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- [00:04]
Podcast Host
You are listening to an art media podcast.
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Deborah Pardes
It's Monday, may 18th. This episode was recorded at 7pm new york time on Sunday. I'm deborah pardes and this is arc news daily. This weekend, the preparations for war on both sides entered their most serious phase since the ceasefire began six weeks ago. US Officials say President Trump wants a deal to end the war. But Iran has so far rejected many of his demands and refused meaningful concessions on its nuclear program. And that has put the military option back on the table. The New York Times reported that the US And Israel are engaged in what it called intense preparations to resume strikes on Iran, potentially as early as next week. A senior Israeli official told Channel 12 they are, quote, preparing for days to weeks of fighting. And then on Saturday, Trump posted an AI generated image of himself standing with a Navy admiral warships in the background. The caption read, it was the calm before the storm. The next day, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and pushed Trump to escalate. He said Iran's leaders still want to destroy Israel and that the next round of attacks should hit Iran's energy infrastructure.
- [01:36]
Lindsey Graham
I'm calling to hurt this regime. If you do the same old thing, you're going to get the same results. Hurt them more, maybe they'll make a deal if you hurt them enough. But right now, I think they're trying to wait us out. I think they're playing games, and in the words of the president, I think they're crazy.
- [01:51]
Deborah Pardes
We've heard war talk for weeks. What's changed is the apparent urgency. YNET reports the IDF and Mossad are at peak readiness, and Israeli officials are putting the odds of renewing fighting at 50 50. The military options on the table are concrete. Heavier bombing, seizing Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export terminal, or a commando raid to secure Iran's enriched uranium. On the negotiation front, Trump just returned from Beijing. He'd been waiting on the China summit as a potential diplomatic off ramp, hoping China might lean on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, he came back without a firm commitment. Trump has also softened his public demands slightly. He's now Talking about a 20 year suspension of Iranian enrichment rather than permanent dismantlement. Trump told Axios he still thinks Iran wants a deal and said he is waiting for an updated proposal. But he declined to give a specific deadline for the negotiations. The next Iranian offer is expected to come through Pakistani mediators. Whether it moves the needle is the next concrete thing to watch. Iran has been waging a shadow war against Jewish communities around the world since the fighting began in February. But what we didn't know is who exactly was involved and how far it had reached into the United States. We learned more over the weekend. Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a criminal complaint. It charged an Iraqi militia commander with plotting to attack a synagogue in Manhattan and Jewish centers in Los Angeles and in Scottsdale, Arizona. The man is 32 years old. According to the complaint, he's been a senior figure in Kutaib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia funded and armed by Iran. He worked closely with Qassam Soleimani, the Quds Force commander the United States killed in a drone strike in 2020. The complaint accuses him of being involved in at least 18 attacks and attempted attacks across Canada and Europe. American agents arrested him in Turkey and brought him to New York. According to the complaint, he had paid $3,000 in cryptocurrency as a down payment for the attacks. He was working with an undercover FBI agent. He texted the agent photographs and maps of the Manhattan synagogue chosen because of its support for Israel. He discussed whether to use an explosive device or set the place on fire. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the case is directly connected to the war in Iran.
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Jessica Tisch
As conflict involving Iran continues to reverberate across the region, and as the world continues to deal with the aftermath of October 7th, tensions do remain high. But today's case is a stark example of how these tensions that originate overseas translate into violence.
- [04:50]
Deborah Pardes
The case is the clearest example yet of how Iran is running its current war against diaspora Jews. For months, a previously unknown group called Hayi have been claiming responsibility for a wave of attacks on Jewish and American targets across Europe. Western security officials suspected that group was a front. The new complaint confirms it. Hayi was a cover for Kataib Hezbollah, and the man arrested on Friday was running it. That matters because it tells us something new about how Iran has rebuilt its attack network. For decades, Iran ran this kind of program through Hezbollah in Lebanon and threw Quds Force officers on the ground. But as those pipelines have been degraded, it appears the system using Iraqi militias concealed by a front group to keep the Iraqi connection deniable. The recruits and tactics are different, too. The New York Times reported that the people the network is using in Europe are mostly young men, including teenagers with no prior ties to extremist groups. Most are motivated by money. The attacks are cheap and rudimentary. Stabbings, arsons paid with a few thousand dollars in crypto. The suspect appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. His lawyer told the judge he considers himself a political prisoner and a prisoner of war. He faces six terrorism related charges, including conspiracy to bomb a place of public use, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The ongoing court case will show how deep law enforcement has penetrated his operation. Noam Bataan is back home in Israel. He landed at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday afternoon and walked into a crowd of fans waving Israeli flags. On Saturday, he finished second in Eurovision Song Contest. Bulgaria won for the first time in the contest's 70 year history. When he landed back in Israel, Bataan thanked Israelis for their support throughout the competition. He said he was grateful to provide some degree of unity at a time of so much tension and animosity around the world. Bataan braved boycotts and anti Israel chants throughout the competition, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He even rehearsed with simulated boos and heckling designed to interrupt his performance. Those interruptions have been a consistent feature at the competition since October 7th. This year, five countries boycotted the event due to Israel's participation Spain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Slovenia. Spain's broadcaster aired an on screen protest message calling for peace and justice for Palestine rather than showing the contest. Adding to the controversy, the New York Times published an investigation last week. It found that Israel ran a coordinated government backed campaign to turn Eurovision into what it called a soft power tool. The report said Israel spent at least a million dollars on marketing, including money specifically earmarked for vote promotion. The Times found no bots, no covert cheating, no broken rules. But it did find that in some countries, just a few hundred people voting repeatedly could have tipped the popular vote. Eurovision rewrote the rules in response, cutting the maximum votes per viewer from 20 to 10 and reintroducing professional juries in the semifinals. Despite those changes, Baton still came in second, scoring 343points, 2, 220 from the public, 123 from the judges. We spoke with Yael Bartour from the Ask a Jew podcast.
- [08:37]
Podcast Host
She said Eurovision is a big deal for Israelis. It always has been. It's the ultimate popularity contest. Imagine the super bowl. But if all the states got to vote for each other and the football was almost secondary to the geopolitics. And what we see over the last few years is really amazing where despite the boycotts and the booing and the low scores from the national juries, the European public gives Israel a lot of love and it's coming from countries like Finland or Albania, Portugal not necessarily known for their thriving Jewish communities. So it's very heartening to see and we need that right now. And also at the end of the day, Israelis, you know, they want to remind the world and ourselves that we're also a normal Western country and we can have a seat at the table and we have a lot going for us. Beyond the conflict A link to the
- [09:25]
Deborah Pardes
Ask a Jew podcast and Yael Substack is in the show. Notes Israel has won Eurovision four times. It is one of the very few cultural arenas where Israel routinely succeeds in Europe. For years, the government has leveraged Israel's strong rankings to help global audiences see the country in a positive light. And for Israelis, the supportive votes in their artists favor speak for themselves. The affirmations show that Europeans can unify around the power of music and songwriting. I'm Deborah Pardes and this is ARK News Daily. See you tomorrow.