Democracy Now! 2026-03-13 Friday

Summary

Democracy Now! – March 13, 2026: Summary

Overview

This episode of Democracy Now!, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan González, provides in-depth coverage of the rapidly escalating U.S. and Israeli war on Iran and its consequences across the Middle East. The program highlights regional destabilization, massive displacement, humanitarian crises, and sharply restricted dissent—both on the ground and in the media. Special segments with on-the-ground reporters and experts include updates from Lebanon and Israel, and a substantive critique of U.S. and Israeli military strategy from economist Jeffrey Sachs. The episode maintains Democracy Now!’s critical, urgent, and justice-focused tone.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Escalation of War in the Middle East

• Israeli and U.S. Actions: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares a "new Middle East," emphasizing that Israel is "initiating" and "attacking" with unprecedented force (00:23, 04:14, 26:30).
• Wider Regional Impact: The U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have destabilized the region, caused environmental fallout, disrupted global energy, and led to aggressive Israeli actions across Lebanon (00:48, 01:03).
• International Response: The UN Security Council voted to condemn Iran's “military aggression,” but failed to pass a Russian-sponsored resolution demanding a halt to hostilities by all parties, exposing international divisions and U.S. influence (01:24, 41:40).

2. Humanitarian Crisis and Displacement

• Scale of Displacement: Over 3.2 million Iranians and 800,000 Lebanese have been displaced in under two weeks; scenes described by Mashid, a Tehran resident who lost everything in airstrikes (02:18, 02:54, 15:44).
• Conditions on the Ground: Reporter Leila Yunus (Lebanon) details expanding Israeli evacuation orders, targeting of civilian infrastructure, and lack of safe havens as airstrikes hit even tent encampments for displaced families (17:37–20:47).
• Vulnerable Populations: Repeated massacres of both Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees; Gulf nation civilian deaths mostly affect low-wage immigrant workers (05:43, 07:17).

“This is a very, very small country…there aren’t a lot of places for people to go…the massacres are multiplying.”
—Leila Yunus, Beirut (17:37–20:47)

3. Suppression, Media Bias, and Political Climate in Israel

• Lack of Dissent: Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy describes a society and media "gone insane," with 93% of Jewish Israelis supporting the war and nearly total media alignment with government and military (27:33, 29:40).

“93% of the Israelis, Jews, according to a last survey...support this war. Those are North Korean figures.”
—Gideon Levy (29:40)

• Palestinian, Arab Israeli Marginalization: Arab voices are ignored in Israeli public discourse, though a minority (23%) of Palestinian citizens of Israel support the war (31:10).
• Settler Violence and West Bank: Levy provides firsthand accounts of extrajudicial killings, expansion of settler power, and the transformation of the West Bank into isolated “concentration camps” through roadblocks and expulsions (34:20–38:59).

4. International Law, UN Role, and U.S. Policy (w/ Jeffrey Sachs)

• Flagrant Breach of the UN Charter: Economist Jeffrey Sachs condemns the U.S.-Israeli war as “blatant and brazen assault on the UN charter,” calling current U.S. policy fascistic and warning of a path to world war (47:48–51:00).

“We have a war of blatant aggression...in the most blatant frank violation of the UN Charter…This is the most brazen assault on the UN charter and international law since it was founded in 1945.”
—Jeffrey Sachs (47:48–49:30)

• Historical Context of U.S.-Iran Relations: Sachs recounts U.S. and Israeli strategies of regime change, economic destruction, and assassination, as well as the U.S. withdrawal from nuclear agreements (51:44–56:00).

"Everything Trump says is a lie…He has ripped up the agreement [nuclear] that already existed…invaded or bombed the country with carpet bombing now.”
—Jeffrey Sachs (54:10–56:00)

• Economic Consequences: Sachs argues that rising oil prices & war benefit “a few oil companies” but threaten global economic crisis and will impoverish ordinary people (57:31–57:47).

5. Global Reactions, Protests, and Other Headlines

• International Protests and Moves:

  • Massive opposition to the war: Over 250 U.S. orgs urge Congress to halt war funding (04:32–05:25).
  • Spain and other European countries intensify opposition to Israeli actions and join South Africa’s genocide case at The Hague (08:48–09:12).
  • Greek protesters decry hosting U.S. military bases; highlight risks to their society (09:36).

• Collateral Violence, Domestic Terrorism: Rising anti-Muslim/anti-Jewish violence in the U.S., including synagogue attacks and an ROTC classroom shooting linked to U.S.-Middle East policy repercussions (11:44–13:17).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Netanyahu's uncompromising stance (00:23, 04:14, 26:30)

  • "We are not waiting, we are initiating, we are attacking. And we are doing so with a force the like of which has not been seen before."

• Leila Yunus on Lebanon’s devastation (17:37–20:47)

  • “The massacres are multiplying…Even areas not covered by displacement orders are no longer safe.”

• Gideon Levy on Israeli consensus (29:40)

  • “93% of the Israelis, Jews, support this war. Those are North Korean figures…There is no room for any question marks or doubts about this war.”

• Gideon Levy on West Bank oppression (38:59)

  • “The whole West Bank looks like a collection of concentration camps. No other way to describe it...the settlers took over tens of thousands of acres all over the West Bank by force.”

• Jeffrey Sachs on U.S.-Israeli aggression (47:48–49:30)

  • “This is the most blatant and brazen assault on the UN charter and international law since it was founded in 1945…We have two malignant narcissists, Netanyahu and Trump, that are leading us to disaster.”

• Jeffrey Sachs on U.S. oil profiteering (57:31–57:47)

  • “He may put money into the hands of a few oil companies...but he’s going to impoverish Americans, and he's throwing the entire world into a profound economic crisis.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• US/Israeli assault and regional escalation – 00:23, 04:14, 26:30
• Displacement and humanitarian crisis in Iran and Lebanon – 02:18–03:38, 15:44–17:37
• Leila Yunus, Beirut (Lebanon war update) – 17:37–24:11
• Gideon Levy, Tel Aviv (Israeli media, society, West Bank) – 26:59–41:13
• Jeffrey Sachs on UN Charter & U.S. aggression – 46:28–58:11

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Conclusion

This episode foregrounds the scope and consequences of the escalating conflict, exposes Western media and policy complicity, and gives airtime to critical, dissenting voices from within the region. Democracy Now! underscores both the immense human cost and the grave risk to international law and order, while bringing specificity and personal testimony to the scale of human suffering and political repression unfolding in real time.

For further details, referenced articles, and full interviews, visit Democracy Now!.

Transcript

[Amy Goodman]

From Los Angeles and Chicago. This is democracy now.

[Benjamin Netanyahu]

Even now, it can be said with certainty this is no longer the same Iran. This is no longer the same Middle east. And this is also not the same Israel. We are not waiting, we are initiating, we are attacking. And we are doing so with a force the like of which has not been seen before.

[Amy Goodman]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaims a

[Juan Gonzalez]

new Middle east as the Israeli U.

[Amy Goodman]

S War on Iran continues to destabilize the region, disrupt global energy markets, expand

[Juan Gonzalez]

environmental fallout and claim lives.

[Amy Goodman]

Israel's expanded its assault on Lebanon beyond the south, striking central Beirut.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Will go to Beirut for the latest

[Amy Goodman]

and then to Tel Aviv to speak with Haaretz journalist Gidon Levy. He writes, quote, everyone in this country has gone insane. Calling attention to the lack of anti

[Juan Gonzalez]

war voices in Israeli politics and media. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Councils voted

[Amy Goodman]

to condemn Iran for military aggression while failing to adopt a second resolution calling

[Juan Gonzalez]

for hostilities by all parties to end, which would include the US And Israel. Russia sponsored that resolution.

[Jeffrey Sachs]

They have just rejected the possibility of the Council sending an unequivocal demand to immediately stop hostilities and settle all disputes peacefully. And this shows very clearly yet again that all of the loud statements on the part of those countries about how committed they are to international law, the UN Charter and peace are nothing more than empty rhetoric.

[Amy Goodman]

I want to speak to renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs who says the US And

[Juan Gonzalez]

Israel are murdering the UN Charter. All that and more coming up.

[Amy Goodman]

Welcome to democracy now.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. The United nations refugee agency warns the U. S Israeli war in Iran has forced 3.2 million people to flee their homes in less than two weeks, creating a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale. Most of those displaced are evacuating Tehran and other urban areas to seek safety in northern Iran and rural areas. This is Mashid, whose home in Tehran was destroyed in airstrikes Tuesday.

[Mashid (Tehran resident)]

They destroyed that house and this one and ours here. Now we are staying with relatives. Where are we supposed to go? We have nowhere. I had just replaced all my belongings and it's all ruined. Now we are collecting the scraps left behind on the floors because we were all siblings.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Earlier today, huge explosions rocked central Tehran

[Amy Goodman]

not far from where a massive Okutsday

[Juan Gonzalez]

demonstration in support of Palestinians was underway. Iranian media reports a woman attending the rally was killed by shrapnel from the U. S Israeli coalition airstrike on Thursday. Iran's new supreme leader, Mashtabh Khamenei said

[Amy Goodman]

in a written statement he'd ordered the

[Juan Gonzalez]

military military to continue blocking shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and called on

[Amy Goodman]

other Middle east nations to close US

[Juan Gonzalez]

Military bases used to attack Iran. They were Mojdaba Khamenei's first public comments since he was chosen to replace his father, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated February 28th along with other members of the family, including Mojtaba's son, brother in law and sister. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first press briefing since attacking Iran, where he vowed to continue the bombardment of Iran and Lebanon and threatened to kill Iran's new supreme leader, Kvarachov.

[Benjamin Netanyahu]

Even now it can be said with certainty this is no longer the same Iran. This is no longer the same Middle east and this is also not the same Israel. We are not waiting, we are initiating, we are attacking and we are doing so with a force the like of which has not been seen before.

[Amy Goodman]

The Pentagon says at least four servicemembers

[Juan Gonzalez]

are dead after a refueling aircraft supporting the US Bombing of Iran crashed in western Iraq Thursday. The Pentagon has not revealed the fate of two other crew members, saying that rescue efforts continue. This comes as a coalition of 250 prominent groups sent a joint letter to Congress urging lawmakers to vote against any additional funding for the U. S Israeli war in Iran. The groups include the ACLU, Public Citizen,

[Amy Goodman]

Greenpeace, Jewish Voice for Peace and the

[Juan Gonzalez]

SEIU, the Service Employees International Union. They write, quote, the $50 billion that the administration reportedly seeks for a new Pentagon supplemental would be enough to restore food assistance for 4 million Americans that was taken away in the tax and budget reconciliation bill, establish universal pre K

[Amy Goodman]

education and pay for the annual construction

[Juan Gonzalez]

of more than 100,000 units of housing, among possible priorities. In Oman, two foreign nationals were killed and several others injured after Iranian drones struck Oman's northern Sohar province.

[Amy Goodman]

Of 14 civilians killed so far in

[Juan Gonzalez]

Gulf nations, all but one were immigrants, predominantly South Asian nationals who work low wage jobs. One Pakistani worker told Middle East Eye

[Amy Goodman]

that despite the risks, if I don't

[Juan Gonzalez]

work, I go hungry out, quote. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it shot down 56 Iranian drones since early Friday, including one targeting the high security diplomatic area of Riyadh. And NATO says its air defenses in the eastern Mediterranean shot down a third ballistic missile that was fired from Iran towards Turkey. Iran's attacks continue to roil energy markets,

[Amy Goodman]

with the price of oil surging to

[Juan Gonzalez]

nearly $100 a barrel even after the international agency announced a record release of oil from strategic reserves on Thursday. President Trump suggested skyrocketing fuel costs are a good thing, he wrote on his social media platform.

[Amy Goodman]

Quote the United nations is the largest oil producer in the world by far, so when oil prices go up, we

[Juan Gonzalez]

make a lot of money, unquote, trump wrote. Israel's military has bombed central Beirut, killing at least 12 people and sending black smoke billowing into the sky over Lebanon's capital. The Israeli strikes on Thursday targeted the Bashura neighborhood close to downtown Beirut. Separate Israeli attacks ripped through Beirut's southern suburbs and large swaths of southern Lebanon.

[Amy Goodman]

Earlier today, an Israeli strike targeted a

[Juan Gonzalez]

bridge over the Latani River, a major crossing point between northern and southern Lebanon. Among the latest dead are nine people, including five children killed by Israeli bombs and the town of Arki.

[Amy Goodman]

Israel's military said it was responding to rockets and drones fired at Israel from Hezbollah on Thursday. Israeli officials said they're expanding a forced

[Juan Gonzalez]

evacuation order for southern Lebanon, almost doubling the size of the zone.

[Amy Goodman]

More than 800,000 people have been displaced

[Juan Gonzalez]

by Israeli attacks across Lebanon, with 687 people killed in less than two weeks, including 98 children. After headlines, we'll go to Beirut for the latest.

[Amy Goodman]

Israel's militaries dropped all charges against five

[Juan Gonzalez]

soldiers accused of assaulting and gang raping a Palestinian man detained at the S. Taman prison in 2024. The prison has become notorious for the gruesome torture of Palestinians.

[Amy Goodman]

The man was hospitalized with broken ribs,

[Juan Gonzalez]

a punctured lung and rectal damage and other injuries.

[Amy Goodman]

The former top lawyer for the Israeli military was arrested last year for her alleged in the leak of surveillance video that showed the Israeli soldiers raping the

[Juan Gonzalez]

Palestinian prisoner, who was returned to Gaza

[Amy Goodman]

after his release from the Israeli prison. At the time, far right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrek said the soldiers should

[Juan Gonzalez]

be treated like heroes, not villains.

[Amy Goodman]

Meanwhile, Spain has permanently removed its ambassador to Israel as the Spanish government intensifies its opposition to the U S Israeli war in Iran. Spanish Prime Minister Ped Sanchez said last week Spain would refuse to allow the US to use naval and air bases

[Juan Gonzalez]

in southern Spain to strike Iran.

[Amy Goodman]

In related news, Iceland and the Netherlands

[Juan Gonzalez]

have joined South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The case was first brought in December 2023.

[Amy Goodman]

In Greece, thousands of demonstrators marched through central Athens Thursday towards the US Embassy

[Juan Gonzalez]

to protest the war in Iran and to demand the closure of NAT bases in Greece.

[Greek protester]

We consider the stance of the Greek government to be despicable because it not only puts us in danger by hosting American bases all over the country, but also has very strong ties with the state of Israel that is conducting a genocide with the United States. For us, the government should have already issued a public statement that would clarify that they are not getting involved in this war. On the contrary, we see them making moves either with the frigates in the Red sea or the F16s in Cyprus. That shows our country wants to be part of the war.

[Amy Goodman]

The Trump administration has granted a 30 day waiver for countries to buy U S sanctioned Russian oil currently stranded at sea. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said the move was needed to stabilize energy markets that have been roiled by the U.

[Juan Gonzalez]

S Israeli assault on Iran.

[Amy Goodman]

The waiver came as Ukrainian drones on Thursday struck a pipeline terminal in Russia's Krasnodar region, setting fuel tanks on fire

[Juan Gonzalez]

at one of the largest oil facilities in southern Russia.

[Amy Goodman]

Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv say fighting in

[Juan Gonzalez]

the Middle east is rapidly consuming expensive US Air defense munitions that Ukraine desperately needs to fend off Russian missiles and drones.

[Amy Goodman]

In Geneva, investigators presented evidence to the UN's Human Rights Council Thursday on Russia's deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. Since Moscow's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, some 20,000 children have been

[Juan Gonzalez]

abducted and sent Russia and Belarus, where they're sometimes subjected to military training and even forced to fight against Ukraine. This is Eric Mercer, the Chair of the UN's Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.

[Eric Mercer]

Families remained unaware of the fate of the children for prolonged periods of time. This has led to lengthy separation, distress and suffering. These acts have been widespread and systematic, committed as a matter of policy, and amount to enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity.

[Amy Goodman]

In Michigan, an attacker armed with a

[Juan Gonzalez]

rifle rammed his pickup truck into the Temple Israel Synagogue near Detroit on Thursday, exchanging fire with security guards who shot him dead. One guard was knocked unconscious by the assault. No one else was injured. At the time, 140 students were in the synagogue's Early Childhood Learning Center.

[Amy Goodman]

The Detroit News reports the attacker was

[Juan Gonzalez]

a Dearborn Heightsman originally from Lebanon whose two brothers, niece and nephew were killed days earlier in an Israeli military strike on their home in Lebanon.

[Amy Goodman]

In Virginia, the FBI says its investigating

[Juan Gonzalez]

Thursday's shooting at Old Dominion University as an act of terrorism.

[Amy Goodman]

Federal agents say the former Virginia Army

[Juan Gonzalez]

National Guard member Mohammed Baylor Jalo opened fire on a classroom of students in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, or rotc, killing one person and injuring two others before the students subdued and killed him. Jalo pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group and served seven years in prison. He was on supervised release at the time of Thursday's shooting and today marks

[Amy Goodman]

the first anniversary since Palestinian activist Lika

[Juan Gonzalez]

Kordia was arrested and detained by ice. Kordia, who was born in East Jerusalem, was arrested during the 2024 Gaza Solidarity PR protests at Columbia University in New York.

[Amy Goodman]

Those charges were dropped, but Cordia was

[Juan Gonzalez]

later detained at a routine immigration check in. In New Jersey.

[Amy Goodman]

Rights groups and supporters have continued demanding Lacaze's release, including Mahmoud Khalil, who wrote an op ed for the Guardian titled To My Palestinian Sister and iced attention,

[Juan Gonzalez]

I will carry you until you are free, unquote.

[Amy Goodman]

This week also marks one year since

[Juan Gonzalez]

Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal agents at his residence. He was released from an ICE jail in Texas last June. To mark the anniversary, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani hosted Mahmoud Khalil, his wife, Dr. Noor Abdullah, and their baby Dean at Gracie Mansion for iftar, the meal at sunset to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan last year. Khalil was returning home after sharing an iftar with his wife, Noor, when he was taken by federal agents, then flown to Louisiana, where he was jailed for over 100 days.

[Amy Goodman]

And in Colorado, nearly 4,000 meatpacking workers

[Juan Gonzalez]

are set to begin a strike on Monday to protest unfair and dangerous labor conditions at JBS usa, the world's largest meat producer.

[Amy Goodman]

This would mark the first major labor

[Juan Gonzalez]

strike in the meatpacking industry in decades. Unionized workers at the slaughterhouse and beef processing plant in the city of Greeley

[Amy Goodman]

approved the strike after their employer refused

[Juan Gonzalez]

to agree to a fair contract following months of negotiations. The meatpacking workers, many of whom are immigrants, have described low wages, being forced

[Amy Goodman]

to pay for personal protective gear out

[Juan Gonzalez]

of pocket, and say they face discrimination over their immigration status. There's currently an ongoing lawsuit against JBS alleging discrimination against Haitian workers. Last year, JBS agreed to pay a $4 million settlement over child labor violations, but without admitting wrongdoing.

[Amy Goodman]

And a correction on Thursday, President Trump

[Juan Gonzalez]

wrote online, quote, the United States is the largest oil producer in the world by far.

[Amy Goodman]

So when oil prices go up, we

[Juan Gonzalez]

make a lot of money, Unquote. And those are some of the headlines.

[Amy Goodman]

This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in New York.

[Juan Gonzalez]

In Chicago, we're joined by Democracy Now's Juan Gonzalez. Hi, Juan.

Juan hi Amy. And welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world.

[Amy Goodman]

The United nations is estimating more than

[Juan Gonzalez]

4 million people have been displaced in the Middle east. In the two weeks since the US and Israel launched their unprovoked war on Iran, about 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced and over 800,000 in Lebanon. We begin today's show in Lebanon, where

[Amy Goodman]

Israeli strikes have killed nearly 700 people

[Juan Gonzalez]

over the past two weeks. Israel has expanded its bombing campaign to

[Amy Goodman]

target areas of central Beirut.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Israeli officials have also expanded a forced evacuation order for southern Lebanon, almost doubling the size of the zone.

[Amy Goodman]

Earlier today, Israel targeted a key bridge

[Juan Gonzalez]

over the Latani River, a major crossing point between southern and northern Lebanon. Israel defended the attack on civilian infrastructure, claiming the bridge was also used by members of Hezbollah. This comes as Israeli Defense Minister Israel

[Amy Goodman]

Katz says Israel plans to expand its occupation of areas in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. Earlier today, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Beirut. He wrote online, quote, I have just landed in Beirut for a visit of

[Juan Gonzalez]

solidarity with the people of Lebanon.

[Amy Goodman]

They did not choose this war.

[Juan Gonzalez]

They were dragged into it, unquote.

[Amy Goodman]

Guterres called on Israel and Hezbollah to

[Juan Gonzalez]

negotiate a ceasefire and stop the war.

[Amy Goodman]

We go now to Beirut, the capital

[Juan Gonzalez]

of Lebanon, where we're joined by Leila Yunus, who has been reporting on the war for Dropsite News.

[Amy Goodman]

Leila, thanks so much for being with us. Again, if you can describe what's happening on the war as Israel expands the zone that it is demanding people evacuate

[Juan Gonzalez]

from southern Lebanon beyond.

[Leila Yunus]

Yes, Amy, so the people of Lebanon got another displacement order from the Israelis to now evacuate the region between the Litany river and the Zahrani River. So this is practically the vast majority of southern Lebanon is now under displacement orders, that is approximately 15% of the country. I think it's important for listeners who are not familiar with Lebanon to understand this is a very, very small country and one with densely populated urban areas. There aren't a lot of places for people to go. The government has opened a number of shelters across Beirut, but many people there have told me that they don't feel safe. I visited a shelter in Bir Hasan, which is a neighborhood on the outskirts of the southern suburbs of Dahi, which has actually also been targeted during this war, this escalation, I should say. And people there told me that they have been struggling to sleep the nights from the bombing, which is very close by, and that sometimes they'll get the read. The area will get a warning for the nearby neighborhood of Jnah or even Bir Hassan or an area close by, and then they'll pick up their things and they'll get in their car and they'll drive to the waterfront and they'll spend the night sleeping in their car or in a tent on the sand. But Amy, even there is no longer safe. I, two nights ago was at Ramlit Al Bayda, which is a beach on the end of the Beirut promenade, on the southern end of the promenade. I was there, I kind of watched the sunset. I was observing. There were many displays place people. They had pitched tents. The sunset people took out their hookahs, had their iftars. I go home a few hours later, massive massacre right there where I was at. A drone fired several bombs on these displaced people in their tents and on the sidewalk and killing eight, injuring at least 30 others. And again, this is an area in central Beirut, not an area where there is a displacement order. And while Israel has been issued issuing warnings for some buildings like or areas like the neighborhood of Bashura, which is actually very close to where I am right now, there are these other drone attacks where people are being killed, where there are no warnings issued in advance. We saw that happened as well last night in another area of Beirut, in Burjamud, in a JNA as well. So, you know, despite these absolutely sweeping displacement orders, we are seeing people actually being targeted, mostly displaced people outside of those areas. And the massacres are multiplying. A massacre just today in Saida killing eight. We saw Syrian refugees displaced, already killed, seven killed in a massacre in Tamin in the Biqa Valley, a massive massacre in Nabi Sheet also in the Bika Valley when the Israelis tried to do a nighttime incursion by helicopter. So the death toll, as you read in your news updates, it's mounting. We are at almost 700 people in under two weeks. That's approximately 50 people a know. We're reaching numbers that we saw during certain periods of the Gaza genocide here in Lebanon.

[Juan Gonzalez]

And Leila, what's been the response of the Lebanese government, especially in view of the fact that some of these Israeli attacks, as you mentioned, have been actually even in downtown Beirut, The Lebanese government

[Leila Yunus]

has condemned the attacks. They have also condemned Hezbollah. So at the UN Security Council yesterday, the Lebanese representative opened up his remarks by distancing the Lebanese government, Hezbollah, saying the Lebanese people did not ask for this war, saying that the government was willing to enter direct negotiations with Israel, which is unprecedented. Lebanon considers Israel an enemy state. It's important to recall the 18 year occupation of Southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000. And so usually Lebanon has mediators that are involved in these types of negotiations. Now the government is sort of pushing forward, saying let's talk, we want to negotiate. But reportedly the White House is not answering the Prime Minister's phone calls. And I think it's also very important to note that this, this bodes very poorly for, for the people of Lebanon because the, the civilian infrastructure which is now, as of, you know, today you read in your news updates, two bridges were targeted, were beginning to be targeted and, and the Americans sort of have given the Lebanese government guarantees that the airport and the port will not be bombed as they were in the 2006 war. But now the Americans so giving the cold shoulder to the Lebanese government, it's not clear how long those guarantees will actually hold up.

[Juan Gonzalez]

And also could you talk about the ability of Hezbollah to continue to fire rockets into Israel given supposedly Israel's crippling strikes on the organization in past attacks in Lebanon.

[Leila Yunus]

Hezbollah is firing barrages of rockets towards Israel. But the Israeli defense systems are very good at intercepting them. I believe a couple have fallen within Israel. They've been targeting particularly missile defense systems, these rocket attacks, but they have been so far not, you know, very successful in creating widespread damage in Israel. The Israeli defense systems are very good at intercepting the types of rockets that Hezbollah launches. And I think it's also important to note, you know, we don, we don't know exactly what Hezbollah's capacity is. Vast weapons stores that they once had were destroyed during the 66 Day War in the fall of 2024. And then also over the course of the so called ceasefire, which was not really a ceasefire, remember, you know, the United nations counted over 15,000 violations of the ceasefire reached between Lebanon and Israel in 2024. So basically over the past year and a half, Israel has been bombing Lebanon on a daily basis. And bombing particularly, you know, in addition to killing over 3, 300 civilians, has been bombing, you know, routinely bombing Hezbollah weapons stores. So it's not exactly clear how much capacity Hezbollah has. They've been where they've really seen the most success has actually been targeting Israeli soldiers who've been, who are inside of Lebanon and thereby not protected by those missile defense systems, you know, firing anti tank missiles towards Israelis in the town of Al Khayyam for example.

[Amy Goodman]

Layla Yunus, we want to thank you for being with us. Investigative journalist and writer based in Beirut, Lebanon. Please be safe.

[Juan Gonzalez]

We will link to your articles for

[Amy Goodman]

dropsite [e-mail] Coming up, the Israeli journalist Gideon Levi, he writes in Haaretz, quote, everyone in this country has gone insane.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Stay with us.

[Michael Hurley]

In the hoggerly forsaken got no reason to cry you got to chew the angels falling from on high waiting for no answer Baking waffle pie pie of eyesight pie blue black oh that piece by the pie in the hogger the forsaken he will leave you one more chance which if you won't be taken he leave it for the ants Sings out in the wilderness sings for friend and foe he sings of these in those times as well as the time times to go. The hogger the forsaken Got no reason to cry and got to cheer the angels falling from on high waiting for no answer Bacon waffle pie I have eyesight poppy black oh that pie the fire piece

[Juan Gonzalez]

Hog of the Forsaken by Michael Hurley performed in our Democracy now studio.

[Amy Goodman]

This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I am Amy Goodman in Los Angeles

[Juan Gonzalez]

with Juan Gonzalez in Chicago.

[Amy Goodman]

As we continue our coverage of the

[Juan Gonzalez]

US And Israeli war on Iran and the widening regional war, we go now to Israel. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed a new Middle east as ISRA escalates its attacks on Iran and Lebanon.

[Benjamin Netanyahu]

Even now it can be said with certainty this is no longer the same Iran. This is no longer the same Middle east, and this is also not the same Israel. We are not waiting, we are initiating, we are attacking and we are doing so with a force the like of which has not been seen before.

[Amy Goodman]

We go now to Tel Aviv where

[Juan Gonzalez]

we are joined by the award winning Israeli Journal journalist Gidon Levy.

[Amy Goodman]

He writes for Haaretz and is a

[Juan Gonzalez]

member of its editorial board.

[Amy Goodman]

His latest pieces include Everyone in this country has Gone Insane and the Israeli media are first and foremost IDF soldiers. Levy's latest book is titled the Killing

[Juan Gonzalez]

of Gaza Reports on a Catastrophe.

[Amy Goodman]

Gedon, welcome back to Democracy now. I know you've just come out of

[Juan Gonzalez]

a bombshell, an air shelter.

[Amy Goodman]

If you can describe the scene inside there and then why you say your

[Juan Gonzalez]

country has gone crazy and also talk about the media coverage.

[Gideon Levy]

First of all, going to the shelter is always a very strange experience. We kind of got used and we never get used and it kind of became routine and it will never be a normal routine. Day and night we are going quite often now, also at night. I can't foresee how this can last for many weeks or months, God forbid. But you know, in Ukraine they hardly have shelters. So at least in part of Israel, not all over Israel, but at least in part of Israel, we get this privilege of being protected. Now to your other questions. There is a strange phenomena in which this war is so highly popular in Israeli public opinion or in Jewish Israeli public opinion. I never saw such a thing. 93% of the Israelis, Jews, according to a last survey by the Israeli Democracy Institute, 93% of the Israelis support this war. Those are North Korean figures. In all democracy there is such a figure in a survey about any kind of question, 93% support the war. And this comes after two and a half years of another war which didn't conclude with big success. I mean, the war in Gaza, 70,000 victims, 1,000 babies killed. What for? What did Israel gain? Exactly. But let's put it aside. Where are we aiming now? Where does this lead us? Nobody knows. I mean, all kind of slogans and cliches in the air, changing regimes. And meanwhile there are 6 million I just made now they count when you mentioned it, Amy. Six million human beings are now homeless because of Israel. Can you imagine yourself 3.2 in Lebanon, 800,000 in Lebanon, 3.2 in Iran and another 2 millions in Gaza. This should shake us. This should really lead us to some questions. Do we have the right to do all those things? Do we achieve anything? Where are we aiming? What will be the morning after? But unfortunately, Israel discourse and the Israeli media as a whole are not ready even to discuss those questions. When you speak about 93% of the population which supports this war, you have to understand that they are exposed to 100% of agreeing with the war in the media, mainly in the tv. There's no room for any question marks or doubts about this war. And the more it develops, the more suspicious it seems. So here we are. Amy.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Well, Gideon, at the same time though, you say that the overwhelming percentage of the Israeli Jews, but there's 21% of Israel that are African American, of the citizens of Israel, we're not talking about the occupied territories. So there's obviously has to be a different perspective among those Arabs who are citizens of Israel, doesn't there?

[Gideon Levy]

So first of all, nobody counts them. Their voice has no influence, neither in the parliament, even though they vote and can be elected, nor in their public discourse. Nobody counts them, nobody listens to what they have to say. So they are totally irrelevant and many times not legitimate. But if you want the figure, the figure was 23% of them support this war. I mean, a tiny minority relative to the vast majority of Jews. And this is quite understandable. I even wonder who are those 23% who support this war? But this is the figure, right?

[Juan Gonzalez]

I wanted to ask you also about the level of it Seems to me overextension of the Israeli military machine we're talking about. Israel is now involved in hostilities not just in Iran and still in attacking Gaza. There are in the west bank, obviously there are Israeli soldiers deployed there, in Lebanon, in Syria. There are still Israeli troops in Syria and conceivably even in Iraq because there have been attacks now. Now it's not clear whether it's from Israel or the United States on popular mobilization forces in Iraq in the past few days. How is it possible for the leaders of Israel to think they can continue this on any kind of long term basis?

[Gideon Levy]

The fact is that they can and maybe they're implementing the vision of your ambassador, your official ambassador, Mike Huckabee, who just said recently in an interview view that Israel should be between the Nile and the reverse of Iraq. In other words, he believes that Israel, that the entire Middle east belongs to Israel. Maybe we are on a stage of implementing the vision of his Excellency the Ambassador of the United States of Israel, who I can't understand by on which behalf did he speak does he represent and your administration, your public opinion, your president, who exactly in the United States think that Israel should rule the entire Middle east because some God in ancient times promised it to the Jews? I mean, quite weird for me to see that such an ambassador continues to represent the United States and Israel. But look, Israel is doing as much as it can and it can. As long as the American support is so massive, so blind and so automatic, this will go on. The moment that the United States will see it in a different way, this will stop. And it's very clear that the keys are not almost. I could say that I have more complaints about the United States which enabled all this, rather than to Israel, which thrice as much as it can to conquer more, to govern more and to launch more wars.

[Amy Goodman]

Gideon Levy, you recently wrote a piece in Haaretz about the Abu Alas family who live in the town of Kabatiya in the Jenin district of the occupied West Bank. Two sons of the family were killed almost exactly 10 years apart by Israeli soldiers. Soldiers. Both were 17 years old at the

[Juan Gonzalez]

time of their deaths.

[Amy Goodman]

You write that in December, Ryan was walking down the street in his neighborhood when he was killed. The shooting caught on security footage that you published in your reporting. In the video you can see two Israeli soldiers waiting behind a wall. Ryan enters the frame, walking in their direction. The soldiers step out and shoot him at close range, less than six feet. Feet away.

[Gideon Levy]

Yes. And you know I published this story, Amy, a few weeks ago. Already this week I bring another story of two brothers, but at this time they were both shot at the same time, not 10 years. Those brothers were killed in a gap of 10 years, less than a week. By the way, to be very personal, this week I was in another village and there some settlers in uniform shot two brothers on their private land which is in area B which is not being controlled by the PA and still a settler shot them. One is dead and one is severely injured. And the main question you should ask Amy, was there any investigation did one of those shooters, or may I call them murderers, was ever or will be ever brought to justice? And I think you know the answer.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Kenny I wanted to ask you about the press coverage both by the Israeli press as well as by the international press on the damage within Israel because we're seeing US reporters who are based in Tel Aviv giving us great footage of the destruction in the Gulf States and of the bombs in Iran, but very little of what is actually going on in Israel in terms of the structural damage that the missiles and the drones from Iran are causing within Israel

[Gideon Levy]

will unfortunately the Israeli media or the mainstream media stopped being a press or a journalistic organ long time ago. You are talking about not showing the damages in Tel Aviv. What did Israeli TV show about what Israel has been doing for two and a half years in Gaza? Nothing. Any potato grower in Idaho saw more of Gaza than someone in Tel Aviv watches only Israeli TV now when it comes to this war they show here and there also damaging in Israel there are some censorship restrictions quite limited so they will not direct their bombing according to the place that the missiles fall. But this is marginal. We don't have a free press. I mean we have a free press. This is much worse. But this free press puts itself under self censorship and thinks that in times of war and also in other times the press is just an agency of the government and of the military establishment. And this is very worrying.

[Amy Goodman]

You know it's accepted that Israel does not allow international journalists into Gaza and its that's not talked about. CNN always prefaces their reporting from their journalist who is in Tehran Iran as

[Juan Gonzalez]

saying it's controlled though it's not controlled. Editorially they say they do not continually

[Amy Goodman]

repeat the same thing for their reporters in Israel. It's critical to talk about Gazayour next book, Yidon Levi is about Gaza and also your continued coverage which we hear very little out of the West Bank. You also talk about the communities of Syssya there. If you can talk about that as an Example of what's happening and the terror Palestinians are facing there.

[Gideon Levy]

Under the COVID of the war. The west bank is changing dramatically and only for the bad. What the settlers together with the army did in the last two years years is unprecedented and irreversible. They really change the life. You can just go in the roads and understand that this is not the occupied oppressed west bank that you knew before because it's much worse now. Right now almost all the villages and towns in in the west bank are locked. And when I say locked, I mean locked by metal gain. Like real prisons. The whole west bank looks like a collection of concentration camps. No other way to describe it. People are not allowed, ever since the war started, people are not allowed to get in, people are not allowed to get out. In a few cases the checkpoints are open for few hours but you never know if you'll be able to come back. Nothing is planned and the whole attitude of the army army dramatically changed ever since the war in Gaza. In the same time, the settlers saw the war in Gaza now in Iran as a huge historical opportunity for them. They took over tens of thousands of acres all over the west bank by force. And they kicked out and they are kicking out the population, the farmers, the shepherds, one community after the other. After months and months of tyranny of violent settlers, many times in uniforms, they have no other choice but to give up, to surrender and to leave their homes, their villages and their fields. This is a process. It's not one incident here and one incident here. Pogroms. I daily think now nobody brings people to justice after those pogroms. Worms and the west bank is changing dramatically. I know already about dozens of villages which were evacuated because the people cannot take it anymore, the Palestinians.

[Amy Goodman]

Gideon Levi, we want to thank you for being with us. Award winning Israeli journalist, writes for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and is a member

[Juan Gonzalez]

of the editorial board there.

[Amy Goodman]

His latest opinion pieces will link to to.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Everyone in this country has gone insane and the Israeli media are first and foremost IDF soldiers.

[Amy Goodman]

Gideon Levi's latest book is titled the

[Juan Gonzalez]

Killing of reports on a catastrophe.

[Amy Goodman]

This is Democracy now. Coming up, the renowned journalist Jeffrey Sachs. He says the U. S Israeli attack on Iran is also

[Juan Gonzalez]

an assault on the United Nations. Stay with us.

[Unidentified speaker (chanting)]

Kaja dream. Come down here and say that. Come down here and say that. Come down here and say that.

[Jeffrey Sachs]

Wow.

[Amy Goodman]

Dear Huffs. Come down here and say that. This is democracy now. Democracynow.org, the war and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in Los Angeles, headed to Mexico City to Synatec Nacional tonight,

[Juan Gonzalez]

where they're showing the film about Democracy Now. Steal this story, please. I hope to see folks there and tomorrow, also part of the Ambulante Film Festival. Check our website at Democracy in and we're joined by Democracy Now. Juan Gonzales in Chicago.

[Amy Goodman]

Earlier this week, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning Iran for its, quote, egregious attacks against its Gulf neighbors, calling out specifically attacks on residential areas and civilians, as well as its closure

[Juan Gonzalez]

of the Strait of Hormuz.

[Amy Goodman]

Threatening global energy stories supplies. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan are specifically

[Juan Gonzalez]

mentioned in the resolution, which had 140 CO sponsors.

[Amy Goodman]

Of the 15 Security Council members, 13 voted in favor with none against. China and Russia abstained. Bahrain's UN ambassador, Jamal Faris Arawa, Hawaii, said the vote reflected the collective conscience of the world.

[Jamal Faris Arawa]

This overwhelming support from the international community reflects a collective awareness of the danger posed by the unjust Iranian attack against our countries, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the GCC and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over the past 12 days. The adoption by the Council of this resolution today confirms that the international, international community is united in addressing and confronting these hostile acts. The stability and safety of the region is part and parcel of the security and peace architecture.

[Amy Goodman]

Russia's representative to the UN called the

[Juan Gonzalez]

past resolution biased for not acknowledging Israel and the United States as instigators of the war.

[Amy Goodman]

Russia introduced a second resolution that called for an immediate halt to all hostilities

[Juan Gonzalez]

in the Middle east without naming any parties involved. That resolution failed to pass.

[Amy Goodman]

This is the US Ambassador to the

[Juan Gonzalez]

United Nations, Mike Waltz.

[Mike Waltz]

Once again, Russia is acting here at the Security Council to protect its partner Iran. We reject Russia's attempt to conflate lawful US actions taken in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter. To conflate those actions, actions with Iran's pattern of bloodshed and brutality to its own people and around the world, and with its recent deliberate and at scale targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure across the Gulf and the Middle East. The United States will continue to work here at this Council and beyond to hold the Iranian regime to account and to bring to light its destabilizing and unlawful actions. Russia's attempts to prevent this Council from acting in line with its core principles will not deter us.

[Amy Goodman]

For more, we're joined by the economist Jeffrey Sachs. He's the Director of the center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Development Solutions Network. He also serves as adviser to three UN Secretaries General. He recently wrote an Article headlined this illegal U. S Israeli attack on Iran is also

[Juan Gonzalez]

an assault on the United nations, unquote.

[Amy Goodman]

In an open letter to the UN Security Council in February, Professor Sachs said

[Juan Gonzalez]

it was the US and not Iran that had walked away from negotiations and

[Amy Goodman]

that US threats against Iran violated international law. He said, quote, the issue facing the UN Security Council in these perilous days is whether any member state by force or threat of force may place itself above the United Nations Charter that governs us all. At stake is the integrity of the

[Juan Gonzalez]

UN based international system, unquote.

[Amy Goodman]

Professor Sachs today joins us from Rome, Italy. Thanks so much for being with us. Professor Sachs, why don't you elaborate on on this letter and your statements about the UN international order and what is

[Juan Gonzalez]

happening today with the U. S Israeli attack on Iran and Iran's retaliatory attacks.

[Jeffrey Sachs]

Thank you very much Amy. And what a chilling show to hear. Gideon Levy to hear your report from Beirut. We have a war of blatant aggression that is going to put the entire world into a disaster. This is a war of aggression and a war of choice by Israel and the United States. It is in the most blatant frank violation of the UN Charter and the core of the UN Charter, its purpose, which says that nations shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Period. That is article two, paragraph four of the UN Charter Waltz. The US ambassador says oh we're acting under article 51. That is the article on self defense. The United States is not acting in in self defense. Israel is not acting in self defense. These two countries are committing flagrant aggression and they've done it twice now in the context of negotiations which makes it all the more pernicious. Twice the United States claimed it was negotiating with Iran and twice it killed Iranian leaders leaders in the midst of the so called negotiations. This is the most blatant and brazen assault on the UN charter and international law since it was founded in 1945. Even in the Iraq war and other US war and Israeli wars of choice, they faked it. At least here they don't even fake it. They just are blatant aggressors with no justification at all. Our UN Ambassador is Green Beret. They have militarized everything about our society. Amy and Juan, we are in a security state, not a constitutional order. No one asked the American people, people about whether to go to war or not. And our Congress doesn't want to have anything to do with this. So when they're asked, they say, don't ask us. This is we give it to Mr. Trump and to Mr. Netanyahu. So I think this is the most brazen fascism that we have seen since the fascist era. And it is absolutely extraordinary. And it's going to put us, I think, probably into World War Three. And if it doesn't do that, it's going to put us into an economic calamity worldwide.

[Juan Gonzalez]

And Jeffrey Sachs, I wanted to ask you this narrative now that the Trump administration has been pushing in all of their pronouncements that this is actually attempting to end the war that Iran launched against the United States decades ago. And they make it seem like everything that's happened has been Iran aggressing against the United States, forgetting obviously that the role of our country in goading and supplying Iraq and its war against Iran in the 1980s and the various other attacks by Israel and the United States against Iran in the past.

[Jeffrey Sachs]

Look, every word that Donald Trump says is vile and ignorant. So we can almost say for sure that every word he posts every day is a vile lie. But when it comes to the United States and Iran, yes, this does go back a long way, way. In 1953, when Iran had a fully functioning democracy, the CIA and MI6 overthrew the government of Mosaddegh. Prime Minister Mosaddegh we installed a police state. We installed a police state that lasted from 1953 to 1979. When the Iranian people took back their country, we immediately armed Iraq, as you said, Juan, to go to war with Iran and to kill hundreds of thousands of people. When that war ended in 1988, the United States continued, through the CIA and other means, to do everything possible, possible to destabilize the Iranian government, to crush the economy, to impose US measures, sanctions and so on, to destroy the well being of the population. When the Iranians said, we want to negotiate with you, the United States rejected at almost every state stage, with one exception, which is that in the Obama presidency, the United States, together with Britain, France, China, Russia, Germany, the permanent five members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, the P5 1, as it was called, negotiated an agreement with Iran that put Iran under strict UN supervision, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to ensure that what Iran said was actually carried out, which is that Iran did not want a nuclear weapon and the IAEA would inspect. And for three years the IAEA inspected hundreds and hundreds of times and Iran was in full compliance alliance. And then what happened? Netanyahu and Trump ripped up the agreement and went back to war A hybrid war with Iran. Everything Trump says, which is despicable because he is absolutely leading us to ruin and leading the world to World War iii. Everything he says is a lie because he says, I'm stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. What he has done is rip up the agreement that already existed to ensure that. Kill, assassinate Iranian leaders, repeatedly kill the Iranian religious leader who for decades had said that a nuclear weapon would be against Islamic law. Kill that person, invade or bomb the country with carpet bombing now. And is presiding over what is now already a regional war with Israel behaving as usual in its completely fascistic way of genocide in Gaza, locking up the west bank, as Gideon Levy just told us, and invaded, invading Lebanon and displacing already a million people, bombing the universities, bombing the hospitals, bombing the schools. This is so out of control, without any logic, any rationality, even, not any humane, moral, legal justification whatsoever. We have not seen anything like this since the fascists of World War II. And it is extraordinarily dangerous. What's happening. It will lead to world war the way we're going, because we have two malignant narcissists, Netanyahu and Trump, that are leading us to disaster. And you listen to Netanyahu's words. He explains, this has nothing to do with the UN Charter. He says, we're not waiting, we are initiating. Well, that Mr. Netanyahu is against the UN Charter. You're not allowed to initiate war under the UN Charter. You've explained it very clearly. You are making a war of aggression. And you, too, Mr. Trump, you are making a war of aggression and you're threatening the entire world. It's really as simple as that.

[Amy Goodman]

Professor Sachs, we have less than a minute. President Trump yesterday suggested skyrocketing fuel costs

[Juan Gonzalez]

are a good thing.

[Amy Goodman]

You're an economist. Trump wrote. The United States is the largest oil producer in the world by far. So when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. This contradicted what he said at the State of the Union Union, saying oil prices were lower than under President Biden, and he was very proud of that. 30 seconds.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Your response?

[Jeffrey Sachs]

He may put money into the hands of a few oil companies, which pay his bills, which are corrupt, which pay his campaigns, but he's going to impoverish Americans, and he's throwing the entire world into a profound economic crisis.

[Juan Gonzalez]

Crisis.

[Jeffrey Sachs]

And the world's going to remember and it's going to know very soon. Israel and the United States have put the entire world into a profound economic crisis again. The first thing you know Anything Trump writes is a combination of ignorance, malevolence and lies, including that statement. Amy

[Amy Goodman]

Jeffrey Sachs, we want to thank you so much for being with with us. World renowned economics professor, director of the center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, has served as adviser to three UN Secretaries General, now a sustainable development

[Juan Gonzalez]

solutions advocate, under Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

[Amy Goodman]

We'll link to your [e-mail] as we end this show. A very fond farewell to our video fellow Safwat Nazal. You will forever be in our DNA Democracy now alum. And thank you for your creativity, your humor and your intelligence. Tonight, I'm heading to Mexico City for

[Juan Gonzalez]

two screenings of Steal the Story Please

[Amy Goodman]

at the Ambulante Film Festival tonight at Sinateca Nacional. Check out democracynow.org, i'm Amy Goodman with Wagons.