Erdoğan urges Muslims to fight ‘bloodthirsty vampire’ Netanyahu
Intro
"The world is watching the barbarity of ... a psychopath ... who feeds on blood," said the Turkish leader.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "vampire who feeds on blood" and urged Muslims to act against the "threat" posed by the Jewish state.
"The world is watching the barbarity of ... a psychopath, a vampire who feeds on blood called Netanyahu, and they are watching it on live broadcast," Erdoğan said in a speech to members of his AK Party.
"Oh, the American state, this blood is on your hands also. You are responsible for this genocide at least as much as Israel. Oh, the heads of state and government of Europe, you are also a party to Israel's genocide, this barbarism, this vampire-like act of Israel, because you remained silent," the Turkish leader charged, according to a readout.
"No state is safe unless Israel accepts international law and considers itself to be bound by it. This includes Turkey," added Erdoğan, who stands accused of oppressing and killing the Kurds in his country.
Erdoğan urged Muslims and "young people" around the world to help eradicate Zionism, which he denounced as "lawless perversion," and stop Netanyahu's "murder network" from "spiraling out of control."
"I have a few words to say to the Islamic world from here: What are you waiting for to reach a joint decision? Allah will hold you, all of us, accountable for this," he said.
Erdoğan has publicly sided with Hamas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, which saw the Islamist group invade the northwestern Negev, murder some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap more than 250.
Last month, Ankara invited Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's "political" bureau, to stay in the country, praising him as a "leader of the Palestinian struggle."
Erdoğan also blocked his country's exports to the Jewish state, prompting Israel to end its free trade agreement with Ankara.
In November, he told his country's parliament that Israel would soon be destroyed.
Erdoğan has made a habit of comparing Netanyahu and Israel to the Nazis. Late last year, he said the Jewish leader is "no different" than Hitler. Then, on May 12, the Turkish president claimed Netanyahu "has reached a level that would make Hitler jealous."
In March, Erdoğan claimed that the Israel Defense Forces "continues to commit massacres against the Palestinian people," adding, "Netanyahu and his administration, with their crimes against humanity in Gaza, are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, like today's Nazis."
The Turkish president also expressed his support for Hamas, saying his government was in "constant contact" with the terrorist group's leadership.
"Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but rather a resistance, and we stand firmly behind them and [are] in constant contact with its leaders," he said. "We cannot be coerced into designating Hamas as a terrorist organization. We communicate with them openly and stand behind them."
Netanyahu blasted the Turkish leader over the remarks, saying, "Israel observes the laws of war and will not be subject to moral preaching from Erdoğan, who supports [the] murderers and rapists of the Hamas terrorist organization, denies the Armenian Genocide, massacres Kurds in his own country and cracks down on regime opponents and journalists."
The Hamas terrorist group is the party responsible for the suffering in Gaza, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said at a press briefing on Monday, hours before Israel relaunched military strikes on the terrorist group.
Said Arikat, Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper, asked Bruce whether the United States was concerned about the "very dire" situation in Gaza since Israel on March 2 suspended the entry of aid to the Strip.
“I was wondering if you are really concerned about this, and especially this coincided with the beginning of Ramadan as well, where people need food and water and so on,” Arikat said. “I mean, it is starvation used as a method to pressure people. Is that—is that—isn’t that a war crime of some sort, internationally?”
To which Bruce replied: “For the horrible suffering of the Gazan people, we know where that sits. It sits with Hamas.”
She added that the people who are suffering in Gaza owe that to “choices that Hamas has made throughout the years, and that is what we continue to work on.”
Hours after the press briefing, Israel announced that its military had struck Hamas targets in Gaza, citing the terrorist group's repeated refusal to accept a proposal from mediators to extend the first phase of the ceasefire and to release hostages.
Later in the briefing, Bruce was asked about “escalating violence in the West Bank” and whether the State Department has concerns “over what we’re seeing in terms of Israeli actions in the north in Jenin and Tulkarem?”
“Well, the United States position—certainly the State Department—is that we stand steadfastly with Israel,” Bruce said. “Israel has seen certain security concerns that they have and they’re taking actions regarding those security concerns, and we stand with those decisions and what the Israelis choose to do in that framework.”
Eight weeks after the Palestinian Authority supposedly undertook a major anti-terrorist operation in Jenin and other cities, Israeli forces continue to capture terrorists, weapons and bomb-making equipment there. It seems as if the P.A.’s efforts weren’t quite as extensive as the international news media portrayed them to be.
Over the past two months, The New York Times has repeatedly claimed that the P.A. was in the midst of “cracking down” on the terrorists when Israel suddenly—and for no apparent reason—sent its forces into the same area. Other major media outlets have circulated similar reports.
It’s interesting that the Times and other media have never done a follow-up story on what happened to the terrorists whom the P.A. supposedly arrested. After all, the authority has a long history of “revolving-door justice” in which terrorists are arrested in front of television cameras … and then quietly released. But when it comes to the P.A., history seems to be conveniently forgotten.
What makes the reporting about the P.A.’s alleged “crackdown,” especially interesting is what has not been reported: Its peace treaty with the terrorists. On Jan. 18, The Jerusalem Post and other Israeli media reported that the P.A. announced it had concluded a peace agreement with the terrorist forces in Jenin, which allowed them to continue operating in the city. For some reason, that part of the story never made it into the Times.
It was only when the P.A. made peace with the terrorists that the Israelis were forced to wage war on them. On Jan. 21, three days after the Jenin peace deal, Israeli forces entered that city in pursuit of the terrorists.
The fact that the Israelis are still capturing terrorists there two months later exposes the truth: The P.A.’s so-called anti-terror operation was a fraud.
Just last week, Israeli security forces uncovered large quantities of combat equipment and bomb-making materials in the P.A.-governed village of Qabatiya, near Jenin, and captured 12 terrorists there.
One of those arrested was Liwaa Jaaz, one of the top terrorists in Jenin. The Israelis also found two vehicles that were “loaded with weapons.” Is it possible that the P.A. security forces were unable to find Jaaz or his cars full of weapons? Not a chance.
We’re also learning more about previous Israeli anti-terror operations—details that couldn’t be released earlier for security reasons. For example, the army discovered a 220-pound bomb that terrorists were preparing—enough to knock out a tank. Is it conceivable that the P.A. security forces had no idea what these bomb makers were up to? Again, not a chance.
It could have rooted out the terrorists long ago if it wanted to. It just doesn’t want to. It regards them as its brothers in arms, not enemies.
Article VII of the first Oslo agreement, signed by Israel and the P.A. in 1993, authorized the P.A. to establish a 12,000-man “police force.” The authority proceeded to expand it into a 60,000-man “security force” that has become a de facto army, trained and armed by America’s CIA.
According to the World Atlas, the authority has the sixth-largest per-capita security force in the world. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has described the P.A.-governed areas as “one of the most heavily policed territories in the world.”
The Oslo Accords state quite clearly what the P.A. security forces are required to do about the terrorists in cities such as Jenin: They must “apprehend, investigate and prosecute perpetrators and all other persons directly or indirectly involved in acts of terrorism, violence and incitement.” (Annex I, Article II, 3-c of Oslo II).
Yet the Palestinian Authority has never taken any of those actions. That’s why Israeli security forces have to pursue terrorists in those cities—because the P.A. refuses to do it, and the international community refuses to hold the P.A. accountable.
The Israeli-American Council announced on Monday that it had been unanimously voted into the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, calling it a “historic milestone for our community.”
“Of the hundreds of Jewish organizations in the United States, fewer than 50 are officially labeled ‘major’ and allowed to sit at that table where policy is fashioned for the entire Jewish world,” stated Elan Carr, the CEO of the Israeli-American Council.
“Whether addressing our shared challenges, combating antisemitism or strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship, [the] Conference of Presidents is at the center of the most important decisions affecting the Jewish people,” he added. “This momentous achievement recognizes the critical role of Israeli-Americans in shaping these decisions.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Tuesday that Hamas will face intensified military action unless it releases all remaining hostages.
“The murderous Hamas needs to understand: If they do not release all our hostages, our blows will intensify,” Katz stated in remarks released by his office.
The statement came during a high-level security assessment held at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting was attended by Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior security officials.
Overnight Monday, the IDF carried out “extensive” airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, the military announced early on Tuesday. The IDF said on Tuesday afternoon that the attacks on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror targets were continuing throughout the Gaza Strip.
"Among the targets hit in recent hours are terrorist squads, launch positions, weapons and additional military infrastructure used by the terror organizations to plan and carry out attacks, posing a threat to IDF forces and Israeli civilians," the military stated.
“These attacks follow Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all the proposals it has received from U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and other mediators,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The IDF emphasized that it is targeting Hamas positions throughout Gaza “to achieve the objectives of the war as determined by the political echelon, including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased.” The statement added, “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, in which 251 people were abducted and taken into Gaza, more than 130 hostages have been released, and the bodies of at least 40 others have been recovered. Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.
Israel's Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, on Tuesday rejected outright a petition that sought to bar Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from bringing the dismissal of Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Ronen Bar to a vote in the Cabinet later this week.
In doing so, the justices also ruled against the position of Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who had sought to delay the vote until after a full analysis of the "factual and legal basis" for Bar's dismissal, as well as of Netanyahu's "authority to address the matter at this time."
"During the Cabinet meeting scheduled to discuss this issue, the legal advisor to the government [Baharav-Miara] will be able to present to the government members all the necessary legal considerations for making their decision. It is possible that after her position is heard, no decision will be made, or a different decision will be reached," the ruling read.
The justices added, "The petitioners must wait for the final decision of the government, which is the competent authority, and only after that will the path open for them to subject the decision to judicial review."
The petition was submitted by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel NGO, which previously spearheaded demonstrations against the Netanyahu government's now largely shelved judicial reform agenda.
The government meeting on Bar's dismissal was initially scheduled for Wednesday and was subsequently brought forward to Tuesday evening. However, following the collapse of the ceasefire with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, the meeting was delayed to a yet-to-be-determined date.
Netanyahu announced on Sunday his intention to dismiss Bar, declaring, "I have an ongoing lack of trust in the Shin Bet chief."
According to his office, Netanyahu summoned Bar to his office for an urgent meeting on Sunday night, where he informed him that the Cabinet would formally consider his dismissal later this week.
Baharav-Miara, whose dismissal the government will discuss next week, subsequently informed Netanyahu that he could not fire Bar "until the factual and legal basis underlying your decision is fully examined, as well as your authority to address the matter at this time."
The government's freedom of action in this regard is limited by "the extraordinary sensitivity of the issue, its unprecedented nature, the concern that the process may be tainted by illegality and conflict of interest," said Baharav-Miara, adding that the "role of the head of the Shin Bet is not a personal trust position serving the prime minister."
According to Section 3 of Israel's General Security Service Law, the government has the authority to "terminate the term of office of the head of the [Israel Security] Service before the end of his term."
Itamar Ben-Gvir's right-wing Otzma Yehudit Party announced on Tuesday it was returning to the Israeli government, almost two months after resigning in protest due to the ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza.
In a joint statement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, Otzma Yehudit announced that the two factions had agreed "that the Otzma Yehudit faction will return to the Israeli government today, and Otzma Yehudit ministers will return to the government."
In a post on the X social network, Ben-Gvir added, "Together in strength, for the people of Israel."
The announcement came hours after the collapse of the truce with the Israel Defense Forces resuming military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Ben-Gvir resigned on Jan. 21 alongside fellow Otzma Yehudit member Yitzhak Wasserlauf, who had led the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev, and the Galilee since the government was formed in late 2022, as well as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu.
At the same time, Otzma Yehudit Party parliamentarians Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kreuzer informed coalition whip Ofir Katz of their resignation from various committees in the Knesset.
"Otzma Yehudit, under my leadership, will not overthrow Netanyahu, nor will it act together with the left and its goals against the government, but it will not be able to be part of a government that will approve a deal that is a huge reward for Hamas, and that may bring upon us the next Oct. 7 disaster," Ben-Gvir said when he announced the resignations.
According to reports in Hebrew media, the agreement between Otzma Yehudit and the Likud Party states that former ministers and coalition lawmakers will return to their previous positions, with Ben-Gvir taking back control of Jerusalem's National Security Ministry from Haim Katz.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir welcomed the resumption of hostilities with Hamas, saying in a statement, "As we said in recent months when we resigned: Israel must return to fighting in the Gaza Strip. This is the right, moral, ethical and most justified step—to destroy the Hamas terror group and bring back our hostages. We must not accept the existence of the Hamas organization, and it must be dismantled."
Australian immigrant Ari Briggs has partnered with Israeli counter-terrorism warfare expert Ehud Dribben and the Israel Defense Forces to train communities in southern Israel—and elsewhere—to make sure that nothing like the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre happens again, JNS has learned.
Since its inception in December 2024, the program—called Magen48 and founded by the Magen Yehuda NGO—has been on a mission to enhance the security and preparedness of border communities.
"Magen48 stands as Israel's first civilian-led initiative dedicated to systematically training first-response teams across an entire region," Briggs told JNS. "Our collaboration with the IDF ensures that communities are equipped with the skills and confidence to protect themselves, thereby reshaping the security dynamics of the southern border."
"What we’re doing now with Magen48 is scaling and formalizing that life-saving training—not just for a handful of lucky communities, but for every community on the frontline," he added. "The goal is to ensure no community ever faces another Oct. 7 unprepared."
Ari Briggs, the co-founder of Magen48, made aliyah from Australia. Photo courtesy of Ari Briggs
Briggs, 55, a management consultant who immigrated to Israel from Sydney in 1993 and now lives in Ra'anana with his wife and five sons, is a former director of the legal advocacy organization Regavim. He is also the founder of One People, a group he started when he discovered that his son, an IDF reservist, and his friends lacked ceramic vests and other protective equipment at the beginning of the war against Hamas.
He noted that the IDF's recently published investigation into the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks identified the lack of standardized training and equipment for first responder teams in Gaza Envelope communities as a critical failure. "Magen48 is the first and only project actively implementing the corrective action the IDF itself called for," he said. "This is the first time the IDF is formally partnering with a civilian NGO to build a professional, ongoing training system for civilian first responders, turning what was previously a patchwork of uncoordinated local teams into a national model for professionalized civil defense."
Magen48 works together with the IDF Southern Command's Gaza Division, the security chiefs of the Gaza Envelope's four regional councils and frontline teams in all 66 of the region's communities, including the city of Sderot.
The IDF has committed $6.2 million toward training and infrastructure, while the Eshkol Regional Council has allocated land for a dedicated training facility to make this a long-term reality. "The partnership with the IDF elevates the program’s credibility, professionalism and impact," said Briggs.
• Medical training: Emergency medical response and evacuation protocols.
• Command and control: Team leadership development and real-time scenario-based decision-making.
IDF security forces training in the south with Magen48 to ensure that a massacre like Oct. 7 never happens again. Photo courtesy of Magen48.
The proof: What saved Erez and Magen on Oct. 7?
"This program isn’t theoretical," said Briggs. "The entire concept was inspired by the success of two communities—Erez and Magen—that managed to [...] fight off the Oct. 7 terrorist onslaught, saving countless lives. The only reason they succeeded where others tragically failed is because their teams were trained in advance by my partner, Ehud Dribben—a counterterrorism expert and former Ministry of Defense chief instructor."
Magen48 co-founder Ehud Dribben is a counter-terror warfare expert. Photo courtesy of Magen48.
Dribben has decades of operational and instructional experience, specializing in combat training and community security after serving in Israel's elite military units, where he honed his skills in counter-terror operations.
"We call the program in Hebrew the passage from 'from amateurism to professionalism' because until now, no one took the training of communities seriously," he told JNS in an interview. "This is part of the reason it didn't work. There was no effective line of defense, and we realized we had to do something about that, and we've got to take it seriously in a professional manner in a long-term strategic project and training program."
He said that the most notable exception prior to Oct. 7 was an intensive annual training program he had conducted at Kibbutz Erez."We saw when the first response team knew how to work together, they managed to create a fighting force to save their community, and this is what we're looking for," he said.
Essentially, Dribben said, the aim of Magen48 is "to take the entire Gaza Envelope community and to rebuild their confidence in themselves and the IDF, and in their response if, God forbid, something happens again. People will come back only if they feel safe."
Most importantly, he stressed, is the collaboration between communities and the IDF, with joint training drills every six months.
"The army can give so much when it comes to the basic training of soldiers, but we want much more, on a tactical level—training and technology, organization and equipment, facilities and simulation," Dribben added. "There is a lot of stuff that the army can give, and we give extra. That connection, that collaboration between the army and us, is great."
The second part of the project, he said, is designing a security program for each community. "We analyze the threat and we figure out the response on the community level, with what we have," he said. "In every situation, we need to know who's doing what, where and when and with whom."
In the yearly training program, Magen48 offers four to six sessions on the new security plan within the community itself, "and this is how we connect all the dots," said Dribben.
Between the start of training in December 2024 and the end of February, said Dribben, 30 communities completed the first phase of the program, which includes comprehensive weapon and safety training.
By the end of April, Briggs said, all 66 communities should have completed the first phase. "This is not a one-time exercise," he stressed. "It’s a permanent, year-round training cycle, ensuring these teams stay at a high operational standard."
Danny Epstein is a member of Kibbutz Erez's kitat konenut (rapid response team), trained by Ehud Dribben. He was shot in the throat on Oct. 7 as he heroically fought off Gazan terrorists who invaded Israel, and attributes his survival to the training he had received.
Asked about Magen48, Epstein told JNS, "I think it's an excellent model for kitot konenut. The training was serious and professional and followed a structured program, and we could see the team's improvement. As I told Ehud [Dribben] afterward, the training we did was decisively important for us on that terrible Shabbat, and for that I am extremely grateful."
(From left) Eshkol Regional Council security chief Ilan Isaacson and Ari Briggs in the field with an IDF officer. Photo courtesy of Magen48.
Ilan Isaacson, the security chief of the Eshkol Regional Council, who immigrated to Israel from South Africa in 1975 with his family and moved to Moshav Sde Nitzan, told JNS that Magen48 was a unique initiative.
"First of all, after Oct. 7, it's not that we don't rely on the army; we rely on the army 100 percent. But after what we've been through, especially here in the Gaza Envelope, where we had a massacre, we also have to take things into our own hands. We are very grateful that the army is also involved in the project, but there's also a civilian side, to upgrade the first-response teams, give them capabilities that the army is not going to give them, but we also want to make sure that it's in our hands."
Asked if he thought Magen48 was a model that could be replicated elsewhere, Isaacson said: "Absolutely. I'm sure that afterward they can take it to the northern border and all the borders, including Judea and Samaria. It's not something only for the Gaza Envelope, but the war started here, and at the moment we don't see it ending at all.
"It was important to start here, because all our first-response teams were more or less destroyed. A lot of my mates were killed—over 40—and we have to rebuild everything from scratch. To rebuild something, it can't be the same as it was before; it must be much better. So you have to give people confidence that it will be better, that the training is more serious, and adapted to every area differently. Every place has its own challenges. It's a good model but it has to be flexible."
As Israel resumed its strikes against Hamas on March 18, he added: "I think we have to know that Hamas is not going anywhere, that we'll be fighting all our lives, and that we have to influence what is happening in our area, taking things into our own hands, and rather than blaming everyone, take responsibility and give the people living here the security that is needed. And Magen48 is the basis of this."
Restoring safety and confidence
Magen48 is seeking funding for community sponsorships, operational support and the construction of a National Training Facility to ensure long-term success, said Briggs.
"Our mission focuses on enhancing security to create conditions for communities to flourish, encouraging residents to return, rebuild and contribute to a thriving local economy," he said.
The model is now being considered for expansion to Israel's northern border to face the Hezbollah threat and to Judea and Samaria to counter the threat of Palestinian terrorist organizations, he added.
"This is about the future of Israeli civilian defense, born directly from the trauma of Oct. 7, and it connects directly to the global Jewish community, many of whom are now sponsoring specific communities’ training through our Twinning Program—building new bonds between Diaspora communities and the frontline communities of the Otef Aza [Gaza Envelope]," said Briggs.
Among the communities in the Twinning Program are Woodsburgh Minyan, Woodmere with Kibbutz Sa'ad, Young Israel, Lawrence Cedarhurst with Kibbutz Be'eri and Adat Yeshurun, La Jolla, with Shlomit and Avshalom.
Daniel Silverman, a former security coordinator at Kibbutz Sa'ad, with Harold and Nan Klein, representing the Woodsburgh Minyan from Woodmere, New York, at Kibbutz Sa'ad, March 18, 2025. Photo courtesy of Ari Briggs.
The Center for the Protection of the Jewish People
"Oct. 7 proved that civilian communities cannot rely solely on military intervention for protection," Briggs said. "The military cannot be everywhere at once, and communities must be equipped to defend themselves."
For this reason, he said, Magen 48 has decided to build what has been called "The Center for the Protection of the Jewish People," a global hub for professional civilian defense training based in Israel.
"This center will serve as a place where Israel’s frontline first responders, and Jewish communities worldwide can learn from the lessons of Oct. 7 and prepare for the threats of the future," he said. "It will provide standardized, high-level training to ensure that every defender—whether in the Negev, the Galilee, or a Jewish community in Europe or North America—has the skills and confidence to protect their people."
The center aims to bridge the gap between past failures and future security, ensuring that the sacrifices of Oct. 7 were not in vain. "It will stand as a beacon of Jewish resilience—a declaration that never again will Jewish communities face annihilation without the means to fight back," said Briggs.
"The creation of the Center for the Protection of the Jewish People is not just a response to Oct. 7—it is a commitment to the future. It is a promise that Jews will never again be left unprepared in the face of those who seek to destroy us."
This center, he concluded, will stand as a permanent declaration: "Wherever Jews are threatened, we will be ready. We will stand guard. We will defend our people. Together."
With each day, the imperative for decisive measures against the Islamic Republic's extensive network of Islamic terrorism intensifies globally. Since its inception in the bitter winter of 1979, rooted in the ruinous ideology of Khomeinism and bolstered by Islamic and Marxist terrorists allied with the Soviet Union, this mafia regime has effectively held the world at the mercy of a Shi'ite Caliphate dictatorship based in Tehran.
Even now, after nearly half a century, there remains a global lack of resolve to dismantle this destructive and rebellious regime. A stigma of dishonorable collaboration with this terrorist government is branded on the foreheads of numerous nations within the free and democratic realms of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Democratically inclined countries have paradoxically traded with the criminal ayatollahs, supplied them with weapons, cooperated on intelligence and security matters, extradited prisoners, financed them, and even detained Iranian demonstrators to safeguard their diplomatic premises.
Numerous countries professing to champion free speech, democracy and human rights have failed to publish even a single critique of this brutal regime or to conduct meaningful media interviews with its opposition.
Among global malefactors and despotic regimes, it is perhaps no hyperbole to state that the Islamic Republic has been fortuitous and has successfully misled the international community until now.
From the era of its first dictator, Khomeini, who ascended to power through the aid of Islamic terrorist networks, to the present, where the second dictator, Khamenei, has maintained his rule for 36 years without the people's mandate, the Iranian populace has mounted resistance against the tyrannical, oppressive and cruel theocratic governance 19 times.
Yet, the modern civilized world has not only failed to support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people but also betrayed them at critical moments, choosing instead to engage diplomatically with the very tyrants oppressing them.
Consequently, the Iranian citizenry is under the impression that the global community lacks a genuine commitment to eradicating Islamic terrorism and overthrowing the defiant regime of the Islamic Republic and its Shi'ite Caliphate of velayat-e faqih in Tehran.
During the Jimmy Carter era, the global media landscape was saturated with hundreds of critical reports, articles, analyses and interviews denigrating the late, patriotic and humane shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, seemingly orchestrated to pave the way for the ascension of Khomeini, viewed by many as the embodiment of evil.
Today, however, such narratives are conspicuously absent. The fabrications spun by the Islamic Republic's propaganda apparatus are perpetually recycled, and the term "Ayatollah"—signifying "Sign of God"—is liberally applied to Khamenei, positioning the oppressive regime as the legitimate representative of the Iranian populace. This represents an unimaginable stroke of fortune.
The United States has frequently fallen prey to the ruthless terrorism orchestrated by Tehran's regime, with the brutality inflicted by the Islamic Republic on American forces dwarfing the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, in a proportion akin to one to 1,000.
Despite this, the United States engaged in covert cooperation with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a known terrorist entity, to topple the regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, ultimately ceding control of these nations to the Islamic Republic.
In full view of the international community, Tehran's tyrant, Khamenei, has mobilized his vast network of Islamic terrorism, most notably orchestrating the events of Oct. 7 against Israel, while the global media long maintained Tehran's innocence. This narrative persisted until Israel released damning evidence and documents unequivocally exposing Iran's culpability in these events.
Since January 1979, numerous globally recognized terrorists have frequented Tehran, participating in photo ops, conducting conferences and openly denouncing America and Israel. Despite this, a resolute international determination to topple this regime, which unabashedly supports Islamic terrorism, remains elusive.
In courts across Europe, the United States and Israel, a myriad of cases accusing the Islamic Republic of murder, genocide and terrorism have led to the conviction of several of the regime leaders. Nevertheless, numerous analysts aligned with the regime continue to promote narratives of diplomacy, peace and engagement with the Islamic Republic in Western media outlets.
The dictator in Tehran has not only engaged in schemes to assassinate both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump but has also perpetuated terrorism, accelerated missile proliferation, conducted bombings and pursued nuclear weapons development. Over time, global public opinion has recognized how 86 million Iranians remain captive to those close to the Iranian dictator.
The world has gradually come to understand that in the multi-layered autocracy of Iran, there is no distinction between reformists and conservatives; both factions are intent on sustaining the nation's corrupt and criminal governance.
Moreover, the futility of negotiating with such criminals and terrorists has become apparent. Similarly, the international community has acknowledged that voting in Iran is a farce, consistently drawing less than 10% of the regime's entrenched supporters.
Now, with the necessary foundations for global consensus firmly established—despite rampant censorship, betrayal and deception—even the voices of the Islamic Republic's agents in Persian-language media abroad have begun shaping Iranian public opinion toward the imperative of regime change.
The world now recognizes that peaceful coexistence with this malignant force in the modern era is unfeasible, necessitating the removal of this rogue and criminal entity from the global stage.
Erfan Fard's new book, titled "Regime Change in Iran," is published by Ketab Corporation. Photo courtesy of Erfan Fard.
Whether it be America, Israel or their Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, all have incrementally reached the consensus that regime change in Tehran represents the only viable strategy for modern, civilized societies of this century to ensure peace, comfort and stability in the Middle East. In the absence of such change, given the criminal ayatollahs' ambitions, the development of a nuclear bomb in collusion with their Islamic terrorist affiliates could pose a global threat.
Gone are the days when entities like the BBC would aid Khomeini's rise to power in 1979; today, the collective voice of social media asserts that the task left unfinished must now be completed. This readiness of public opinion for the emergence of a new Middle East warrants deep reflection.
While America initiated the war on terrorism in 2003 without achieving its goals, there is hope that Israel will now succeed and shield the world from looming dangers. The Tehran regime is fundamentally entangled in criminality and deceit. Take a moment to envision a Middle East devoid of mullahs.
Madison Stock of Woodbury, N.Y., is officially the 10,000th participant in the Birthright Israel volunteer program.
The 22-year-old recently completed working on agricultural projects in Moshav Gamzu, Moshav Zeitan, Moshav Beit Yitzchak, Moshav Gan Haim and Hinanit as part of the subsidized Post-October 7 Volunteer Program. She is still in Israel and has decided to extend her visit.
Stock participated in the 10-day Birthright Israel trip last summer, fell in love with the country, and decided to return as a volunteer.
In the United States, she works in event planning and the restaurant business. She has twin siblings, and both parents have recently retired.
Madison Stock, 22, of Woodbury, N.Y., is officially the 10,000th participant in Birthright Israel’s volunteer program. Credit: Birthright Israel.
“This volunteer program with Birthright Israel has truly inspired me,” said Stock. “The impact volunteers can make is beyond comprehension. The farmers and communities we supported are incredibly grateful for our help.”
She stated that since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish world has “felt the same loss and pain, which has brought people together in unique ways. The farmers were hit hard by the lack of people coming to Israel to work, so the fact that we came to do impactful work was very special for everyone involved.”
The volunteer program is a cornerstone of Birthright Israel’s mission to strengthen Jewish solidarity globally and deepen ties to the Jewish state through meaningful, hands-on action. It offers Jewish adults, ages 18 to 50, the chance to make a tangible impact on communities across Israel.
Participants engage in a variety of volunteer activities, including working in food rescue operations to prevent shortages in the Israeli market and supporting kibbutz restoration projects in areas hardest hit by the Oct. 7 attacks and the war that began after that.
Madison Stock, 22, of Woodbury, N.Y., is officially the 10,000th participant in Birthright Israel’s volunteer program. Credit: Birthright Israel.
Volunteers also have an opportunity to join a special volunteer program to teach young children English in the summer of 2025.
Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, said: “I congratulate Madison and would like to thank her for leaving everything behind to take a pause in her life and deciding to come to Israel and take part in this program. This initiative underscores Birthright Israel’s commitment to fostering global Jewish solidarity and strengthening ties to the land and people of Israel through meaningful action.”
