JINSAPress Coverage Archives - JINSA

U.S. Strikes Iranian Oil Tankers in Response to Tehran’s Attacks on Navy Ships

Nolan Judd — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:30:22 +0000

The U.S. destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to fresh attempts by Tehran to strike U.S. warships in the Middle East in recent days, according to U.S. Central Command.

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However, Iran would still need to know the approximate location of U.S. warships when its attacks began, raising concerns that China and Russia could be helping Iran track the locations of American warships, officials said.

The fact that Iran is able to target warships at all after the U.S. degraded its ability to see the battlefield is a key concern, according to retired Vice Adm. John “Fozzie” Miller, who commanded U.S. naval forces in the Middle East. “They don’t really have the capacity to reach out and find someone out in the Arabian Sea on radar any longer,” he said.

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Read the full piece in the Wall Street Journal.

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Military Tech Cooperation With Israel Is Less Radical Than Critics Claim

Nolan Judd — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:34:24 +0000

For nearly 20 years, the United States’ military aid to Israel has come in the form of foreign military financing. A provision in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act would deepen the military ties between the two countries at a time when many Americans are increasingly skeptical of the relationship and some members of Congress would prefer to cut aid ties entirely.

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“This bill would be important, but still less impactful than either its U.S. supporters or critics claim. As with most everything else in American political debate nowadays, people will read into this bill whatever they want,” Jonathan Ruhe, the fellow for American strategy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told The Dispatch.

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“Israel is not an industrial superpower, but in some areas they are a technology superpower,” Bowman said. Israeli technologies like the Iron Beam, a directed-energy air defense system, are one example and could be an area for manufacturing collaboration with the United States, according to Ruhe. Countering drones with traditional air-defense systems is expensive and resource-intensive, but Iron Beam can theoretically eliminate an unlimited number of incoming drones, according to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Israeli defense company behind the technology.

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“Neither the U.S., nor Israeli governments, nor defense companies in either country, want to give one another the types of control that this bill’s critics say it does,” Ruhe told The Dispatch. “Israelis’ sensitivities about such issues are innately high, and have only risen higher amid tussles with Biden and Trump over arms resupplies, Gaza, Lebanon, and a potential nuclear deal with Iran.”

Read the full piece in the Dispatch.

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Western Intelligence Reports: Chinese Ships Secretly Used to Gather Intelligence – Passed on to Iran

Nolan Judd — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 19:57:17 +0000

Western intelligence reports recently revealed that much of China’s fleet of commercial-civilian ships serve as a secret arm of military intelligence. This means that civilian cargo ships of the state-owned shipping giant COSCO, along with fishing vessels belonging to China’s “naval militia,” carry sophisticated and camouflaged signal intelligence collection systems (SIGINT), as Western intelligence sources claim.

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A study by the American think tank JINSA have long warned that Chinese control of the port is an ideal platform for gathering intelligence, signals, and physically tracking our forces. The concern in Washington is so grave that U.S. officials have warned that Chinese activity at the port could jeopardize the sharing of sensitive intelligence and operational data communication between Israel and the United States.

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Read the full piece in Mako (originally in Hebrew).

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Six Months Into the Iran War, Is Trump’s Economic Pressure Campaign Yielding Dividends?

Nolan Judd — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:08:23 +0000

As the conflict between the United States and Iran passes the six month mark, former White House officials and regional analysts remain divided over whether Washington’s economic campaign and naval blockade are meaningfully changing the strategic landscape.

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Jonathan Ruhe, Fellow for American Strategy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, argued it is still unclear whether either side has the edge six months into the conflict, but suggested that Iran “more likely” retains an advantage.

“At best, the verdict is still out on whether the U.S. has regained meaningful leverage over Iran,” Ruhe said. “More likely though, Iran retains the initiative and escalation dominance over the U.S. and its partners.”

Ruhe suggested Tehran views Washington’s shift toward sanctions as a sign that the U.S. has expended its military options.

“Economic pain is a small price to pay, especially because Iran’s regime thinks the latest sanctions regime is shot full of holes, and because it clearly doesn’t care if its own people suffer in the process,” Ruhe said. “If anything, the sanctions-first approach will merely embolden Tehran to step up its military threats to shipping, U.S. bases, and our Gulf partners.”

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Read the full piece in Jewish Insider.

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Six Months on, Israel Waiting in the Wings as Trump’s War on Iran Shifts to Economic Pressure

Nolan Judd — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:03:05 +0000

“Help has arrived,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Feb. 28, speaking after the Israeli and U.S. militaries launched a joint operation, “Roaring Lion/Epic Fury,” against Iran, killing then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening salvo.

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IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu, told JNS that Iran is currently prioritizing control of the Strait of Hormuz and that Jerusalem is watching closely, as its ability to assist the United States in this regard is limited.

“We are preparing all our efforts for the future in case we need to bomb Iran to stop or delay its nuclear project. We currently see that it is not yet urgent, and we want to give the Americans the space they need to solve the Hormuz problem,” said Amidror, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America in Washington.

He said that the parliamentary elections in Israel on Oct. 27 are likely to have little impact on military decisions, as nearly all candidates support preventing Iran from acquiring the bomb.

“There may be differences in the level of involvement, but at the end of the day, I think almost everyone agrees on the need for Israel to prevent Iran from reaching nuclear military capability,” said Amidror.

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Read the full piece in JNS.

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Israel Must Spend More on Defense – and Rethink Its U.S. Alliance

Nolan Judd — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 19:51:45 +0000

The Knesset will be asked over the coming month, meeting in special recess session, to vote on expansion of the defense budget for urgent IDF weapons procurement from NIS 70 billion to NIS 90b. (a rise from $20b. to $25b.).

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The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) also believes that such a shift will benefit both countries. “Closer alignment and cooperation with Israel across military, technological and economic lines of effort will help make America safer abroad, more prosperous at home and one step ahead of its adversaries,” it argues in a new report entitled “Shifting the Center of Gravity: Transforming the US-Israel Security Partnership.”

JINSA would have the two countries sign one more aid MOU to maintain $3.8b. in annual US assistance through fiscal year 2038, while pairing that funding with a series of initiatives designed to deepen operational and strategic integration between the two militaries over the long term.

It suggests a “Model Ally” status for Israel that would provide a framework for deeper joint research and development, co-production, and reciprocal offsets. The report argues that greater integration of the two countries’ defense industries would strengthen their respective industrial bases and supply chains.

JINSA also supports a larger US military footprint in Israel, including a permanent air force presence at Israel’s Uvda Air Force Base, a forward CENTCOM headquarters in Israel for regional planning, expansion and modernization of the prepositioned US arsenal hub and war reserve stockpile in Israel, and even a limited US-Israel mutual defense treaty (with a deliberately narrow threshold for activation).

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Read the full piece in the Jerusalem Post.

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Going All In on Sanctions, Trump Limits How Much He Can Squeeze Out of Iran

Nolan Judd — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:24:46 +0000

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stood onstage at the Treasury Department in Washington to publicly unveil the Trump administration’s latest move against the Islamic Republic.

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Rather than structuring policy around the hope for a deal, the US may gain more from pursuing the long-term weakening of Iran, argued Michael Makovsky, president of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America think tank.

“The goal should just be persistent pressure and weakening of the regime in every way possible,” he said.

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Read the full piece in the Times of Israel.

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Turkey’s Rise Is Israel’s New Problem

Nolan Judd — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:33:09 +0000

On Aug. 18, Israel attacked the Abu al-Duhur air base in Syria, escalating brewing tensions with Turkey—the United States’ other key ally in the region.

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Israel, however, views Turkey as a hostile power and dreads a “Sunni ring of fire”—a Turkey-led alliance of Muslim Arab nations that Israel fears might encircle and isolate it in the region.

“We cannot allow Turkey to deploy troops on our borders,” said Yaakov Amidror, a distinguished fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America and a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I don’t think anyone will host Turkish forces against Israel’s wishes. That will be a basis for friction in the future—a big mistake.”

Israel’s mistrust of Turkey is underpinned by Erdogan’s support for Hamas, sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood, and a suspicion that it harbors imperial ambitions. “Erdogan is very close to the Muslim Brotherhood,” Amidror said, noting that Hamas is an offshoot of the organization. “Turkey is hosting Hamas’s leadership, from where they can still plot terror attacks inside Israel.”

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Read the full piece in Foreign Policy.

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Israel’s Syria Strikes Shine Light on Growing Divide With U.S. Over Middle East Policy

jinsa-shavdala — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 19:05:26 +0000

The aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Syria earlier this week are shining a light on the growing divide between the United States and Israel over how to approach Damascus’ government and its relationship with Turkey.

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Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told Jewish Insider, “The United States and Israel haven’t seen eye-to-eye on Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, both in terms of what al-Sharaa’s government represents and how to approach Syria’s new leadership.”

For Israel, Ruhe said, the removal of Assad and the weakening of Iran’s position in Syria did not eliminate the threat from the country. Instead, Jerusalem increasingly sees Turkey — a major backer of al-Sharaa — as a potential replacement for Iran as the dominant outside power in Syria.

“From Day One, Israel has worried that al-Sharaa simply replaces the Iranian threat in Syria with a Turkish one,” Ruhe said. “For the Trump administration, Syria and Turkey represent diplomatic and investment opportunities, not military problems.”

Israel, Ruhe said, has pursued a “proactive military approach,” including strikes aimed at preventing weapons and military infrastructure from falling into the hands of Islamist actors and Ankara.

“This explains Israel’s proactive military approach to Syria, starting with its decision to eliminate Assad’s arsenals as al-Sharaa took power in late 2024,” Ruhe said. “After targeting potential Turkish bases in central Syria last year, the latest airstrikes show Israel is willing to preempt Turkey’s military presence in northern Syria, farther from Israel’s borders.”

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Read the full piece in Jewish Insider.

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Mamdani’s NYPD is Still Working with Israel

jinsa-shavdala — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 18:59:45 +0000

After the reign of Mayor Eric “I would marry Israel” Adams, the firm stance that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took against Israel’s violence in Gaza was refreshing to some of his voters. But whatever Mamdani’s personal views on Israel, not much has changed when it comes to the institutional relationship between New York City and the Jewish state, particularly when it comes to the New York City Police Department’s work with Israeli law enforcement. In fact, the NYPD liaison stationed in Israel, whom the New York Post reported had left the job a week before Mamdani was elected, is now back on the job, a spokesperson for the police department told City & State.

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After 9/11, the NYPD looked to Israel to learn best practices for counterterrorism and intelligence gathering, sending officers to a law enforcement exchange program in 2002, initiated by the retired police chief Louis Anemone. The NYPD continued to observe and learn the methods and techniques of the Israeli police and border guard operations in the West Bank. The Jewish Institute for National Security of America, which organizes these officer exchange programs, “maintains that its trips focus on management and policy issues, and that officials do not learn about physical tactics,” as reported by The Forward. (The Israeli government has not responded to requests for comment on their relationship with the NYPD.)

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Read the full piece in City & State New York.

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