US National Intelligence Chief Says Iran Contributes to Mideast Instability

Director Avril Haines of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), left, speaks with CIA Director William Burns before a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
Director Avril Haines of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), left, speaks with CIA Director William Burns before a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
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US National Intelligence Chief Says Iran Contributes to Mideast Instability

Director Avril Haines of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), left, speaks with CIA Director William Burns before a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
Director Avril Haines of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), left, speaks with CIA Director William Burns before a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

The Director of US National Intelligence Avril Haines has cited Iran's contribution to instability in the Middle East as she testified at a public congressional "Worldwide Threats" hearing.

Haines also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that China is an "unparalleled" priority.

She described China as increasingly "a near-peer competitor challenging the United States in multiple arenas."

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said his agency opens a new investigation linked to China every 10 hours.

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, National Security Agency Director General Paul Nakasone and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Scott Berrier also testified.

Burns said nearly a third of the CIA's workforce is focused on cyber issues.

Haines also cited Russian efforts to undermine US influence, Iran's contribution to instability in the Middle East, global terrorism and potential North Korean efforts to "drive wedges" between Washington and its allies as significant threats.

The appearance by Haines and the other intelligence directors was the first such public "Worldwide Threats" hearing since January 2019.

The same officials will appear before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

Before the hearings, the intelligence community published its annual threat assessment, which said China was pursuing a “whole-of-government” effort to spread its influence around the world, undercut US alliances and “foster new international norms that favor the authoritarian Chinese system.”

Russia is likely to continue developing its military and cyber capabilities while also seeking "opportunities for pragmatic cooperation with Washington on its own terms,” said the report.

North Korea, meanwhile, remains committed to nuclear power and poses an increasing risk to the US and to the region. Iran, too, presents a threat despite its weakening economy through both its conventional and unconventional military strategies, including its network of proxies.



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.