Friday, May 02, 2025

05/02 Links Pt1: The Art of a Second Iran Deal; Trump to strip Harvard of tax exempt status; Shapiro: Mike Huckabee on Israel, Iran, and Middle East Strategy

From Ian:

Josh Hammer: The Art of a Second Iran Deal
Ultimately, when it comes to any potential second Iran nuclear deal, the principal is Trump himself. Advisors are important, but those advisors are ultimately only agents acting on behalf of the principal.

It is unclear what exactly the principal believes when it comes to the Iranian regime and its harrowing nuclear aspirations. On the one hand, Trump is the consummate real estate dealmaker—the literal former author of The Art of the Deal. And some of the recent things that Trump and Witkoff have said about Iran do seem to indicate that they care most about securing a deal with Iran—at least when the alternative scenario is (disingenuously) framed as a "forever war." But on the other hand, Trump knows that Iran has, in the not-so-distant past, personally tried to kill him. That is no small deal. Trump, furthermore, is the same president who once took out top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps baddie Qasem Soleimani via drone strike. And he is the same president who ordered recent strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

More than anything else, it is crucial that Trump and his nuclear negotiating team understand that a deal—any deal, just for the sake of a deal—is not the goal of this exercise. The goal is to ensure that Iran, the world's No. 1 state supporter of terrorism for nearly five decades running, does not acquire the most dangerous weapons known to man. The goal is to ensure that a regime that regularly chants "death to America" in its national legislature and directs its various regional proxies to murder Americans whenever they can does not acquire the means to hold the world hostage by risking nuclear Armageddon. Right now, Iran is largely a paper tiger. But that changes overnight if such a fanatical regime acquires nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them across continents.

A deal—a real deal, one with teeth and which earnestly verifies that Iran's nuclear facilities and nuclear capacities have been entirely dismantled—is one possible means to accomplish that goal. But there are other available means too—kinetic ones. And those alternative means of securing the desired end goal—that of a demonstrably, verifiably nonnuclear Iran—must not be written off yet. On the contrary, they must be carefully considered.

In such situations, everyone—yes, everyone—prefers diplomacy to kinetic action. Maybe there is an acceptable deal to be had with Iran. But it is entirely possible, perhaps likely, that there is not such a deal to be had. Let's see that dealmaking prowess, Mr. President. But let's also not commit the cardinal logical fallacy of confusing means and ends—especially when the stakes are so high.
All the President’s Men
Not long ago, Charles Koch and his late brother David were loathed by Democrats, with party bosses like President Joe Biden and left-wing journalists like Jane Mayer identifying the libertarian billionaires as the source of all political evil.

But the Kochs bought a truce with the left when, in 2019, they partnered with progressive mega-donor George Soros to start the Quincy Institute, a think-tank perhaps best known for a pro-Iran stance advanced most boldly by prominent Iran lobbyist Trita Parsi, Quincy’s executive vice president. The stance wasn’t simply ideological: A detailed 2011 press report showed that Koch Industries used foreign subsidiaries to evade U.S. trade sanctions barring American companies from selling materials to the Islamic Republic. According to Bloomberg News, Koch “products helped build a methanol plant for Zagros Petrochemical Co., a unit of Iran’s state-owned National Iranian Petrochemical Co.”

Indeed, the Koch business empire has long been built on the principle that there is money to be made by doing business with anti-American totalitarian regimes. According to Mayer’s 2016 book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, the Kochs’ fortune started when their father, Fred, received $500,000 from Stalin for helping to build 15 oil refineries in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Then Fred Koch’s company Winkler-Koch completed a Nazi oil refinery that helped keep the Luftwaffe in the air, until the facility was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944.

These days, Koch-funded policy analysts are aligned with John Mearsheimer and others from the “realist” school of foreign policy—people who hold that Israel is the destabilizing force in the Middle East, and thus a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran’s terror regime will stabilize the region. Trump, on the other hand, has been clear that Iran, preferably through negotiations, cannot be allowed to have the bomb.

And Iran is far from the only reason that the Kochs have spent millions opposing Trump for nearly a decade. They’re also pro-China, having invested billions in the People’s Republic over the past several years. In 2018, as the Kochs’ U.S. companies announced hundreds of layoffs, Koch subsidiary INVISTA unveiled plans to build a $1 billion manufacturing plant in China—a huge investment facilitated by Trump’s tax cuts, which saved the Kochs as much $1.4 billion. They used the rest of their windfall on advertising buys opposing Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports.

Despite their successes in infiltrating the Trump administration, the Kochs seem as determined as ever to thwart the president’s policies vis-à-vis Beijing’s predatory trade practices. At present, two separate groups reportedly funded by Koch—the Pacific Legal Foundation and the New Civil Liberties Alliance—have sued Trump over his China tariffs. Other Koch-aligned groups have joined the anti-China tariff offensive, like the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).
Europe's Illegal Land-Grab: Part II
While COGAT technically receives orders from the minister of defense, on a day-to-day basis it operates with autonomy. Israeli laws mandate that attempts to trespass and commandeer land must be intercepted, but COGAT commanders are wary of action and weary of global condemnation. The staff have learned to expect international headlines, along with formal complaints, threats and lawsuits from the European Union, when they so much as remove a corrugated roof from an illegal structure -- which the EU will likely rebuild anyway.

For every razed structure, five new ones take its place. That Palestinians are legally permitted to bring grievances against COGAT and the Civil Administration to Israel's Supreme Court further undermines enforcement. Both foreign and Israeli NGOs receive millions of euros every year to "protect" the Palestinians in the court system, which is backed up with appeals. In the meantime, the Palestinians build and build, engaging in a strategy of setting Israel's own system against itself.

While COGAT officers hold a diverse array of personal views about the Arab-Israel conflict, the IDF tends to be conformist and technically oriented, concerned with tactical training, readiness and counterterrorism, and focused on immediate, critical threats from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Iran. The defense establishment views the West Bank as a political dispute, as opposed to a national security issue.

But COGAT is well aware of the scope of the hostile takeover in Area C and is choosing not to enforce its legal mandate. Due to intense pressure from the EU, COGAT officers routinely speak with Palestinian Authority officials and work out agreements to refrain from demolishing specific infrastructure built under former PA Prime Minister Salman Fayyad's master plan. While COGAT does occasionally destroy unauthorized structures deemed to be dangerous from a security or safety point of view, such as those built close to IDF training or firing zones, abutting major traffic arteries, or those that were used as launching pads for terrorist attacks, these demolitions are exceedingly rare, and almost always receive massive international media coverage and condemnation.

Through a Supreme Court case, Regavim succeeded in forcing COGAT to reveal its list of established enforcement priorities. At the top of the list was prevention of Jewish construction on privately-owned or state land, while at the very bottom of the list were PA-EU orchestrated takeovers. In other words, Israel's Ministry of Defense was forced to admit by court order that its enforcement guidelines for land-use policy were tilted against Jews and in favor of Arabs. "They let the Palestinians do things they'd never think about allowing Jewish people to do," alleges Dr. Yishai Spivak, an investigative researcher with Ad Kan, an Israeli non-profit organization.

In addition, the PA never reports deaths in, or emigration from, Area C, and pads its population statistics with people who have never set foot in the Middle East — for instance, children who were actually born and raised abroad but had parents who once lived in the region. This serves the goal of portraying the area as flooded with Arabs. A far more serious problem, however, may be that the PA actively and publicly encourages residents of Areas A and B to move into Area C, an act possibly in violation of the Geneva Convention.

The Civil Administration, meanwhile, does nothing to protect Israeli national interests in this regard. It does not keep population figures, thereby enabling itself to conveniently claim that it serves an enormous number of residents, and purportedly justifying its budget. If a conversation about squandered Israeli and international resources and the needs of the current and future population is to begin, the first step is a census of the population.

Regavim and others have called to disband COGAT entirely. They demand a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal construction, regardless of EU funding and lawsuits, and have called on the Israeli government to initiate a long-overdue diplomatic effort that will make it clear to the EU that it has established red lines that will be enforced. "Israeli leadership as a whole is failing to behave like a sovereign government with a backbone that enforces the law and protects the security and national interests of the people," argues Kahn.


Trump says he’ll strip Harvard of tax exempt status in latest salvo against school
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he planned to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, the latest salvo against the Ivy League school amid a larger crackdown on elite US universities.

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without specifying when he might take action.

Representatives for Harvard could not be immediately reached for comment on the president’s post.

Since taking office in January, Trump has targeted major US universities by freezing federal funding, launching investigations, revoking student visas and making other demands, saying higher education has been gripped by antisemitic, anti-American, Marxist and “radical left” ideologies.

Harvard has pushed back, suing the administration over the halted US research funding and other demands, and joining more than 200 university and college presidents in protesting Trump’s higher education policies.

The school filed a lawsuit against the university last week, which calls for a funding freeze and conditions imposed on federal grants to be declared unlawful, arguing the measures amount to political interference aimed at compromising the Ivy League institution’s independence.

Last week, Trump bashed Harvard as an “antisemitic, far left institution” that admits students “from all over the world that want to rip our country apart.”

That broadside came a day after he issued an executive order targeting higher education, upending how federal authorities decide which universities and colleges can access billions of dollars from certain grants and student loans.

The executive order seeks to clamp down on what Trump brands “unlawful discrimination,” that is, any measures that seek to promote the representation of “racial and ethnic minority individuals.”

The Trump administration claims protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that swept across US college campuses last year were rife with antisemitism.


State Department To Dismantle Anti-Israel Grantmaking Office in Effort To Rein In ‘Rogue People’ at Agency
A little-known grantmaking entity within the State Department created an anti-Israel program without adequate authorization during the Biden administration. Now, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio plan to shut it down.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) offered nearly $1 million to nonprofit groups for investigating alleged human rights abuses in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, the Washington Free Beacon reported in 2022. DRL instructed applicants to "collect, archive, and maintain human rights documentation to support justice and accountability and civil society-led advocacy efforts, which may include documentation of legal or security sector violations and housing, land, and property rights."

While the Biden administration canceled the grant before DRL could award the money, it left the bureau’s grantmaking authority—its Office of Global Programs—intact. After President Trump froze foreign funding programs earlier this year, Rubio announced that the Trump administration plans to go a step further last week. The State Department's plan involves closing down the Office of Global Programs, eliminating a 38-person staff of career bureaucrats and transferring remaining grant programs to regional offices.

The move is part of a broader effort to align federal bureaucrats at Foggy Bottom with the Trump administration's policy priorities. When it comes to DRL's grantmaking power, the administration believes that regional offices staffed with political and diplomatic appointees are less likely than career agency employees in Washington, D.C., to contradict those priorities.

"As the Secretary likes to say, we want to work from the ground up, from the embassies out in the field back to the regional bureaus, and that’s where we’re going to do our business," a State Department official said. "The other offices—the DRLs of the world—they’re there to support that effort. They’re not off doing their own thing. They’re aligned with what we’re doing, they’re aligned with the policy out in the field."

Ensuring that the State Department’s numerous bureaus acted in service of the president’s policy aims was nearly impossible, another department official told the Free Beacon, given the broad discretion entities like DRL and its Office of Global Programs wield and the number of "rogue people" within the agency.

In fact, bureaus like DRL have hiring authority, making it difficult even to know how many people work within a given entity. After the reorganization, the agency will empower political appointees and diplomats pursuing President Trump’s priorities.

"We’re taking the ability to make new grants and putting it into the regional bureaus, where it's more aligned with the policy," a State Department official said, "so that we don't get in a situation where the policy side of the house [is] saying one thing, and then DRL [is] over here on the other side making all these grants that are 100% counter to what we're saying on the policy side."

Rather than anti-Israel bureaucrats using taxpayer money to fund anti-Israel grants, appointees in regional offices—in concert with the agency’s policy wing—will soon call the shots.
Gavin Newsom Awards Antiterrorism Grant to Mosque Linked to 9/11 Hijackers, Pro-Hamas Cleric
California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) recently awarded taxpayer funds under a state antiterrorism program to a San Diego mosque that has been linked to 9/11 hijackers and whose imam defended the Hamas attack on Israel.

Newsom, considered a top 2028 presidential contender, awarded nearly $200,000 to the Islamic Center of San Diego in March as part of a program to help religious institutions and nonprofits beef up security to protect against potential terrorist attacks, according to state records.

"Today more than ever, our state stands together to support our communities. Californians deserve the right to worship, love, and gather safely, without fear of violence," said Newsom, whose administration has given another $500,000 to the San Diego mosque in previous years.

The Islamic Center of San Diego, led by Imam Taha Hassane, has condoned anti-Israel violence over the years. Hassane, who joined the center in 2004, defended Hamas’s slaughter of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, saying in a sermon weeks later that "resistance [against Israel] is justified," the Washington Free Beacon previously reported.

"We cannot accuse somebody who is fighting for his life to be a terrorist. The terrorist is the one who started the occupation, not the one who is defending himself," said Hassane, whose remarks prompted his removal from San Diego’s Human Relations Commission.

Hassane’s wife, Lallia Allali, resigned from her job with the San Diego school district after she posted a cartoon following the Oct. 7 attacks that showed a Star of David beheading five children. She currently teaches courses on "Islamophobia" at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

The Islamic Center of San Diego gained notoriety in the wake of 9/11 after revelations that two of the al Qaeda operatives who flew the plane that hit the Pentagon—Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar—prayed regularly at the mosque. An official at the mosque also allegedly helped the terrorists receive a $5,000 wire transfer from the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11. Other mosque leaders hosted a welcoming party for the hijackers when they arrived in San Diego in 2000, according to the 9/11 Commission report.
Ben Shapiro & Mike Huckabee on Israel, Iran, and Middle East Strategy
Ben Shapiro interviews U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee in Jerusalem to unpack his decades-long bond with Israel, the moral and strategic reasons Americans should care, and how Trump’s Middle East policies changed the game.




Republican senators move to facilitate suing UNRWA over support for Hamas
Republican senators have introduced legislation to allow American victims of terrorism to sue international organizations that back terror groups, which are immune under existing law.

The Limiting Immunity for Assisting Backers of Lethal Extremism Act specifically targets the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the bill’s chief sponsor, said the U.N. group has “for decades knowingly provided support to Hamas terrorists, including salaries and materials.”

“That support facilitated Hamas’s terrorist attack on Oct. 7, which was the worst one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and included the murder and kidnapping of dozens of Americans,” Cruz said. “Those victims and their families deserve the ability to hold UNRWA accountable, and the LIABLE Act would give them that opportunity.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) noted that UNRWA has aided “Iran-backed Hamas in their spread of hateful antisemitism” for years.

“UNRWA has supported Hamas in enabling these terrorists to commit the horrific massacre and mass kidnapping of Israelis and Jewish Americans over 550 days ago, on Oct. 7, and the sick individuals responsible for this terrorism must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

Such international groups that provide support to Hamas, Hezbollah and other U.S.-designated terrorist organizations are protected from lawsuits under the International Organizations Immunities Act, Cruz said. The legislation would end that immunity.

The United Nations has said that UNRWA has immunity under the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. But the U.S. Department of Justice said in a recent court filing that the Trump administration now believes that UNRWA does not have immunity from lawsuits.


IDF says chief war goal is return of hostages, contradicting Netanyahu’s position
The Israel Defense Forces sees the return of the 59 hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip as the most important goal of the war, contrary to the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Thursday that “victory” over the terror group, not the return of the captives, was the supreme objective.

“The supreme mission that the IDF is dealing with is our moral duty to return the hostages. The second mission is defeating Hamas. We are working to advance both goals, with the return of the hostages being at the top [of the list of priorities],” said a military official who briefed reporters earlier this week.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who entered the role two months ago, has said on several occasions that returning the hostages is his top priority. His predecessor Herzi Halevi also said that returning the hostages is a more urgent matter than other goals.

“Hamas is mistaken about our determination to return the hostages and defeat it. Both tasks involve each other. We will increase our activities until both tasks are completed,” Zamir said at a Memorial Day ceremony on Tuesday night.

Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that if no hostage deal is reached soon, the military would launch a major offensive aimed at defeating Hamas.

The military has been gearing up for an intensified offensive that would see the call-up of a large number of reservists and troops operating in new areas of Gaza, according to the IDF.
Soldier killed in Golan Heights, bringing IDF wartime toll to 851
An Israel Defense Forces soldier died in a car accident on Thursday during operational activity in the Golan Heights, the military said on Friday.

Sgt. Niv Dayag, 19, from Ramat Hasharon, served in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion.

During the crash, two additional soldiers in the 890th Battalion and a soldier in the 474th Brigade were lightly injured. They were evacuated to the hospital and their families have been notified.

The circumstances of the incident are under review.

Last Friday, an IDF soldier and a Border Police officer were killed in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. The soldier was identified as Capt. Ido Voloch, 21, from Jerusalem, a platoon commander in the 46th Battalion of the 401st “Iron Trails” Brigade. The Border Police officer was named as Sgt. Netta Yitzhak Kahana, an operative in the Yamas Undercover Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Israel Police’s Southern District.

According to the IDF, Voloch was killed during an operation to rescue wounded soldiers under heavy fire. Kahana died in the same battle, the Israel Police reported.

The previous day, Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, 26, a tank driver in the IDF 14th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 79th Battalion, was killed in Gaza.

Eight hundred and fifty-one Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev, including 412 during the ground campaign in the Strip. Additionally, 67 Israel Police officers have been killed in the line of duty during the same period, as reported by the Israel Police.
Iran-Backed Yemeni Houthis Launch Two Missiles Toward Israel
Israel launched an interceptor toward a second missile fired from Yemen on Friday, its military said, as the US intensifies its strikes in Yemen against the Iran–backed Houthi group.

The internationally designated terrorist group claimed responsibility for firing two missiles thousands of kilometers north targeting Israel‘s Ramat David air base and the Tel Aviv area.

Alarms were activated in several areas, the military added after the launch of both missiles, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The military said earlier on Friday it had intercepted the first missile launched from Yemen. It said the results of the interception of the second were under review.

US President Donald Trump in March ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis to reduce their capabilities and deter them from attacking ships in the Red Sea.

The deadly strikes on the group were the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.


Anti-Israel activists claim drones hit Hamas-linked ship near Malta
The Hamas-linked Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on Friday that one of its ships heading for the Gaza Strip was targeted by attack drones in international waters near Malta overnight on Thursday.

The Flotilla Coalition claimed that the vessel was struck twice by suicide drones 17 nautical miles (19.5 miles) east of the island country, “causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.

“The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted the ship’s generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at great risk of sinking,” according to the statement on Friday morning.

The coalition noted in the statement that its latest attempt to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza had been organized “under a media blackout to avoid any potential sabotage.” Volunteers from 21 countries were aboard the ship, “including prominent figures,” it said.

Maltese authorities sent a tugboat and brought the flames under control, local media reported. There were no casualties from the strikes, and the ship’s passengers refused to be taken ashore, the reports said.

“The ship remains outside territorial waters and is being monitored by the competent authorities,” Valletta said in a statement on Friday.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which includes anti-Israel and Islamic NGOs linked to Hamas, stated some four months ago that “in 2025, we are determined to take to the seas to break the siege of Gaza.”


Spiritual leader thanks Netanyahu for protecting Druze, sending message to Syria
The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that he was grateful for Israel’s actions in support of the Druze community in Syria over the past few days.

The actions, which included striking the presidential palace compound in Damascus, were said by Sheikh Tarif to be a deterrent message to the new Syrian regime on Israel’s commitment to keeping the Druze community safe.

Netanyahu, in response, communicated that he expected the Druze community to continue respecting the law in Israel and not endanger or act against civilians or security forces. Druze abiding by Israeli law

The prime minister added that Israel is a state of law and that everyone must respect this fact, emphasizing that it is a fundamental requirement that cannot be compromised.

The sheikh agreed with Netanyahu and responded that all Druze leaders had condemned the acts of violence and lawbreaking committed by individuals from within the community, and that the Druze community would continue to uphold the law in the country.
Druze protesters take to the streets, demand Israel step in to aid community in Syria
Druze protesters blocked roads in northern Israel late Thursday night and into early Friday morning during a protest calling for the government to assist the Druze community in Syria amid sectarian violence that has claimed dozens of lives in recent days.

The protesters shut down several key traffic routes in the north of the country, including a portion of Highway 6 between the Tel Kashish Junction and Ein Tut Junction. Highway 85 was also closed to traffic at the Rama Intersection, as was Highway 65 at the Tzalmon Interchange.

The road closures led to traffic jams, during which several fights broke out between the Druze protesters and drivers asking them to clear the road, according to video clips shared online.

The footage also showed the demonstrators burning tires at blocked intersections and climbing up traffic poles to hang Druze flags.

Along with the highway protests, dozens of demonstrators rallied near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea.

Sheikh Muafak Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, together with Yisrael Beytenu MK Hamad Amar, later released a video statement calling on Druze demonstrators to clear roads and return to their homes.


IDF strikes near Syrian presidential palace amid violence against Druze
The Israel Defense Forces carried out an overnight attack “near the presidential palace in Damascus” on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said on Friday.

“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement, adding, “We will not allow [Syrian regime] forces to move south of Damascus or to pose any danger to the Druze community.”

The strike came a day after Jerusalem warned Damascus that it expected it to prevent sectarian attacks on the country’s Druze community.

In a post on the X social media platform, Katz stated, “The overnight Air Force strike on the presidential palace in Damascus, which the prime minister and I ordered, is a clear warning message to Syria’s regime.

“When [Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa] wakes up in the morning and sees the results of the Air Force attack, he’ll understand very well that Israel is determined to prevent harm to Syria’s Druze,” said Katz.

“It is his responsibility to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from attacks by jihadist rioters and to allow the hundreds of thousands of Druze throughout Suwayda and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves—and not to send jihadist forces into their communities,” he added.

“It is our duty to protect the Druze in Syria from harm, for the sake of our Druze brothers in Israel, their loyalty to the state and their tremendous contribution to Israel’s security,” Katz wrote.

On Thursday, the IDF said it was “prepared to prevent the infiltration of hostile elements into the area and nearby Druze villages” in Syria. It added, “The IDF continues to monitor developments closely and maintains a high level of readiness for potential defense scenarios.


Comedy Cellar USA: Live from the Table: Have Palestinians Ever Wanted a State? Einat Wilf on True Obstacles to Peace
Dr. Einat Wilf joins Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand. Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, she served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge and is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society.


Here I Am With Shai Davidai: “What is one thing people don’t know about you?” | EP 38 Douglas Murray (Part 2 of 2)
In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Shai Davidai continues his conversation with author Douglas Murray, exploring why Israel is often singled out for criticism and how history and culture shape global attitudes. Douglas discusses the idea of "original sin," the challenges of peacekeeping, and shares personal stories from conflict zones. The episode wraps up with a frank look at the backlash Douglas has faced for his views.


Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy: E336. Why Cities Are The Toughest Battlegrounds In Modern War
Accidental urban warfare expert, John Spencer, joins Bridget for a discussion about navigating the concrete jungle of modern combat. He shares his evolution from a 25-year active duty service member, to analyzing hypothetical US military operations in mega-cities, teaching strategy and tactics at West Point, to finally setting up a research center called the Modern War Institute, and becoming an unofficial analyst of the war in Ukraine. Spencer offers a fascinating tour through the evolution of urban warfare, the rules of war, the technological chess match between drones and buildings, the moral gymnastics of minimizing civilian casualties, balancing military necessity with humanitarian concern, debunking the idea that if you bomb less there will be less destruction, and explaining why your Google Maps addiction is making your brain smaller. Whether he's discussing Mumbai's feral neighborhoods, Hamas's exploitation of war laws, or why soldiers reject fancy tech when bullets are flying, Spencer delivers insights that will make you see cities less as cultural hotspots and more as potential tactical nightmares.




Ask Haviv Anything: Episode 12: How Qatar gets a free pass for Islamist radicalism, with Dr. Jonathan Schanzer
Qatar has just 330,000 citizens but controls vast wealth due to its plentiful natural gas. It has used that wealth to support radical and violent terrorist groups and regimes throughout the Middle East and to wield enormous influence in the West, including among American politicians and universities.

In today's episode, I asked Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and host of its Morning Brief podcast, if Qatar really is as bad as Israelis think, and if so, what should be done about it.

We discuss Doha's ideological commitments and central role in building Hamas into an organization capable of carrying out the October 7 massacre; how its immense donations to elite American universities helped drive radicalization on campus; and whether the Trump administration is able or willing to hold the Qataris to account.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Sapir, the quarterly journal edited by Pulitzer-prize-winning commentator Bret Stephens. If you’re in the US, you can get this wonderful journal of ideas sent to you absolutely free by going to http://sapirjournal.org/AskHaviv. Please use the link. It helps the podcast.

On May 15, Sapir are initiating the Sapir Debates, a series of live debates on issues facing the Jewish people. The first debate will take place at 92NY on May 15 at 7 pm. Former Obama chief of staff and Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel and former Trump special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt will debate the topic: “Is Donald Trump good for the Jews?”




Israel Advocacy Movement: Giving Strangers $1000 If They Name A Ruler of Palestine



Fine Gael confirms and defends refusal to back Hamas hostage release resolution
Resolution calling for release of hostages snatched during Hamas' October 2023 attacks on Israel was among several emergency motions passed at Valencia congress, but Irish Fine Gael delegates declined to support it.

Fine Gael has confirmed its delegates at the European People’s Party's Valencia congress refused on Wednesday to put their names to a motion condemning Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel and calling for the release of remaining hostages, and defended the party’s position.

The Fine Gael delegation could not support the motion because it didn’t mention “the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza”, and didn’t “propose any other actions to bring the conflict to a close, to move towards the building of long term peace built on a two state solution”, the party told Euronews in a statement.

The resolution on ‘‘the urgent need to release all hostages held by Hamas’’ was one of several emergency motions on the second day of the congress, and was tabled by Sweden’s Christian Democrats and Austrian People’s Party delegations.

The resolution condemned, "in the strongest possible terms, the despicable [7 October 2023] terrorist attacks committed by the terrorist group Hamas against Israel”, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by the terrorist group Hamas and for the bodies of deceased hostages to be returned. The motion was approved by the congress but seven delegates – which Euronews established were from Fine Gael - abstained on a show of hands.

“As the Tánaiste [Deputy Prime Minister, Simon Harris] set out in his speech at the EPP congress, it requires courage and commitment to condemn the despicable Hamas attacks of October 7th 2023, as well as the ongoing suffering in Gaza,” Fine Gael’s statement read, adding: “The motion proposed to the Congress correctly highlighted the urgent need for Hamas to release all hostages immediately. Fine Gael has been consistent on this since October 7th 2023.”

“The delegation sought to propose amendments to the motion that reflected this, but they were not accepted by others, hence their abstention,” the statement added.

The resolution committed to work “for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”, recalling that “the long-term goal is peace and security and stability for the region, which requires all hostages to be freed”.


US Lawmakers Grill Ireland Ambassador Nominee on Israel
During Thursday’s confirmation hearing for the position of US ambassador to Ireland, Dublin’s long-standing skepticism towards Israel became a central point of discussion.

Edward Walsh, the Trump Administration’s pick to serve as the liaison between America and the Ireland, fielded comments from federal lawmakers over the Emerald Isle’s intense criticism of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

“This is going to be a tough needle to thread when you got a close ally making a horrible mistake,” Jim Risch, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said about Ireland’s treatment of Israel, “But you have got to thread that needle and I hope you will convey the message that they are very much out of step with the United States as far as the relationship with those countries.”

Risch lamented Ireland’s decision to officially recognize a Palestinian state, calling the declaration “a heartbreaking mistake with zero recognition of what Hamas did on October 7.”

“I hope you will ensure that our friends in Ireland will understand that America strongly supports Israel,” Risch added.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) lambasted the International Criminal Court (ICC) for being “engaged in a campaign against our Israeli allies.”

In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas terror leader Ibrahim al-Masri (better known as Mohammed Deif) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for starvation in Gaza and the persecution of Palestinians — charges vehemently denied by Israel, which has provided significant humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave throughout the war.


"PATHETIC!" Sharon Osbourne Demands Glastonbury BANS Kneecap | With DJ Vlad
Irish rappers Kneecap are dominating global headlines after their Coachella performance was accompanied by big-screen projections condemning what the band called Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

They were then dropped by their US visa sponsor, forcing them to cancel several US tour dates, and are now under fire over some outrageous statements in past performances.

Now Sharon Osbourne joins Uncensored to call for Glastonbury Festival to cancel the band - but does the rest of Piers Morgan's guests agree? Also going the debate is host of 'Vlad TV' DJ Vlad, American-Israeli rapper Nissim Black, youth culture guru and FaZe Clan CEO Lee Trink and Palestinian journalist Ahmed Eldin.

00:00 Introduction
03:50 What Sharon Osbourne really thinks of Kneecap
08:00 Kneecap’s manager defending the band’s comments
10:20 AD: VanMan
11:30 DJ Vlad: ‘I’m jewish myself’ and they can say what they want
13:25 ‘A rap group is causing more outrage than actual genocide’
18:10 AD: American Hartford Gold
19:20 Forget Kneecap... what about Israel’s accountability?
21:40 Rapper Nissim Black: Kneecap are just ‘clout chasing’
27:00 Kneecap and Coachella's ‘collapse of conscience’
34:15 Are Kneecap finished as a band?




Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Sees More Concerts Canceled as British Artists Express Solidarity With Anti-Israel Remarks
A slew of British musicians spoke out on Wednesday in defense of the Northern Irish rap group Kneecap, who are facing widespread criticism and the cancellation of several scheduled performances after making antisemitic, anti-Israel, and other offensive comments.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the trip-hop collective Massive Attack claimed politicians and “right-wing journalists” are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band.” The collective added that these critics have no right “to intimidate festival events into acts of political censorship” while “simultaneously obfuscating or even ignoring the genocide” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Massive Attack said emphasis should be put more on the alleged persecution of Palestinians, and less on the Irish band.

“Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story,” the collective added. “And the silence, acquiescence, and support of those crimes against humanity by the elected British government is the real story.” Massive Attack concluded by expressing solidarity with “all artists with the moral courage to speak out against Israeli war crimes, and the ongoing persecution and slaughter of the Palestinian people.”

Massive Attack has voiced support for “Palestine” for more than 30 years, and accuses Israel of “occupation” and “apartheid.” The collective has boycotted performances in Israel since 1999.

Dozens of other major acts and artists signed a statement from the London-based independent record label Heavenly Recordings in support of Kneecap, who is signed to the label. Musicians including Fontaines DC, IDLES, Enter Shikari, Primal Scream, Pulp, English Teacher, and Sleaford Mods added their signatures to a statement titled: “We stand for freedom of expression.”

“As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom,” the statement read in part.

“The question of agreeing with Kneecap’s political views is irrelevant: it is in the key interests of every artist that all creative expression be protected in a society that values culture, and that this interference campaign is condemned and ridiculed,” the statement continued. “Furthermore, it also the duty of key leadership figures in the music industry to actively defend artistic freedom of expression – rather than seek to silence views which oppose their own.”


NYC blasted for tapping anti-Israel performer Kehlani for taxpayer-funded Central Park Pride concert
Jew-bashing performer Kehlani is set to take the stage at a taxpayer-funded Pride event in Central Park this summer — a week after her show at Cornell University was canceled following a massive uproar.

The City Park’s Foundation — a taxpayer-funded organization — invited the controversial singer to perform at the city’s Summer Stage series in June for a benefit concert advertised as “PRIDE WITH KEHLANI.”

The singer notoriously posted a music video last spring that begins with “Long live the Intifada” — a phrase that is widely criticized as implying violence towards the Jewish community.

The announcement prompted Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres to send a letter to City officials slamming their decision to feature the divisive musician.

The letter, addressed to Mayor Eric Adams and head of the City Parks Foundation Heather Lubov, along with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, outlined some of Kehlani’s particularly hateful remarks.

“Kehlani has a history of hate, marked by rhetoric calling for an ‘Intifada Revolution,’ the ‘dismantling of Israel,’ and the ‘eradication of Zionism,’” the South Bronx representative wrote.

“America’s largest city has no business subsidizing or sanitizing antisemitism at taxpayer expense,” he added on X. “Stop mainstreaming the extremes and inviting those who invite violence.”

Cornell University disinvited Kehlani from performing at their end-of-year concert after an influx of backlash from students.


Students Organize ‘Palestine Benefit Concert’ Protesting Cornell’s Cancellation of Anti-Israel Singer Kehlani
Students at Cornell University and Ithaca College have raised more than $5,000 to organize a pro-“Palestine” community event in light of Cornell’s decision to disinvite anti-Israel, R&B singer Kehlani from headlining the school’s annual end-of-the-year concert.

Slope Day is a large outdoor event at Cornell University that marks the end of classes in the spring semester. It is scheduled to take place this year on May 7. The event is organized by a student-run board and funded by a Student Activities Fee that all undergraduate students pay. Only Cornell students, alumni, full-time faculty, and stuff are invited to attend Slope Day.

On April 23, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced that the university dropped the “After Hours” singer as the headlining performer for its annual Slope Day concert because of her anti-Israel views and antisemitic comments, which she has made in her music, on social media, and in interviews. Cornell has yet to announce who will replace Kehlani as the headlining performer at the event.

In response, students at Cornell and Ithaca are organizing an alternative “Community Slope Day” that will take place also on May 7. The event is described on its Instagram page as “a benefit concert for Palestine.”

Organizers started a GoFundMe campaign to support the event and have already raised more than $5,000, with a goal of raising $25,000 to help cover production and artist costs. Any unused funds will be donated to Palestinian causes. Atlanta-based rapper Nimstarr will perform and organizers are trying to secure more artists for the event. The Community Slope Day will be free and open to the general public. “This Slope Day will represent inclusion, equity, and freedom of speech,” organizers wrote on their GoFundMe page.

In an Instagram post, event organizers asked the public to boycott Cornell’s Slope Day and donate to a slew of organizations mentioned in a Google Document linked in their Instagram bio. Those organizations include the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Nine employees of UNRWA were fired for their alleged involvement in the Hamas terror organization’s deadly massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Event organizers are also encouraging supporters to donate to the prominent anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, which defended Hamas’s Oct. 7 killing rampage and has partnered with terrorist organizations to achieve its “primary goal” of “dismantling the State of Israel,” according to a report released earlier this year.


Outrage as police allow banned Gaza protest to return to Jewish area of north London
The planned return of an “intimidating” Gaza protest to the heart of a heavily Jewish area in north London – previously banned from the location by the police – has prompted outrage in the community.

The Board of Deputies and Stop the Hate UK are organising a counter-protest against the demonstration at 5.30pm outside Swiss Cottage tube station, where previous rallies allegedly saw support for Hamas and protesters committing public order offences.

The protest, organised by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), had been taking place every Friday since October 7, 2023, not far from from two synagogues. But following the JC’s report – which uncovered over 60 alleged criminal offences at the protests – and having received a number of impact statements, the Metropolitan Police imposed restrictions on the controversial rally in February.

The Met announced that from Friday 28 February, the demonstration had to take place within a designated area in King’s Cross, away from the heavily Jewish area of Swiss Cottage.

This week, the anti-Israel organisers announced on Instagram that their “weekly picket” was back, however. “We want the Israeli ambassador out of our neighbourhood,” the caption said.

In a statement, Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies Adrian Cohen called on the Jewish community and allies to form a counter-demonstration.

“This is not legitimate protest — it is targeted provocation, designed to intimidate a community at its most vulnerable,” he said.

“Allowing it to return sets a dangerous precedent: that hatred can be tolerated on our streets. We call on every member of the Jewish community, and on all allies, people of faith, and anti-racism advocates, to join us in peaceful solidarity and say: Stop Racism In Swiss Cottage.”

Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, told the JC: “This protest appears to be deliberately staged in an area with synagogues on a Friday evening in order to intimidate the Jewish community.

“The weekly protest at this location was rightly moved a few months ago by the police to a less sensitive location and it should have stayed there. The police have made a mistake by allowing it back to this location."
Board backs counter-protest as Swiss Cottage anti-Zionist demo returns
The Board of Deputies is backing a Say No To Extremists counter-demonstration in Swiss Cottage, north London, after it emerged that a controversial weekly anti-Zionist protest is returning.

The Met Police had previously imposed conditions on the the protest, organised by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), moving it to a designated area in Kings Cross since February.

This followed numerous complaints from Jewish residents and communal organisations about the hardline anti-Israel demo, including claims that over 60 antisemitic hate crimes have been recorded, and allegations that worshippers were assaulted on their way to synagogue for Shabbat.

IJAN claim they had attempted to stage a demo outside the home of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who lives nearby, but have been told they cannot protest within 500 metres of her residence.

From Friday, 28 February police had ordered IJAN to stage its weekly protest in Kings Cross.

They said the decision to impose these conditions has been made with a view to minimising serious disruption to the community in the Swiss Cottage area.

The decision to impose these conditions has been made with a view to minimising serious disruption to the community in the Swiss Cottage area.

Friday’s counter-protest is being held by the Board in conjunction with the Stop The Hate grassroots group who claim the Jewish community “once again faces the threat of an anti-Jewish racist protest, planned deliberately for Shabbat, right outside our synagogues and homes.”


France starts proceeding to dissolve anti-Israel activist group
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is initiating a process to dissolve, for reasons of public order, the Urgence Palestine group, which has organized several anti-Israel demonstrations and has called for a boycott of the Jewish state, the minister announced on Wednesday.

He is also proceeding with the dissolution of an ultra-right group called Lyon Populaire.

Retailleau, speaking on the CNews/Europe 1 channel, stressed the need to “hit the Islamists” with regard to Urgence Palestine. “Islamism is an ideology that tries to exploit a religion. There is a disfigurement of faith,” he said.

“We must not disfigure the just cause of the Palestinians,” he continued, insisting that “many of our fellow Muslims profess a faith that is perfectly compatible with the values of the Republic.”

Urgence Palestine, created in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli offensive against the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, claims to bring together “citizens, associations, trade unions and political organizations and movements mobilized for the self-determination of the Palestinian people.” The group regularly organizes demonstrations in several cities, some of which have been banned by the authorities because of antisemitism and calls for violence.

The group supports the “resistance of the Palestinian people” and, more broadly, advocates for the “struggle against colonial oppression and imperialist wars.”




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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