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With the conflict between Israel and Iran in its fourth day, we checked in with Bloomberg’s Tel Aviv bureau chief Ethan Bronner for a sense of the mood on the streets—and in the safe room at his apartment. Plus: Neither the sender nor the recipient of two-factor authentication codes can be sure who’s handled them along the way, food companies are moving too slow to cut methane, and what happens when White House threats are ignored.

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When a siren blast from my phone jolted me from my dreams at 3 a.m. on Friday, I wasn’t terribly concerned. I figured it was a Houthi missile, which had landed almost nightly in recent weeks, upsetting but not alarming: one projectile coming from Yemen against a formidable Israeli air defense system. But a closer glance at the messages jerked me fully awake: Israel had launched a massive surprise attack on Iran, and everyone was instructed to head to a bomb shelter or protected space in anticipation of Iranian retaliation. Schools would be closed; work canceled; the airport shut down.

I quickly went to the protected space of my Tel Aviv apartment. And since it doubles as my study, I opened my computer and got to work. Newer buildings in Israel must have a safe area in each apartment rather than a collective shelter in the basement. The room where I’m writing this is secured by 12-inch-thick reinforced concrete walls, an airtight steel door, a blast-resistant shutter on the window and an air filtration system to guard against chemical weapons.

We knew Israel was deep into plans for an attack on Iran, but it was widely assumed—including, to their detriment, by the Iranians—that any action wasn’t imminent. A sixth round of talks with the US over Iran’s nuclear program was due on Sunday, and an attack before that seemed unlikely. Moreover, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son was due to be married on Monday. Surely he’d wait until after that.

He didn’t (the wedding’s been postponed). Some 200 Israeli planes made their way 1,100 miles to Iran and, supported by drones smuggled in by intelligence agents months before, pulled off a punishing assault. Israel killed more than a dozen Iranian generals and nuclear scientists, took out air defenses and missile launchers, and damaged a uranium enrichment site. 

It was such a blow that it took time for Tehran to muster a response. We waited in or near safe rooms for hours, then finally at 11 a.m., we got the all clear to go about our business. It was a strange interlude. Restaurants had been ordered closed, though some were offering takeout. Supermarkets quickly filled with people shopping for Sabbath meals—and hoarding essentials, clearing some shelves. I took a walk by the sea and wasn’t alone. The beaches weren’t as full as they might normally be on a summer afternoon. But they weren’t empty. Tel Avivians were happy to breathe freely for a few moments. 

Rescue forces at the site of a ballistic missile strike in Tel Aviv on Monday. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg

By 9 p.m. on Friday, my phone was screaming again, urging me back to a shelter. As I sat in my study, missiles began to rain down. And so began a cycle of attacks and counterattacks. Israel has hit energy facilities, more nuclear sites, key military figures and missile launchers; Iran has fired off ballistic missiles, most stopped by Israel’s air defense, but some getting through, slicing open high-rise buildings. Hundreds of Iranians and two dozen Israelis have been killed. Most of the missiles arrive at night, making for fitful sleep.

This morning, I was awakened at 4 a.m. by another barrage. I heard sirens and then booms that shook the building. It felt uncomfortably close. And it was. After the all clear, I stepped out into the warm summer morning and headed over to the affected area, already crawling with soldiers, police and clearance crews. Walls hung from buildings, glass plates were shattered, cars were smashed, trees down. It was a half-mile from home. And this is only the fourth day.

Related: Trump Says Iran Wants to Talk After Waves of Israeli Strikes

In Brief

  • The man suspected of killing a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota was arrested on Sunday.
  • President Donald Trump directed federal officials to expand efforts to deport migrants in the largest US cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
  • WhatsApp will begin showing ads, opening a new potential revenue stream for owner Meta as it invests heavily in AI.

Secret Codes Encounter a Weakness

Illustration: Simon Landrein for Bloomberg Businessweek

Every day, millions of people sign in to their email, banking app or social media accounts with both their password and a one-time login code they receive by text message. The codes often arrive with a warning: “Do not share this with anyone.” The recipients of those warnings, though, have no way of knowing who saw it before it got to them.

When companies generate messages with one of these so-called two-factor authentication codes, they almost never send them directly. Instead they outsource the job, passing the codes through a thicket of intermediaries before they arrive at their destinations. Because of inherent weaknesses in SMS—the decades-old technology standard used for text messages—it’s possible for entities that handle such messages to see their content. But the complexity of the system means neither the sender nor the recipient can be sure exactly who’s handled them along the way.

An industry whistleblower provided Bloomberg Businessweek and the investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports with nonpublic phone networking data related to a batch of about 1 million messages carrying two-factor authentication codes sent during June 2023. Each one passed through the hands of an obscure Swiss outfit named Fink Telecom Services. The company and its founder have worked with government spy agencies and surveillance industry contractors to surveil mobile phones and track user location. Cybersecurity researchers and investigative journalists have published reports alleging Fink’s involvement in multiple instances of infiltrating private online accounts.

A complex chain of subcontractors can save companies sending messages time and money. But, as Ryan Gallagher, Crofton Black and Gabriel Geiger write, some security experts describe the trade-offs as reckless, because in the wrong hands the information in the messages can be used to break into people’s emails or private messages: How a Tiny Middleman Could Access Two-Factor Login Codes From Tech Giants

Progress on Methane Reduction Is Slow

A cow in a feeding pasture with a herd in Rockwall, Texas. Photographer: Delaney Allen for Bloomberg Businessweek

In December 2023, some of the world’s largest food companies made a splashy pledge to slash one of the planet’s fiercest heat-trapping gases. As part of the newly formed Dairy Methane Action Alliance, Bel Group, Danone, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Lactalis USA and Nestlé—with Clover Sonoma and Starbucks joining soon after—pledged to reduce the powerful gas emanating from their sprawling dairy supply chains. The companies promised to publish emissions data and action plans by the end of 2024.

So far the results have been lackluster. As of May 2025, seven of the companies have at least partially disclosed their dairy methane emissions. But only three have rolled out action plans that meet the alliance’s guidelines, and just one has set a specific target to shrink its dairy methane footprint. Meanwhile, the deadline for publishing their emissions figures and plans has been pushed to the end of this year.

The slow start highlights Big Food’s halting progress toward cutting its most critical greenhouse gas, particularly as companies across various industries turn away from sustainability initiatives. “It’s like a snail’s race,” says Nusa Urbancic, chief executive officer of the Changing Markets Foundation, a Netherlands-based nonprofit that pressures food companies to reduce their methane footprints.

As Ben Elgin, Olivia Raimonde and Ilena Peng write, for the food industry to do its part in staving off climate disaster, advocates say companies will have to step up spending and their sense of urgency: Global Food Companies Are Struggling to Deliver Methane Progress

Brute Force Isn’t Getting Trump Results

Photographer: Thea Traff for Bloomberg Businessweek

Donald Trump has a clear, uncomplicated notion of how things should work. He tells everyone what to do, and they do it. In this world, law firms stop representing his accusers. Universities cede him control of admissions and curriculum. Europe and China swallow his tariffs. Corporations move their factories to the US. Ukraine surrenders to Russia. Denmark hands him Greenland. Panama hands him the canal.

To the president’s daily fury, the world outside his head isn’t always cooperating. Harvard University has forcefully fought back against his attempt to take charge of the school. After some major law firms buckled under his threats, others are now resisting. Trump has whipsawed between escalation and retreat on tariffs when other nations have refused to go along. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ignored his demands to end the bloodshed in Ukraine, and for months Chinese President Xi Jinping all but gave him the silent treatment. Fired federal workers, immigrants targeted for deportation without due process and others who’ve sued to challenge his actions are winning support from courts, including some presided over by Trump-appointed judges.

In his World Stage column, Wes Kosova writes that Trump’s go-to negotiating tactics of threats and coercion can lead to worse results than less-combative methods—or no deal at all: US Allies and Adversaries Are Dodging Trump’s Tariff Threats

High Stakes

13%
That’s how much crude oil prices jumped in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s attack on Iran, reflecting how increased tensions in the Middle East are affecting the global economy.

Trump Mobile

“We’ve partnered with some of the greatest people in the industry to make sure that real Americans get true value from their mobile carriers.”
Donald Trump Jr.
Son of President Trump 
On the 10-year anniversary of their father’s announcement that he would run in the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric announced on Monday the launch of a branded mobile phone service, which will rely on wireless networks and hardware that is “made in America.”

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