Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music The columnist Thomas L. Friedman joined the hosts of “Matter of Opinion” this week to unpack Israel’s and Iran’s latest attacks, what they mean for Gaza and the implications for the region writ large. Below is a lightly edited transcript of […]
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Reaction to Israel’s Strike in Iran Plays Down Significance
The Israeli strike on a military base near the Iranian city of Isfahan was part of a cycle of retaliation that has alarmed world leaders, but it produced a largely muted response from both on Friday. Television networks and some officials in both countries played down the significance of the strike, which Israeli and Iranian […]
Read MoreMiscalculation Led to Escalation as Israel and Iran Clashed
Israel was mere moments away from an airstrike on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders at Iran’s embassy complex in Syria when it told the United States what was about to happen. Israel’s closest ally had just been caught off guard. Aides quickly alerted Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser; Jon Finer, […]
Read MoreMiscalculation Leads to Escalation as Israel and Iran Clash
Israel was mere moments away from an airstrike on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders at Iran’s embassy complex in Syria when it told the United States what was about to happen. Israel’s closest ally had just been caught off guard. Aides quickly alerted Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser; Jon Finer, […]
Read MoreIsrael Weighs Response to Iran’s Attack as Allies Push for Restraint
Israel’s war cabinet on Monday met to weigh possible responses to Iran’s missile and drone attack over the weekend, as the United States, Britain and other allies strongly urged Israel to show restraint and sought to de-escalate tensions between the two regional powers. Some far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government called for a […]
Read MoreStrikes Upend Israel’s Belief About Iran’s Willingness to Fight It Directly
Iran’s unprecedented strikes on Israel this weekend have shaken Israel’s assumptions about its foe, undermining its long-held calculation that Iran would be best deterred by greater Israeli aggression. For years, Israeli officials have argued, both in public and in private, that the harder Iran is hit, the warier it will be about fighting back. Iran’s […]
Read MoreIran Smuggles Arms to West Bank, Officials Say, to Foment Unrest With Israel
Iran is operating a clandestine smuggling route across the Middle East, employing intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs, to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to officials from the United States, Israel and Iran. The goal, as described by three Iranian officials, is to foment unrest against Israel by flooding the […]
Read MoreFears Grow That Syria Strikes Could Spur Retaliatory Attacks on Israel and U.S.
Current and former U.S. officials expressed fears on Tuesday that Israel’s airstrikes on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria could escalate hostilities in the region, and prompt retaliatory strikes against Israel and its American ally. The officials said the attack on Monday, which killed three generals in Iran’s Quds Force and four other officers, had […]
Read MoreStrike in Damascus Escalates Israel’s Undeclared War With Iran
Israel’s bombing of an Iranian Embassy building in Damascus, which killed senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, is a major escalation of what has long been a simmering undeclared war between Israel and Iran. But while the strike is a vivid demonstration of the regional nature of the war, Iran has been careful since Hamas […]
Read MoreIsraeli Strike in Syria Kills 7, Including 3 Iranian Commanders
At least three senior commanders and four officers overseeing Iran’s covert operations in the Middle East were killed on Monday when Israeli warplanes struck a building in Damascus that is part of the Iranian Embassy complex, according to Iranian and Syrian officials. The strike in Damascus, the Syrian capital, appeared to be among the deadliest […]
Read MoreWe Still Haven’t Figured Out How to Beat ISIS
For all of the counterterrorism wins that the United States has had in its fight against the Islamic State — and there have been many — we still have not figured out how to defeat it. A terrorist attack targeting a concert hall in the Russian capital of Moscow on March 22 killed more than […]
Read MoreA Secret War, Strange New Wounds and Silence From the Pentagon
When Javier Ortiz came home from a secret mission in Syria, the ghost of a dead girl appeared to him in his kitchen. She was pale and covered in chalky dust, as if hit by an explosion, and her eyes stared at him with a glare as dark and heavy as oil. The 21-year-old Marine […]
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