As Israel increases its strikes against Iranian military and nuclear targets, a new Fox News poll shows that most Americans see Iran as a significant threat to U.S. security, though opinions remain split on Israel’s military response. The poll, conducted from June 13 to 16, 2025, reveals that 73% of registered voters believe Iran poses a genuine national security risk. Support for this view crosses party lines, with 82% of Republicans, 69% of Democrats, and 62% of independents recognizing Iran’s threat—each group registering more concern than in previous years. While there’s broad agreement on Iran’s threat, public opinion is divided over Israel’s recent preemptive strikes. Overall, 47% of voters approve of Israel’s actions against Iran’s nuclear sites, while 45% disapprove—falling within the poll’s 3-point margin of error. Republicans show strong support, with 70% approving of Israel’s military efforts. Democrats largely oppose, with 60% disapproving, and independents are nearly evenly split—44% approve, 46% disapprove. This Fox News poll was conducted by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), surveying 1,001 registered voters nationwide to gauge American sentiment amid this escalating conflict. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The State Department has begun evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict. A government plane evacuated a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave the country Wednesday, two U.S. officials said. That came shortly before U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on X that the embassy was making plans for evacuation flights and ships for private American citizens. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements. “Given the ongoing situation and as part of the embassy’s authorized departure status, mission personnel have begun departing Israel through a variety of means,” the State Department said. “Authorized departure” means that nonessential staff and the families of all personnel are eligible to leave at government expense. There was no indication of how many diplomats and family members departed on the flight or how many may have left by land routes to Jordan or Egypt. The evacuations, comments from the White House and shifting of American military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East have heightened the possibility of deepening U.S. involvement in a conflict that threatens to spill into a wider regional war. Trump has issued increasingly pointed warnings about the U.S. joining Israel in striking at Iran’s nuclear program, saying Wednesday that he doesn’t want to carry out a U.S. strike on the Islamic Republic but suggesting he is ready to act if it’s necessary. The State Department also has steadily ramped up its warnings to American citizens in Israel and throughout the region, including in Iraq. Last week, ahead of Israel’s first strikes on Iran, the department and the Pentagon put out notices announcing that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad had ordered all nonessential personnel to leave and that the Defense Department had “authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East. Those warnings have increased as the conflict has intensified, with the embassy in Jerusalem authorizing the departure of nonessential staff and families over the weekend and ordering remaining personnel to shelter in place until further notice. The embassy has been closed since Monday and will remain shut through Friday. (AP)
Prime Minister Netanyahu took to X on Wednesday, to reaffirm Israel’s unwavering resolve to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, as the IDF continue their bombardment of Iranian military and nuclear facilities near Tehran. “We will not let the world’s most dangerous regime get the world’s most dangerous weapon,” Netanyahu declared in a post, underscoring the stakes of Israel’s ongoing military operation aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile capabilities. Netanyahu’s statement sparked a wave of reactions on X, with some users, including individuals identifying as Iranian, expressing support for Israel’s actions. One user wrote, “As an Iranian I want to thank you for the incredible hard and important task you’ve took on. From Cyrus the Great to Benjamin Netanyahu. What times to be alive.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford will sail from the East Coast for Europe on a regularly scheduled deployment — but its presence also gives President Trump a third aircraft carrier option as he weighs what sort of military response the US should provide amid escalating strikes between Israel and Iran. The Ford was previously deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean as a show of strength and to provide options to Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. The US Navy already has the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, and is sending the USS Nimitz to sail toward U.S. Central Command from the Indo-Pacific.
President Trump informed top advisers late Tuesday that he authorized plans for an attack on Iran, but was hesitant to proceed, preferring to wait and see if Tehran would give up its nuclear ambitions. One potential target for the U.S. is Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow enrichment site, which remains unscathed so far. Located deep beneath a mountain, the facility is widely regarded by military experts as virtually impossible to destroy with anything but the most advanced and powerful weaponry.
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review. The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles. In a notice made public Wednesday, the department said it had rescinded its May suspension of student visa processing but said new applicants who refuse to set their social media accounts to “public” and allow them to be reviewed may be rejected. It said a refusal to do so could be a sign they are trying to evade the requirement or hide their online activity. The Trump administration last month temporarily halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while preparing to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said. Students around the world have been waiting anxiously for U.S. consulates to reopen appointments for visa interviews, as the window left to book their travel and make housing arrangements narrows ahead of the start of the school year. On Wednesday afternoon, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student in Toronto was able to secure an appointment for a visa interview next week. The student, a Chinese national, hopes to travel to the U.S. for a research intern position that would start in late July. “I’m really relieved,” said the student, who spoke on condition of being identified only by his surname, Chen, because he was concerned about being targeted. “I’ve been refreshing the website couple of times every day.” Students from China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have posted on social media sites that they have been monitoring visa booking websites and closely watching press briefings of the State Department to get any indication of when appointment bookings might resume. “Under new guidance, consular officers will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants,” the department said in a statement. “To facilitate this vetting” applicants “will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to ‘public,’” it said. “The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country.” In internal guidance sent to consular officers, the department said they should be looking for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.” Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said the new policy evokes the ideological vetting of the Cold War when prominent artists and intellectuals were excluded from the U.S. “This policy makes a censor of every consular officer, and it will inevitably chill legitimate political speech both inside and outside the United States,” Jaffer said. International students in the U.S. have been facing increased scrutiny on several fronts. In the spring, the Trump administration revoked permission to study in the U.S. for thousands of students, including some involved only in traffic offenses, before abruptly reversing course. The government also expanded the grounds on which foreign students can have their legal status terminated. As part of a pressure campaign targeting Harvard University, the Trump […]
President Trump stated that Iran was “a few weeks away” from developing a nuclear weapon before Israel launched recent strikes on the Islamic Republic. Speaking publicly, Trump emphasized his support for “total victory” in the ongoing conflict rather than a ceasefire. While he reiterated his long-standing stance that Iran should not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, Trump also expressed a desire to avoid direct involvement in foreign wars. He said he has not yet made a decision on whether the United States will act against Iran’s nuclear sites, but underscored that the U.S. military’s advanced technology is currently being used by Israel in the airstrikes against Iran. President Trump says Iran wants to meet at the White House. “They should’ve made that deal. I had a great deal for them. They should’ve made that deal. In the end, they decided not to do it — and now they wish they did it.” “We’re not looking for a ceasefire. We’re looking for a total and complete victory. Again, you know what the victory is: no nuclear weapon.” “I don’t want to get involved either, but I’ve been saying for 20 years — maybe longer — that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon … They’d use it. I believe they’d use it.” TRUMP ON FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY: Trump on dismantling Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility: “We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it — at all.”
The IDF conducted a series of precision airstrikes in Tehran, targeting over 20 military sites, including facilities linked to Iran’s nuclear weapons development program and missile production, the IDF announced. The operation, involved 60 IAF fighter jets guided by the IDF Intelligence Directorate. According to the IDF, the strikes hit critical components of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, including weapons production sites, centrifuge production facilities, and research and development centers. “These sites were designated to allow the Iranian regime to expand the scale and pace of its uranium enrichment purpose of developing nuclear weapons,” the IDF stated. The military emphasized that Iran’s uranium enrichment far exceeds levels required for civilian purposes, with a focus on high-level enrichment suitable for nuclear weapons. The IDF also targeted factories producing raw materials and components for missile assembly, as well as sites involved in the production of Iran’s air defense systems. The strikes were part of a broader effort to disrupt Iran’s military infrastructure, which the regime has dispersed across its vast territory to ensure operational continuity. “The Iranian regime used Iran’s large territory and established its production sites in several areas spread widely across the country, in order to maintain the industry’s continued operation,” the IDF explained. For years, the IDF Intelligence Directorate has been gathering detailed intelligence on Iran’s production industry, enabling the precise targeting of these facilities. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The American flag has long flown from a pole on the White House roof, but that’s always been too small for President Donald Trump, who wants everything to be bigger and more beautiful. On Wednesday, massive new flagpoles were erected on the North and South Lawns of the White House. “It’s such a beautiful pole,” Trump said as workers used a crane to install the latest addition to the South Lawn. He returned to the same spot later in the day, saluting as the stars and stripes were hoisted for the first time. The second pole, on the North Lawn, is close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The two poles are the most notable exterior modification to the White House since Trump returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building. He’s already updated the Oval Office, adding gold accents, more portraits and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Workers have begun paving over the grass in the Rose Garden, and there are plans to construct a new ballroom somewhere on the White House grounds. The changes bring the iconic building more in line with Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida. The president made time to watch one of the flagpole installations despite the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, plus questions of whether the U.S. would become directly involved. “I love construction,” said Trump, who made his mark as a New York real estate developer. “I know it better than anybody.” He talked about how the pole went down nine feet deep for stability, and the rope would be contained inside the cylinder, unlike the one at Mar-a-Lago. When the wind blows, “you hear that rope, banging.” “This is the real deal,” he said. “This is the best you can get. There’s nothing like this.” (AP)
JUST IN: President Trump says Iran wants to meet at the White House. “They should’ve made that deal. I had a great deal for them. They should’ve made that deal. In the end, they decided not to do it — and now they wish they did it.”
Sirens are sounding, schools and jobs are shut, and families’ expenses are soaring while income has vanished. Our Rabbinic board has ordered a large crisis fund to keep food on tables and hope in hearts.
Since the beginning of “Operation Rising Lion”, dozens of IAF fighter jets have been operating in the skies of Iran and striking military targets belonging to the Iranian regime. The IAF’s aerial refueling aircraft support these fighter jets, conducting dozens of sorties and performing over 600 aerial refuelings in the skies of the Middle East thus far. Aerial refueling is a crucial component of the Israeli Air Force’s operations in Iran, enabling the continued maintenance of aerial superiority in the region. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A heartbreaking tragedy shook the Jewish community in Antwerp Wednesday morning when an 8-year-old Jewish boy, Yehuda Alter Weiss a”h, was struck and killed by a police vehicle while riding his bicycle to school. The niftar, from a Belzer family, was a grandson of Harav Eliyahu Weiss shlit”a of Yerushalayim and Harav Gershon Padwa shlit”a. The accident occurred around 9:45 a.m. on Provinciestraat, between Ketsstraat and Milisstraat. According to eyewitnesses, a police van responding to an emergency with sirens blaring was driving at high speed when it attempted to swerve around a stationary car. In doing so, the vehicle struck the child, who had been crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk on his bike. Despite immediate life-saving efforts by Hatzolah and police, Yehuda Alter was tragically pronounced dead at the scene. Yehuda Alter, a Belzer chossid had been on his way to his cheder, Machzikei Hadas D’Chasidei Belz, on Van Spangenstraat at the time of the accident. “The entire Jewish community is devastated,” said Tzvi Weingarten, a close friend of the family. “I see the mother—who is expecting—walking her children every day. I daven with the father in shul. This is a chassidish family, and the pain is immense. The whole kehillah is grieving with them.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The IDF publishes footage showing the Israeli Air Force’s 120th Squadron’s aerial refueling activities during strikes in Iran. According to the IDF, more than 600 separate aerial refuelings were carried out over the skies of the Middle East, allowing dozens of IAF fighter jets to operate in Iran, located over 1,500 kilometers from Israel.
The 15,000 Jews living in Iran are living in what members of the kehilla describe as a state of existential dread in the wake of Israel’s launch of the war, Ynet reported. Jewish life in Iran has come to a standstill, sources familiar with the situation said. “People have vanished from the streets,” said one source. “They’re staying inside their homes, terrified. They’re not going to work. There are no gatherings, no tefillos in shuls—nothing. They’re simply afraid to show their faces.” According to the report, the main fear of Iranian Jews is not of the regime but of mob violence, of angry Iranians retaliating for the Israeli attacks and carrying out lynchings, chalilah. Arutz Sheva quoted a source in contact with the community who said, “They’re alive, as of now, but they’re living in constant fear. What was until now an active community has suddenly become a silent congregation of tefillah and fear.” Most of Iran’s Jews live in Tehran, followed by Isfahan. Both cities house nuclear and missile facilities and have been heavily targeted by the IDF. Following the launch of the war, Jewish community leaders issued statements sharply condemning Israel in what are seen as attempts to protect the community from being accused of disloyalty to the regime. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised U.S. citizens who are seeking to evacuate from Israel on Wednesday. He directed Americans to a program that guides those who wish to depart toward evacuation flights as well as cruse ships. “Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel–The U.S. Embassy in Israel is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures. You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) You will be alerted w/ updates,” he wrote, providing a link to the program.
