US States Threaten Netherlands Over Settlement Boycott

Thirteen Republican-leaning U.S. states have warned the Dutch government to reverse its boycott on goods from Israeli settlements or face trade consequences. The warning, detailed in a letter sent by Iowa Attorney General Bernie Bird and 12 other senior officials, cites laws in some states that mandate halting business with countries imposing boycotts on Israel. The letter, reported by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, also draws parallels between the Dutch and British boycotts on settlement products, accusing both nations of aligning with the political goals of anti-Israel and anti-U.S. terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, new details have emerged regarding an Iranian terror plot foiled in the UK. The Washington Post reported that the plot's leader, identified as Mohamed Baker Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iranian-Iraqi national, directed the operation from a U.S. jail cell using coded messages conveyed through phone calls with his mother and sister. He had been arrested in May on suspicion of planning attacks against synagogues and Jewish targets in Europe. Two other suspects were in Iran during the attempted attack on a British air force base, relaying instructions through a network of contacts in the UK. The plot, allegedly guided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, aimed to strike Jewish, Israeli, and American targets, with intercepted communications revealing instructions to "focus on London."

Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of "ecocide" in Gaza during a speech at an international climate conference hosted by Turkey. AP reported that Erdogan also reiterated his accusation of genocide against Israel, stating that centuries-old olive trees have been cut down, water and soil have been contaminated, and entire cities have been reduced to rubble. He also mentioned that "tens of thousands of tents" have been washed away by rain. Israel's Foreign Ministry responded on X, accusing Erdogan of misusing an international forum to advance a "false international campaign."