June 24, 2025 U.S. and Israel Knock Out Iran—Why Do Some Democrats and Media Refuse to Cheer? Dear Friend of Israel, Friend of FLAME: U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu just led their countries to an astounding victory over our mutual enemy Iran, crushing the world’s greatest sponsor of Islamist terrorism and nuclear wannabe.. Furthermore, in the 20 months preceding Iran’s defeat, Israel effectively decapitated Iran’s terrorist proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. While Israel scored these victories against its terrorist neighbors mostly alone, its efforts were heavily supported by weapons the U.S. sold to it. Yet, ironically, many Democrats and legacy media refuse to take the win for America and its ally, preferring to act as spoilers—disavowing this moment of triumph and its promise of regional security. For these critics, the problem seems to be not the U.S.-Israel victory over evil itself, but rather its architects, Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu. American Jews—who traditionally support Israel, but also vote Democratic—must be wondering if their party still supports their Jewish priorities. After all, why would Democrats cast aspersions on the defeat of Israel’s greatest enemy and the world’s most vicious promoter of antisemitism? Fortunately, some prominent Democratic politicians—and reliably left-leaning Jewish organizations—have stood strong, supporting sound Middle East policy regardless of its leaders, whether Trump or Netanyahu. It remains to be seen if rank-and-file Jewish Democrats will share this courage of their fellow partisans, praising the bold actions of the President and Israeli Prime Minister in supporting the Jewish state and people, even if they may not be ready to vote for these leaders. Defeat of Iran’s Axis of Terror massively changes Middle East history. Iran has long been the primary sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East and beyond—responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide. Iran ran a network of vicious terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, religiously obsessed with killing Jews and destroying Israel and Western civilization. But U.S. Presidents since 1989 largely avoided holding the Islamic Republic accountable, fearing regional conflagration, thus allowing Iran to evade nuclear restraints. Suddenly, with Israel’s almost single-handed decapitation of Iran’s terror enterprise, the Middle East stands on the cusp of a new era that promises dramatically greater security and relative peace. Both nuclear and terrorist threats have substantially diminished, and efforts to expand the Abraham Accords regional cooperation have rekindled. Why are Democrats trying to discredit the Middle East victory? Most Senate Democrats and dozens of House Democrats reacted negatively to Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. On June 22, for example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic politicians condemned President Trump’s strike on Iranian nuclear sites, saying his action was unilateral and required congressional approval. What Schumer didn’t mention was that Presidents Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama and Trump I also sidestepped congressional approval of their foreign military strikes. On June 25, a Senate motion to demand President Trump secure congressional approval for any military action against Iran was defeated 53-47 largely on party lines. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) joined Republicans, asserting U.S. strikes provided critical support for Israel’s defense. Legacy media pile on, citing disloyalty and risks. Some media outlets implied that President Trump simply acted for Israel’s sake. A CNBC report said, “Trump’s decision to join Israel’s war against Iran sharply escalates the conflict,” while headlines from both the Associated Press and Axios called the conflict “Israel’s war.” But of course, Iran is America’s enemy as much as Israel’s. Indeed, Iran calls Israel “the Little Satan” and the U.S. “the Great Satan,” and wants to destroy both. Moreover, for years Mr. Trump has repeatedly promised voters “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.” Other mainstream media tried to deny the success of the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. CNN peddled a report asserting Israeli and U.S. strikes set Iran’s nuclear program back by mere months, citing a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment. The New York Times and Washington Post followed suit. In fact, this initial reporting was based on misinformation from Iranian sources. No wonder CNN originally neglected to mention that U.S. intelligence deemed this assessment “low-confidence.” Doubts sown by Democrats and legacy media regarding Mr. Trump’s motives and Iran’s devastating defeat seem no more than flimsy excuses to minimize the outsized success of the U.S. and ally Israel. On its surface this strategy is contrafactual—an implausible stretch—which intelligent people will not likely believe. The larger, more troubling question: How do Democrats and media outlets win by claiming that America and Israel lost? Some brave Democrats put partisan politics aside to celebrate America’s victory. They include Reps. Steny Hoyer (MD) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ), as well as Sens. John Fetterman (PA) and Jacky Rosen (NV). All expressed support for President Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear program. Gottheimer described President Trump’s actions as “critical and decisive.” Likewise, numerous left-leaning Jewish organizations stepped up to support the American-Israeli victory. Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said, “The President is right: This is an historic moment for the United States, Israel and the world,” while leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations stated, “this decisive action represents a critical and justified step to confront the existential threat posed by the Islamic Republic.” While Jewish Democrats may not yet be ready to actually vote for Trump, they will doubtless find the support of this handful of pro-Israel Democrats and Jewish leadership comforting. Surely this departure from the Democratic Party line gives them cover for standing up proudly—to support defeat of the world’s most antisemitic nation and its murderous, Jew-hating proxies. A unique chance for Jewish Democrats to soul search. Those caught in the middle of this rare Democratic split need only ask, “What am I—first a Democrat, second an American and third a Jew?”—in which case you will likely oppose President Trump no matter whether his actions support Israel and the Jewish people. Or, you may ask, “Am I first an American, then a Jew, then a Democrat”?—in which case you will support leaders Trump and Netanyahu for achieving an indisputably positive outcome for the U.S., Israel and the Jewish people. Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that partisanship should not determine one’s support for actions that advance U.S. interests and make America and her allies safer. If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge. Best regards,
James Sinkinson, President
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME) P.S. I’m sure you’d agree: If your enemy says they want to kill you and take your land, you’d be smart to believe them. If you try to make peace, but they refuse all your offers and continue to make murderous threats, it’s time to eliminate this enemy. Israel has faced exactly this danger with the Palestinians—yet continued to hope for peace . . . until Hamas’s October 7 massacre and kidnappings. Finally, Israel and many lovers of Israel are facing reality. They’ve concluded their futile dreams of peace must end. They must finally defeat their Palestinian enemies—starting with Hamas and other jihadi terrorists. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of the Israel-U.S. relationship need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“End of the Palestinian Lie”—describes how Israel and the West have for 77 years bought the myth that the Palestinians want peace. It details the many offers of land for peace Israel, the U.N. and the U.S. have made to give Palestinians their own state—all refused. Finally, it explains why Israel must adopt a bold new strategy—disarming, disabling and defeating Hamas and all other terror groups that attack Israeli civilians. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME intends to publish to millions—in leading social media, as well as in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Los Angeles Times. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, the President and Vice President. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation. As of today, more than 28,000 Israel supporters receive the FLAME Hotline at no charge every week. If you’re not yet a subscriber, won’t you join us in receiving these timely updates, so you can more effectively tell the truth about Israel? Just go to free subscription. | 
