Saturday, July 26, 2025

07/26 Links: The Math is in: Israel’s Aid to Gaza is Unprecedented in Modern Warfare; How the Woke Right Joined the Left’s War on Israel; Tucker Carlson’s Dark Turn

From Ian:

Middle East Christians Face a Threat. No, It’s Not Israel.
For centuries, Middle East Christians have ingratiated themselves with their rulers, who were usually Muslim. This survival strategy, which was logical for a minority in a dangerous neighborhood, disgusted the early American missionaries. But the attempts by well-meaning Americans to empower these communities, such as the Armenians, provoked Ottoman suspicion and eventually genocidal levels of death and destruction.

Many Christians in the region learned it was better to keep their heads down than to speak out. Others promoted ideologies, such as pan-Arabism, that downplay religious identity. Their neighbors still see them as suspect or even treacherous, and they must constantly prove their loyalty.

Unsurprisingly, many publicly condemn Israel even if they think differently. I experienced this dynamic during a visit to the region. In one meeting, a well-connected Christian denounced Israel up and down and assured me of Arab unity. Shortly thereafter, another set of Christians described how young men from a nearby Muslim-majority village rampaged through their streets and insulted their women. Others, like the Philos Project’s Luke Moon, have similar experiences. That unity was oversold.

At one time, the Jews also suffered from this problem. For example, a pogrom in 1929 nearly destroyed the ancient Jewish community in Hebron. But the Zionists built up institutions—including an army—to free themselves from servitude, won their national freedom on the battlefield, and struck back hard against their enemies.

Islamists like Hamas, who abuse religious minorities but sometimes tolerate their existence as long as they submit, gnash their teeth in rage over Jewish self-determination. By contrast, the Jewish state protects religious minorities, including the small Aramean Christian community that speaks the same language Jesus did.

Christians in the Middle East certainly face immense peril, as the outbreaks of violence in Syria reveal. Instability in the region threatens not only American interests and allies but also the lives of all minorities there. Prudent statecraft that curbs the chaos is good for Christians in Bethlehem (Pennsylvania and the original one, too).

But Americans of all faiths should be clear about the greatest threat to the followers of Christ in the land of his birth. There’s a reason there are 180,000 Christians in Israel—and only one Catholic church in Gaza.
Washington Post columnist claims Rising Lion op. destroyed Iranian attempts to develop EMP weapon
Israel's Operation Rising Lion may have disrupted Iranian efforts to construct an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon, a nuclear fusion bomb, and a standard fission warhead, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius claimed in an op-ed published Saturday, citing Israeli sources.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leaders had allegedly encouraged the efforts to develop EMP weapons because it wouldn’t violate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fatwa against nuclear weapons, Israeli sources allegedly told Ignatius.

An EMP weapon is designed to generate a powerful burst of electromagnetic radiation, capable of disrupting or damaging electronic equipment and infrastructure, according to a fact sheet published by the Washington State Department of Health's Division of Environmental Health Office of Radiation Protection.

Israel's military successes in Iran
Israeli attacks also reportedly destroyed 3,000 ballistic missiles and 80% of its 500 missile launchers.

The unnamed Israeli source claimed that Tehran had aims to grow its ballistic missile stockpile to at least 8,000 before the war, necessitating the strikes.

Despite intelligence, Israel was reportedly surprised by the number of solid-fuel missiles in Tehran’s possession.

Sources also claimed that, beyond assassinating many of the masterminds behind Tehran’s nuclear programs, there were hopes that the strikes would dissuade scientists from joining the programs in the future, knowing that doing so would put targets on their backs.
Mossad in Farsi says Khamenei spends 'half the day sleeping, the other half high'
The Mossad’s Farsi social media account alleged on Friday that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “spends most of his days either sleeping or half high on substances.”

The statement was made by an account claiming to be the official Mossad spokesperson in Farsi for X/Twitter, although the intelligence organization has never officially confirmed this.

The post said: “How can a leader lead when they sleep half the day and spend the other half high on substances? Water, electricity, life!”

The Mossad-linked account has made several comments over the last month regarding the state of Iran and Khamenei's health. It has also advised Iranians to contact the account only through a VPN for security reasons.

Mossad in Farsi: Information, investigation, and psychological warfare
The Farsi account has made several posts in the last couple of months, with one of the most viral publications centered around the designation of the newly appointed, officially unnamed commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

The Mossad-linked account started after Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that the regime would not reveal the commander’s identity “for his protection.”


The Math is in: Israel’s Aid to Gaza is Unprecedented in Modern Warfare
Historical Cases Since World War II
- Berlin Airlift: Ally-to-ally (1948–49): The Allies delivered 2.3 million tons of supplies to 2.5 million West Berliners over 15 months – about 920 kg per person in total, or 736 kg per person per year. However, this was aid from allies to allies, not a belligerent aiding its enemy.
- Biafran Civil War: Third-party NGOs (1967–70), church-led NGOs delivered approximately 60,000 tons of aid over two years to around 2 million civilians—about 30 kg per person in total. The Nigerian government opposed and obstructed these efforts.
- Siege of Sarajevo: United Nations (April 1992–early 1996), UN airlifts delivered approximately 160,000 metric tons of supplies to around 350,000 residents, amounting to about 457 kg per person in total—or roughly 130 kg per person per year. Serb forces allowed some access but often impeded aid.

Precise per-capita tonnage figures for other conflicts are difficult to locate — fewer than a half-dozen cases offer the clear combination of known total aid weight, defined population, and duration. In most other humanitarian crises (Somalia, parts of Syria, Yemen, DR Congo, etc.), data is reported in programmatic or population-reached terms, without exact per‑kg per‑person annual averages.

Aid Per Capita: Gaza in Comparative Perspective
Gaza: ~850 kg per person total (~485 kg/year)
Berlin (Airlift): ~736 kg/year
Sarajevo: ~130 kg/year
Biafra: ~30 kg total over several years

Only the Berlin Airlift exceeds Gaza in raw per capita delivery – and that was a special Cold War case of aid to a friendly enclave. Gaza is unique in that such a large volume of aid was facilitated by the belligerent itself to its adversary in wartime.

In nearly all historical comparisons, either the aid was delivered by third-party actors, was severely obstructed by combatants, or occurred under ceasefire conditions. Gaza is unique in being a case of direct aid coordination by a belligerent to the territory of its active military foe.

Critics may argue that Israel’s role as a so-called “occupier” or allegations of war crimes somehow undermine the significance of its aid facilitation. These are serious accusations that deserve their own examination — and can be debated separately. But they do not negate the basic, quantifiable reality: whether one approves of the methods of distribution or not, Israel has coordinated the entry of more humanitarian aid, per capita, into enemy-held territory during wartime than any other country in modern history.

Conclusion
With nearly 1.87 million tons of aid delivered – 78.3% of it food – Gaza has received one of the largest and most sustained humanitarian flows in modern wartime history, especially considering that it was coordinated by an active combatant. The per capita delivery rate of ~485 kg/year is exceeded only by the Berlin Airlift and far surpasses every other known example in conflicts since World War II.

While humanitarian conditions inside Gaza remain dire and more aid is needed, the scale and intent of Israel’s coordination effort stand out as historically exceptional. Israel’s facilitation of humanitarian access into enemy territory – during ongoing conflict – is, by both historical and comparative standards, virtually without precedent.


Jonathan Sacerdoti: No Eyes on Rafah: Yasser Abu Shabab and the Ghostwritten Future of Gaza
The op-ed is strikingly polished, structured, and optimistic. It outlines a vision of eastern Rafah as the nucleus of a new Gaza; one that could house 600,000 civilians “outside the cycle of war.” It asks for recognition, funding, and freedom of movement. It offers a future without Hamas, without ideology, and, improbably, with open borders to Egypt, the Arab world, and even Israel.

It is also almost certainly not written by Abu Shabab himself.

There is no credible evidence that Abu Shabab is literate. Reputable sources, including ABC News, describe him as “uncharismatic, illiterate,” and without formal education. Gazan security sources have expressed surprise that someone with such limitations could emerge as a militia leader. That does not make the ideas attributed to him irrelevant, but it does highlight how carefully this narrative has been crafted, likely by handlers or allies with more linguistic finesse than he possesses.

So who is Yasser Abu Shabab? Born in Rafah in the early 1990s, he is the leader of the Popular Forces, a small, irregular militia rooted in the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, long known for its smuggling networks across Sinai and southern Gaza. He was previously jailed by Hamas on charges including theft and drug trafficking, and rose to prominence in the chaos that followed Israel’s ground operations in Rafah. His group has been accused of looting aid convoys, and of receiving Israeli support in arms and logistics. Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly confirmed in June 2025 that Israel, through the Shin Bet, had supplied weapons to Abu Shabab’s forces, reportedly including Kalashnikov rifles seized from Hamas.

What, then, should we make of the article in The Wall Street Journal? Scepticism is warranted. Abu Shabab’s claims of effective governance, civil order, and postwar vision may stretch the truth as much as they reflect it. His militia is small, its legitimacy uncertain, and its leader neither politically experienced nor ideologically coherent. Palestinian society, shattered by war, factionalism, and a decades-long absence of self-governance, is not primed for clean transitions or civic renewal. If anything, the introduction of tribal militias under Israeli patronage risks repeating the very same strategic errors that once empowered Hamas.

Yet the piece matters. Because, stripped of its gloss and ghostwriting, it still points to a fundamental truth: Hamas has failed. It has failed Gaza, failed Palestinians, and failed to offer anything beyond endless war. The emergence of any local resistance to its rule, however compromised or imperfect, suggests that the stranglehold is no longer absolute.

It is tempting to scoff at the op-ed, to dismiss it as naive fantasy or calculated propaganda. Still, if the global press has been so willing to swallow and regurgitate Hamas propaganda as readily and credulously as it often has, then perhaps it is only fair that some extend the same latitude to a different, albeit imperfect, Palestinian voice. The media has long since become a battleground for ideas and competing visions of the future. In that contest, the article published under Abu Shabab’s name offers a measure of hope – naive, perhaps, and simplistic in its tone, but not without merit. If there is even a grain of truth in what was written for him, or in his name, then it is only a shame that so few eyes remain on Rafah today.
Yasser Abu Shabab claims Gaza militia captured territory from Hamas now untouched by war
Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of Popular Forces, a militia group in Gaza, claimed to have “secured” several kilometers of land in the Strip and is now governing that space, in an opinion article published by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The Popular Forces reportedly took over land belonging to the Tarabin Bedouin tribe, of which Shabab is a member, he wrote while asserting that the militia’s “primary goal is to separate Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas from the fire of war.”

Shabab claimed that “the war is already over” for those living in the territory in eastern Rafah.

“For the past seven weeks, our neighborhood has become the only area in Gaza governed by a Palestinian administration not affiliated with Hamas since 2007,” he claimed. “Our armed patrols have successfully kept Hamas and other militant groups out. As a result, life here no longer feels like life in Gaza.”

He claimed that those living in the captured territory had access to shelter, food, water, and basic medical supplies “without fear of Hamas stealing aid or being caught in the crossfire with the Israeli military.”

Shabab claimed that capturing the territory had had a massive impact on the lives of the Palestinian civilians in the enclave, asserting that they will no longer be “used as human shields by Hamas” or deal with “chaotic aid lines, (nor) evacuation orders.”
How the Woke Right Joined the Left’s War on Israel
This convergence crystallized after Hamas’s October 7, 2023. On the left, there was no moral reckoning. No pause. No horror. Just deflections and justifications. Israel, they argued, had brought it on itself. Meanwhile, on the right, rather than standing in defense of a nation under siege, major voices like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens used the moment to accelerate their pivot. They questioned America’s alliance with Israel. They suggested the IDF was using Christian blood. They platformed guests who echoed Iranian talking points and denied basic facts of Jewish history. The narrative became identical on both sides: Israel is the problem.

This wasn’t a coincidence. It was the product of years of erosion, years in which Islamic regimes like Iran, Qatar, and Turkey invested heavily in Western discourse. They didn’t need to build a fifth column from scratch. They just had to manipulate the cultural traumas that already existed. On the left, it meant embedding Islamic causes within intersectional struggles. On the right, it meant exploiting nationalist backlash to redirect anger toward Jews. The genius of this strategy is that it hides behind American faces. When Dave Smith or Joe Rogan or Darryl Cooper push antisemitic tropes under the guise of “truth-telling,” it’s not perceived as Islamic propaganda, but that’s exactly what it is.

The woke right, in this sense, is not merely a conservative movement with bad ideas. It’s an ideological doppelgänger of the radical left, born out of resentment, animated by grievance, and recruited into a larger project they barely understand. Their hostility to Israel is not based on scripture, geopolitics, or history, it is the product of mimicry. They saw the power the left gained by weaponizing identity, and they wanted in. But rather than building a morally coherent counter-narrative, they simply adopted the same mechanisms: suspicion of institutions, demonization of elites, and an ever-expanding enemy list that somehow always leads back to the Jews.

And that’s where the convergence becomes deadly. Because once both ends of the spectrum agree on the target, all that remains is the method. Whether it’s cancel culture on the left or digital demagoguery on the right, the end result is the same: the erosion of Western solidarity with Israel, and the legitimization of Islamic narratives that seek the annihilation of the Jewish state. This is not theoretical. It is strategic. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, and their sponsors in Tehran and Doha know that a strong Israel requires strong Western backing. If they can fracture American support, especially among Evangelicals and conservatives, they win without firing a bullet.

And it’s already working. Polls show declining support for Israel among younger Americans. Conservative influencers are now openly questioning Holocaust history, promoting antisemitic documentaries, and cozying up to figures who once would’ve been persona non grata in Republican circles. Meanwhile, Islamic organizations fund campaigns that reframe the conflict, not as jihad against infidels, but as resistance against “Zionist aggression.” The terms are changed, but the objectives remain: delegitimize Israel, isolate it, and eventually destroy it.

The West is now facing a moment of reckoning. The traditional alliance between Christian conservatives and the Jewish state, once the bedrock of American Middle East policy, is under assault from within. The woke right is not an ally of conservatism. It is a hijacking of it. And in its desperate bid to imitate the radical left’s success, it has become indistinguishable from it in the one area that matters most: its hatred of the only democracy in the Middle East.

If Western civilization falls, it won’t be because Islam defeated it in war. It will be because the West committed suicide through ideological betrayal, by embracing the very propaganda its enemies designed to destroy it.
Tucker Carlson’s Dark Turn
Perhaps, in isolation, none of these incidents and outbursts — calling a Jewish politician “ratlike” and “shifty,” giving a respectable hearing to a Holocaust denier, imputing dual loyalty to American Jews, denouncing the Nuremberg Trials, accusing Jews of traducing the Old Testament, suggesting that Jews harbor an ancient blood lust, falsely claiming that Israel murdered American servicemen in cold blood, alleging that Israel established an international child sex ring to blackmail “rich and powerful” men, railing against usurious Jewish billionaires, conducting a softball interview with the leader of a theocratic dictatorship committed to the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — perhaps none of these, on its own, constitutes prima facie evidence of antisemitism. In his defense, Carlson’s hostility to “warmongers” (a term of derision favored throughout history by fascists, communists, and Tulsi Gabbard) isn’t limited to Jews. “Have you noticed that, like, a huge percentage of war-crazed Republican senators are secretly gay?” Carlson asked, apropos of nothing, on a recent podcast.

In toto, however, Carlson’s remarks reveal, at the very least, an unhealthy interest in Jews. His is not a private obsession; he aims to rupture the moral, strategic, and religious roots of American support for Israel, and to denigrate the role of Jewish Americans in public life. That so many Christians and conservatives — indeed, Americans of all stripes — care about Israel infuriates him. “Authorizing all this killing in the name of Jesus,” Carlson muttered randomly when House Speaker Mike Johnson’s name came up during an interview with the disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos.

In his obsession, Carlson is the epigone of Charles Lindbergh, who similarly blamed the Jews for dragging America into a war, and Father Charles Coughlin, the Catholic priest whose antisemitic radio broadcasts reached 30–40 million Americans at the height of his popularity. To be sure, Carlson is a much subtler demagogue than these men. But with a podcast that rivals Joe Rogan’s as the most popular in the world, social media accounts boasting tens of millions of followers, sold-out speaking tours, and the ears of some of the most powerful people in the country, Carlson has an influence that at least matches or even surpasses theirs. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to say that he is the most influential figure on the American right after President Trump himself.

Were it not for the dark turn he has taken over the past few years, Carlson would most likely be remembered as a frequently obnoxious but amiable television personality. The juvenile contrarianism, the hysterical laughter at inappropriate moments, the smug certainty, the feigned, knitted-brow seriousness: His public persona earned him haters, yes, but their hate made him relevant. He enjoys playing the heel. Nevertheless, and I say this as a former friendly acquaintance, he had a certain charm and was an undeniably talented writer.

At this stage of his career, however, it is safe to say the dominating impulse throughout Carlson’s life has been a hunger for notoriety. The arc of his career attests to this craving for attention. His first foray into television — as a youthful, bow-tied, respectable conservative pundit — will always be remembered for the humiliation he received at the hands of comedian-commentator Jon Stewart, who lambasted him and his Crossfire co-host Paul Begala for “hurting America.” Then there was the ridiculous turn on Dancing with the Stars. His later successful run as a Fox News host ended abruptly for reasons that remain inscrutable but likely have something to do with his growing penchant for conspiracy theories. After years of “just asking questions,” he has reached the nadir to which such questions inevitably lead. Carlson has chosen to exploit the world’s oldest prejudice while pretending that it’s somehow edgy.

Ultimately, the reasons why Carlson decided to become America’s leading purveyor of antisemitic ideas matter less than what this development says about our society. Why has “needling the Jews,” the very thing Carlson condemned Pat Buchanan for a quarter century ago, been a safe career move? For the persistent acting out of his anti-Jewish obsession in the national discourse hasn’t put a dent in his popularity; on the contrary, it may have even boosted it.

Thirty-four years ago, William F. Buckley Jr. published a 40,000-word essay in this magazine titled “In Search of Anti-Semitism,” wherein he renounced two prominent conservative figures for comments — much like Carlson’s — revealing their anti-Israel and anti-Jewish animus. Among many other calumnies, Joseph Sobran, a senior editor at NR, had called Israel an “anti-Christian country,” and, more notoriously, Buchanan had suggested that Jews seek to aid Israel by starting wars that Gentiles have to fight. Both men, Buckley concluded, had engaged in antisemitism, and both of their reputations suffered because of Buckley’s careful but devastating reproach.

The evidence of Carlson’s antisemitism is far more plentiful, and damning, than that used to indict Buchanan. Today, however, there is no figure on the American right with the gravitas of Buckley, who could literally write extremists and bigots out of the conservative movement with a well-argued essay. But even more central to the rise of Carlson and others of his ilk is that the moral and political guardrails that used to protect our civic life from the pollutive emanations of illiberalism and uncivilized behavior have all but vanished. The antibodies that a healthy society develops to resist Jew-hatred are fast dissipating. Eight decades after the end of World War II, the fading memory of the Holocaust, the rise of identitarian thinking, and the ideological corruption of American higher education have contributed to making our country a place where growing numbers of citizens find it reasonable to blame humanity’s perennial scapegoat, the Jews, for what ails society. Tucker Carlson’s enduring popularity indicates that the cancer on civilization that is antisemitism metastasizes apace.


Netanyahu’s son claims Joe Rogan refused to have father on his show: ‘Years of antisemitic propaganda’
Benjamin Netanyahu’s eldest son on Friday claimed Joe Rogan refused to host the Israeli prime minister on his show and has promoted “years of antisemitic propaganda.”

Yair Netanyahu, 33, took aim at the popular podcaster after Rogan gushed over scandal-ridden Hunter Biden, arguing he could be president.

“Great wake up call for conservatives to remember Joe Rogan is not a conservative,” Netanyahu’s son wrote in a post on X.

“He gave platform to every single neo Nazi antisemite on this plant (sic), but he refuse to have my father on his show, because he knows that he doesn’t stand a chance against him, and all those years of antisemitic propaganda will go to waste.”

Representatives for Rogan did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

On Wednesday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Rogan had played a clip from Biden’s bizarre interview with “Channel 5” host Andrew Callaghan, when the former president’s son discussed his illegal drug use.

“He’s smarter than his dad when his dad was young,” Rogan said of Hunter.

“And he could be president. How about that?”


Ireland’s shameful war on the Jews further exposes European hypocrisy
The echoes of age-old hate run deeper
And the echoes of age-old hate run deeper still. During the Holocaust, Ireland shut its doors to nearly every Jewish refugee seeking to escape the Nazi inferno. In World War II, Ireland maintained full diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany until 1945 and even went so far as to send condolences on Hitler’s death. For a nation now posing as a moral beacon, it bears recalling that when six million Jews were being murdered, Ireland looked away – or worse.

What Martin and his ilk seem to forget is that in the Land of Israel, Jews are the indigenous residents and not foreign occupiers. Our connection to Hebron, Beit El, Shiloh, and Shechem is not a matter of modern politics but of historical, religious, and national identity. To attempt to criminalize our presence in these areas is to ignore thousands of years of Jewish history and to deny our basic human rights.

What is particularly ironic is that the proposed bill would harm not just Jews but Arabs as well. Many of the businesses targeted by the legislation employ Palestinian workers, providing them with good wages and job security. By banning these products, Ireland would be punishing Palestinians, too, just for working alongside their Jewish neighbors.

But facts have never stood in the way of anti-Israel animus.

From its embrace of Palestinian propaganda to its relentless condemnation of Israel at the United Nations, Dublin has carved out a reputation for itself as the continent’s leading anti-Israel curmudgeon. This bill is just the latest chapter in this sordid tale.

Ireland’s would-be law sends a chilling message not only to Israel but to Jews everywhere. This is the kind of act one would expect from an authoritarian regime, not from a democratic European nation. It is an affront to decency, a betrayal of history, and a disgrace to Ireland’s own professed values.

Needless to say, Ireland can pass all the laws it wants. But none of them can or will erase Jewish history or uproot the Jewish people from Judea and Samaria.

And it will certainly not silence those of us who speak truth to hypocrisy.
Jake Wallis Simons: Macron has put France on the road to the abyss: Starmer could do the same with Britain
Only with the likes of Macron on your side, you very much can. Will Starmer follow suit? It seems likely. Five vignettes reveal the way things are going. The first is from January this year, when data from the Jewish Agency revealed that the number of British Jews emigrating to Israel doubled the year before, amid soaring levels of anti-Semitism.

Before October 7, those making the move were largely retirees. The latest surge, however, was mainly young families and professionals.

The second is the fact that despite the war, Israel’s economy is booming. This week, the shekel was at recent highs against the dollar and the euro.

Its stock market has broken record after record this year and is outperforming the world’s major stock indexes. In March, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, bought the Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz for a record-breaking $32 billion. In the first quarter of the year, Israel’s economy grew by 3.4 per cent. What would Britain give for data like that?

The third is Israel’s birthrate, which stands at 2.89 per woman, the highest in the OECD. Israel is the only Western country that is producing enough babies to be above “replacement”; in 2024, the number of live births in the European Union fell below four million for the first time in modern history, producing one of the lowest fertility rates on Earth.

In Britain and many countries across Europe, the solution to our falling birthrate (and productivity) has been to import cheap labour from overseas. How’s that one working out for us? It has brought us to the brink.

The fourth is a post on X by Marco Rubio, the American secretary of state, in response to Macron’s vacuous announcement: “This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.” America is on Israel’s side. We’re not.

Last but not least, the fifth vignette. On the last day of August 2024, less than a year after October 7, Ahmed Fozi Wadia, butcher of the beautiful Taasa family, was eliminated in an Israeli airstrike on a terrorist position very close to the Al Ahli hospital. You may recall that this was the place at the heart of the worst misreporting of the war, when a Palestinian Jihad rocket blast was blamed on Israel.

OK. Put these things together and what do you get? A vision of the future. Or, to put it another way, a clear indication of the right side and wrong side of history. How depressing that Macron has chosen the latter; how disturbing that Starmer seems poised to follow him into the abyss.


Italy's Meloni: Recognizing Palestinian state before it is established may be 'counterproductive'
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognizing a Palestinian state before it is established could be counterproductive.

"I am very much in favor of the State of Palestine, but I am not in favor of recognizing it prior to establishing it," Meloni told La Repubblica.

“I’ve said it to the Palestinian Authority itself and I’ve also said it to Macron: I believe that the recognition of the State of Palestine, without there actually being a State of Palestine, could even be counterproductive to the objective."

"If something that doesn't exist is recognized on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn't," Meloni told the Italian daily paper.

On Friday, Italy's foreign minister said recognition of a Palestinian state must occur simultaneously with recognition of Israel by the new Palestinian entity.


France probes whether Jewish teens removed from flight due to religion; pilot's 9/11 links revealed
French authorities are investigating whether dozens of Jewish-French teenagers were removed from a flight in Spain because of their religion, following a confrontation on a Vueling Airlines plane en route from Valencia to Paris.

The incident occurred Wednesday, when 44 children and teenagers aged 10 to 15, along with eight adult chaperones, were removed from flight VY8166 before departure. According to witnesses, the group was asked to disembark, and the situation escalated when the group’s director was arrested, handcuffed and had her phone confiscated. She was later released after signing a non-disclosure agreement. The group returned to France on Thursday.

France’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that Minister Jean-Noël Barrot had contacted Vueling CEO Carolina Martinoli to express “deep concern” over the removal of the French Jewish youth group. Barrot also requested additional information to determine “whether the minors were discriminated against because of their religion.” A similar request was submitted to the Spanish ambassador to France.

Martinoli assured Barrot that Vueling has launched an internal investigation and will share the findings with authorities in both France and Spain, according to the ministry. Vueling denied the incident was motivated by religious discrimination, stating the passengers were removed after repeatedly interfering with the aircraft’s emergency equipment and disrupting the flight crew’s safety demonstration.

Spain’s Civil Guard also said the group consisted of French citizens and that officers involved were unaware of the passengers’ religious background. A spokesperson added that the plane’s captain ordered their removal from Valencia’s Manises Airport after they ignored repeated instructions from the crew.


IDF reservist succumbs to wounds sustained last week in roadside explosion in Gaza
A reservist combat engineer seriously wounded by a roadside bomb in the southern Gaza Strip last week succumbed to his wounds on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday evening.

The slain soldier was named as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher, 32, of the 749th Combat Engineering Battalion, who grew up in Avnei Eitan in the Golan Heights, and was living in Or Yehuda.

Mosbacher and another combat engineer driving in a Humvee in Khan Younis were seriously wounded in the roadside bomb attack on July 19.

Both were taken to a hospital, where Mosbacher died.

According to Hebrew media, Mosbacher worked for the Electricity Authority and is survived by his wife, two-year-old daughter, parents and siblings.

So far in July, 16 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza.

Fighting in the coastal enclave continues as talks for a hostage-ceasefire deal have appeared to reach an impasse.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 457. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.

The IDF’s toll on all fronts since the war broke out, including battles against Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, stands at 896.


Forces nab suspect in car ramming that hurt eight near Netanya
Israeli forces on Saturday evening arrested the suspect in this week’s car-ramming attack at the entrance to Kfar Yona in central Israel.

Arkan Khaled, 27, from the nearby Arab-Israeli city of Tayibe, was apprehended during a search at a construction site in the area, according to a police statement.

On Thursday, eight IDF soldiers were wounded in a car-ramming attack at the Beit Lid/Hasharon Junction. The terrorist struck troops waiting at a bus stop on Route 57 at the entrance to Kfar Yona, located between Netanya and Tulkarem.

Khaled fled immediately after the crash, leading security forces to launch a manhunt.


Israeli naval forces seize Gaza-bound aid flotilla Handala
The Israeli Navy intercepted the Handala flotilla while approaching the Gaza Strip, the IDF and Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday night. The flotilla is en route to Israel's shores with all its passengers on board.

According to Channel 12, those aboard the flotilla reported seeing a drone circling above them as vessels approached the ship.

On Saturday evening, Huwaida Araf, an activist on board, said in an update that "two vessels, probably the IDF, are very close to Handala. Attempts were made to contact the Israeli Navy - but no response was received."

As a precaution, the ship reportedly changed its course to go south, towards Egypt.

Activists aboard the Handala said on Saturday that they are approaching the coast of the Gaza Strip and have already passed the point where the Madleen flotilla was stopped last month.

They later claimed an unidentified boat was approaching the ship and that the participants were "preparing for a takeover," Army Radio reported.


Winston Marshall: EXCLUSIVE: The Jewish Woman Who Infiltrated The Iranian Regime and Tricked The Ayatollah
Catherine Perez-Shakdam joins The Winston Marshall Show for an astonishing firsthand account of how she infiltrated Iran’s inner circle—posing as a devout Muslim to gain access to the highest levels of the regime.

In this explosive conversation, Perez-Shakdam reveals how she met the Ayatollah, was recruited by Tehran’s ideological machine, and witnessed the brutal inner workings of a regime obsessed with control, martyrdom, and religious supremacy.

She details the psychological toll of living a double life, the whispers of internal dissent, and the ideology she describes as “genocidal.”

They explore the regime’s strategic use of Western converts, the manipulation of media narratives, and how Iran exports its revolutionary vision far beyond its borders.

All this—espionage, radicalisation, religious indoctrination, and one woman’s battle to expose the truth from inside the heart of the Islamic Republic…

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:20 Who is Catherine Perez-Shakdam?
08:42 Marriage and Living a Double Life
19:45 Becoming a Propaganda Tool
28:30 Witnessing Brutality in the Middle East
40:37 The Turning Point
58:10 Iran’s Propaganda Machine in the West
1:06:02 Why Catherine Went Public
1:18:26 Interaction with Qasem Soleimani
1:26:09 The Role of the West
1:30:25 Meeting The Ayatollah and the Regime's Ideology
1:43:59 The Popularity of the Regime
1:47:44 The Role of the Crown Prince
1:55:00 Final Reflections & Hope for Change




Israeli university professor Omer Bartov's accusations of Israeli genocide are untenable
According to Bertov’s logic, Winston Churchill, in his famous speech making war with Nazi Germany the only option, even when Hitler offered Great Britain a deal short of unconditional surrender, should be accused of genocide.

Churchill was obviously keen on bringing the United States into war, and he well knew, as the war proceeded, that German civilians would be killed in the tens of thousands, as did his American allies. Should Roosevelt and Eisenhower be accused of committing genocide against the German people?

All the more so, should the genocide charge, according to Bertov’s logic, be leveled at Harry Truman, Roosevelt’s successor in the White House, who made the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or were these decisions, some of them disputed, ultimately justified in ushering in the end to these evil powers and shortening a devastating war?

Accusations are cheap and destructive. Bartov would do better to marshal his knowledge to propose how Israel should conduct a justifiable war against the forces of evil in a manner that would reduce civilian collateral damage in a densely urban area like Gaza, in which the enemy is ensconced in hundreds of kilometers of concrete and steel-reinforced tunnels.

These tunnels were built from materials that Hamas siphoned off from international aid sources in the rebuilding of at least one hundred thousand building units in the wake of previous bouts of fighting. To date, Israel has only succeeded in uncovering and destroying 125 of the estimated 500 km. of tunnels out of which emerge Hamas terrorists to strike at Israeli troops.

A cheap response even worse than the accusation – withdraw from Gaza.

The outcome of such a withdrawal is hardly in doubt: A victorious Hamas will quickly rebuild the 125 km. of tunnel it lost, with equal alacrity build up its capabilities with the money siphoned off from massive amounts of international aid and material, and cow any forces dispatched to Gaza, either from the Palestinian Authority or Arab states, to do their bidding as they plan for the next onslaught against Israel.

An ominous example is the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. UNIFIL, 12,000 strong, has not prevented one infringement of Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon since Israel’s withdrawal 25 years ago. PA troopers and soldiers from Arab states will do no better.

All of this is to prove that Churchill’s clarion call is a far better example for Israel despite the pain of an unfounded libel leveled by no less than an expert on the Holocaust.


Colombian presidency outraged over alleged coal shipments to Israel
Colombian President Gustavo Petro insisted that none of his country’s coal would be allowed to reach Israel, days after Colombian Labor Minister Antonio Sanguino confirmed that he had been alerted to a possible coal shipment, which would violate a presidential ban on exports to the Jewish state.

“We have received a very sensitive complaint from workers in the coal sector in Riohacha, within the framework of the immediate response plan we have launched to address the complaints of workers and unions in the sector,” Sanguino wrote on X/Twitter. “The alert is about the departure of a ship (Fortune) with coal from Puerto Nuevo (Ciénaga - Magdalena) bound for Hadera, Israel, today, July 24, at 7:47 a.m.

“Information that we will evaluate and verify. We will immediately communicate this situation to @MincomercioCo and the President of the Republic @petrogustavo, to assess what decisions are appropriate in light of the violation of the decree prohibiting the export and sale of coal to Israel, responsible for the genocide in Gaza.”

Petro complained that the shipment was a “challenge” to his government and shared the Navy had been instructed to halt the shipment.

The president, with a long history of statements against the Jewish state, told crowds, "Not a ton of coal leaves for Israel, and I assume the responsibility", and Colombia would “not be complicit in genocide.”


Israeli DJ Skazi Swissa's Tomorrowland show cut due to 'security concerns'
Israeli musician Asher Swissa, also known as DJ Skazi, had his show at the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium canceled due to alleged security concerns, the artist confirmed in a social media post on Saturday.

“My show at Tomorrowland is canceled! I’m on my way back to Israel,” he shared in a Facebook post.

Swissa has participated in the Tomorrowland festival for 14 consecutive years and stated that he had high expectations for this year.

According to local media, the “security concerns” were raised after Belgian newspaper De Morgen criticized the Israeli DJ for performing in front of IDF soldiers.

The newspaper reported that DJ Skazi made comments about IDF soldiers and the ongoing war in Gaza during his last time at Tomorrowland. Belgian pro-Palestinian organization 11.11.11 was behind a push to ban Swissa and argued that his statements “condone genocide.”

“When an artist goes onstage today with the flag of an army actively committing genocide and proudly declares themselves part of an information war, that’s not innocent,” said 11.11.11 spokesperson Kenny Van Minsel. “Giving a platform to explicit military propaganda – especially in the context of genocide – isn’t neutrality; it’s taking a stand.”


Pro-Palestinian protesters target Egyptian embassies, demand an end to Gaza 'siege'
Pro-Palestinian protesters targeted Egyptian embassies across the world over the past week, the latest in London on Saturday, demanding that Cairo “break the siege” and open its Rafah border, according to international media reports and social media footage.

Footage from Cairo’s London embassy showed activists blocking the doors of the building.

In Germany, hundreds gathered outside Cairo’s Berlin embassy on Friday, demanding that Egypt open its border so that aid can enter through the Rafah border crossing.

The demonstrators held placards reading "Open the Rafah Border Crossing," "Open the Rafah Border Crossing, Save Lives," "Freedom for Palestine," "Stop the Genocide," "Freedom for Gaza," and "Silence is Complicity,” according to German media site Harberler.

Lebanese activists and Palestinian refugees use kitchen pots and spoons to make noise during a protest near the Egyptian embassy in Beirut on Wednesday, according to images shared by Reuters.

Egyptian activist and social media personality Anis Habib recorded himself locking Cairo’s embassy in the Hague with bike locks, asserting the action was symbolic.

“It’s been two years of us hearing this same excuse, it’s closed from their side and not ours, they couldn’t handle a lie and a siege for one second, imagine how everyone in Gaza is feeling hearing your lies every day for the past two years,” he said.

“I’ll stay standing here until the police arrive, because I won’t open it until Gaza is opened. Let them break the lock themselves,” Habib said.


Stanford suspends student co-op for targeting Jewish students
Stanford University suspended the student-run Kairos co-op for the upcoming academic year, after receiving reports that Jewish students were targeted, a spokeswoman for the private California school told JNS.

Students taking part “in an extracurricular activity were asked to leave the house and told that, among other things, the presence of ‘Zionists’ in the group was making residents of the house uncomfortable,” Dee Mostofi, assistant vice president of external communications at Stanford, told JNS.

Rabbi Jessica Kirschner, executive director of Hillel at Stanford, told JNS that “students had permission from the residents to be in the building to work on a group project,” and “some residents realized some of the visiting students were Jewish and therefore assumed to be Zionists.”

The residents “decided their presence made residents ‘unsafe’ and told the group to leave, which they eventually did,” Kirschner told JNS.

The Kairos website, which includes a land acknowledgement, states that the more than 35-year-old residence “has been a welcoming space for art enthusiasts of all varieties.” It adds that Kairos “builds intentional community, wherein members both put in the work to help each other thrive and enjoy the authentic connections to each other that result.”

Mostofi told JNS that an investigation by Stanford’s Title VI office found that “the extracurricular project had nothing to do with the Middle East and that none of the students present had shared their political beliefs.”

“Students were targeted based on their perceived Jewish identity,” Mostofi said. “It is simply not acceptable that Jewish students would be excluded from a university space, or asked to explain their political beliefs to remain in that space.”


These Aussie kids went on a school excursion to the museum - but what happened inside left parents horrified
A group of children as young as 10 have been 'traumatised' by vile anti-Semitic abuse hurled by older students during an excursion to Melbourne Museum.

Year five pupils from Mount Scopus Memorial College took part in a shared activity with students from a Melbourne public high school on Thursday.

A group of older students from the other school repeatedly chanted 'Free Palestine' and called the children 'dirty Jews', along with other racist slurs.

The children were quickly moved away by their teachers to de-escalate the situation.

'Our group leader immediately confronted the senior school educators to address the behaviour of their students,' Mount Scopus Memorial College Deputy Principal Greg Hannon said in a letter to parents.

'Upon returning to the college, we conducted a wellbeing check on all students to ensure they felt safe and supported.'

Principal Dan Sztrajt has commended his pupils on their dignified response.

'They really have lived up to the community's set of values, I'm proud of them,' he told Australian Jewish News.

'They were strong, they were of good courage. They did not respond in kind. They did not see this as an opportunity to launch slurs, to attack back at the other school. They responded like mensches, and I'm proud of them.'

The college has previously been targeted by vandals, who spray-painted 'Jew Die' on the fence at the front of the school.


'I am Hamas': Syrian national bites ear off Israeli tourist vacationing in Greece
Israeli tourist Stav Ben-Shoshan was enjoying a vacation near Athens when he was reportedly attacked by a group of Syrian migrants, one of whom bit off part of his ear while making antisemitic and pro-Palestinian comments, according to Saturday Israeli media reports.

The Syrian national was reportedly arrested after the attack, and the Israeli embassy in Athens is in contact with local authorities. Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

Ben-Shoshan was also arrested after the Syrian national alleged he made racist remarks, although he remains hospitalized for the wounds he sustained in the alleged attack, according to Ynet.

Ben-Shoshan recounted to Israeli media how he was on the Bolivar Beach with his wife and another Israeli couple when an unknown man approached them and began videoing them while shouting, "Free Palestine, to hell with Israel, I am Hamas."


Formerly kidnapped IDF observers urge public to 'do everything' for the hostages's release
After ceasefire and hostage negotiations with Hamas stalled once more, former captives who were IDF surveillance soldiers called on the Israeli government to bring the rest of the hostages home in a Friday statement.

“It’s already been six months since I came home. Do you know how much you can do in six months?” said former hostage Daniella Gilboa. “I never imagined how much life you could live in half a year. But I also know what it feels like to sit for six months and have it feel like a thousand lifetimes – to not know what you’re doing with your life, to wonder if anyone remembers you, or if anyone is doing anything to get you out.

“It’s heartbreaking to say this again, but they must be brought home. I know exactly what it feels like to be there. Every day feels three times longer. It’s unbearable. They need to come home now.”

Kidnapped IDF observers push for hostage deal
Former hostage Liri Albag said that she prays for those “still waiting to come home.”

“One hundred and eighty-two days have passed since I came home. Half a year since the last deal, and still, 50 hostages are waiting, just like I once waited, for that deal to come through,” she said.

“I am begging you – now that there are rumors and reports the deal has fallen apart, I am begging: Do everything. Fight. We, the hostages, cannot return to normal life until everyone comes back.”


Rubio meets with Hamas hostage survivors, families in DC
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday reaffirmed his commitment to securing the release of the 50 hostages still held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

“I reaffirm my unwavering commitment—100%—to achieving a hostage deal that brings every hostage home and ends the fighting,” said Rubio, speaking in Washington during a meeting with survivors and families of the captives.

According to a statement from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, relatives shared the daily torment of not knowing the fate of their loved ones and urged decisive leadership to seize what they described as a narrowing window of opportunity.

“We are deeply grateful to Secretary Rubio for taking the time to meet with us and for his unwavering commitment to our loved ones,” the statement read.

“We trust that President Trump and his administration will do everything in their power to ensure this deal does not collapse and that this pressing opportunity is not lost,” it continued. “This is a critical moment. The deal must be finalized—and it must bring every single one of them home.”




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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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