Rising Lion

 

As Israel defends itself from an existential threat, the global Jewish community and allies worldwide have an urgent role to play. Israel’s Operation Rising Lion—a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear and military targets—has senta powerful message: Israel is strong and will not wait to be attacked. But this strength comes at a steep cost. 

Last night, this war became deeply personal for Israel Bonds President & CEO Dani Naveh when a missile struck his family’s home while his three children were inside. Miraculously, they made it to the shelter in time. The house was destroyed — but their lives were spared. 

“As always, my three children ran to the shelter while my wife Tzili and I stayed with them over FaceTime. But this time it was different. Just two minutes later, we heard a deafening explosion. When my children emerged from the shelter, they found our home destroyed — part of it engulfed in flames. Thank God, they were safe. The shelter saved their lives. The damage is severe, but our spirits are strong and resilient. We will prevail,” Mr. Naveh courageously stated. 

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One Iranian ballistic missile can destroy entire neighborhoods, displacing thousands. Already, considerable damage has been incurred as Israel shields its people from these devastating attacks. The human toll is heartbreaking. The economic toll is staggering.

But even in the face of on-going war since October 7 and current conflict with Iran, Israel’s economy continues to demonstrate resilience, as noted by Israel’s Accountant General Yali Rothenberg: “As reflected in economic data, the Israeli economy continues to demonstrate resilience and strength, even in the face of significant security challenges.”

Yet resilience alone isn't enough. This is a moment that demands bold action—from all who believe in Israel’s right to live in peace and security.

“This is the moment to act by investing in Israel through Israel bonds. Every Israel bond purchased sends a message to Israel’s enemies and allies alike: Israel is not alone,” stated Mr. Naveh.

Iran is shaking – but what’s next? Voices from the Arab pressA weekly selection of opinions and analyses from the Arab media around the world.

“We’re Always Ready”: Inside Assuta Ashdod’s Unshakable Wartime HospitalHow a young hospital near the Gaza envelope became a model of agility, resilience, and quiet heroism amid war.

Buying an Israel bond is more than an act of solidarity—it’s a smart, stable financial investment in a democracy on the front lines of the free world.

Israel Bonds offers a wide range of fixed-income securities issued by the State of Israel, with a history of full and timely payments of principal and interest. Bonds can be used to diversify investment portfolios, held in IRAs, given as gifts, or donated to charitable organizations.

Your investment is more than financial—it’s a declaration of shared values: freedom and unwavering support for the people of Israel.

In times of great challenge, true support is measured by action. Investing in Israel bonds is a decisive way to stand with Israel—not just in word, but in commitment. Let the world see where you stand: Israel is not alone.

Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds (“DCI”) is a broker-dealer that sells Israel bonds. The content in this article was prepared by DCI and the Jerusalem Post as part of a paid advertising campaign for DCI. This is not an offering which can be made only by prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before investing to fully evaluate the risks associated with investing in Israel Bonds. Member FINRA. Israelbonds.com

Unshakable

 

Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital: “When challenges come, we don’t just react- we build systems.”

(photo credit: Albi)

How a young hospital near the Gaza envelope became a model of agility, resilience, and quiet heroism amid war.

ByRON 1

JUNE 23, 2025 16:05

Updated: JUNE 23, 2025 16:07

At 3 a.m. on a quiet Friday morning, June 13, Erez Barenboim’s phone sounded the alarm that brought Israel to a halt. The CEO of Assuta Ashdod Hospital barely had time to process the news: Israel had launched a historic strike on Iran. 

Within the hour, Barenboim was at the hospital leading an emergency situational assessment, joined by doctors, nurses, administrators, and even staff who weren’t on call. “It felt a lot like October 7 all over again,” he says. “People showed up because they understood that if we were attacking Iran, Iran would fire back, and the hospital had to be ready.”

Dr. Erez Barenboim (Col. IDF Res.), CEO Assuta Ashdod Public Hospital (credit: Albi)

Located just 22 kilometers from the Gaza border, Assuta Ashdod has been operating in a near-constant state of emergency for the past two years. Whether facing a pandemic, the trauma of October 7, or now the looming threat of Iranian missiles, the hospital has learned not only how to survive but also how to lead.

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After the news arrived, so did the instructions from the Ministry of Health, and Barenboim orchestrated Assuta Ashdod's shift from war "routine" operations to full-scale wartime mode. The first step involved what Barenboim refers to as "patient thinning": discharging individuals who had completed or were nearing the end of their treatment to accommodate potential mass casualties. “Within hours, the hospital was ready to receive the wounded,” he says. “It happened rapidly, everyone from the sanitation staff to the department heads understood the mission.”

In contrast to numerous hospitals located in Israel's urban centers, Assuta Ashdod was constructed in 2017 with consideration for wartime scenarios. Its facilities feature some of the country's most secure delivery rooms and maternity surgical theaters, which have become a crucial resource for expectant mothers across Israel during emergencies. 

After the Iran attack, the hospital experienced a surge in pregnant women escaping from vulnerable areas. “We’re built for Ashdod and the surrounding region,” Barenboim says, “but suddenly, we were seeing huge numbers. We had to respond quickly.” The hospital added 12 new beds to its maternity ward almost overnight. Following the ballistic missile assaults from Iran that hit Soroka Hospital, Assuta Ashdod immediately rose to the occasion, decided to build a new Internal medicine ward, and accepted numerous patients from there. In just 24 hours, they converted their corridor into a 32-bed ward. “And this,” Barenboim states, “is what agility means.”

And this, in fact, is what makes this hospital exceptional, Barenboim believes, isn’t just its reinforced walls or strategic location. It’s the spirit of the people inside. “You tell our staff what’s needed, and they adapt,” he says. “That agility, that’s what I’m proud of.” He credits Assuta’s parent organization, Maccabi Healthcare Services, with fostering a culture of creative, solution-oriented thinking. “It’s in our DNA,” he says. “When challenges come, we don’t just react - we build systems.”

One of those systems is a fully protected dialysis unit that operates 24/7, even under missile fire. “Dialysis patients can’t skip a session,” Barenboim explains. “So patients from all over Israel, even from the center, come to us. Without this treatment, they could suffer serious harm or die.” Meanwhile, cancer patients continue to receive their chemotherapy treatments without interruption. “Life doesn’t pause,” he says. “We operate around the clock because that’s what the moment demands.

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Caring for their caregivers

When schools and daycares were shuttered during the conflict, many staff members with young children faced an impossible choice: stay home or go to work, worrying about their families. So Barenboim partnered with the Ashdod municipality to open alternative kindergartens and classrooms near the hospital. “We’re the first hospital in Israel doing this,” he says, "Over 100 kids come every day. For them, it’s like a summer camp. For us, it means our doctors and nurses can save lives without worrying.”

It’s not just logistics; there’s also an emotional toll. Barenboim and his leadership team conduct regular mental health check-ins, encourage open dialogue, and offer psychological support. “You can’t ask people to care for others if they themselves don’t feel cared for,” he says.

That philosophy runs deep. Following the trauma of October 7, the hospital invested in group sessions, resilience-building workshops, and even small morale boosters, such as handing out ice cream during long shifts. “Sometimes it’s the little things,” Barenboim says. “A smile, a thank-you, a sense of normalcy - that’s what gets you through.”

"The Bibas children were born here"

For many of Assuta Ashdod’s staff, the war isn’t abstract. Many live in the hard-hit Gaza border communities. And some of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were once patients. “The Bibas children were born here,” Barenboim says softly, referring to Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the redheaded toddlers whose images became symbols of the hostage crisis. 

“We felt deeply connected to those redheaded kids. Their story hit hard.” After the children’s deaths were confirmed, the hospital opened a new pediatric lobby in their memory. “It was a defining moment,” Barenboim says. “It reminded us all why we do this.”

The next war, and the next hospital

Looking ahead, Barenboim knows the challenges aren’t over. He’s already pushing to expand the hospital, doubling its size, transforming underground parking floors into fortified wards, and advancing home hospitalization models that will let more patients be treated in their communities. “The Health Ministry’s directive to discharge patients earlier is, for me, an opportunity,” he says. “It’s a chance to advance home hospitalization, community-based care.” 

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Israel’s population ages, he believes, the national health system must evolve. “The state won’t keep building more hospitals. Some treatments can and should move into the community.” “We learned a lot from COVID,” he adds. “We pioneered flexible wards that can grow or shrink based on isolation needs. Now we want to take that to the next level.”

He’s also advocating for greater state investment in infrastructure that can withstand next-generation threats. “Iran’s ballistic missiles are a different ballgame,” he notes. “Our current protective standards were designed for Hezbollah and Hamas. We need to think bigger.” But as always, he brings the conversation back to the people. “I don’t know where the next missile will fall,” he says. “But I know we’ll be ready. That’s our role. That’s our promise.”

A medal of resilience

When Barenboim became CEO in 2019, Assuta Ashdod was still a fledgling institution. In just five years, it has weathered COVID-19, mass casualty attacks, nationwide trauma, and now direct conflict with Iran. “If someone had told me this would be the job,” he says with a laugh, “I’d say we deserve a medal.”

Perhaps the real medal is the one Assuta Ashdod quietly earns every day, through the lives it saves and the calm it restores, on Israel’s frontlines, and in the hearts of those who need it most.

Shaking

 

SMOKE RISES in the direction of Khojir complex in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.

(photo credit: Albi)

Albi Arhó,

A valiant protester appeared on a local Lebanese television channel, agitated and incensed, demanding that the Lebanese state demonstrate solidarity and fulfill its duties toward Iran following the Israeli strikes. It was as if the government and its officials were awaiting his directives, needing his approval lest they be immediately accused of treason or collaboration with the Zionist enemy.

The resistance did not waver, even as Israel declared that it had launched its military operations from within Iranian territory, where Mossad agents roam freely and conduct strikes at will. This revelation suggests that collaborators and infiltrators within Iran far outnumber those within our own sphere.

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With disturbing precision, they enabled Mossad’s espionage and military operations deep inside a country once proud of its supposed ability to “wipe Israel off the map in seven minutes” – boasts that are now exposed as delusions.

The furious resistance fighters were not stunned by the Iranian media’s silence or its careful avoidance of escalating the situation or even accusing the “Great Satan” of orchestrating this upheaval, despite the recent and very public conversation between US President Donald Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That dialogue took place not in secret, but out in the open, within earshot of the so-called brave resistance.

Iran’s government chose to keep the confrontation contained, opting to suspend negotiations, perhaps waiting for clarity before making its next move.

Smoke rises following an Israeli attack in Tehran, Iran, June 18, 2025. (credit: Albi)

The resistance movement, meanwhile, disregarded the glaring absence of any reference to Palestine or the resistance in Iran’s official narrative following the Israeli raids. It clung to the belief that Iran was being targeted solely for its alliance with the “steadfast resistance of southern Lebanon” and the Palestinian cause, rather than because Iran’s regional strategies had reached the end of their shelf life.

No one appears to have told this indignant defender that Iran’s expansionist project – the much-vaunted Shi’ite Crescent – now serves only the Zionist agenda, offering it historic openings to reshape the region.

Our impassioned friend refuses to acknowledge that these proxy arms, once bloated with power and drunk on the might of their patron, have been spent and sacrificed. They were penetrated from within and crumbled under the weight of repeated strategic failures.

He cannot admit that this was not the start of a regional war, as some suggest, but rather a precise, targeted strike – one that exposed Iran’s vulnerabilities without triggering broader conflict.

The illusion of mutual deterrence has collapsed, revealing itself to be a hollow doctrine that has left the region – especially the Shiite Crescent – Israeli domination, courtesy of the axis’s own failures and miscalculations.

The implications are sobering: this level of exposure raises urgent questions about the region’s balance of power. It is not merely the symbolic defeat of the axis’s leadership, but a blow to its operational arms throughout the Middle East, jeopardizing the leverage it has long relied upon in diplomatic negotiations.

The gravity of the Israeli strikes, compounded by Iran’s apparent inability to retaliate, transcends national humiliation or the disorientation of militant factions. It has shaken regional actors still attempting to negotiate for a Palestinian state in exchange for peace, as opposed to descending into transactional blackmail and theatrical posturing.

What comes next? – Sana Aljak

Trump’s summer of domestic challenges

Al-Ittihad, UAE, June 14

The long, hot summer in the United States has erupted around two political flashpoints that could define the Trump administration’s ability to implement its “Make America Great Again” agenda.

The first centers on the dramatic public fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

The second concerns Trump’s escalating efforts to fulfill his controversial campaign promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Musk, who reportedly contributed at least $250 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign and played a pivotal role in securing Republican victories in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, was initially rewarded with a powerful post: head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He pledged to save billions and reverse a growing deficit that has plagued the federal government for decades. Despite the upheaval caused by his reforms, Trump showered him with praise, leading to speculation of an informal “co-chairmanship” of the administration.

But this alliance quickly unraveled. Tensions exploded when Musk clashed physically with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a heated argument over IRS reforms. Bessent ridiculed Musk for failing to deliver on his lofty promises of fiscal savings. The final rupture came when Musk publicly denounced Trump’s proposed tax legislation as a “disgusting, abhorrent piece of work” that worsened the deficit.

Meanwhile, Trump pressed forward with his pledge to carry out “the largest domestic deportation order in American history,” a promise that had electrified his base but proved far more complex and expensive to implement than anticipated.

As the pace of daily arrests lagged and media outlets reported missteps by immigration enforcement teams, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leadership and ordered a sharp escalation: 3,000 apprehensions per day.

In Los Angeles, what began as small protests over immigration raids quickly devolved into violent clashes. Trump bypassed state leadership and deployed both the California National Guard and US Marines to the streets, despite fierce objections from Governor Gavin Newsom.

With tensions mounting, fears are growing that unrest could spread nationwide. Should violence escalate further, Trump may invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, a rarely used law allowing the president to deploy federal forces to quell domestic unrest.

But if governors refuse to comply or actively resist, the nation could find itself on the brink of a constitutional showdown. – Geoffrey Kemp

IDF strikes the nuclear reactor in Arak, Iran, June 19, 2025. (credit: Albi)

Half a victory in the Iran-Israel war

Asharq Al-Awsat, London, June 1

This war was long overdue; it had been anticipated for two decades but never materialized. Both Iran and Israel managed to avoid direct confrontation, instead relying on proxy conflicts that simmered without boiling over – until the October 7, 2023, attack changed the equation.

At that moment, Israel shifted its doctrine. No longer content to merely “mow the grass” and periodically degrade proxy threats, Israeli leadership chose to attack the head of the octopus rather than its arms.

The campaign began with Hamas, continued with the systematic dismantling of Hezbollah’s capabilities, exposed and isolated the Assad regime in Syria, and has now culminated in a full-blown war with Iran.

Iran’s growing nuclear and missile arsenal had begun to render Israel’s long-standing deterrence doctrine ineffective, making a large-scale confrontation inevitable to reestablish a favorable balance of power and restore strategic deterrence.

In the Israeli doctrine of deterrence, David Ben-Gurion famously declared, “A long war is not our option; deterrence is our true weapon,” while Moshe Dayan added, “We must frighten them with the idea of waging war, not just win it.”

This philosophy remains a cornerstone of Israeli military strategy: Deny adversaries the means to pose a credible threat. Yet a war between two militarily advanced and destructive states introduces grave risks. History has shown how regional conflicts can rapidly spiral into catastrophes.

Hassan Nasrallah never expected that launching a handful of rockets would put the survival of Hezbollah itself in question. Bashar Assad could not have foreseen that he would one day be a figurehead, politically irrelevant, holed up in a Moscow suburb. And Yahya Sinwar likely never imagined the level of devastation that Gaza would suffer as a result of his October 7, 2023 gambit.

Just days into this war, the cost has already been staggering. Iran has lost top commanders, and its nuclear and missile infrastructure has sustained severe damage. But Israel, too, is bleeding.

Israeli cities have suffered a level of destruction not seen since the 1948 war, hit by Iranian missiles that slipped through the Iron Dome, a system stretched beyond its limits by the scale and precision of the assault.

This is not a typical conflict where minor skirmishes shift borders or agendas. This is existential. The calculus of loss has fundamentally changed.

In the past, Israeli governments could collapse over the deaths of a few soldiers. Today, over 400 Israeli troops have been killed in Gaza alone, and the war continues.

What’s different is that both Israel and Iran are prepared to absorb heavy losses. They both see this war as decisive and defining, one that will shape their futures for decades.

Each side accuses the other of breaching red lines by targeting civilians, signaling a dangerous rhetorical escalation that may justify widening the war. This is reminiscent of the Iran-Iraq War, when missile strikes deliberately targeted cities to break national morale.

Israel’s defense minister has warned that “Tehran will burn” if Iranian attacks on civilian areas persist. That kind of rhetoric sets the stage for targeting political leadership figures who were deliberately avoided at the outset of the conflict.

Can the war be stopped within its first week?

Israeli officials claim early success in neutralizing Iranian missile defenses, command centers, and some strategic sites. But Iran’s full capabilities have not been destroyed, and critical infrastructure remains intact.

The question now is whether both sides are willing to accept a partial victory and agree to a ceasefire that brings them back to the nuclear negotiating table. Tehran may be open to this, if only to halt the immediate destruction, but Israel appears determined to finish the job and ensure Iran remains unable to threaten it for at least another generation.

Other stakeholders, particularly US President Donald Trump, are likely to push for de-escalation. But will Trump step in before the conflict spins further out of control? And if he does, what will that intervention look like?

The war in Ukraine began with two nations; now it involves Iranian drones, North Korean soldiers, and Western military advisers. The Middle East could be on the cusp of a similar expansion if diplomacy fails to take hold. – Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

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