Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Aug. 12 that Israel was forming an axis of pragmatic Arab countries to oppose the extremist Iranian regime and its proxies in the region, saying during his second day of visit to Rabat, "Strategically, what we're creating here is a diplomatic axis featuring Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to present a pragmatic alternative to religious extremism. … We are creating a cycle of life against the cycle of death of Iran and its proxies."

Since the formation of the new cabinet in Israel last May, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his ministerial security forum have been debating the best approach to adopt toward Iran-American negotiations for a possible new nuclear agreement. Clearly, the Israeli government must define its policy and its strategy on this issue ahead of the expected visit of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Washington at the beginning of September.

Shortly after the election of Ebrahim Raisi as Iran’s new president, Bennett said, "Of all the people that [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei could have chosen, he chose the 'Hangman of Tehran,' the man infamous among Iranians and across the world for leading the death committees that executed thousands of innocent Iranian citizens throughout the years."

Briefing ambassadors from UN Security Council member states Aug. 4, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid named the IRGC commanders he says are responsible for the recent UAV attacks on civilian shipping. “Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s air force, is behind dozens of terror attacks in the region employing UAVs and missiles,” he said.