Jonathan Ruhe

Trump said this morning that US military aid to Israel will end at the end of 2026. Our report on transforming the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 U.S.-Israel partnership laid out a smoother way to wind it down that would benefit both countries. 🧵

The race to lead the @UN is unlikely to alter the institution's anti-🇮🇱 biases, as “no candidate is going to become the next secretary-general by campaigning on reforming the U.N.’s institutional hostility to Israel,” says @JCB_Ruhe. @jewishinsider jewishinsider.com/2026/09/u-…

Why have the Houthis been able to sustain the fight when other Iranian proxies have been pushed toward ceasefires? @JCB_Ruhe tells @jewishinsider that the Houthis’ risk tolerance, Iranian support and ability to focus on one foreign enemy at a time have given them an advantage. jewishinsider.com/2026/09/ho…

The Trump administration approved a potential $24B sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia. But @JCB_Ruhe tells @demarest_colin that Riyadh’s growing defense & tech ties w/ China demand firm guardrails before the deal moves forward. “The F-35 is a microcosm of a much larger problem.” @axios axios.com/2026/09/17/state-d…

U.S. forces stationed in Israel during Operation Epic Fury were well-protected, and as @John_Hudson @sgreports & @noahjrobertson note, JINSA has been the lead advocate for improving the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership, including establishing a U.S. base in Israel. In Sept 2024, fmr U.S. CENTCOM Commander Frank McKenzie’s paper warned of the threat Iran posed to U.S. bases in the Gulf and advised shifting them westward. 🔗jinsa.org/u-s-bases-in-the-m… In Sept 2025, after Midnight Hammer, JINSA sent @JCB_Ruhe and a task force of 🇺🇸USAF generals to Israel to evaluate staging options for U.S. forces, identifying Ovda Air Base as suitable (built to U.S. specs & shielded by Israeli air defenses) and learned the Israeli’s would welcome U.S. forces there. 🔗jinsa.org/jinsa_report/base-… In Feb 2026, the U.S. moved F-22s to Ovda, eventually support 6,000 U.S. personnel and 240 aircraft during Operation Epic Fury. During the 40-day conflict with Iran, U.S. & Israeli militaries performed with unprecedented coordination and partnership, wtih Israel shouldering half the sorties and being a true partner in the conflict. The U.S. has a true partner in Israel who is willing and capable of burden sharing. 🔗jinsa.org/jinsa_report/stren…

Iran's attacks on shipping were designed to demonstrate its control of the Strait of Hormuz. The strategy “reflects longstanding Iranian practice, where it tries to gauge and erode US resolve” said @JCB_Ruhe via @TimesofIsrael timesofisrael.com/irans-stri…

The details of a deal between Iran and the United States is unclear.
 What is clear, is that Iran has violated EVERY nuclear agreement they've signed on to. @BlaiseMisztal explains to @MarkieMartin @NewsNation

A formal U.S.-Iran 🇺🇸🇮🇷 deal may shift tensions temporarily from hot to cold, but this will only exacerbate and prolong a war that truly ends only once the Islamic Republic disappears. Read @JCB_Ruhe latest for @thedispatch thedispatch.com/article/iran…

JINSA's @JCB_Ruhe warns @MatthewShea__ that the proposed U.S.-Saudi 🇺🇸🇸🇦 civil nuclear pact could undermine U.S.-UAE 🇺🇸🇦🇪 ties and “threaten the global nonproliferation regime and raise the risks of a regional proliferation cascade.” via @jewishinsider jewishinsider.com/2026/06/tr…

In response to media reports on the details of a near-final 60-day U.S.-Iran MOU, JINSA President and CEO @MichaelMakovsky encourages President Trump to reject it and issued the following statement:   If the reported details of a proposed U.S.-Iran MOU are broadly accurate, it would represent a loss of American nerve and damaging strategic reversal in recent American policy, abandoning many of President Trump’s prior redlines, undercutting many of the tremendous achievements of the military campaign, and undermining U.S. credibility.   I hope President Trump recognizes the enormous dangers posed by this reported MOU and rejects this disastrous arrangement. He should reverse course and restore American credibility by resuming military action that further weakens Iran’s conventional military and nuclear capabilities, ensuring the freedom of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, maintains economic pressure on the Tehran regime, and supporting Iranians seeking to bring about the regime’s collapse, which is the ultimate strategic prize for the United States.   The U.S.-Israeli military campaign made major advances in curbing Iran’s ability to project power and weakening the regime, for which both countries’ militaries and political leaders are to be commended. However, rather than degrading Iran further, this deal would strengthen and enrich it, thereby prolonging its survival.   Comparisons to President Barack Obama’s 2015 JCPOA would be immediate and deserved. The United States would again be financially rewarding the Tehran regime to negotiate on its nuclear program while not addressing Iran’s missile capabilities or its aggressive regional activities.   In some respects, this agreement is worse than the JCPOA, since the United States would be relinquishing leverage accumulated through 38 days of direct military confrontation, strategic isolation, maritime pressure, and visible deterioration of Iran’s internal and regional position.   If Iran would not agree to acceptable American terms on its nuclear program during a ceasefire — while facing a blockade, economic strangulation, internal instability, and the credible prospect of renewed severe U.S.-Israeli military operations — there is no serious reason to believe lifting that pressure will produce a better outcome.   Without the complete, permanent, and verifiable dismantlement of Iran’s entire nuclear program, the regime’s pathway back to nuclear weapons capability is preserved and will restart, no later than after President Trump leaves office.   The Iranian regime and its supporters will rightly see this agreement as a victory over the United States, emerging not only intact but with new life thanks to the unfreezing of assets, the resumption of significant oil sales (mostly to China), and effective control over the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump would also be abandoning the Iranian population, with whom he has repeatedly expressed solidarity and support, by rescuing this brutal and corrupt regime from collapse.   It betrays Israel, our full-fledged partner in the war, which reportedly opposes this deal and was given little say in it. Israel will undoubtedly need to conduct another military action against Iran at some point to undo the damage from this deal. Israel also cannot be expected to adhere to any Iranian veto over Lebanon, and will be compelled to maintain its military action against Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah that continues to threaten Israel’s northern towns.   The MOU also leaves exposed our Gulf Arab allies to an emboldened Iran as America retreats from the region.   The lesson for the rest of the world will be that America can be coerced through brinkmanship, defiance, and threats to maritime commerce and energy markets. China will take note and is a clear winner, and Taiwan a loser.   There should be no memorandum of understanding, interim deal, or partial arrangement with the Tehran regime, as it will not be worth the paper it is written on. (1/2)