Washington Works with Allies, Tehran Escalates its Mobilization

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Nicholas Kamm/AFP
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Nicholas Kamm/AFP
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Washington Works with Allies, Tehran Escalates its Mobilization

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Nicholas Kamm/AFP
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Nicholas Kamm/AFP

The US confirmed it would work with its allies on facing the Iranian destabilizing behavior, while the Republicans and Democrats in the Congress still bet on passing the new strategy of US President Donald Trump regarding Iran, especially the items related to the flaws listed in the Nuclear Deal.

After Trump proposed his new strategy on Iran, US State Secretary Rex Tillerson predicted Friday that European allies and the Middle East would be "very supportive" of the President’s new Iran strategy, despite their preference for the previous policy.

“To our friends and allies in Europe, I think we have a real opportunity to address all the threats that are posed by Iran. I think the plan the President's laid out has been quite clear in terms of articulating those threats; that really, it's in all of our interests to work together,” he said.

For his part, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that his first priority would be to talk with allies in the Middle East and elsewhere and assess views on Iran's “misbehavior.”

Later, Iran responded on Trump’s new strategy.

Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, a Guard commander and spokesman for Iran's joint armed forces staff, said late on Friday that his country is now “more determined and with more motive than before to develop and enhance its defensive power.

Meanwhile, the lawyers of Americans imprisoned by Iranian authorities said they were worried the Trump administration’s new strategy on Iran would obstruct the chance for talks to secure the prisoners’ release.

Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who was detained by Iran for 18 months, said on Twitter that Trump’s Iran strategy “will only hurt American hostages being held in Iran.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comments, but a State Department official said the US calls for the “immediate release” of its citizens held “unjustly” in Iran.



Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Party Leaves Government over Conscription Bill

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Party Leaves Government over Conscription Bill

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, surrounded by ministers from the government attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)

One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service.

Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of UTJ, had resigned a month ago.

That would leave Netanyahu with a razor thin majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, or parliament.

It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit.

Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, "and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies ... (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government."

Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022.

A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that in all, seven UTJ Knesset members are leaving the government.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have long threatened to leave the coalition over the conscription bill.

Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether.

The ultra-Orthodox have long been exempt from military service, which applies to most other young Israelis, but last year the Supreme Court ordered the defense ministry to end that practice and start conscripting seminary students.

Netanyahu had been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis.

The exemption, in place for decades and which over the years has spared an increasingly large number of people, has become a heated topic in Israel with the military still embroiled in a war in Gaza.