On Tuesday, in the New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman, syndicated columnist of the New York Times, authored a lengthy column attacking Israeli policy in Gaza. The column was a near-comprehensive cavalcade of well-dressed neo-left talking points, and as such, gives us a great opportunity to put a few of those myths to bed.

In this week’s edition of the Action Update, we look at the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, see where things stand with Lebanese efforts to disarm Hezbollah, and then delve into the Iranian regime’s efforts to rebuild its once fearsome presence, and how the world can undermine those efforts with a tight squeeze on Tehran’s cashflow.

Since the conclusion of the Operation Rising Lion and the American attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Middle East has changed even more than we could have fathomed even a few years ago. Nonetheless, freedom’s enemies are down but not out. Moreover, as all these world-changing events have been taking place, CUFI held its annual Washington Summit and Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Washington. Let’s get into it.

In just 12 days, the Israeli Air Force kneecapped Iran’s nuclear and military facilities, laid waste to numerous elements of the Islamic Regime’s instruments of tyranny and paved the way for American aircraft to devastate the final remaining Iranian nuclear sites. Here’s where things stand.

As our readers surely know, last week, Israel commenced Operation Rising Lion and has been engaged in that effort ever since. Iran’s response has been to fire ballistic missiles and drones at Israeli population centers. Twenty-four Israelis have been killed; more than 500 have been wounded. All of this takes place as Israel has lost multiple soldiers in recent days fighting in Gaza, where there remain 53 Israeli hostages. 

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump met at Camp David with some of America’s top military and defense officials. The topic of conversation was Iran. On Monday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump spoke for 40 minutes by phone. The Middle East is at a tipping point; let’s dive in.

In the past week, we’ve seen a heinous terrorist attack on a pro-Israel event in Boulder, Colorado and witnessed assurances that we were nearing a (strong) agreement with Iran and an appropriate agreement with Hamas over the hostages falter.  As such, in this week’s edition of the Action Update, we’re going to talk about promises.