because it’s vital to the world, sir.
Netanyahu: Well, thank you. Look, you talked about this thing in Britain. You want to hear how absurd things are there and how far the anti Israel propaganda has gone. We gave the Brits the intel that there was going to be an attack, an Iranian sponsored attack and pretty much the next day they slapped sanctions on us, on us. So it’s wild. I mean, the caving in, the collapse before the Islamist Marxist alliance is very dangerous for the future of the West. I think many in America recognize it. President Trump recognizes it, Israel recognizes it and we’re willing to act when necessary as was done today obviously by a brave Israeli passenger and his colleagues. I have to tell you that I think President Trump’s policy on slapping these sanctions the blockade on Iran, I think it’s very effective in crippling the economic capability of this regime to finance terrorism globally, worldwide, terrorism that is ultimately directed at you. See, we’re just in the way. We’re in the way of conquering the entire Middle East but the real goal is you, America.
Sean: Yeah.
Netanyahu: That’s why they chant – they call us the little Satan and you’re the big Satan and they’re out to get the big Satan and sooner or later I think the majority of Americans will recognize it.
Sean: We saw a world without any moral compass or clarity.
We saw moral cowardice at the UN when they walked out on your very powerful speech I thought. Is there any indication now of any Iranian involvement in this incident that you could share with us. Netanyahu: It’s too early to say. The attacking pilot is being now – is now being investigated in Saudi Arabia. I think he’ll be taken to the Emirates where he comes from, or at least where he left, where he flew off from. And we’ll be following and possibly participating in this investigation so we’ll find out. But it’s no secret that Iran wants to target Israelis abroad, wants to target Israel here. We understand that. And, in fact, we see signs of not only from them but from their proxies that they’re interested in perpetrating attacks certainly by Hamas and by Hezbollah right before the elections. We have clear evidence of that. But I think that whether or not this was carried out as part of that plan, that we don’t know yet. But I think the fact that you had here the unbelievable resourcefulness of just ordinary citizens, this guy had, you know, his wife and kids sitting there. I asked the children, what happened when the plane was nose diving and the kid said, we flew to the ceiling.
So you can imagine the havoc there, the people were already saying their prayers, they thought they were going to all crash and die. And they were saved. Saved by heroes, by the Indian pilot, by the Israeli passenger, by the others who came to their help. I think this is unbelievable. You know, when I saw him, he had – he was completely stained with the blood of this pilot who was almost butchered to death by this attacker. So we’ll find out. We’ll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it. I think we’ll find out very soon.
Sean: All right. Mr. Prime Minister, I’m glad everyone is safe, thank God that man acted the way he did. Incredible heroism. It’s interesting, from my point of view, I think it’s a badge of honor that when you went to the UN, I was glad that you lectured Mamdani, he deserved it, and all those moral cowards that walked out and you stood up to all of them, and those are the people that don’t want the U.S. and Israel to be the close allies that we are, which is why we must keep this alliance strong and we’re going to be watching your race very closely and you’re in our prayers and as are all the passengers and the heroes of today. And we’re glad they’re safe. Mr. Prime Minister, th…
Opinion and Conclusion
Opinion: Netanyahu frames the FlyDubai incident as more than an aviation incident. He presents it as another example of radical fanaticism targeting Israelis, similar to October 7th and 9/11. By linking Daniel Lewin, the first victim of 9/11, to Hayoun the plumber who saved this flight, he highlights a narrative of everyday heroism.
Conclusion: According to Netanyahu, the facts are: an attacking pilot tried to crash the plane with an axe, the Indian co-pilot was critically wounded but managed to unlock the cockpit, Israeli passenger Hayoun from row 16 stormed in despite the 18,000 feet nose dive, pulled the attacker away and stabilized the aircraft with help from others, saving 174 people including 30 children who were already praying. The investigation is ongoing in Saudi Arabia and will move to the UAE. Iranian involvement is not yet confirmed.

Lebanon-Israel talks to resume in Florida on October 20, report says
Naharnet/September 30/2026
U.S.-sponsored negotiations between Lebanon and Israel are expected to resume in Tampa, Florida, ahead of the upcoming Israeli elections, a local media report said.
The report published Wednesday on MTV claimed that the new round of talks is tentatively scheduled for October 20. "Discussions in Tampa are expected to focus on military, security, and ground-level arrangements aimed at solidifying the existing ceasefire and finalizing the framework agreement," MTV said.

Army says four wounded in explosion, not Israeli strike
Agence France Presse/September 30/2026
The Lebanese military said on Wednesday that the explosion of an unknown object wounded a soldier and three civilians, after initially saying it was an Israeli strike. "A soldier and three civilians were wounded in the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area as a result of an explosion while the army was escorting residents to inspect their properties in the area," the army said in a statement. "Following investigations and an engineering inspection, it was determined that the incident was caused by the explosion of a suspicious object," it added. The military had initially said the soldier and civilians were wounded by an Israeli strike on a military vehicle.Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement in June under U.S. auspices, which involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones".Violence has decreased since the signing of the agreement and of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding earlier that month. Lebanon's military deployed in two of the "pilot zones" in July, but the implementation of the agreement has been stalled since then. In his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pushed for the agreement to be further implemented. Hezbollah meanwhile refuses to lay down its weapons, and Israel still carries out strikes on Lebanon and occupies land in its south despite the agreement.

Salam says Rubio was 'very understanding' during Washington meeting
Naharnet/September 30/2026 
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in their Monday meeting in Washington that the implementation of the framework agreement with Israel should be "reciprocal."Salam told MTV that disarming Hezbollah is "a Lebanese demand above all else". He said he told Rubio "you need two to tango, whereas we are three today," hinting at Israel's occupation of south Lebanon. "Rubio was very understanding," he said.

Salam says Lebanon wants 'state-to-state relation' with Iran
Naharnet/September 30/2026 
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said that Lebanon wants “a state-to-state relationship with Iran based on mutual respect,” adding that “this is what we asked of the Iranians” during his meeting with the Iranian delegation in New York. As for the trilateral agreement with Israel, Salam told Asharq Bloomberg in an interview that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “is aligned with us on the necessity of having a verification process for the trilateral agreement.”Turning to Hezbollah’s weapons and the state’s monopoly on arms, Salam said: “We agreed on placing all weapons under the exclusive authority of the state. Hezbollah agreed to this by being part of the government. We reiterated it in the ministerial statement, and Parliament granted us confidence on that basis.”

Hezbollah denies any link to cell dismantled in Syria
Agence France Presse/September 30/2026
Hezbollah denied on Wednesday any connection to a cell that Syrian authorities said they had dismantled in the country's south and which they accused of being affiliated with the Lebanese group.A statement from the Iran-backed group's media office said it "categorically denies any relationship or connection between Hezbollah and the alleged cell" and emphasized that "it has no presence whatsoever on Syrian territory and has no involvement in any security or military activity there."On Tuesday, Syria said intelligence services and security forces "thwarted a sabotage plot in the Yarmuk basin in Daraa (province) and arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell composed of three individuals." Authorities said the cell attempted "to prepare rocket launch platforms with the aim of carrying out attacks to destabilize security and stability," without specifying the target. The Yarmuk basin area, where state media has previously reported Israeli incursions and shelling, borders the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, as well as Jordan. Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections scheduled for late October.Syria's new authorities, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, are hostile to Hezbollah, which is a sworn enemy of Israel and fought on Assad's side during the Syrian civil war. Authorities have previously said they dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, accusations the group has denied.
In Wednesday's statement, Hezbollah accused Israel of seeking to disrupt ties between Lebanon and Syria. It called on Syrian authorities "to identify the real beneficiary of escalating tensions between the two countries, namely the Israeli enemy."Last month, Hezbollah's chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said he had no objection to meeting openly with Syria's leadership. In June, responding to a question about whether he would sit at the table with Hezbollah, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that "if this serves Lebanon's interests and safeguards Syria's interests, why not."

Hezbollah, FPM try to contain fallout after war of words
Naharnet/September 30/2026
It appears that the political leaderships of Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement have intervened to “contain the fallout and prevent a deeper rift,” following the latest war of words between the two parties, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has reported. Sources close to Hezbollah told the daily that "despite the heated dispute that broke out, the relationship between the two parties remains intact." They noted that the visit made by a Hezbollah delegation to Bassil in early September was characterized by a good and positive atmosphere, during which Bassil raised the possibility of resuming meetings and coming up with a new shared vision to navigate the upcoming period. The sources pointed out that "following Bassil’s recent statements, a reaction ensued from (Hezbollah official Nawaf) al-Moussawi, given that the positions taken by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement were deemed unacceptable by Hezbollah's popular base." However, they stressed that "both sides are keen on overcoming what happened, and efforts are currently underway to achieve that." FPM deputy head Naji Hayek meanwhile confirmed to the newspaper that "parliamentary communication continues -- even with our political opponents -- and will continue with Hezbollah despite the current exchange of insults between the supporters of both parties.""We do not burn bridges with anyone, but we say what needs to be said at the appropriate time without sugarcoating. We realize that some will be displeased by our frankness, but at the end of the day, that is their problem, not ours," Hayek said. He also reaffirmed the FPM’s "openness to dialogue with everyone without exception, unless there are parties that refuse to engage in dialogue and communication with us." Moussawi and MP Hassan Fadlallah had recently snapped back at Bassil, after he criticized Hezbollah over its recent two wars with Israel. Bassil has infuriated Hezbollah and its supporters by saying that they are still present in the wake of the latest two wars with Israel but have become “destitute, displaced, emigrant and bankrupt.”“Unfortunately, a large portion of our people have fallen into surrender and despair … Is this the outcome? Is this the victory that we want?” Bassil added. “I’m blaming Hezbollah because it implicated us in a war that we should not have engaged in, because it is not managing to get out of it and because it is not helping us to get out of it,” the FPM chief and former Hezbollah ally added. Moussawi commented on Bassil's recent remarks by saying: "I am certain that no one in Lebanon likes this person; only (slain Hezbollah chief) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah used to tolerate him, and his words are disgraceful."

Lebanon’s Rajji calls for Hezbollah disarmament, end to Israeli occupation during Washington talks
LBCI/September 30/2026
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji attended a discussion hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, chaired by Elliott Abrams and attended by council members, journalists and representatives of research centers. The discussion covered Lebanon's political situation, delays in implementing the framework agreement, Hezbollah's weapons, UNIFIL's future and relations with Syria's new government. Rajji thanked the council for the invitation and praised Abrams' supportive role during Lebanon's Cedar Revolution. He stressed that Lebanon's priority is stability, saying Lebanese citizens want to restore the country's position as a regional cultural, tourism and economic hub, which cannot be achieved while weapons remain outside state control. Describing the government's decision to establish exclusive state control over weapons as courageous, Rajji said Lebanon's stability and prosperity require an end to Israeli occupation and Hezbollah's disarmament. He added that progress was being made in implementing government decisions. "We want peace with all our neighbors," he said. Rajji also called on Iran to stop interfering in Lebanese affairs, describing the Lebanese army as the country's only hope. He praised U.S. military assistance and expressed hope that Washington would maintain its support. He reiterated the government's commitment to direct negotiations under U.S. auspices, describing them as the only way to recover Lebanese territory and enable displaced residents to return to their villages.Asked about the Lebanese diaspora, Rajji highlighted its continued support for Lebanon wherever its members reside. He also pointed to the emigration of young people and skilled professionals, stressing that rebuilding the state is essential to encouraging their return.

Lebanon justice minister: Hezbollah arms handover won’t harm sects, Beirut port indictment by year-end
LBCI/September 30/2026
Lebanon’s Justice Minister Adel Nassar said there is no discussion over the principle of handing Hezbollah’s weapons to the state, stressing that this was part of an agreement reached and that the group’s weapons had brought only destruction to Lebanon. Nassar said the reasons for keeping the weapons were either to prepare for another war or to obstruct negotiations, adding that handing them over to the state would not negatively affect any sect. “The weapons have brought nothing but disasters, reckless adventures, destruction and death over the past 37 years,” Nassar said.He also stressed the importance of reminding Lebanese citizens that they should not be left anxious over what could happen if war resumes between Iran and the United States. On the Beirut port blast investigation, Nassar said the probe was proceeding on the right track and that authorities were awaiting the judicial investigator’s final indictment. He expressed hope that it would be issued before the end of the year.

Israeli strike on army vehicle in Nabatieh al-Fawqa seriously wounds Lebanese army serviceman, 3 civilians
LBCI/September 30/2026
A Lebanese army serviceman was seriously wounded after an Israeli strike targeted an army vehicle in the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area. Three civilians were also wounded in the strike, according to the army.

Two Years After Nasrallah’s Death, Hezbollah Is Outsourcing its Survival and Revival
David Daoud/FDD-Policy Brief/September 30/2026
Two years after Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah finds itself commemorating its dead leader from a weaker position.
Israel has killed thousands of Hezbollah fighters and occupies part of southern Lebanon. The terror organization’s finances are also constrained: though Iran sent Hezbollah more than $1 billion in 2025, the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria constricted its transfer routes. It also risks increasing domestic opposition should it forcefully counter Lebanon’s verbal commitment to disarming the group.
Amid these constraints, Hezbollah’s survival and regeneration increasingly rest on assets outside its formal hierarchy: social organizations absorb the costs its wars impose on Shiites, while Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his AMAL Movement use their ostensible moderation to protect the “resistance” in Lebanese institutions and international fora.
Outsourcing the Social Burden
WaTaawanou President Afif Shouman said he and colleagues created WaTaawanou, a charitable organization that fundraises through crowdfunding, after Nasrallah urged supporters to help Hezbollah “shoulder the burden” because it could no longer meet its constituency’s needs.
WaTaawanou is neither formally part of Hezbollah nor under U.S. sanctions. It raises money from Lebanese donors, expatriates, and foreign donors through Whish Money, OMT/Western Union, MoneyGram, and its account at Hezbollah’s sanctioned quasi-bank, Al-Qard al-Hassan.
Those donations pay expenses Hezbollah would otherwise have to cover. After the 2024 war, WaTaawanou provided food, medicine, housing, agricultural aid, and school rehabilitation. In south Lebanon’s Ramyeh, its Al-Wajh al-Hassan project installed prefabricated housing, planned repairs to 20 classrooms, and aid for roughly 200 farmers.
Though Hezbollah is not fronting those costs, WaTaawanou’s branding — and the credit —points back to Hezbollah. Shouman said the association belongs to the “Resistance environment,” crediting its development to Nasrallah’s “direct and foundational guidance.” He added that the organization’s efforts follow Nasrallah’s injunction that no one go hungry, no patient lack hospital care, and no student lack a school. Al-Wajh al-Hassan is named for Nasrallah, whose face brands the project. Hezbollah flags and symbols adorn WaTaawanou’s premises and events.
Shouman described the division of labor as Hezbollah’s fighters defending the community while WaTaawanou supports the population behind them. That constituency constrains the Lebanese government: 87.5 percent of Shiites opposed Hezbollah’s disarmament in a May 2026 Information International poll. As a result of this support, the government has ruled out coercively disarming Hezbollah to avoid domestic strife or civil war.
Hezbollah’s Institutional Shield
Hezbollah similarly outsourced political representation to Berri during the 2024 ceasefire negotiations. As parliament speaker and leader of AMAL, Lebanon’s other major Shiite party, Berri could carry Hezbollah’s red lines into domestic and foreign negotiations as a constitutional actor. Hezbollah assigned Berri to negotiate the U.S. proposal that became the November 27 ceasefire, while Secretary-General Naim Qassem declared “full confidence” in Berri’s efforts and called him Hezbollah’s “elder brother.”
In May 2025, Hezbollah parliamentary bloc leader Mohammad Raad praised Berri’s “resistant positions” and commitment to the “option of resistance and liberation.” Ahead of the August 5 cabinet session on nationwide disarmament of non-state actors, Berri — echoing Hezbollah — pushed a national-defense formula omitting a commitment to Hezbollah disarmament. He has since called the resistance’s weapons “our pride and honor” and said their fate required “calm, consensual dialogue,” not threats. In April 2026, Berri warned Israeli troops in Lebanon would face “resistance.” After the U.S.-brokered June 26 Israel-Lebanon Framework agreement tied Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah’s disarmament, he dismissed it as “dictates” and said it “won’t be implemented.”
Pressuring the Buffers
Treasury could designate WaTaawanou under Executive Order 13224 for materially assisting or providing goods and services in support of Hezbollah, based on its coordination with Hezbollah institutions and use of Hezbollah financial infrastructure. A designation would restrict the financial access that makes WaTaawanou useful as an external social-support mechanism. Washington can also pressure Berri and AMAL to stop obstructing Hezbollah’s disarmament by gradually continuing to sanction AMAL personnel or structures — like its military arm, the Lebanese Resistance Detachments — that materially assist Hezbollah.
*David Daoud is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) focused on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs. For more analysis from David, please subscribe HERE. Follow David on X @DavidADaoud. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 30-October 01/2026
رابط فيديو/بالإنكليزية وقائع وتفاصيل العجيبة الإلهية التي انقذت الطائرة وركابها الإسرائيليين
Video link from Israel rabbi Pesach Wolicki/ The CRAZY Unnoticed Details in the Plane Hijacking + EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byty86rcpeU&t=486s
Pesach Wolicki youtube site//September 30/2026
Elias Bejjni/what actually happened was a real miracle. It was Almighty God who intervened and saved the plane and its passengers .

Netanyahu orders security to brace for more possible threats after flydubai incident
Agence France Presse/Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that one of the pilots of a flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv had planned to crash it and kill its mostly Israeli passengers, who stopped a "major disaster.""During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message, calling the passengers "heroes" who "prevented a major disaster."Netanyahu added that "the stabbing pilot has been arrested and is currently being interrogated by the Saudi authorities."He also said that he has instructed the Israeli security system to prepare for additional threats. Netanyahu had on Tuesday said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections, and was accused of "fear-mongering" by the opposition chief.

Katz says 'jihadist' pilot tried to crash flight from Dubai
Agence France Presse/September 30/2026
Israeli leaders said on Wednesday that a "jihadist" pilot had aimed to crash a flydubai plane with mostly Israeli passengers, who overpowered him and prevented a "major disaster".
"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message.He said he spoke to an Israeli passenger who broke into the cockpit as the plane started to plummet and fought the pilot who was trying to bring down the aircraft."Another air crew member who was on the plane entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the aircraft," Netanyahu said. "I salute these heroes, who showed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives; they prevented a major disaster."
Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident as "an attempted jihadist terror attack" that was "thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers." Katz did not identify his source for assigning a motive to the pilot, whose identity has not been revealed, though Israeli reports have said he is Omani. Netanyahu said the pilot who allegedly stabbed his colleague "has been arrested and is currently being interrogated by the Saudi authorities".
"I have instructed the security services to prepare for additional potential threats. We are conducting ongoing situation assessments," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu a day earlier had warned of potential attacks ahead of Israel's October 27 election, leading opposition chief Yair Lapid to accuse him of fear-mongering. Katz took a veiled swipe at Lapid, saying the government's security warnings should be taken seriously by "both our enemies outside and former insiders who are not up to date."
Katz also noted that the security warnings issued by him and Netanyahu had been “based on intelligence.”Katz added that the government’s security warnings were not a substitute for military action. “Every warning has several addresses and purposes,” he said. “Most importantly, the warnings never come at the expense of the proactive and offensive activity we are leading together with the IDF (Israeli army) against every threat, and they are no substitute for it,” he added. Flydubai, however, cautioned against reaching conclusions about the motive while the investigation is still underway. “At this early stage, the causes and motives behind the incident are unknown and remain subject to an official investigation,” the airline said. “We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while the authorities gather the facts.”
The airline’s position leaves a clear gap between Israel’s current assessment of the incident and flydubai’s official account. Israeli officials have increasingly described the episode as an attempted terrorist attack, while the carrier says investigators have yet to establish its cause or motive. Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev has asked Netanyahu to immediately suspend Flydubai flights to Israel until the circumstances of the incident are clarified.
Regev said the airline had violated the aviation agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which she said allows only pilots from countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel to land in Israel. An Israeli official said the Omani pilot suspected in the incident had never previously landed in Israel. A Transportation Ministry official called the episode a “mega-event,” saying: “We came very close to a major disaster that was prevented.”
Regev is also demanding that Israeli airlines be permitted to resume flights to Dubai with Israeli security screening. Israeli carriers are currently unable to operate the route because of a dispute over security arrangements.

What happened on board the rerouted flydubai plane?
Agence France Presse/September 30/2026
A plane heading to Tel Aviv from Dubai was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, after one of the pilots allegedly tried to crash the plane and kill everyone onboard.
Flight FZ 1703 took off from Dubai at 0305 GMT.
Here's what we know about what unfolded on board:
- 0521 GMT. Sudden loss of altitude -
The aircraft suddenly plummeted a little over two hours into the flight.
The plane dropped from nearly 34,000 feet at 0521 GMT to less than 17,000 feet at 0522 GMT, according to data from the Flightradar24 website.
- 0531 GMT. Distress signal -
The plane transmitted a general emergency signal at 0531 GMT, followed by a code to report a hijacking at 0538 GMT, according to Israeli media reports.
Israel's public broadcaster Kan and Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military scrambled fighter jets after initial fears of a hijacking.
- Fight between pilots -
The plane begin to spin "pretty much out of control", passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said that one pilot had stabbed the other in an attempt to take over and crash the plane.
- Passenger pilots take over -
Passengers broke into the cockpit and overpowered the pilot who had tried to take control of the plane, Israeli officials said.
Another crew member who was flying on the plane was given command to fly the plane, Israeli officials said.
- 0645 GMT. Plane lands in Tabuk -
According to a statement from the company operating the airport, the flydubai plane landed in the northern Saudi town of Tabuk "at 9:45 am (0645 GMT) and its captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital."
Passengers began to post footage from the plane, including of an Israeli man with blood trickling from a wound on his hand pleading for assistance.
- Netanyahu says 'major incident' averted -
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying the incident was "under control".In a video statement afterwards, Netanyahu saluted the "heroes" on board who "prevented a major disaster". Netanyahu added that Saudi authorities had arrested the co-pilot, who was being interrogated. Katz called it an "attempted jihadist terror attack".
- Around 1349 GMT. New flight departs -
After medical attention in Tabuk, a new plane takes off to bring the passengers to their original destination, Tel Aviv.

Wounded Indian pilot from flydubai flight being treated in Saudi hospital: Embassy
LBCI/September 30/2026
Delhi's embassy in Saudi Arabia said the Indian pilot injured during the altercation on a flydubai flight on Wednesday was being treated in a hospital in Tabuk following an emergency landing there earlier in the day. "Our Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah have been following the health condition of Mr Smit Machchhar, the brave Indian pilot of Flydubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk today," read a statement posted by the Indian embassy online."He is admitted in a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia and receiving necessary medical attention."AFP

Israeli PM hails Indian pilot wounded in diverted flydubai flight
LBCI//September 30/2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Indian pilot who was wounded in an altercation with his copilot who allegedly tried to crash a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday.
"My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery. Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back... preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals," Netanyahu wrote on X. AFP

Israeli airline El Al says planning to resume flights to Dubai in November
LBCI/September 30/2026
Israel's national carrier El Al said Wednesday it is preparing to resume flights to Dubai, following an incident involving a flight operated by Emirati low cost airline flydubai between the two countries."El Al announces preparations to resume its operations on the Tel Aviv–Dubai route during the month of November," the company wrote in a statement, noting that an eight-month suspension was due to the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran in late February. AFP

Iran says received US response to its proposal to end war
Associated Press/September 30/2026
Iranian officials indicated Wednesday they have received an official U.S. response to Tehran's latest proposal to end the seven-month war, which U.S. President Donald Trump had publicly rejected just days earlier. The officials did not say what the response contained, and whether it was a rejection or not. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the U.S. response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told the state-run IRNA news agency.. "We will make every effort to bring the agreement to fruition and will firmly stand up for the rights of the Iranian people," Pezeshkian said. "The agreement must now be based on a win-win strategy."The Cabinet meeting follows Araghchi's return to Iran after travelling to New York for the U.N. General Assembly last week. While there, officials held indirect talks with U.S. officials and also met with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders. Araghchi briefed the Cabinet on his trip to New York and the meetings he held there, including Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Mohajerani said had been conveyed through mediators. Araghchi last week said he floated the proposal to reopen the strait in a week if the U.S. agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions. Trump swiftly rejected the proposal, saying Iran wanted to make a deal because it was "losing so badly" but that its offer "would not be acceptable."Despite Trump's public rebuffing, mediators continued working with Iran and the United States on trying to broker a deal to end the fighting and open the strait, according to officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, the Trump administration says it is is pushing forward with economic warfare against Tehran as the prospects of the two sides coming to an agreement appears uncertain. The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled new sanctions on Tuesday targeting people and companies around the globe that it accuses of being financial facilitators or enablers of Iran's military supply chain. The latest action by the U.S. administration is part of the administration's "Operation Economic Outcast" campaign, aimed at severing "critical financial lifelines" for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.Ten individuals and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan now face sanctions over accusations of procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran's defense ministry as it fights its now seven-month war against the U.S.
Iran's economy is spiraling further.Iran's economy, which was under heavy strain before the war started, has been in a freefall since the conflict began in late February. The country's currency fell to a new record low on Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar in a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy.The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.Trump on Tuesday said that Iran is "failing very badly, very badly" and predicted anew that the war will be "over with very, very soon." At the onset of the conflict, he had predicted that the war would last just weeks. More recently, Trump said he expects it won't end until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections in the U.S. Iran executes 2 men on charges of violence during January protests. Also on Wednesday, two men were executed in Iran over their role in violence during nationwide anti-government protests in January, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Citing the country's judiciary, IRNA said the men took part in unrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad that left four members of the security forces dead earlier this year. Their death sentences were upheld by Iran's Supreme Court before being carried out Wednesday morning. The unrest began Dec. 28 amid anger over Iran's collapsing currency and worsening economy and quickly spread across the country, with demonstrators increasingly calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Iranian authorities responded with a deadly crackdown. Rights groups say thousands were killed and tens of thousands arrested, while Iranian authorities have reported a substantially lower death toll.

Attack on bus in Syria kills five: Security source to AFP
LBCI/September 30/2026
An attack on a bus killed five people in Syria's Homs province on Wednesday, a security source told AFP.The attack also wounded four other people, the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that the bus carried "engineers and labourers working for a private electricity company".AFP

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 30-October 01/2026
Don’t let our next UN secretary-general be a shill for China, Cuba and Hamas
Ben Cohen and Richard Goldberg, opinion contributors/Hill/September 30/2026
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/6115339-us-veto-un-secretary-general/
The race to choose the next U.N. secretary-general has yet to produce a clear frontrunner, but at least one candidate currently making headway should ring alarm bells in Washington.
The most recent straw poll of U.N. Security Council members showed Rebeca Grynspan, a former Costa Rican vice-president who has led the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development since 2021, with a razor-thin lead. But right behind her was Guyana’s current ambassador to the U.N., Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who had led in the previous straw poll. To win the position, a successful candidate needs the backing of nine of the 15 members of the council while avoiding the vetoes of any of its five permanent members — the U.S., China, the United Kingdom, France and Russia.
The U.S. has good reason to doubt the suitability of Rodrigues-Birkett, who will be stepping up her efforts to win the post, especially as several world leaders said at the recent U.N. General Assembly that they wanted to see a woman at the helm of the U.N. Although Guyana is a U.S. ally, Rodrigues-Birkett’s positions are more aligned with the Chinese Communist Party, the Cuban regime and Hamas than the U.S. and its closest allies. Indeed, China — Washington’s principal global adversary — appears likely to endorse her. Amid an increasingly torrid domestic debate about the regulation of Artificial Intelligence, Rodrigues-Birkett has endorsed China’s newly launched World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. Among the 29 members who signed this organization’s founding agreement, you will find such authoritarian U.S. adversaries as Russia, Cuba and Nicaragua. At a time when the U.S. is attempting to maintain dominance in the AI sector as well as deal with its social challenges, it certainly does not need a UN Secretary General in China’s pocket on this question — or, indeed, on others.
Rodrigues-Birkett’s affinity for China was on full display when she took her campaign to Beijing in July. While four other hopefuls also visited the Chinese capital, she was the only one to support explicitly the 1971 U.N. General Assembly resolution recognizing the People’s Republic of China as “the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations.” China’s communist regime routinely invokes this resolution to justify shutting democratic Taiwan out of the U.N. system entirely. Washington has consistently rejected China’s contention that the resolution bars Taiwan from meaningful participation in international organizations.Additionally, China’s official readout noted that Rodrigues-Birkett “spoke highly of the four major global initiatives proposed by China.” Those four initiatives — on development, security, civilization and global governance — are central pillars of President Xi Jinping’s effort to recast the rules and institutions of international cooperation in ways that serve Beijing. Rodrigues-Birkett has also been a supporter of a communist regime in our own hemisphere. In a 2013 speech, she lauded the late dictator Fidel Castro, who imposed Soviet-style communism on Cuba, as a “visionary, determined revolutionary.” In the same year, while serving as Guyana’s foreign minister, she sponsored a motion in that country’s National Assembly condemning the U.S. blockade of Cuba. In a related interview, she claimed that Cuba — which has imprisoned thousands of dissidents, punishing their families in many cases as well, as one would expect from a totalitarian regime — “has been kind to everyone.”
Concerns about Rodrigues-Birkett extend to her views on the war in Gaza, too. In the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel, she paid lip service to the plight of the abducted hostages but squarely placed the blame for the escalating conflict on Israel, accusing Jerusalem of executing a “veritable genocide.”She has also pushed aggressively for the continued involvement in postwar Gaza of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency — the U.N. refugee agency dedicated solely to Palestinians. The U.S. has called for the agency’s abolition because as many as 100 of its then-current or former employees allegedly participated in the Hamas atrocities, and because the inspector general for USAID is investigating alleged links to terrorism by as many as 1,500 of its current and former employees. The U.S. needs a U.N. Secretary General who will support the success of President Trump’s plan to stabilize Gaza by pressing for the disarmament of Hamas, rather than amplifying its propaganda while defending a U.N. agency that has provided the terrorists with material support. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. can veto a recommendation to elect Rodrigues-Birkett. It should do so, even if that comes with protests back in Guyana.
*Richard Goldberg is a Senior Advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Ben Cohen is a Research Fellow.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

America runs on GPS. It needs a backup plan
Johanna Yang/Threat Beat/September 30/2026
Most Americans think GPS merely provides directions: open the map, follow the blue dot and get where you need to go. But that’s just the consumer application. The national security applications of GPS are much bigger and more consequential. Unless the U.S. government makes this system of satellites surrounding the globe more resilient, however, adversaries can disrupt or falsify information, putting American security and productivity at risk. GPS helps aircraft, ships, trucks, emergency responders and military units know where they are. Just as important, it provides precise timing that helps communications networks, power grids, transportation and financial systems stay synchronized. GPS doesn’t have the visibility of pipelines, airports, power plants or banks. But it sits quietly beneath (and above) many of those functions. Simply put, GPS technology is one of the critical dependencies that makes modern life work – and our adversaries know it. Here’s the point that Washington has to absorb: our adversaries do not need to blow up satellites to exploit American dependence on GPS. Threat actors can target signals, confuse receivers or corrupt timing sources – and the consequences can be severe. If timing becomes unreliable, telecommunications can suffer, financial transactions can lose traceability, power grid operators can lose precision and transportation systems can be crippled. Jamming is a daily reality in the Baltic Sea, where the Russian military blocks GPS signals across NATO territory so persistently that Finland’s national airline was forced to temporarily suspend flights to Estonia in early 2024. In 2023, spoofed signals sent pilots of at least 20 civilian aircraft flying dangerously close to Iranian airspace without clearance, a scenario that could easily have triggered an international incident.
The United States still operates the world’s premier GPS system. But legacy leadership is not a maintenance plan. GPS modernization plans have dragged for years and the Department of Transportation lacks a strategic plan to prioritize GPS resilience efforts even as the country’s dependence on GPS has grown. That gap should make policymakers extremely uncomfortable.
For years, the answer was supposed to be the Next Generation Operational Control System, known as OCX. But the Space Force terminated the program in April, saying it could not deliver needed capabilities on an operationally relevant timeline at an acceptable level of operational and technical risk to existing GPS operations. Washington cannot afford to shrug that off. The program failed. The requirement did not. The country still needs secure GPS command-and-control, better cyber and jamming resilience, and faster integration of advanced capabilities.
The United States should embark on a three-pronged prioritized GPS upgrade, starting with completing the transition to modernized GPS signals. The L5 signal is an advanced civilian satellite frequency that delivers significantly higher power, wider bandwidth and superior resistance to jamming and spoofing interference compared to legacy bands. It is optimized for safety-critical uses like aviation. That does not make L5 invulnerable; no signal is. But it gives users a stronger, more resilient foundation than continued reliance on legacy bands alone. L5 satellites are already in orbit, but their benefits remain largely theoretical as few devices are equipped to receive and utilize it. The federal government needs to validate the “health” of the L5 signal so that civilians and the military can use it.
The second priority is command and control – the nerve center of the entire GPS system. The U.S. needs ground systems that can securely operate the GPS constellation, support modern signals, and respond to cyber and electronic warfare threats. The United States needs to upgrade legacy ground control and global monitoring systems and decentralize ground control networks so that they can function and mitigate threats independently. The third priority is backup Positioning, Navigation and Timing, the collection of technologies and systems that underpin GPS and satellite networks, and where Washington’s failure is hardest to excuse. Congress already directed the Department of Transportation to establish, sustain and operate a resilient and reliable alternative timing system to complement and back up GPS timing. The law specifically aims to ensure uncorrupted and non-degraded timing signals for military and civilian users when GPS timing is corrupted, degraded, unreliable or unavailable. More than six years on, that backup system still doesn’t exist – DOT has run pilot demonstrations, issued studies and floated timelines, but has yet to build, sustain or operate anything resembling the resilient system Congress ordered.
Space Policy Directive-7 already states that U.S. satellite navigation must support national security, public safety, business and science. It also demands stronger, more secure satellite signals that are harder to jam or spoof. The directive is a strong starting point, but the government needs to act more quickly, hold leaders accountable and actually build it. GPS is too useful, too exposed and too embedded to remain a single point of failure for critical functions. These updates would push operators to understand where they depend on GPS, what happens when it fails and what alternative timing or navigation sources can keep essential functions running. The goal should be to make GPS stronger while making the country less brittle when GPS is jammed, spoofed, degraded or unavailable. America cannot wait for a major GPS disruption to find out which parts of the economy, military and critical infrastructure fail first without it.
*Johanna “Jo” Yang is a policy analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ (FDD’s) Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, where she works on issues related to nation-state cyber threats, allied cybersecurity posture, critical infrastructure protection, and U.S. cybersecurity policy. For more analysis from the authors and CCTI, please subscribe HERE. Follow Jo on X @JohannaYang_. Follow FDD on X @FDD and @FDD_CCTI. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Board of Peace unveils Gaza recovery plan, Israel reports 18 ceasefire violations Sept. 15–29
Samuel Ben-Ur/FDD's Long War Journal/September 30/2026
On September 23, the US-backed Board of Peace (BoP) unveiled a $2.45 billion, six-month Gaza recovery plan, but its implementation remains stalled by disagreements over Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal. The following day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Meanwhile, Israeli forces conducted numerous strikes over the past two weeks against Hamas commanders and financial operatives involved in the group’s efforts to reconstitute itself in Gaza.
The BoP announced its recovery plan for Gaza during a meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York. The proposal includes 66 projects covering infrastructure, housing, healthcare, economic recovery, and security. Representatives from 35 countries and international organizations attended the meeting, where BoP executive board member Jared Kushner, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, BoP High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, and National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) chief Ali Shaath discussed the transition from planning to implementation.
Shaath outlined a reconstruction strategy beginning in Rafah and expanding to Khan Younis, central Gaza, Gaza City, and northern Gaza as security conditions permit. However, the plan remains dependent on Hamas’s disarmament, the transfer of governing authority to the NCAG, and a phased Israeli withdrawal. The order of these phases represents the key sticking point in implementation. Board officials acknowledged that negotiations with Israel remain difficult ahead of the October 27 Israeli election. Mladenov said that political considerations had made discussions more sensitive, although negotiations were making gradual progress. Witkoff insisted that there was no alternative to implementing the existing plan. The central unresolved dispute concerns the sequencing of Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal: Netanyahu insists that Hamas surrender its weapons before Israeli forces withdraw, while the proposed framework links disarmament to a phased withdrawal. In a separate development, the BoP reaffirmed on September 25 that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) would have no role in its Gaza reconstruction framework, arguing that the agency did not meet its requirements for trusted partners following reports of Hamas infiltration. On September 24, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly, defending Israel’s military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran and rejecting international criticism of the war in Gaza. He credited US-Israeli military operations with severely damaging Iran’s nuclear facilities and military capabilities, predicted the eventual downfall of Iran’s government, and expressed support for Iranian protesters. Netanyahu also categorically rejected allegations that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, arguing that Israeli forces have taken extensive measures to protect civilians while Hamas used them as human shields.
Netanyahu also criticized Qatar, Turkey and Western governments for their positions toward Israel, while rejecting Palestinian statehood under present circumstances. Dozens of delegates walked out as he began speaking, prompting him to call them “moral cowards.”
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel reported 18 operations against and ceasefire violations by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups between September 15 and 29: On September 15, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that they killed Naal Abu Obaid, the commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade and head of operations in its military wing, in southern Gaza. Obaid succeeded Muhammad Shabana following his elimination and had previously served as the brigade’s deputy commander and commander of its Tel Sultan and Yebna battalions.
On September 16, the IDF reported that it killed Jihad Smaeh Mahmoud Ismail, the commander of a Hamas Nukhba squad, in Khan Younis the previous week. Ismail had infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre and participated in the attack on an Israeli tank and the abduction of three Israeli soldiers, according to the Israeli military. Later the same day, the IDF announced that it killed Saeed Asaad Saeed Akram, a commander in Hamas’s Daraj Tuffah battalion, in northern Gaza. Akram had recently planted explosives and planned attacks against Israeli forces, according to the Israeli military. The IDF also reported killing two additional Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives involved in attacks against its forces. On September 17, the IDF reported that it killed Shariff Shadi Ibrahim Labed, a Hamas Nukhba operative who participated in the October 7 assault on the Erez Crossing, in northern Gaza two days earlier. The military also announced the elimination of Yosef Saad al Din Rashid Zaim, a Hamas Nukhba commander, in a separate strike in northern Gaza earlier that week.
Later the same day, the IDF announced that it killed Muhammad Jamal Ahmad Eid, a Hamas Nukhba commander who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre, in Al Bureij the previous day. In a separate strike in Gaza City, the IDF killed Saleh Ziyad Ibrahim al Maqdad, a platoon commander in Hamas’s naval force, according to the Israeli military. On September 19, the IDF reported that it killed Muhammad Sulaiman Biuk, a Hamas commander who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre, in Khan Younis two days earlier. Biuk had recently planted explosives, planned attacks against Israeli forces and civilians, and worked to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities while violating the ceasefire, according to the Israeli military. On September 21, the IDF announced that an Israeli engineering vehicle struck an explosive device during routine operations near the Yellow Line, which separates the Israeli-controlled area of Gaza from the rest of the territory. No Israeli personnel were injured. The military described the incident as a violation of the ceasefire agreement and struck Hamas infrastructure in Gaza in response.
On September 24, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that they killed Muhammad Abu Alwan, the head of Hamas’s finance department, in Khan Younis the previous day. Alwan had overseen the transfer of more than 1 billion shekels to Hamas during the war, financing its military operations and helping preserve its governing apparatus, according to the Israeli military. Later the same day, the IDF reported that it killed Mahmoud Abd al Fattah Awwad, a commander in Hamas’s military wing, in Gaza City the previous weekend. Awwad had participated in holding seven Israeli hostages, including Daniela Gilboa, Karina Ariev, and Doron Steinbrecher, in an underground tunnel during the war, according to the Israeli military. On September 25, the IDF announced that it killed Jaber Muqbil, a Hamas operative who led the Muqbil currency-exchange network, in Deir al Balah the previous day. The network had transferred millions of shekels in foreign currency to Hamas to finance its operatives and rebuild military infrastructure, according to the Israeli military. In a separate strike in Khan Younis, the IDF killed Hassan al Bata, a sniper in Hamas’s military wing.
Later the same day, the IDF reported that it killed Hassan Mahmoud Siyam, a Hamas commander who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 massacre and subsequently participated in holding four Israeli hostages, including Amit Soussana and Keith Siegel, in captivity. The military also announced that it killed Adham Subhi Salem Ziyara, another Hamas operative, in a separate strike in Gaza City. Both had recently planned attacks against Israeli forces and participated in planting explosives near the Yellow Line, according to the IDF.
On September 26, the IDF announced that it killed Ibrahim Fuzi Ismail Muhsan, the commander of a Hamas Nukhba platoon, in Nuseirat the previous day. The military also reported killing Muhammad Kamel Suleiman Muhsan, another Hamas operative, in Khan Younis. Both had recently planned attacks against Israeli forces and civilians and worked to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities while violating the ceasefire, according to the IDF.
On September 27, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that they killed Saher Nadal Latfi Zakr, the operative who drove the motorcycle used to abduct Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or from the Nova music festival during the October 7 massacre, in Nuseirat the previous day. Zakr belonged to “global jihadist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip” and had supplied Hamas with weapons during the war, according to the Israeli military. Later the same day, the IDF released footage that it said showed an operative using a child to transfer combat equipment into a civilian home in central Gaza. The military accused terrorist organizations in the territory of exploiting children to transport weapons and avoid Israeli strikes near the Yellow Line. The IDF said it refrained from striking the operative to prevent civilian casualties. Also on September 27, the IDF and Shin Bet reported that they killed Mohammed Hamed Mohammed Gubarin, a commander in Hamas’s military wing, in northern Gaza the previous week. Gubarin had participated in holding nine Israeli hostages, including Ziv Berman, Liri Albag, Agam Berger, and Alon Ohel, in captivity during the war, according to the Israeli military. He had recently planned attacks against Israeli forces and worked to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities, the IDF said.
On September 28, the IDF announced that it killed Adi Adli Abed al Atzar, a sniper in Hamas’s military wing, in southern Gaza the previous day. Atzar had recently planned attacks against Israeli forces and civilians and worked to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities while violating the ceasefire, according to the Israeli military. Later the same day, the IDF reported that it killed Shadi Abu Hatseira, a key money changer for Hamas’s military wing, in Gaza City the previous day. Abu Hatseira led the Geneva currency-exchange network, which transferred tens of millions of shekels in foreign currency to Hamas, according to the Israeli military. He also operated a trading company, Gardena Professional, which the IDF said facilitated the transfers. On September 29, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that they killed Azz al Din Bik, the commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade, in northern Gaza. Bik succeeded Ahmed Gandour after his elimination and had previously served as the brigade’s intelligence officer. He had directed attacks against Israeli forces and civilians and worked to rebuild the brigade’s military capabilities, according to the Israeli military.
**Samuel Ben-Ur is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

America First Does Not Mean Israel Last
Pierre Rehov/Gatestone Institute/September 30/2026
The word was "subservient." It was chosen.... Vice President JD Vance said that the United States "cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the State of Israel."Vance argued that America's most -- perhaps only -- reliable ally, Israel, and every American relationship, must be rooted in American interests, adding: "Donald Trump is the one president of the last 40 years who's been willing to say 'You know what, yeah Bibi's a good partner, but also Bibi and I have a different opinion on this,' or 'Bibi's wrong about this...'"
Incredibly, Vance actually said that after the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Estonia and Spain had all refused to help America even minimally in its effort to constrain Iran. Within a day, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee replied: "America has never defended Israel. Not one time... has America ever put boots on the ground for Israel.... When we are partnering against Iran... we're defending the United States.... Israel is maybe the appetizer, but we're the entrée." America, successfully using "shock and awe" once again, had been winning. Trump was at last ending a war that Iran's regime had been waging on America, Israel and Western civilization since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. They have been chanting "Death to America" for 47 years -- and they mean it. "Death to America is not just a slogan," the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "It is a policy."
Trump warned in June: "You give them a nuclear weapon, they'll use it within the first hour – and we're not going to let that happen."
"If they had a nuclear weapon," Trump said this month, "I'd be calling the Supreme Leader, and I'd be saying, 'Mr. Supreme Leader, how are you, sir? Is there anything we can do for you?' as opposed to bombing the crap out of him."
Trump is the first president, out of seven, who actually decided to end the threat from Iran. There was only one hitch: Trump, Washington Post columnist Thiessen stated, had run the ball "to the 20-yard line" – and then stopped!
What Israel brings to America's side in this fight is something Washington has rarely found in the region: an ally that defends not only itself, but is also sacrificing its youth to defend western civilization – including the countries that are now denigrating and undermining it.
"Historically, approximately 74 percent of U.S. military assistance to Israel was required to be spent on American-made defense goods and services. Under a special arrangement known as Offshore Procurement, Israel was permitted to spend up to 26 percent of its Foreign Military Financing allocation within its own defense industry. That exception is being phased out." — Colonel John Spencer (ret.), chair of urban warfare studies at West Point's Modern War Institute, June 11, 2026.
"By 2028, 100 percent of FMF assistance must be spent in the United States on American-made defense goods and services. No other major recipient of American military assistance operates under a similar arrangement. The money does not leave the American economy. It circulates through American factories, American supply chains, and American workers. In practice, much of what critics describe as foreign aid flows directly to American defense companies, American workers, and the industrial base that also equips the U.S. military." — John Spencer, June 11, 2026.
The $38 billion the Congressional Budget Office counts as the cost of the current war against the Islamic Republic of Iran is being spent against a regime that has been murdering Americans since 1983 and uses "Death to America" as both an official slogan and an official policy.
Vance may have chosen his recent words as part of a fantasy that if the US just closes its eyes to foreign threats and concentrates on building up America domestically, the rest of the world, for good or ill, will somehow take care of itself. The vice president seems unaware of what Europe, and later America, found out the hard way -- that what happens in Sudetenland does not stay in Sudetenland. The thinking in 1938 was that if Europe just forced Czechoslovakia to give Germany's Adolf Hitler the territory he was demanding from them, he would be happy and go away. Only Britain's Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accurately foresaw at the time that giving the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany would be just the "appetizer," and the rest of Europe would be the "entrée."
Vance may have chosen his recent words as part of a fantasy that if the US just closes its eyes to foreign threats and concentrates on building up America domestically, the rest of the world, for good or ill, will somehow take care of itself. The vice president seems unaware of what Europe, and later America, found out the hard way -- that what happens in Sudetenland does not stay in Sudetenland.
The word was "subservient." It was chosen. Addressing the All-In Summit month in mid-September, US Vice President JD Vance said that the United States "cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the State of Israel."
Within a day, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee replied: "America has never defended Israel. Not one time since [Israel gained independence in] 1948 has America ever put boots on the ground for Israel.... When we are partnering against Iran, we're not defending Israel, we're defending the United States.... Israel is maybe the appetizer, but we're the entrée."Huckabee insisted that no one had nudged or deceived the president into confronting Iran, and that Israel "never begged anything": "A lot of what happened in that room I cannot disclose because it was classified. Someday maybe I'll write a book and tell the whole story, but I don't leak... Nobody pushed President Trump into anything. Nobody misled him into anything.... He did it from his own volition."Vance argued that America's most -- perhaps only -- reliable ally, Israel, and every American relationship, must be rooted in American interests, adding:
"Donald Trump is the one president of the last 40 years who's been willing to say 'You know what, yeah Bibi's a good partner, but also Bibi and I have a different opinion on this,' or 'Bibi's wrong about this,' or maybe 'Bibi's right about this from the perspective of Israel, but the American people need us to go in a different direction.'"Incredibly, Vance actually said that after the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Estonia and Spain had all refused to help America even minimally in its effort to constrain Iran. It was apparently Vance, as well, who had argued for the catastrophic April 8 ceasefire with Iran. America, successfully using "shock and awe" once again, had been winning. Trump was at last ending a war that Iran's regime had been waging on America, Israel and Western civilization since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. They have been chanting "Death to America" for 47 years -- and they mean it. "Death to America is not just a slogan," the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "It is a policy."
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, tasked with negotiating with Iran, in March reported in March:
"In that first meeting, both the Iranian negotiators said to us directly — with no shame — that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% [enriched uranium] and that they're aware that could make 11 nuclear bombs."
Trump warned in June: "You give them a nuclear weapon, they'll use it within the first hour – and we're not going to let that happen.""If they had a nuclear weapon," Trump said this month, "I'd be calling the Supreme Leader, and I'd be saying, 'Mr. Supreme Leader, how are you, sir? Is there anything we can do for you?' as opposed to bombing the crap out of him."Unless one wanted to wait and see if Iran would make good on its threat, Trump, prudently, evidently preferred to remove it. Trump is the first president, out of seven, who actually decided to end the threat from Iran. There was only one hitch: Trump, Washington Post columnist Thiessen stated, had run the ball "to the 20-yard line" – and then stopped!The bewildering part to many onlookers is that Trump, while sidelining the party most immediately affected by Iran – the "one-bomb country," Israel -- has nevertheless been courting Middle Eastern leaders -- such Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Syria, which is now demanding the Golan Heights from Israel -- a request akin to Mexico demanding the US Southwest -- who also might not be inordinately distressed if Israel were eliminated. Iran's quarrel with America predates Netanyahu's entire political career. Iran's belligerence began at the founding of the Islamic Republic, with the new regime's seizure of the US embassy in 1979, then holding its residents hostage for 444 days until President Ronald Reagan entered office. Iran initiated lethal violence against the US in Beirut in 1983, when a Hezbollah murdered 241 American servicemen in a truck bombing, for which a US federal court later ordered Iran's regime to pay $2.65 billion; and the regime was found guilty of participating in the 9/11/2001 attacks -- among many others -- for which it was ordered to pay $6 billion.
After Hamas's invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, Tehran's proxy network of Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria launched more than 170 attacks on American forces in the region. A drone launched by an Iraqi militia killed three soldiers at Tower 22 in January 2024.
This month, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired ballistic missiles both at an American warship and at an American base in Jordan, prompting the US Central Command to destroy five Iranian tankers.
What Israel brings to America's side in this fight is something Washington has rarely found in the region: an ally that defends not only itself, but is also sacrificing its youth to defend western civilization – including the countries that are now denigrating and undermining it.
Huckabee's point is verifiable. In the 78 years since Israel was founded, Washington has never sent a single soldier to fight for Israel. The partnership rests on intelligence, weapons development, logistics and the cooperation of two outstanding militaries to operate together. The US ten-year memorandum covering fiscal 2019 through 2028 provides $3.3 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for missile defense, $38 billion in all, signed in 2016 by the Obama administration. Three-quarters of this allotment is dedicated to purchasing military equipment from the United States. Colonel John Spencer (ret.), who serves as the chair of urban warfare studies at West Point's Modern War Institute, points out:
"Historically, approximately 74 percent of U.S. military assistance to Israel was required to be spent on American-made defense goods and services. Under a special arrangement known as Offshore Procurement, Israel was permitted to spend up to 26 percent of its Foreign Military Financing allocation within its own defense industry. That exception is being phased out. "By 2028, 100 percent of FMF assistance must be spent in the United States on American-made defense goods and services. No other major recipient of American military assistance operates under a similar arrangement. The money does not leave the American economy. It circulates through American factories, American supply chains, and American workers. In practice, much of what critics describe as foreign aid flows directly to American defense companies, American workers, and the industrial base that also equips the U.S. military.
"That money directly supports American workers and American manufacturing. Israel is the largest international operator of the F-35 fighter aircraft, purchasing the jets from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Each aircraft supports a supply chain spread across more than forty-five states. Israel also purchases American helicopters, precision-guided munitions, communications systems, radar equipment, engines, and other military technology.
"The relationship extends beyond simple purchases. Israeli firms participate in the production and development of systems such as the F-35, with Israel Aerospace Industries manufacturing wings for the global fleet and Israeli companies contributing technologies used throughout the program. The result is a deeply integrated defense-industrial partnership that benefits both countries."
The money tells only half the story. The David's Sling missile defense system is built by Rafael with Raytheon as a subcontractor under the joint supervision of Israel's Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. The Arrow 3 missile defense system was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries together with Boeing. Two Iron Dome batteries were supplied to the U.S. Army in 2019, and in May 2026 the first Tamir interceptors were delivered to the Marine Corps, missiles that a Raytheon-Rafael joint venture now builds in Arkansas. These are integrated programs in which technology, combat experience and manufacturing travel in both directions, and in which the American taxpayers acquire cutting-edge systems US forces now field at a fraction of what developing them alone would have cost.
The same is true operationally. In 2023, Juniper Oak brought 6,400 American and 1,500 Israeli troops, 142 aircraft and a carrier strike group into the largest bilateral exercise the two countries had ever held, with B-52s dropping live ordnance in Israel's Negev Desert. Fifteen months later, when Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel in one day, the interoperability rehearsed in the exercise produced interceptions shared among American, Israeli, British, French and Jordanian forces. In June 2025, Israel's penetration of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile complexes opened the way for American bombers to strike Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan eight days later, and on February 28, 2026, the two air forces went to war side-by-side starting from the first night. The US Central Command has built the partnership with Israel into its regional architecture because the intelligence and targeting it yields are American assets.
The relationship extends well beyond the battlefield. The 1985 US-Israel free trade agreement was the first the US ever signed. American exports to Israel have grown 473% since then, and two-way trade in goods and services reached $54.2 billion in 2025. The BIRD Energy program has put roughly $50 million of public money into more than 60 joint projects and drawn some $927 million in private investment behind them. The Qualifying Industrial Zones created by Congress in 1996 allow goods manufactured in Jordan and Egypt to enter the United States duty-free provided they contain Israeli inputs, a device meant to give former enemies a commercial stake in peace, which by Washington's own account it has done. None of this has ever meant total lockstep agreement between the two allies. Washington and Jerusalem have quarreled over settlements, arms sales, Iran, Gaza and Lebanon since the relationship began. In March 2015, Netanyahu stood before Congress to attack the nuclear deal then President Barack Obama was negotiating that would have let Iran have all the nuclear weapons it could acquire starting in October 2023. Eighteen months later, the same president signed the largest package of military aid to Israel in American history. In June 2026, Trump told reporters that Israel had been fighting Hezbollah too long and killing too many people, while this month, the administration is reported to be preparing $2.8 billion in munitions sales to Israel, including 2,000-pound bombs. Beneath the disputes, the institutional structure has nevertheless kept deepening.
If, as parts of the American right argue, America First means that every foreign alliance must justify itself by American interests, Israel more than passes the test. The ledger shows the sharing of intelligence on common foes, weapons developed and built jointly, a partner that fields its own soldiers, $54 billion dollars annually in two-way trade, and a military relationship the Pentagon has written into its plans. In 2014, the US Senate unanimously passed the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, a bond forged by shared interests as well as shared values, and Obama signed it into law.
The $38 billion the Congressional Budget Office counts as the cost of the current war against the Islamic Republic of Iran is being spent against a regime that has been murdering Americans since 1983 and uses "Death to America" as both an official slogan and an official policy.
Vance may have chosen his recent words as part of a fantasy that if the US just closes its eyes to foreign threats and concentrates on building up America domestically, the rest of the world, for good or ill, will somehow take care of itself. The vice president seems unaware of what Europe, and later America, found out the hard way -- that what happens in Sudetenland does not stay in Sudetenland. The thinking in 1938 was that if Europe just forced Czechoslovakia to give Germany's Adolf Hitler the territory he was demanding from them, he would be happy and go away. Only Britain's Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accurately foresaw at the time that giving the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany would be just the "appetizer," and the rest of Europe would be the "entrée."
The original "America First" movement was led during that era by the lionized hero at the time, the aviator Charles Lindbergh. After touring Nazi Germany several times in 1936-1938 and being personally awarded the Service Cross of the German Eagle on behalf of Adolf Hitler by Luftwaffe chief and Reichstag President Hermann Göring, Lindbergh returned to the US in 1939 and became a prominent spokesman for the "America First Committee," a non-interventionist group formed in 1940. He argued that the US should avoid entanglement in European conflicts, and claimed that aiding Britain could drag the US into a costly war that didn't serve American interests and that Jewish influence was pushing the US toward war. The ledger behind the US-Israel alliance has been compiled for nearly 80 years. That Israel is today America's only reliable ally in every season? Absolutely yes. That America's Middle Eastern foreign policy is subservient to Israel? Definitely no.**Pierre Rehov, who holds a law degree from Paris-Assas, is a French reporter, novelist and documentary filmmaker. He is the author of six novels, including "Beyond Red Lines", "The Third Testament" and "Red Eden", translated from French. His latest essay on the aftermath of the October 7 massacre " 7 octobre - La riposte " became a bestseller in France. As a filmmaker, he has produced and directed 17 documentaries, many photographed at high risk in Middle Eastern war zones, and focusing on terrorism, media bias, and the persecution of Christians. His latest documentary, "Pogrom(s)" highlights the context of ancient Jew hatred within Muslim civilization as the main force behind the October 7 massacre.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on September 30/2026
ימית מלול ינאי
@YAMITYANAI1
A miracle for the people of Israel
Pilot Omri Bikar: Crazy miracles. You don't see something like this every day, and not at all. Let's start with the fact that a passenger plane is not a fighter jet; its physical structure isn't built for such speeds, especially not during maneuvers and dives. By all rights, the plane should have broken apart, its wings could have detached or been damaged, and the plane could have quite easily lost its aerodynamic ability to fly and crashed (not to mention disintegrating in the air and exploding). You can see that the plane's tail broke off, which is responsible for steering the aircraft, and by an unexplained miracle, the plane landed safely even though its structure wasn't intact. The timing in which they managed to take control of the plane is astonishing. Had it continued to dive for another 45 seconds, it would have crashed at tremendous speed (over Mach 1) into the ground. Not only that—all the passengers are safe, healthy, and whole. An immense miracle. To give thanks and praise to Your great name.

Julien Bahloul
I know, we're all focused on the drama that unfolded. On that plane that nearly crashed.
But on the sidelines of this, look at these images.
Saudi medical teams are taking care of the Israeli passengers.
This is historic. Jerusalem and Riyadh were on the verge of normalizing their relations on the eve of October 7, 2023. On the eve of the 3rd anniversary of the pogrom, I hope this drama will allow our two countries to resume the path to peace where it was halted.

Tom Nissani רפוי
https://x.com/Yanir_Roiter/status/2073679483517730826/video/1
The Israeli passenger who took control of the pilot

ץ - Benny Gantz
It’s still too early to know what the sequence of events was in this morning’s Flydubai flight to Israel, but it’s already clear that Israelis are a rare breed. The resourcefulness and courage displayed by the passengers on this flight, in the face of clear mortal danger, are exactly the stuff our people are made of.

Nadim Koteich
Iran’s disposable official @mb_ghalibaf threatened if Iran can’t sell oil, no one else will, and that regional infrastructure won’t be safe.That threat landed after the Hormuz choke started failing. Kpler/WSJ: Gulf exports rebounded toward ~80% of prewar levels.
Worth

Sofia Afonso Ferreira
Only Israelis — In a couple of minutes they smashed through the cockpit door after hearing the screaming, neutralized the terrorist co-pilot, dragged a passenger doctor in to save the captain, put another passenger pilot at the controls, landed the nearly crashing plane safely with no casualties, and stopped a second September 11th.
Fucking HEROES

Pepel Klaasa
A passenger on the Dubai–Tel Aviv flight recounts:
“We are currently in Saudi Arabia. One of the crew members attacked the pilot with a knife and disabled the aircraft’s systems. Yaniv (pictured?) and another passenger stormed the cockpit and subdued the attacker. Luckily, there were two more pilots on board. They were the ones who managed to land the plane.”Well, yes. Overall, the probability that a plane full of Israelis will contain a trained assault team, two additional pilots, and, statistically, at least one cardiac surgeon, psychologist, lawyer, and diamond dealer is substantially higher than 50%.

Meyer Habib
A terrible catastrophe was averted thanks to the intervention of the Israeli passengers and the presence of other pilots on the plane! The Omani co-pilot wanted to take control of the plane!
We were heading toward a 9/11 on September 30!!!He was arrested after landing in Riyadh!

Father Khalil Alwan
"With open hearts, boundless joy, and a shared national spirit, we welcomed the esteemed delegation to the Shrine—proudly led by Sheik Qasim Al-Jarmaki, Sheik Fouad Khreis, and Mr. Naji Khoury."
Nagy Khoury
UNIS, ENVERS ET CONTRE TOUT !
À la suite du fâcheux incident qui s’est déroulé, il y a une dizaine de jours à Harissa (je ne reviendrai pas là-dessus pour ne pas lui donner plus d’importance qu’il ne mérite), une bande d’illuminés chrétiens et musulmans ont envahi les réseaux sociaux criant au scandale, s’insultant mutuellement, prêts à provoquer une « guerre de religion ».
Nous avons décidé, cheikh Kassem el-Jarmaki, cheikh Fouad Khreiss et moi-même, accompagnés d’une délégation de plusieurs croyants, de faire une visite de courtoisie au P. Khalil Alwane, supérieur du couvent Notre-Dame du Liban à Harissa, hier mardi 29 septembre, pour rappeler que :
- l’incident est derrière nous et que les réseaux lui ont donné plus d’importance qu’il ne mérite.
- Harissa est un site de pèlerinage et de prière ouvert à tout le monde, surtout que la Sainte Vierge est honorée par tous.
- Les voix de l’amour et de la Concorde devraient s’élever davantage pour couvrir celles de la discorde.
Nagy el Khoury
Facebook, mercredi 30 septembre 2026 See less
UNITED, FOR AND AGAINST EVERYTHING!
Following the unfortunate incident that occurred a dozen days ago in Harissa (I will not go back on this to give it more importance than it deserves), a group of enlightened Christians and Muslims have flooded social media, crying out scandal, insulting each other, ready to provoke a "religious war."
We, Sheikh Kassem el-Jarmaki, Sheikh Fouad Khreiss, and myself, accompanied by a delegation of several believers, decided to pay a courtesy visit to Father Khalil Alwane, the superior of the Notre-Dame du Liban convent in Harissa, yesterday, Tuesday, September 29, to remind that:
- the incident is behind us and that the networks have given it more importance than it deserves.
- Harissa is a pilgrimage and prayer site open to everyone, especially since the Virgin Mary is honored by all.
- The voices of love and concord should rise even more to cover those of discord.
Nagy el Khoury