Latest news with #Oct.7
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump blames Biden policies in Saudi address
President Trump on Tuesday blamed former President Biden for foreign policy stances that he argued strained partnerships in the Middle East while speaking in Saudi Arabia to a group of government and business leaders. 'The Biden administration's extreme weakness and gross incompetence derailed progress towards peace, destabilized the region and put at risk everything we worked so hard to build together,' Trump said, calling the Biden administration 'hostile' toward the Middle East. While speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, he praised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for what he was able to accomplish over the last four years under Biden and said that his predecessor had the 'worst administration in the history of our country.' Trump also said when Biden lifted sanctions on Iran, 'they laughed at him.' 'They laughed at our leader and they're still laughing at our leader. They thought him a fool and they made nothing but trouble ever since, including the funding of Oct. 7,' Trump said. He decried Biden for removing the foreign terrorist organization label on the Houthis in February 2021 and repeated his claims from the 2024 campaign trail that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel wouldn't have occurred if he were president. The president also reiterated calls for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, which were established in his first term. 'I think it'll be a tremendous tribute to your country, and it will be something that's really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East. I took a risk in doing them, and they've been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined. The Biden administration did nothing for four years,' Trump said. 'We would have had it filled out, but it will be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us.' Biden in 2022 said he strongly supports the Abraham Accords as a way to integrate Israel in the Middle East. The former president famously greeted the crown prince with a fist bump in 2022 ahead of their meeting in Jeddah. The trip to Saudi Arabia and face-to-face meeting was controversial given Biden previously condemned Saudi leadership on the 2020 campaign trail over the killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Trump has blamed Biden for a slew of issues in various speeches for the nearly four months he has been in office. He spent the week marking the 100th day of his second term blaming Biden for a wide range of economic issues and mocking him. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Netanyahu: Freeing hostages is ‘important' but ‘supreme goal' in Gaza is ‘victory'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said defeating Hamas remains his primary objective in Gaza, while adding that returning hostages still held by the militant group was 'a very important goal.' Netanyahu, addressing an Independence Day event in Jerusalem, said Israel had 'many goals' in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to The Times of Israel. 'We want to bring all our hostages home. We've so far brought back 147 alive, and 196 total,' he said. 'There are another up to 24 alive, 59 total, and we want to return the living and the dead.' 'It's a very important goal,' Netanyahu said. 'The war has a supreme goal, and the supreme goal is victory over our enemies, and this we will achieve.' Netanyahu's comments come as Israel's military has returned to the Gaza Strip, with ceasefire talks seemingly stalled. Hostage families told The Hill this week that President Trump's upcoming trip to the Middle East made them hopeful of a breakthrough. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Netanyahu's comments were alarming given the condition of previously released captives. 'Prime minister, the return of the hostages is not 'less' important — it is the supreme goal that should guide the government of Israel,' the group said in a statement, according to CNN. 'The families of the hostages are concerned.' Many in the region are facing the threat of starvation, as Israel continues to throttle humanitarian aid from entering the territory. 'Blocking aid starves civilians. It leaves them without basic medical support. It strips them of dignity and hope. It inflicts a cruel collective punishment. Blocking aid kills,' Tom Fletcher, the United Nations's emergency relief coordinator, said Thursday. Netanyahu's comments echo some of the recent remarks from the hawkish far-right leaders of his governing coalition. 'We need to tell the truth — bringing back the hostages is not the most important goal. It is, of course, a very, very, very, very important goal,' far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week, according to CNN. 'But anyone who wants to destroy Hamas and eliminate the possibility of another Oct. 7 must understand that in Gaza, there can't be a situation where Hamas remains present and intact.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
01-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Defeating Hamas is more important than freeing Gaza hostages, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that defeating Hamas is more important than freeing the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza, angering the captives' families. Speaking at the annual Independence Day Bible Contest in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was committed to saving the hostages after 573 days in Hamas captivity, but claimed that there was something more important for Israel to complete. 'That is a very important goal,' he said of freeing the hostages before adding,' the war has a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve.' 4 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed defeating Hamas was more important than freeing the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza. via REUTERS 4 Netanyahu is facing increasing pressure to agree to a deal to free the hostages, who have spent 573 days under Hamas captivity. Saeed Qaq/NurPhoto/Shutterstock The speech marked the first time Netanyahu has explicitly described the hostages' safety as a secondary goal of the war, which he has been long accused of by the captives' families. 'Prime minister, the return of the hostages is not 'less' important – it is the supreme goal that should guide the government of Israel,' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. 'The families of the hostages are concerned.' The forum said the controversial remarks fall out of line with what the 'majority of the Israeli public' wants, accusing Netanyahu of emboldening Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich garnered backlash last week when he insisted that the hostages come second to defeating Hamas. 4 The families of the hostages slammed Netanyahu's remark as out of line with what the rest of Israel wants. Getty Images 'We need to tell the truth – bringing back the hostages is not the most important goal,' Smotrich said. 'It is, of course, a very, very, very, very important goal, but anyone who wants to destroy Hamas and eliminate the possibility of another Oct. 7 must understand that in Gaza, there can't be a situation where Hamas remains present and intact.' Protesters in Israel continue to criticize Netanyahu's decision to end the cease-fire deal with Hamas, leading the Jewish state to return to war with fears growing over the fate of the hostages. While Israel believes that only 24 of the 59 hostages are still alive — including American Edan Alexander, of New Jersey — the figure came into doubt when Netanyahu's wife, Sara, was overheard on a hot mic saying that 'fewer' than 24 hostages are still alive. 4 Netanyahu's wife, Sara, caused uncertainty to erupt when she was caught on hot mic saying that less than 24 hostages were still alive. Hungarian Defence Ministry/AFP via Getty Images The remark spurred further backlash against Netanyahu as the captives' families demanded to know the truth of what their government knows, and why the prime minister's wife would have access to such sensitive information while they knew little about their loved ones' statuses. 'You sowed indescribable panic in the hearts of the families of the hostages – families already living in agonizing uncertainty,' the forum said. 'If there is intelligence or new information regarding the condition of our loved ones, we demand full disclosure.' As the well-being of the hostages and their importance comes into question, there have been little developments made at the negotiating table. Hamas has repeatedly refused to release any more hostages until Israel commits to a permanent cease-fire deal, which Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected, insisting that no deal can be reached if it includes Hamas' continued existence.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Five Things Pete Hegseth Could Learn From Israel After Oct. 7
The world changed on Oct. 7, 2023. Too many in Washington are still thinking like its Oct. 6. That day made one thing painfully clear: Wars are no longer fought only with tanks and jets. Our adversaries are moving faster than our procurement cycles - using commercially available drones, pickup trucks, bulldozers, motorcycles, and ATVs - to devastating effect. They dont wait for approval chains or perfected systems. They innovate on contact. In Israel, we paid a horrific price for this lesson. We wont let it happen again. As the U.S. looks to deter tomorrows war - not the last one - Israel offers more than cautionary lessons. We serve as a crucible for how modern militaries must adapt - fast. As a country where nearly every citizen serves, and where the frontline is so close, we are building, deploying, and refining technology under real battlefield pressure. Secretary Hegseth is right to call for acquisition reform. We live that urgency - and we believe these five lessons from Israel can help accelerate change. Speed isnt a feature. Its a prerequisite. When the enemy is iterating fast, insistence on perfection is a liability. The wars of tomorrow will be fought with the tools we have today. A solution that works today is more valuable than one thats still in testing in 2030. Yet Americas acquisition machine still moves like its in peacetime, and integration is always one step away from done. We need modular systems, rapid deployment cycles, and real-world stress testing. The goal isn't just deployment speed - its iteration speed. Deploy, learn, update, repeat. Iteration under fire is what wins wars. Because in war, there is no staging environment. Warfighters know best. Doctrine matters, but no plan survives first contact. The best feedback doesnt come from specs or slides, it comes from the field. Soldiers are more thanjust operators - theyre frontline system co-designers. We built Kela Systems after Oct. 7, and as veterans ourselves, we understand that solutions must start with feedback from the field. The U.S. may not have Israels soldier-to-citizen ratio, but you can still build systems that learn from every mission, every failure, every use. Give warfighters the ability to shape their tools - and the tools will improve faster than any roadmap. Open systems or dead ends? Closed systems protect revenue. Open systems protect lives. When Hamas attacked, it wasnt just their use of commercial drones that shocked us, it was how quickly they repurposed tools never designed for warfare. Our experience shows that relying on a single platform - or assuming one company has the complete answer - doesnt just inflate costs but also, crucially, creates fatal blind spots. No single vendor can move as fast as an open ecosystem. No closed system can adapt to the chaos of modern warfare. Open architecture, plug-and-play interoperability, and real-time data-sharing arent nice-to-haves - theyre the difference between responsiveness and irrelevance. If the U.S. enters its next fight with a vendor-locked technology stack, it wont just be expensive, it could be fatal. Not collaborating is the privilege of an Oct. 6 mindset - and we cannot afford to live in the past. Rethink command. Reimagine how we fight. Strapping smart, new tools onto old frameworks wont cut it anymore. When AI and computers live at the edge, decisions should too. After Oct. 7, Israel didnt just field new systems - we rewrote the playbook. We collapsed the distance between boots-on-the ground insights and real-time decision making. We relied less on central command, moved faster with real-time data, and built for tempo over hierarchy. The U.S. must do the same. Its not just about a tech upgrade; its a shift in mindset. By changing the way units coordinate, maneuver, and engage, we can build new habits and trust structures, and reimagine Concept of Operations (CONOPS) to reflect the true speed of war. The future is hybrid - and thats not just about drones. Todays battlefield is a blend of physical and digital, old and new. Enemies tunnel beneath borders while spoofing GPS signals. They jam satellite communications and livestream their attacks. The future wont be won by shiny new platforms - it will be won by systems that integrate legacy and next-gen hardware and software, human and AI. Building a future, together Oct. 7 was more than a wake-up call - it was a preview. In Israel, the Iron Dome has protected our skies. But todays threats dont stop at borders - from autonomous weapons to cyberattacks. Thats why President Trumps Golden Dome concept matters: Its about moving first, not reacting last. But big investments alone wont win the next war. Without speed, integration, and real-time adaptability, even the best platforms will arrive too late. In Israel, were already iterating under fire. We dont have it all figured out, but we constantly learn and adapt. Were your early warning system. Secretary Hegseth, youve called for a faster, stronger, more lethal force. Come see what that looks like in action - where software meets soldier, and systems adapt in real time. The next fight wont wait. Neither should we. Hamutal Meridor is co-founder and president of Kela Systems.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Letter to Shari Redstone: You're Conflating the Antisemitism Fight With Press Freedom, and You Will Lose Both
There is nothing more important to Shari Redstone at this moment in time than her fight against rising antisemitism. I know because she's told me. I know because she said so just this week. 'I've been fighting racism and antisemitism for a long time, but after Oct. 7, it became my life,' the executive chairwoman of Paramount Global said at a screening for a heart-rending new documentary, 'Children of October 7,' airing on Paramount+ and one of her networks, MTV. 'It became the most important thing that I can do with my time — that I can teach my children, that I can bring people together to not just watch this movie but to share this with people they know, to tell the truth, to tell the stories.' Noble words. Noble intentions. But if Redstone is not careful, her efforts will backfire. She will fail both at combating antisemitism and at preserving the credibility of her CBS News division. She's already done significant harm. What many who are angry with Redstone in the wake of '60 Minutes'' chief Bill Owen's resignation this week do not understand is that her frustration and alleged 'interference' in CBS News is rooted less in a knee-jerk response to Donald Trump's naked bullying and more in her concern over coverage of Israel and antisemitism. Redstone broke with her news division last fall, when CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil was disciplined for asking pointed questions of Ta-Nehisi Coates over his new book about the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Black intellectual admitted that he was not interested in exploring the Israeli side of the conflict, but felt Palestinians were treated like Black Americans under Jim Crow; Dokoupil said his views 'would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.' After internal criticism of Dokoupil, a CBS News review of the interview found that it 'failed to meet the organization's editorial standards,' as TheWrap then reported, wagging a finger over the journalist's questioning without saying precisely what was wrong with it. 'We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door,' said CBS News executive Adrienne Roark in her statement to the staff. The implication was that Dokoupil was biased. In a rare move two days later, Redstone broke publicly with her news team to disagree. 'I think they made a mistake here,' she said. 'I frankly think Tony did a great job with that interview.' And she added that Paramount's three co-CEOs agreed with her: 'I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly and we all agree that something needs to be done.' Something was done, after another bump over Israel in January. '60 Minutes' aired a segment about Gaza in which former State Department officials discussed the Biden administration's support for Israel's push against Hamas. The segment was accused of failing to point out the terrorist nature of Hamas; the Anti-Defamation League's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called the segment 'a biased and one-sided piece.' The blowback came as Redstone was on a plane on her way back from Israel. Within 48 hours co-CEO George Cheeks had placed former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky as a new 'executive editor,' overseeing standards and journalistic practices, reviewing 'highly complex, sensitive issues like the war in the Middle East,' as Cheeks said in a memo sent to CBS News staffers. Roark, meanwhile, exited the company in February. In the midst of all this hangs the deal for Redstone to sell Paramount Global to Skydance, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison, which has been pending federal approval since last July. Since winning the election, Trump has determined to bring the media to heel, and took aim at the biggest broadcast target with the most exquisite point of vulnerability: CBS News. He sued for $10 billion, and then upped it to $20 billion, over an absurd allegation that CBS had deceptively edited an interview with then-candidate Kamala Harris. The lawsuit, as everyone who knows anything about fair news practices and the mechanics of TV news recognizes, is nonsense. But it is leverage. And Trump likes leverage. It is this pressure – Redstone's need to settle this lawsuit, while her news leaders like Owens have refused to apologize, retract or admit error – that led to his resignation, citing 'interference' from corporate. This is a lose-lose situation. If Redstone caves to Trump she may get her Paramount deal, but at what cost? She undermines CBS News, a key asset. She damages the credibility of the organization, chases out talent and loses the trust of her news division. 'The lawsuit is baseless,' keened a top CBS News executive, who is normally a supporter of Redstone, speaking on background. 'What makes it so difficult – to capitulate and settle when the lawsuit is baseless – is this puts the corporation in a horrible position.' This person continued: 'Maybe Shari doesn't appreciate the depth of destruction of the First Amendment in settling… You're blinded by things. There's no doubt she understands that everyone in the news division feels capitulating is such a serious blow to the First Amendment.' But — has anyone said this directly to Shari Redstone? I don't think anyone has. Instead she's clearly leaning toward giving in. 'We might be in a position — if we can reach a reasonable settlement — we might have to do that,' an individual close to Redstone told me. 'As a news organization, having this litigation makes it impossible to function as a company over time.' That's nonsense. Of course Paramount Global can litigate a federal lawsuit over time and still function in its news division. It's the company sale that is at stake if Trump doesn't get what he wants. So Shari, if no one at CBS or Paramount will tell you, I will: your fears over antisemitism, your concerns over the tilt against Israel in news coverage, are real. They are legitimate. They are valid. But they are not a reason to betray your news organization and give in to Donald Trump. That will only hurt your company, hurt freedom of the press and harm the legacy of CBS News built over decades. Fight for your freedom and the right of those at CBS News — and for all of us — to report, to criticize, to challenge and, sometimes, to mess up. That is the fractured beauty of this thing we cling to called democracy. For your children and grandchildren, I hope you choose courage. The post Letter to Shari Redstone: You're Conflating the Antisemitism Fight With Press Freedom, and You Will Lose Both appeared first on TheWrap.
