Today In Issues:
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The Must-Reads
Key Democrats approve major arms sale to Israel, including F-15s IDF kills Hezbollah rocket specialist amid rare 3-day lull in terror group’s fire Middle East Forum’s Jonathan Spyer: No time to fiddle as Hezbollah burns Northern Israel Iran's Khamenei politicizes Hajj again, calls for global dissociation from Israel Iran’s presidential candidates debate economic policies ahead of the June 28 vote Russian warships leave Havana’s port after a 5-day visit to Cuba Institute for Policy Innovation’s Merrill Matthews: Russia uses chemical weapons and no one cares, including Biden U.S. Treasury imposes new sanctions to cut off weapons to Houthis in Yemen South Korean military fires warning shots after North Korean soldiers cross demarcation line China, South Korea set for their first security talks since 2015 Macron’s struggle has Europe fretting over defense, Ukraine US, Cyprus embark on strategic dialogue that officials say demonstrates closest-ever tiesIn The News
Israel
More than 1,000 truckloads of aid were piled up at the Gazan side of an Israeli border crossing on Monday, a day after Israel implemented a humanitarian pause in fighting to help increase the flow of aid into the war-torn enclave. – Wall Street Journal
Two key Democratic holdouts in the House and Senate signed off on a major arms sale to Israel, including 50 F-15 fighter jets worth more than $18 billion, after facing intense pressure from the Biden administration and pro-Israel advocates to allow the transaction to move forward, said three U.S. officials familiar with the matter. – Washington Post
Gaza has become the most dangerous place in the world for aid workers, the United Nations said on Monday. – New York Times
Britain’s approval of arms export licences to Israel dropped sharply after the start of the war in Gaza, with the value of permits granted for the sale of military equipment to its ally falling by more than 95% to a 13-year low. – Reuters
Anti-government protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem on Monday, clashing with police near the house of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for new elections. – Reuters
Hostilities continue in Rafah and southern Gaza despite the Israeli military’s announcement on Sunday of tactical pauses in operations to allow humanitarian aid to enter, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Oslo on Monday. – Reuters
Israeli defence exports rose to a record $13.1 billion in 2023, a government report said on Monday, citing hundreds of contracts signed at various defence firms. – Reuters
The Palestinian Authority could collapse in the coming months, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on Monday, citing a lack of funding, continuing violence and the fact that half a million Palestinians are not allowed to work in Israel. – Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday met with an Israeli lawyer who has publicly described being sexually assaulted while held hostage in Gaza, and said the story left her fearing more such accounts “will only increase as more hostages are released.” – Associated Press
The Israel Defense Forces killed a senior member of Hezbollah’s rocket unit in a drone strike in southern Lebanon Monday morning, as a top Biden administration official was in Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli leaders aimed at preventing further escalation along the northern border. – Times of Israel
The Maldives is reviewing its decision to ban Israeli citizens from entering the country due to concerns that the controversial proposal as currently written could keep out Palestinians, according to Ahmed Usham, the island nation’s attorney general. – Algemeiner
An Israeli incursion into the central Gazan refugee camp of Nuseirat earlier this month left Abdallah Aljamal, a journalist publishing frequent dispatches from the war-torn Strip, dead in his home. The catch? The raid was actually an operation to free three Israeli civilians abducted by terrorists on October 7, and Aljamal, a known Hamas affiliate, was one of their captors. – The Dispatch
Editorial: Well, Mr. Sullivan. After nearly nine months of war – nine months of innocent Israeli citizens being held hostage in the apartments of Gazan civilians, nine months of Hamas continuing to prevent any ceasefire deal from being signed despite Israel’s willingness to compromise, nine months of Israel’s North suffering daily bombardment from Hezbollah terrorists – we have here a different definition of what is “completely and utterly unacceptable behavior.” – Jerusalem Post
Jonathan Spyer writes: Israel’s leadership is considering these questions, and it doesn’t have time to waste. An agreement to end the Gaza war might have led to a messy de facto cease-fire in the north. But the fighting likely won’t end anytime soon. With more than 60,000 displaced Israelis, and daily missile attacks in the north, Israel must answer soon. – Wall Street Journal
Arsen Ostrovsky and John Spencer write: It would be lower still if those who have been reported as “civilians” were in fact combatants or, as we saw this week, holding hostages captive. For Hamas, civilian death is their strategy; Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has called civilian deaths a “necessary sacrifices.” As long as the press and world leaders fail to ask these questions, continuing to push false narratives and unsubstantiated casualty figures, they are only enabling and empowering Hamas and perpetuating the violence and suffering they claim to seek to end. – Newsweek
Seth Mandel writes: Seeing Israel as the perpetual bad guy must be difficult for even the most committed anti-Zionists when such a stance would require publicly supporting a barbarian terrorist gang such as Hamas. So the solution for the Israel-hater is to inflate Israeli perfidy to comparable levels. – Commentary
Iran
Six presidential candidates on Monday discussed Iran’s economic problems in a four-hour live debate on state TV, ahead of the June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash last month that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. – Associated Press
Khameni told Hajj pilgrims to disassociate from the US and Israel. “This renunciation of the Zionist regime and its supporters, in particular the government of the United States of America, must be demonstrated in the words and actions of nations and governments, and it must impede the actions of the murderers,” he wrote in his address. – Jerusalem Post
The Canadian parliament, across all three main party platforms, has unanimously passed the Toomaj Sanctions, related to the death sentence issued for a dissident Iranian rapper. The motion, proposed by the Iranian Justice Collective (IJC), sanctions 31 judicial officials involved in the death sentence of rapper Toomaj Salehi. – Iran International
Dr. Salem AlKetbi writes: However, the “calmness” of the Iranian reaction this time raises suspicions about an internal plot orchestrated by factions within the regime. This is particularly plausible given that Raisi was the most likely candidate to succeed the Supreme Leader. This suggests that the matter is related to a power struggle for positions rather than a conflict over policies, as Raisi was known as the “yes man” and the president most committed to executing Khamenei’s orders without question. – Arutz Sheva
İdris Okuducu writes: Although Erbil wants to balance Ankara and Tehran’s rivalry in the region, due to its close relations with the United States, the western countries and NATO member Turkey, Iran seems to continue pressuring Erbil in an attempt to have the same influence it enjoys in Sulaymaniyah. The KRG’s ability to convince Iran that Erbil does not threaten its interests in Iraq can be considered as a necessary move to prevent Tehran from pressuring it through it proxies or directly through military action. – Washington Institute
Russia & Ukraine
A Russian court said judicial proceedings in the case of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia for over a year, would be held in secret, with the first hearing in a regional court beginning on June 26, the country’s state media reported. – Wall Street Journal
Ukraine has not been able to reach an agreement with a group of bondholders over restructuring some $20 billion of international debt during formal talks, it said on Monday, raising the spectre that the war-torn country might slip into default. – Reuters
A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s east-central Poltava region on Monday injured 22 people, including three children, and damaged dwellings and power lines, knocking out electricity for more than 55,000 consumers, the regional governor said. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Monday a remark by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that the military alliance was holding talks on deploying more nuclear weapons was an “escalation of tension”. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin dismissed four deputy defense ministers and appointed two people with close ties to the Kremlin elite as he continued a shake-up of Russia’s wartime leadership. – Bloomberg
Russia and Ukraine are set to remain locked in battle for the foreseeable future after an international gathering billed as a first step toward peace delivered no eye-catching diplomatic breakthrough that might suggest a coming end to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. – Associated Press
A fleet of Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, left Havana’s port on Monday after a five-day visit to Cuba following planned military drills in the Atlantic Ocean. The exercise has been seen by some as a show of strength by Moscow against the backdrop of tensions as U.S. and other Western nations support Kyiv in Russia’s war on Ukraine. – Associated Press
Russia continues to make advances in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv’s forces report an increased “intensity” in fighting along the front lines in the Donetsk region. – Newsweek
Merrill Matthews writes: Russia’s use of chemical weapons in Ukraine marks a major escalation. And the lack of media, international and U.S. outrage marks a major de-escalation in how the civilized countries respond. Other dictators now know they can use chemical weapons and the UN, media and the U.S. will look the other way. – The Hill
Luke Coffey writes: It is likely that a future NATO with Ukraine as a member will form the cornerstone of the European security architecture for the rest of the 21st century. Now is the time to be bold. NATO’s leaders need to recognize the historical times in which we live and rise to the occasion. Ukraine must be invited to join NATO in July. – The Hill
Yemen
The United States imposed new sanctions on Monday aimed at cutting off weapons, supplies and funding to the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen and have been striking commercial ships in the Red Sea to show support for Palestinians in Gaza. – New York Times
The crew of the Tutor, a Greek-owned bulk carrier sailing across the Red Sea to India, were on the deck on a sunny morning last week when they spotted in the distance what looked like a fishing vessel with two people aboard. The crew members thought it was nothing unusual, but moments later, the ship captain said, they noticed a vessel rushing toward their ship. – New York Times
The Philippine crew of a vessel attacked by Yemen’s Houthi militants was repatriated to the Philippines from Bahrain on Monday, with the ship’s captain vowing to return to the seas after the crew had recovered from the experience. – Reuters
U.S. and British forces have carried out at least six airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea, Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, said on Monday. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
At least six Jordanian pilgrims have died of heatstroke while on the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said over the weekend, amid growing concern over the risks that rising temperatures pose to one of the largest gatherings in the world. – Washington Post
U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein will arrive in Beirut on Tuesday after a day-long visit to Israel as part of his efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating into all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. – Haaretz
Nika Berdichevsky writes: All countries in the Middle East region influence each other and we cannot ignore the existence of one another. Every challenge holds an opportunity, and the people who live in the Middle East should act actively toward regional cooperation that will unite us around a common inspiration, making this inspiration become our day-to-day reality one day. – Jerusalem Post
Selin Uysal and Devorah Margolin write: U.S. partners will therefore need to exercise a deft mix of targeted pressure and strategic patience with Iraq, wielding both sanctions and incentives as they try to facilitate the long-term goal of addressing corruption, federalism, lawless militias, and other structural challenges. In short, the West should continue pursuing good relations with Iraq—but this time focused on a lighter footprint and increased regional cooperation. – Washington Institute
Korean Peninsula
Doctors at medical facilities across South Korea walked off the job in a one-day strike on Tuesday, dramatically if briefly expanding a months-old protest against the government’s health care policies that began when residents and interns at major hospitals stopped working in February. – New York Times
South Korea’s military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line near the border on Tuesday, according to the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). – Reuters
Vladimir Putin promised to build trade and security systems with North Korea that are not controlled by the West and pledged his unwavering support in a letter published by North Korean state media on Tuesday ahead of his planned visit to the country. – Reuters
North Korean soldiers working inside the Demilitarized Zone have been “injured or killed” by exploding mines, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday. – Newsweek
Victor Cha writes: Putin and Kim may feel that they have a match made in heaven. The former is getting what he needs for the war while complicating Biden’s security policies in Asia. The latter, with Russian sustenance, is able to wait out Biden while advancing and modernizing their nuclear force. Biden should take the offensive. While these recommended half measures will not solve the problem, they are better than the administration sitting on its hands while doling out stale talking points. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
China
China on Monday threatened to impose tariffs on pork imports from Europe, in what appeared to be retaliation for the European Union’s decision last week to impose preliminary tariffs on electric cars imported from China. – New York Times
Near the end of three years as the United States’ chief representative in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk has some parting advice: Avoid panic about China’s combative language and moves, but don’t grow numb to the risks. – New York Times
China and South Korea will hold their first high-level security talks in about nine years, with their discussions in Seoul expected to coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first trip to North Korea since 2000. – Bloomberg
A new US law on Tibet and a high-profile visit by American lawmakers to the region will put pressure on China to engage with the government in exile, a top official said. – Bloomberg
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has ended his Australian tour on Tuesday in the west coast city of Perth where he has focused on China’s investment in critical minerals, clean energy and business links. – Associated Press
South Asia
India and the United States on Monday committed to action to address barriers to bilateral strategic trade, technology and industrial cooperation. – Reuters
India will launch an investigation on Tuesday into a train collision that killed nine people in the state of West Bengal and injured more than 50, a day after a top railway official blamed the incident on driver error. – Reuters
The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader on Monday warned Afghans against earning money or gaining worldly honor at a time when the country is in the grip of humanitarian crises and isolated on the global stage. – Associated Press
Asia
A Netherlands-flagged ship struck a stationary vessel in Singapore, causing an oil spill that blackened the waters of the city-state’s popular beaches and prompted a huge cleanup operation along its southern shores. – Washington Post
The United States, Canada, Japan, and the Philippines conducted a two-day joint maritime exercise in Manila’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said on its website on Monday. – Reuters
Thailand’s influential former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a powerful backer of the largest party in the governing coalition, avoided pre-trial detention for allegedly insulting the monarchy after a criminal court granted him bail on Tuesday. – Reuters
The Philippines’ defence minister said on Monday that the country’s armed forces will resist China’s “dangerous and reckless behaviour” in territory claimed by Manila in the South China Sea. – Reuters
Taiwan’s defence minister said on Tuesday that they have a “grasp” of the situation after pictures appeared online of a Chinese nuclear submarine surfacing in the sensitive Taiwan Strait near Taiwanese fishermen. – Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz when he attends a NATO summit in the United States in early July, public broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday, citing a government source. – Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the Southeast Asian nation will join the BRICS economic bloc, becoming the latest country to take part in an expanding group seen challenging the western-led global order. – Bloomberg
Europe
President Biden and the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on Monday that a record number of allies were meeting their military spending commitments as the two leaders sought to present a robust and unwavering response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. – New York Times
The European Union on Monday repeated calls for China to stop human rights violations after an EU delegation visited Tibet and also met with Chinese officials. – Reuters
European Union leaders ended a discussion on who should take the bloc’s top jobs for the next five years without agreement on Monday, aiming instead for a decision at a summit next week. – Reuters
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is tipped to become the European Union’s next foreign policy boss, but her tough stance on Russia may raise doubts as to whether she can represent views from across the bloc. – Reuters
Campaigning kicked off on Monday for France’s snap parliamentary election, which opinion polls suggest the far-right National Rally will win ahead of a left-wing alliance, with President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist group trailing in third. – Reuters
France’s political turmoil is causing concern in some European Union capitals that initiatives like joint military spending and a fresh push to support Ukraine could fall by the wayside. – Bloomberg
An ammunition explosion in a military training area in the Czech Republic killed one service member and injured eight other people, including one civilian, the Defense Ministry said Monday. – Associated Press
Tunku Varadarajan writes: Mr. Feijóo recalls that Spain “brought together the leaders of Israel and Palestine” in the Madrid Conference of 1991. “It’s clear that Israel will never sit down in Spain again, because it considers that we’ve been disloyal to a fellow democracy in the midst of a war.” Most galling of all is the reaction from Gaza: “That the terrorist group Hamas has twice congratulated the Spanish government should be enough reason to say that Spain has made a mistake.” It’s a mistake he wants corrected by the Spanish people, in elections he believes will throw the Socialists out. – Wall Street Journal
Alon Ben-Meir writes: In the final analysis, since Kosovo wants to integrate into the EU as quickly as possible, it would be incumbent upon Kurti or his successor to fully cooperate with the EU and the US. In the past, Kurti has not demonstrated such cooperation and has ended up alienating the EU to the point of being sanctioned. This is a lesson he should bear in mind, especially at this juncture when a new EU mediator is appointed to facilitate mutuality of recognition between Serbia and Kosovo. – Jerusalem Post
Africa
The African National Congress said on Monday South Africa’s new government has five parties in it so far, representing more than two thirds of the seats in the National Assembly, and talks with other parties were ongoing. – Reuters
Zimbabwe police have arrested opposition leader Jameson Timba and 80 youths for holding a political gathering which authorities said was unauthorized, their lawyer said on Monday. – Reuters
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin congratulated South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa on his re-election as president on Monday, reflecting continued good relations with Pretoria despite uncertainty over Moscow’s more than two-year-old invasion of Ukraine. – Reuters
Malawians gathered to mourn Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima amid heavy security on Monday, a day after people from his home district launched protests over the government’s response to the plane crash that killed him and eight others last week. – Reuters
Activities of armed groups in the volatile Central African Republic have increased, complicating a security landscape that has seen a spillover of the conflict in neighboring Sudan, U.N. experts warn in a new report. – Associated Press
The Americas
Venezuela’s opposition coalition said on Monday that four activists from two of its political parties have been detained in recent days, as tensions rise ahead of a July presidential contest. – Reuters
Peru’s government does not expect an upcoming trip by President Dina Boluarte to China or the increase in investments by Chinese firms in the Andean nation to cause “resentment” from the U.S., Peru’s prime minister said on Monday. – Reuters
Canada does not think the time is right to send military trainers back to Ukraine, given hesitation among NATO allies about such a step, Defence Minister Bill Blair said on Monday. – Reuters
The Canadian Liberal government, criticized by opposition legislators for sending a patrol ship to Havana while Russian vessels were there, on Monday said the visit was meant to send a message of deterrence to Moscow. – Reuters
A recently elected mayor was shot and killed on Monday in southern Mexico, in the state of Guerrero, local authorities said. – Associated Press
United States
President Biden on Tuesday will clear the way for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens to apply for legal residency in one of the most expansive immigration programs of his presidency, according to two federal officials with knowledge of the plans. – Washington Post
The University of Michigan and the City University of New York have fallen short in addressing recent incidents of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and antisemitic nature, the U.S. Education Department said on Monday. – Reuters
If Donald Trump returns to the White House, he should sever all economic ties with China, consider deploying the entire US Marine Corps to Asia and resume live nuclear-weapons testing, his former national security adviser writes in an article offering the most detailed account of what foreign policy may look like in a second Trump term. – Bloomberg
Cyprus-U.S. relations have reached their highest level yet after the two countries embarked on a strategic dialogue on key issues including defense, security, energy, crisis management and the fight against terrorism, officials said Monday. – Associated Press
The trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) includes all kinds of sordid details — with Menendez accused of taking a luxury car and gold, among other gifts, in return for allegedly divulging sensitive information about U.S. policy towards Egypt and U.S. diplomats in Cairo. – Politico
The White House today (Monday) published a fact sheet on the Biden Administration’s actions to address conflict-related sexual violence. – Arutz Sheva
Mattew Continetti writes: Recovering our confidence and sense of purpose, then, requires leaders who will speak for America, remind us of our glories more than our shame, and reinforce the nation’s promise by building on what’s best in our country: our Constitution, our talent, our individuality, and our freedom. America needs political, cultural, and business leaders who understand, and who can explain, why so many people want to come here. Who talk America up, not down. Who will lift our spirits. And get us back on track. – American Enterprise Institute
Randy Schriver, Dan Blumenthal, and Josh Young write: The United States won its first cold war. But that required aggressive economic action alongside a strong military, and in the context of China, Washington is falling short. Presidential leadership is needed now if the United States is going to deny the CCP its global economic ambitions and once again secure the American dream—and global economic freedom—for decades to come. – Foreign Policy
Cybersecurity
U.S. networking equipment maker Cisco (CSCO.O), said on Monday it would set up a cybersecurity centre in Taiwan and work with the government to train more people to work in the sector. – Reuters
The 22-year-old British man arrested by police in Spain last week is linked to an underground criminal group known as “the Com” and allegedly participated in harvesting nearly 10,000 login credentials related to more than 130 companies as part of high-profile 2022 phishing campaign, a researcher familiar with the matter told CyberScoop on Monday. – CyberScoop
The Army subsumed around 350 civilians as it became the combatant command support agent for U.S. Cyber Command effective June 2, according to a release. – DefenseScoop
Lt. Gen. Charlie “Tuna” Moore (Ret.) writes: The fastest way to do this, with the lowest cost, and the ability to support our nation’s current security needs, is to accelerate the authorities Cyber Command possesses today, not create a service of the future. The stakes are too high in cyberspace and it is not the time to experiment with an idea that may not deliver solutions now or in the future. – DefenseScoop
Defense
The Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act would leave the military’s planned purchases of 68 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in fiscal 2025 unchanged. – Defense News
The Pentagon’s fast-track pathway for buying equipment often doesn’t move any faster than the normal process, according to a new report from the government’s watchdog agency. – Defense News
The Defense Innovation Unit is soliciting industry for less expensive “kinetic” weapons that the Navy could use to shoot down enemy drones. – DefenseScoop