Monday, August 04, 2025

08/04 Links Pt1: Netanyahu reportedly approves full military occupation of Gaza; Dismantle the UN Aid State; The Failed Logic in Dave Smith’s Morality of War; Albanese Loses “Blue Check” on X

From Ian:

Eitan Fischberger: Dismantle the UN Aid State
What this narrative ignores is that the other distribution processes employed this far are just as – if not more – chaotic and violent. Just this week, for example, the Daily Wire released a video showing swarms of Gazans overrunning multiple trucks belonging to the UN, while the IDF released footage of armed Hamas operatives looting an aid truck. “Contrary to Hamas’s false claims that the individuals in the video are security personnel,” the IDF said, “they are in fact Hamas terrorists who arrived to seize the aid from Gaza’s residents.”

But the UN, ever the willing megaphone, amplifies the Health Ministry’s narrative, with a complicit media giving them generous airtime.

Even more counterproductively, the IDF claimed this past week that the UN has insisted it will only distribute aid if the process is secured by Gaza’s “Blue Police,” a sanitized way of describing Gaza’s Hamas-run police force. Back in November 2024, a UN spokesperson stated that their workers would become “an even greater target” if surrounded by “armed soldiers from one of the two parties in this conflict.”

Why then would the UN oppose another group handing out food and rely on Hamas’ police force to secure distribution, even after repeatedly accusing the terror group of stealing aid? Why would it echo Hamas’ unproven claims of “aid massacres,” despite the IDF and GHF denying them, and rail against GHF for doing the very thing the UN is supposed to do?

Because GHF’s success is existentially threatening to the UN’s model. If GHF works, the entire paradigm collapses. No more “working through partners” who happen to be terrorists. No more junkets and photo ops for UN officials who get feted around the world for overseeing human misery. And most importantly, no more Hamas exploiting aid to fill its coffers and maintain domination.

In 2024 alone, Hamas made over $500 million from the aid racket, according to both Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and US House Speaker Mike Johnson—by extorting civilians, skimming off the top, and using food as a tool for recruitment. Johnson has said this revenue accounts for half of Hamas’s annual budget.

According to a U.S. official quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Hamas made shutting down the GHF the second item on its cease-fire negotiation list—which tells you everything you need to know about how UN aid fuels Hamas and how successful the initiative has truly been. Another official added that GHF has “caused Hamas more fear than anything else has in the past two years.” That’s because GHF does what no UN body dares to do: deliver aid directly to civilians, cutting out the Hamas middleman.

The UN’s own data reveals just how broken the system has become: between May 19 and July 27, only 13 percent of all aid trucks that entered Gaza actually reached their intended destinations. The rest were intercepted or diverted inside Gaza.

While the UN’s system collapses under the weight of its own dysfunction, GHF distributes aid daily—and films it. Their videos show the (far from perfect) delivery of hundreds of thousands of aid packages per day, totalling nearly 100 million so far.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza isn’t the narrow result of Israeli policy, but of the international system that treats Hamas like a partner and those trying to bypass Hamas like traitors. And while media outlets and the United Nations insist Israel is starving Gaza, it’s actually the UN that is failing to distribute aid. Not because of war. Not because of the siege. But because of pride, politics, and power.

The fight over aid in Gaza isn’t just about food. It’s about who controls the narrative— and who profits from it.
Richard Kemp: The murderous, thieving overlords of Hamas are the true oppressors of the Palestinians
Israel has no choice but to continue to suppress terrorism in the West Bank, in which Hamas is also heavily involved, to prevent the territory going the way of Gaza. Likewise in Gaza itself there is no political solution; Hamas can be dealt with only by military destruction. That means continuing the war until they are no longer a threat. That might include fostering internal military opposition, which is being tried, and forcing the leadership out of Gaza to a country willing to take them, which is also being planned.

Starmer, Macron and Carney’s demands that Israel ends the war on pain of recognition of a Palestinian state means the fighting is likely to go on longer.

Not only do these politicians encourage and empower Hamas for the immediate fight, they also validate their terrorist tactics. Unfortunately the leaders of Britain, France and Germany are not breaking new ground in their miscalculations. For decades, in the face of violence against Israel, the first resort of the professional peace processors, politicians, diplomats and UN officials has been to appease the aggressors and attack and vilify Israel, demanding concessions while never demanding anything of their enemies. At the same time they have perverted international law to paint Israel as the oppressors and those who oppose them as the victims. That has led to Hamas intensifying and developing their human shield tactics knowing Israel will be branded baby-killers.

That is also why Hamas, in cahoots with the UN, have weaponised hunger in Gaza leading to a successful propaganda campaign falsely accusing Israel of yet more war crimes. This, often disgracefully utilising photographs of young children suffering from unrelated genetic medical conditions to falsely show starvation, is among the most powerful levers applied to push Keir Starmer into his recent actions against Israel. After visiting Gaza, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff confirmed yesterday that “There is hardship and shortage, but no starvation”.

The shameful truth is that Starmer, Macron and Carney do have sufficient insight into the same reality as Witkoff, but lack the moral courage to stand up against the hurricane of lies about starvation, unlawful killing and the other trumped up charges against Israel. In each case their priority is to appease the anti-Israel mobs among their own electorates. Their eyes are not on aiding an ally under pressure or the dire consequences at home of encouraging jihadism abroad, but on the ballot boxes.
Seth Mandel: When the Narrative Collapses
Last week’s Mideast discourse was dominated by revelations of falsified accusations of war crimes against Israel, this time regarding the lie that the Jewish state is intentionally starving Gazan children to death. Since then we’ve learned more about the photographic hoax at the center of the controversy—and specifically how this new information demolishes the feeble justifications so many of Israel’s critics put forth.

As is now known, a wide array of media outlets used a picture of a boy suffering from cerebral palsy as an example of a child “born healthy” and being starved by Israel. Many of those defending the use of the photo did so based on the premise that even if the media knew it painted a false picture, publishing the image was still a defensible act because the child is suffering from even more than malnutrition, therefore the malnutrition part makes the photo true enough.

But it doesn’t, of course. And it turns out that New York Times editors tried desperately to avoid using a photo of a child with preexisting conditions precisely because they understood it to be unethical. Semafor relates some of the behind-the-scenes discussions at the Times:

“Last Thursday at 3 pm, the Times was preparing to run images of Youssef Matar, a young child in Gaza with cerebral palsy who was suffering from lack of nourishment, alongside its July 24 story that cited doctors in Gaza finding ‘an increasing number of their patients are suffering and dying — from starvation.’

“But the Times’ topmost editors wanted to err on the side of caution. After viewing the gutting photo, according to communications viewed by Semafor, they worried that it might inadvertently call into question the paper’s reporting, which said that many of the children suffering from hunger did not have preexisting health issues.”

According to Semafor, the Times‘ managing editor Marc Lacey asked why they would use a misleading picture “when there is presumably no shortage of images of children who were not malnourished before the war and currently are?” Executive editor Joe Kahn, per internal communications seen by Semafor, put it simply: “The story isn’t framed around people with special needs and the lead art really should not do that, either.”

Absolutely correct, as anyone who has worked in news reporting would know.




Netanyahu reportedly approves full military occupation of Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a full-scale military occupation of Gaza without input from Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and told the latter to resign if he isn’t on board, the New York Post reported, citing an internal memo.

“The die is cast. We are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip,” a senior Israeli official stated, per Israeli media.

The IDF has repeatedly voiced opposition to a full military takeover, arguing it could take years to dismantle Hamas’s remaining infrastructure and could put the lives of the hostages at further risk.

The reported approval comes days after Hamas released a propaganda video of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David in a tunnel, apparently digging his own grave.


US officials haven’t seen evidence of genocide in Gaza, Trump says
U.S. President Donald Trump was asked in a press gaggle in Allentown, Pa., on Sunday night whether U.S. officials, including Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, saw evidence of genocide in Gaza.

“I don’t think—and, look, they’re in a war there. Some horrible things happened on Oct. 7, as you know,” Trump said. “It was a horrible, horrible thing. One of the worst I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen a lot of bad things since I’m president in terms of wars.”

The Trump administration has not accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza previously.


9 in 10 MAGA Voters Back US Military Support for Israel, Poll Finds
President Donald Trump's voters remain staunchly pro-Israel, with 90 percent of self-described "MAGA conservatives" backing U.S. military support for the Jewish state as it fends off threats from Iran and Hamas, according to a new poll by the Vandenberg Coalition and TargetPoint.

"Trump voters remain united behind Israel," the Vandenberg Coalition wrote in its summary of the survey, which found that 90 percent of self-described "MAGA conservatives"—and 83 percent of all Trump voters—agree with the statement "Israel has a right to defend itself against threats and threats from its hostile neighbors and the United States should continue its strong military support for Israel."

The poll looked into the opinions of Trump voters, who could describe themselves as "Traditional Conservatives," "MAGA Conservatives," or "Moderates."

Only 7 percent of MAGA conservatives disagreed with the pro-Israel statement.

While "many pundits, like well-known podcaster Tucker Carlson, have sought to describe their personal worldview as that of Trump's supporters," according to the Vandenberg Coalition, the pollsters found no evidence of claims that younger Trump supporters are "deeply skeptical" of Israel, with the summary stating that "85 percent of 'young MAGA voters' (under the age of 45) continue to support Israel."

The Vanderberg Coalition-TargetPoint poll comes as the Trump administration cracks down on anti-Semitic protests across the United States, which surged following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. The administration has revoked billions of dollars in federal funding from universities that failed to rein in anti-Semitic protests and protect Jewish students.

According to the poll, 78 percent of Trump voters approve of the Trump administration's policy of revoking visas of foreign students who support Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Herzog heads north: Israel’s Baltic outreach in increasingly hostile EU
Call it Israel’s pivot to the Baltics.

All right, that may be a bit overstated, but President Isaac Herzog’s three-day trip that began Monday to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – coming just a month after Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited the same three countries – signals something significant: Jerusalem is actively shoring up ties with the friendlier parts of an increasingly unfriendly European Union.

Herzog’s visit to these three small EU states – together they have a combined population of 6.1 million – is more than a round of bilateral niceties. It tells a deeper story about Israel’s search for dependable allies as its standing in Western Europe deteriorates and global isolation looms.

Why the urgency? Because the diplomatic avalanche Israel is facing is real and gathering momentum. Following France, several other EU countries – in addition to non-EU states such as the UK and Canada – have signaled intent to recognize a Palestinian state, including Portugal, Luxembourg, and Malta.

Calls for punitive measures against Israel are growing louder in EU corridors. In that environment, courting sympathetic voices in the Baltics – where the diplomatic weather is noticeably warmer – isn’t just smart; it’s necessary.

Whether this diplomatic offensive translates into concrete diplomatic wins – blocking future EU sanctions or rallying support in international forums – remains to be seen. But in the current climate, maintenance of strong ties with friendly countries is itself important.
Jonathan Sacerdoti: ‘Inalienable’? How badly must Palestinians act to forfeit ambitions of statehood?
Set that record beside three less fashionable causes. Iraqi Kurdistan administers courts, borders and elections, and fought alongside the West against Islamic State. Taiwan meets every Montevideo test and adds an exemplary liberal democracy, yet is ostracised to mollify Beijing. Tibet lost its autonomy only by military conquest and has pursued non-violent redress ever since. None of these entities enjoys more than partial recognition, and none is graced by our puffed-up foreign policy with the adjective “inalienable”. Their virtues, perversely, invite caution rather than indulgence.

Label Palestinian statehood “inalienable” and every reasonable and basic condition placed upon it, from renouncing terrorism to accepting Israel’s existence and building accountable institutions, metamorphoses into oppression. The inversion is complete: refusal to make peace becomes proof of virtue, while those who accept reality are punished for their moderation.

Consider, too, a geographical curiosity. A majority of Jordanians are Palestinian by descent, and roughly three-quarters of the original British Mandate of Palestine lies east of the Jordan River, incorporated into the Hashemite Kingdom in the 1920s. Yet Palestinian spokesmen do not demand a square mile of Amman. The self-determination they declare inalienable somehow skips the territory where there are no Jews to be fought against. The sole map that agitates them is the one that erases Israel. That dissonance, studiously ignored in Western chancelleries, exposes the politics beneath the prose.

None of this denies that Palestinian Arabs possess legitimate grievances or that Israelis have committed errors. It is, rather, a call for linguistic and objective honesty. Statehood is a hard-won legal status requiring institutions, borders, and a willingness to live peaceably beside neighbours. Meanwhile, peoples who have met every criterion yet lack fashionable advocates – Kurds, Taiwanese, Tibetans – deserve, at minimum, intellectual honesty about their claims.

In reality, decades of factional strife, recurrent wars and chronic dependency force the sharper question of whether a Palestinian state created now is viable or desirable at all. No mechanism yet devised can weld those territories into a contiguous polity, still less one able to finance itself, control its borders or guarantee that a power struggle will not erupt the day after independence is declared. To recognise such an entity in advance of demonstrable capacity would be to award sovereignty on credit, hoping governance can be purchased retrospectively with Western money and Israeli indulgence. That experiment has been tried in miniature since Oslo; the ledger shows mounting debt, not diminishing risk.

Britain, whose diplomats helped mint both the Mandate and the modern UN system, should know the difference between natural rights and negotiable statuses. If we cherish the first, we must be exacting about the second. Otherwise, the rhetoric of liberty is brandished as a cudgel to batter established borders, and real nations paying in blood for the virtues we preach will ask whether words, and alliances, mean anything at all.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio Slams Countries Recognizing a Palestinian State
Secretary of State Marco Rubio give an interview to Fox Radio on Thursday:
Q: How does the U.S. view the UK, Canada, and France threatening to recognize a Palestinian state?

Rubio: "It's irrelevant. It doesn't mean anything. First of all, none of these countries have the ability to create a Palestinian state. There can be no Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to it. Number two, they can't even tell you where this Palestinian state is. They can't tell you who will govern it. And I think number three, it's counterproductive."

"Think about it now if you're Hamas....You're reading or hearing in the press that all of these countries are rallying to your side....The UK is [saying] if Israel doesn't agree to a ceasefire by September, we're going to recognize a Palestinian state. So if I'm Hamas, I say, you know what, let's not allow there to be a ceasefire. If Hamas refuses to agree to a ceasefire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognized by all these countries in September. So they're not going to agree to a ceasefire. It's so clumsy."

"Their statement isn't going to change anything other than it encourages and rewards Hamas, who now have every reason in the world not to agree to a ceasefire and not to release these hostages."
Born dead: The New York Declaration for two states
The two-state solution implicitly envisions a Jewish Israel and an Arab Palestine. Arab governments demand that Israel dismantle settlements and relocate approximately one million Jews from the West Bank and East Jerusalem to within the 1948 armistice line, creating a Jew-free Palestine. At the same time, Arabs insist that Israel accept UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which Palestinians interpret as granting a “right of return” for 5.9 million registered refugees to Israel.

Under the New York Declaration and the Arab Peace Initiative, Jews would leave Palestine while Palestinians would move to Israel.

Given current birth rates and demographic trends, Resolution 194 guarantees that Israel would become majority Arab within a few years. Some Palestinians describe this potential shift as a victory, often describing it as “the power of the womb.”

If Israel accepts the New York Declaration, within a decade, both Israel and Palestine could become predominantly Arab nations. Israel could then join the Arab League, or even merge into Palestine by decision of Israel’s Arab majority.

This is why successive Israeli governments across political spectra have opposed two-state solutions that include the “right of return.”

Israel rarely voices this concern publicly. When American presidents pressed Israel to accept a two-state plan, Israel agreed but requested Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state (not simply recognizing the existence of Israel). The Palestinian Authority consistently refused, arguing that Israel’s Jewish character was not their decision to make, in other words, insisting on UNGA Resolution 194.

If Palestinians and Arab states recognized Jewish nationhood, Israel would likely reciprocate by recognizing an Arab Palestine. At that point, establishing a Palestinian government capable of addressing security threats to Israel – present and future – would become a procedural matter.
Downing Street fails to clear up confusion over Palestine recognition plan and Hamas
The No.10 spokesperson was asked what specific conditions had been placed on Hamas over recognition, and added:”We have always said Hamas must release the hostages unconditionally, and immediately.

“That has been our long-standing demand. But more broadly, on recognition we will make an assessment ahead of UNGA.”

Pressed again, the spokesperson was asked:”There is no condition on Hamas to release the hostages in order to recognise Palestine?”

He responded:”Hamas must release the hostages, full stop.”

Hamas are “pariahs” who “can have no role in Gaza’s future,” added the spokesperson, who pointed to confirmation from Arab states including Qatar and Egypt that this was also there position.

But the spokesperson also said it should be clarified that “Hamas are not the Palestinian people.”

Later he also stressed Labour’s election manifesto had stated in was the “inalienable right of the Palestinian people” to have their own state.

He was then accused of “not saying six times” whether recognition could still happen with Hamas remaining in power in Gaza.

Asked what was the plan to prevent Hamas from remaining in control, No.10 said it was “central” to ceasefire negotiations that they could have no further role in Gaza.

Later the PM’s political spokesperson was asked about a statement from a Hamas official apparently welcoming the UK’s plan on recognition. She said:”I’d focus on the substance of the issue.

“Hamas committed an appalling act of terroism on the people of Israel and we are clear in our demand that the hostages need to be released immediately. We also support plans to bring about a ceasefire and end this misery and get to a long-term settlement that provides security and peace for Palestinians and Israelis.”

Asked about criticism from the British hostage familes to the recognition proposal and from some Labour MPs, the spokesperson said the government’s focus was on the situation on the ground.

He said he could not comment a meeting he had not attended at the foreign office last week, in which the hostage familes raised criticisms.


UNRWA staffer list includes many names of Hamas terrorists
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees sent a list of workers to the Israeli Foreign Ministry last week that included many names of Hamas terrorists, Amir Weissbrod, the deputy director-general of the ministry’s division for U.N. and international organizations, said on Sunday.

“Nothing new under the sun with UNRWA,” Weissbrod wrote on X.

The diplomat noted that some of the employees were identified as terrorists by Israel as far back as 2011. “Nothing was done about them, and they are still employed,” he continued.

Weissbrod provided three examples of terrorists on the UNRWA payroll.

• Mohammad Abi Itiwi, according to the diplomat, is listed as an UNRWA driver despite the fact that he “participated in the kidnapping of young Israelis from a bomb shelter near Kibbutz Re’im” during the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023. Abu Itiwi was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in August 2024, yet he is “still employed [and] getting money,” Weissbrod wrote.

• Naji Abdullah Abu Aziz is “a school principal by day and a member of the chemical manufacturing unit of Hamas by night,” the diplomat continued.

“I showed information about [Aziz] a few times in my account, and this information was also given to U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Tom Fletcher,” Weissbrod said.

Israel informed the U.N. about Aziz’s terrorist activities in 2011 and again in 2024, yet he is still employed by UNRWA, the Israeli official lamented.

• Khalid Said El-Masry was also listed as an UNRWA school principal, despite Israeli security forces finding a tunnel beneath his school. Weissbrod informed the agency about El-Masry’s membership in the Hamas terrorist organization, but his employee status has not been removed, he added.

These are “just a small sample from many examples to show why any responsible government that doesn’t want that its taxpayers money get to Hamas should not fund UNRWA,” Weissbrod said.

The diplomat accompanied his post with four photos demonstrating the terrorists’ double membership with UNRWA and Hamas.
U.N. Official Francesca Albanese Loses “Blue Check” on X After U.S. Sanctions, Legal Appeal to Elon Musk
For the first time ever, a U.N. official has lost verified status on social media. Francesca Albanese, the controversial U.N. special rapporteur on Palestine who was sanctioned by the United States last month, has lost her “blue check” verified status on X, formerly Twitter, just days after a legal appeal was sent to the platform’s owner Elon Musk by a law firm representing Geneva-based watchdog group UN Watch.

The letter, sent on July 31 to Elon Musk and the legal team at X, called on the company to remove Albanese’s blue check mark in light of her designation under U.S. sanctions. The verification badge was removed from her account on August 4.

“This is a major achievement,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “Verification on X provided Albanese with many advantages — greater visibility, algorithmic amplification, and an appearance of credibility. Stripping that badge sends a clear message: anyone who targets U.S. officials and companies and supports terrorists will suffer consequences, no matter their title.”

The loss of the verification badge comes less than a month after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Albanese, citing what he called her “illegitimate and shameful efforts” to prompt International Criminal Court action against U.S. and Israeli officials and companies.

The sanctions, which were announced on July 9th and go into full force on August 8th, freeze her U.S.-based assets, bar her from entering the country, and prohibit Americans and U.S. entities from providing her with goods or services.

Albanese recently decried the damage caused her by the sanctions, saying there were “harmful” and “dangerous.” She said that “it’s very serious to be on the list of the people sanctioned by the U.S.,” adding that she now cannot have financial interactions or credit cards with any American bank. “My daughter is American. I’ve been living in the U.S. and I have some assets there. So of course, it’s going to harm me,” Albanese said.

UN Watch, which led the campaign urging Washington to take action, said the move by Elon Musk’s X platform is part of the watchdog group’s broader effort to ensure full enforcement of the sanctions against Albanese across all platforms and institutions. UN Watch’s petition earlier this year to Secretary Rubio, the first to call for sanctions on Albanese, had gathered more than 120,000 signatures.


Trump admin ties $1.9 billion in local disaster funds to stance on Israel boycotts
US states and cities that boycott Israeli companies will be denied federal aid for natural disaster preparedness, the Trump administration announced Monday, tying routine federal funding to its political stance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency stated in grant notices posted on Friday that states must follow its “terms and conditions.”

Those conditions require that they certify they will not sever “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies.”

The requirement applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search-and-rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries and backup power systems among other expenses, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters.

The requirement is the Trump administration’s latest effort to use federal funding to promote its views on Israel.

The Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees FEMA, in April said that boycotting Israel is prohibited for states and cities receiving its grant funds.

FEMA separately said in July that US states will be required to spend part of their federal terrorism prevention funds on helping the government arrest migrants, an administration priority.


IDF intercepts ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis
The IDF says a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen, with air defenses working to intercept the projetile.

The military calls on the public to heed the orders of the Home Front Command, as sirens are activated in parts of central Israel and in communities near Jerusalem due to the Houthi attack.


Erin Molan: Bibi Netanyahu’s Son Yair BREAKS SILENCE: The Gaza Story Is a LIE!
Yair Netanyahu — the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu — sits down with Erin Molan in a powerful, no-holds-barred interview. From debunking the Gaza starvation narrative to revealing the truth about his father, Bibi, and responding to accusations from global leaders, this is Yair’s most candid conversation yet.

He opens up about growing up as the son of Israel’s most polarizing figure, discusses his father's real personality behind the scenes, breaks down global misinformation, and even shares whether he sees himself stepping into politics one day.

🔔 Watch until the end for his take on Israel’s “Deep State” and the role of his mother, Sara Netanyahu, in their family legacy.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:30– What It’s Like Being the Son of Benjamin Netanyahu
3:54– What People Don’t Know About Bibi Netanyahu
7:12– Yair Reacts to Macron, Starmer & Carney on Palestinian Statehood
13:00 – Responding to Accusations That Bibi Is a War Criminal
17:51 – Debunking the ‘Gaza Starvation’ Myth
30:50 – Is His Father’s Mission to Stop Iran Accomplished?
36:40 - The dangerous 'woke right' spreading blood libels
38:15 – Does Yair Netanyahu Have Political Ambitions?
39:42 – His relationship with his father today
41:06 - The Iranian nuclear threat and recent war
41:35 – His Mother, Sara Netanyahu, and the Family Legacy


My Thoughts on What’s Happening in Gaza | Coleman Hughes
In this special episode, I take on probably the most controversial and emotionally fraught topic of the moment: the Israel-Hamas conflict.

I think war crimes have been committed on both sides. But that doesn’t mean I think the two sides are morally equivalent. Today, I argue that there’s a fundamental asymmetry between Israel and Hamas, one that’s too often blurred or ignored by the mainstream media. Israel’s actions, while sometimes flawed or tragic in consequence, are ultimately rooted in a defensive logic.

Hamas, on the other hand, has explicitly genocidal goals. But where does that leave us when we see images of children starving and hear reports that Israel is responsible?




Hamas's HUGE mistake [Will the media care?]
Israeli innovation envoy Fleur Hassan-Nahoum hosts a no-holds-barred panel dissecting the Gaza starvation blood libel, Hamas propaganda, UN complicity and the West’s shocking embrace of a Palestinian state while Israeli hostages continue to suffer.

Joined by co-hosts Emily Schrader, journalist and human rights activist, Shoshana Keats-Jaskoll, founder of Chochmat Nashim, and Jonathan Elkhoury, Lebanese-born columnist and speaker, the conversation exposes the disturbing realities behind the humanitarian aid crisis in Gaza. Emily, just back from the border, shares on-the-ground insights into the tons of aid stalled by UN inaction and Hamas interference.

The panel debunks global accusations of Israeli-imposed starvation, highlighting the real victims: hostages like Evyatar David, visibly emaciated in recent Hamas videos. They challenge the media’s manipulative imagery and the West’s dangerous double standards, drawing chilling comparisons to classic blood libels.

As countries like the UK, France and Canada prepare to recognize a Palestinian state, rewarding terrorism without clear borders or leadership, the hosts ask: is this the “fruits of October 7th”?

From the shifting political tides in Lebanon to failed Western diplomacy and strategic media silence, “The Quad” delivers clarity on who’s really standing for peace and who’s feeding the crocodile.

Chapters
00:00 The Viral Image and Its Implications
03:00 Media Misrepresentation and Public Perception
05:50 The Humanitarian Aid Dilemma
09:09 The Role of Hamas and Global Anti-Semitism
11:52 Disinformation and the Media's Responsibility
15:12 The Complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
18:03 The Need for Effective Communication and Response
20:47 The Broader Humanitarian Crisis
24:12 Conclusion: Understanding the Narrative
27:30 Countering Narratives and the Importance of Optics
30:21 The Need for Articulate Advocacy
32:34 Understanding the Broader Implications of Anti-Semitism
33:27 The War on Western Civilization
35:40 Scumbags and Heroes: A Critical Look at Media and Activism
49:16 Celebrating Heroes: Community and Resilience




‘War crime’: World turns away from dying Israeli hostage
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses the Sydney Harbour Bridge protests and war crimes committed with slowly dying Israeli hostages.

“To the Harbour Bridge protest and the actual war crime of the slowly dying hostages, a cruel sight the world turns away from when it is unfolding right before our eyes,” Ms Markson said.

“We witnessed a national disgrace on the weekend as our iconic Harbour Bridge was defiled and abused for a divisive protest.”


Deliberate starvation claim in Gaza labelled ‘ridiculous’ as aid effort faces security hurdles
Former UK airborne army officer Andrew Fox has pushed back on claims of a deliberate starvation strategy in Gaza, saying while famine is inevitable in war zones, the real issue lies in securing aid distribution.

“It would be extremely foolish to not expect to see some instances of starvation in a warzone,” Mr Fox told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

“The idea that there is a deliberate starvation strategy is just ridiculous.

“The biggest concern for me is what happens to the aid once it actually leaves the secure sites … there’s not enough security to stop it from getting intercepted.”


Hamas is a ‘cancer’ in the Middle East
Political analyst Joe Siracusa says Hamas is a “cancer” in the Middle East.

Mr Siracusa told Sky News Australia that Hamas will not be “cut out” for a long time.

Hamas has been “consistent” about its desire to wipe Israel off the map.


‘They wouldn’t survive an hour in Iran’: Protesters shamed for supporting Iranian regimes
Israel Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel discusses the pro-Palestine protests on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge on Sunday.

“These are people who are not ashamed, embarrassed, from walking with a full-on picture of the ayatollah, the Iranian terrorist regime,” Ms Haskel told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“Many of these people wouldn’t have survived even an hour in Iran.

“To have a demonstration like that, with so much support to terrorist organisations and terrorist regimes, it’s absolutely shameful.”


‘Starving Jewish hostages to death’: Protestors slammed for supporting Hamas’ motive
Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the pro-Palestine protest on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge was a “national shame” and a “sign of moral decline”.

This comes after Hamas released footage of an Israeli hostage being held captive in Gaza, digging his own grave.

“The terrorist holding him still underground in Gaza, claim this hostage is just being fed what they themselves have to eat, which is plainly false,” Mr Bolt said.

“Hamas is deliberately starving Jewish hostages to death.”

Warning: Distressing footage.


Sydney Harbour Bridge anti-Israel protests labelled ‘disgraceful’
Sky News host Andrew Bolt slams the Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protests as “disgraceful”.

“One last thing on the disgraceful anti-Israel protest yesterday, this is what the Albanese government has helped to unleash with its own attacks on Israel,” Mr Bolt said.

“Now the government is actually considering effectively rewarding Hamas by recognising a Palestinian state.”


Sydney Harbour Bridge protests were ‘concerning’ for the community
Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin says the Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protests were “concerning” for the community.

“The whole process was concerning for the community, the minute the judge of the Supreme Court announced she was effectively overturning the decision made by the premier and by the police to not allow this to go ahead on the Harbour Bridge there was a great deal of despair and anxiety in the community,” Mr Ryvchin told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“We have seen large-scale gatherings before turn violent, we’ve seen chants in support of terrorism, chants villainising the Jewish community, and this was badged on this was a march for humanity … this is not a group that is interested in humanity.”


Albanese must guarantee Australia is not ‘rewarding terrorists’
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash has accused the Albanese government of recklessly distributing taxpayer funds, warning $20 million in aid could be indirectly supporting terrorism.

“Mr Albanese needs to guarantee to the Australian people that this $20 million of taxpayer funds is not going to reward terrorism,” Ms Cash told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“Shame on Mr Albanese and Penny Wong for not sitting back and understanding the actions the Anthony Albanese Labor government are taking … you are embalming and you are rewarding terrorists.

“This wasn’t a protest; it was a political statement using one of our most iconic pieces of infrastructure, which has yet again emboldened Hamas.”


Sydney Harbour Bridge must not be used for causes which ‘divide’ Australia
Shadow Attorney-General Julian Lesser condemns the Australian government for the weak protest laws after the recent pro-Palestine protest across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

“I condemn the protest on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the strongest possible terms,” Mr Leeser told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“The bridge is a symbol of the unity of this city; it is also a symbol of the unity of our nation, and the bridge should not be hijacked for causes that divide our country. The bridge should only be used for things that unite our country.

“I don’t think there is anything peaceful about a protest where somebody chants death.”


‘Outrageous’: Jewish Australians still feel ‘under threat’
Liberal Senator Jane Hume says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should “take steps” on antisemitism.

Ms Hume told Sky News Australia that the government must “stamp out” antisemitism in society.

“The idea that Jewish Australians could still feel under threat, could still feel persecuted, is outrageous,” she said.


Former ABC employee slams broadcast for ‘agenda-driven’ reporting
Former ABC employee Elahn Zetlin publicly criticises the national broadcaster’s editorial direction with claims he felt forced to leave due to persistent bias and a lack of accountability.

“It wasn’t good enough … the way they were reporting on the conflict and also who they were giving a platform to locally to give comment about real issues that affected the broader Jewish community,” Mr Zetlin told Sky News Host Sharri Markson.

“The language used, the way of pushing an agenda… it was really black and white reporting.

“The concerns that I raised … it felt to me that it just dismissed, justified, swept under the carpet.”


Erin Molan: Tens of Thousands March for Terror… While THESE 4 Women Fight for Life
Tens of thousands marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and in Melbourne this weekend. They waved terrorist flags, held up the faces of terrorists leaders and chanted terrorist slogans - calling for intifada and death. They burned the Australian flag and swore at and abused police.

This is NOT the movement to get behind IF you care about innocent children - as I know some people supporting this march genuinely do.

Terrorism IS the ultimate enemy of children in Gaza and so many others around the world… Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu…

I fight for innocent children in Gaza every single day - to try and free them from H*mas - but I fight just as much for the hostages - HELL ON EARTH doesn’t go close to describing their situation… THEY MATTER TOO!

If you can extend your humanity towards them - and fight for their release - you will help end this war and do more for kids in Gaza than ANYTHING else…

No one who cares about children in Gaza should ever march alongside terrorist supporters… don’t let them hijack your decency… or your humanity for their evil agenda.

Fight for ALL innocent people suffering - yes - but do it without supporting the terrorists ultimately responsible for it!!!




John Spencer: The Failed Logic in Dave Smith’s Morality of War
Smith seemed to think my referring to laws rather than moral principles was, per se, a way to weasel out of moral thinking, but this is a total inversion. Appealing to the LOAC is not an abandonment of morality but an attempt to preserve it under the worst human conditions, as opposed to pretending away the moral relevance of those conditions. And while it operates through legal language, LOAC is grounded in basic moral truths.

The law of war is not a loophole in morality—it is morality under fire. It rests on three foundational principles: distinction, proportionality, and precaution. You may only target enemy combatants or civilians directly participating in hostilities; civilian harm must not be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage; and every feasible step must be taken to minimize civilian casualties.

These are codified moral imperatives that grew out of centuries of moral and legal reasoning about what exactly a good person or group is to do when confronted by systematic lethal violence emanating from a different society, group, or country. From Thomas Aquinas, who articulated the principles of just cause and right intention, to Hugo Grotius, who laid the legal groundwork for distinguishing combatants from civilians, the greatest minds on war have insisted that armed conflict must be governed by reason and ethics. In war, applied morality legitimizes certain acts of violence that would be criminal in peacetime—but only within the strict bounds of moral and legal constraint. These ideas were in place long before modern international law, but they remain central to it.

Smith ignores all of this. He frames war as an act of personal vengeance: “you wanted to get one guy, so you blew up the building.” But this bears no resemblance to how modern, law-abiding militaries operate—nor to how morality governs war. Liberal democratic forces are bound by rigorous legal and ethical standards: targets must be lawful military objectives; civilian harm must not be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage; and commanders must take all feasible precautions to minimize harm. That includes issuing warnings, using precision munitions, or delaying strikes when civilians are present. From his account of the IDF’s actions—though these standards apply across all liberal democracies—it’s unclear whether Smith knows such assessments are conducted, let alone that entire units are dedicated to them. But they are. I’ve watched these assessments carried out repeatedly throughout this war.

Even the criminal law Smith appeals to recognizes moral nuance. Killing can be murder, manslaughter, or no crime at all—depending on intent and circumstance. Someone acting in self-defense isn’t charged as a murderer, even if others are harmed. The law of war applies the same logic, but under far more extreme and complex conditions. To be clear, this isn’t personal—I’m addressing the arguments, not the man. But Smith represents a growing genre of pundits with massive platforms who wield moral outrage without understanding what they’re condemning. They conflate war with crime, tactics with atrocities, and lawful military action with terrorism—while offering no serious alternatives. (“Give Hamas a state as a reward for October 7” is not a policy.)

These aren’t just bad arguments. They’re dangerously shallow—and they should be rejected outright.


Piers Morgan’s LIE Against Israel BACKFIRES As Konstantin Kisin Calmly Lists The Facts!



John Oliver Claims ‘Gaza Is Being Starved by Israel’
Comedian John Oliver claimed during his Last Week Tonight show that “Gaza is being starved by Israel” without mentioning the terrorist organization Hamas.

After citing several human rights organizations claiming Gaza faces starvation – some from the United Nations and others inside Israel – Oliver said “what’s happening in Gaza right now is a famine.”

“All the information we have points to that, except for this fucking guy [Netanyahu] and a few adult junior detectives squinting at each photo of a skeletal child to figure out if they’re the right kind of dying,” Oliver said, referring to various Republican figures disputing the alleged starvation.

“And that is the argument for sustained international pressure here, and that country best positioned to apply it is this one [the U.S.], the one that gave Israel nearly $18 billion in military aid during the first year of this war alone. Look, ‘Gaza is starving,’ is a sentence that’s objectively true, but it’s also slightly misleading because it’s too passive. Gaza is being starved by Israel,” he concluded.

John Oliver did not mention the terrorist organization Hamas once throughout his takedown of Israel, which also came in the wake of a surfaced video showing an emaciated Israeli hostage being forced to dig his own grave.


Leading pro-Palestinian activist refuses to condemn the burning of the Australian flag during protests in Melbourne
A leading pro-Palestine activist has dismissed the actions of protesters burning the Australian flag as "a piece of silk" during a heated confrontation on local radio.

Two protesters were seen burning the national flag at the pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne on Sunday where demonstrators also painted "abolish Australia" on the bitumen on Spencer Street and chanted "death, death to the IDF", according to News.com.au.

The shocking display was slammed by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday who declared it "deplorable".

"It's deplorable - it's a deplorable action," Ms Allan told the Today show.

"Police moved quickly and dealt with the incident here in Melbourne yesterday.

"The protest was peaceful, there were no arrests, and Victoria Police did a tremendous job in keeping our community safe."

However, a leading pro-Palestine activist refused to condemn the display.

Australia-Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Ashni was responding to questions on 3AW after a video emerged of two protestors burning the Australian flag during a demonstration in Melbourne on Sunday.


Exposed: Palestine Action supporters’ plot to overwhelm police
Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters are planning to flout terror laws in a co-ordinated attempt to overwhelm the police, The Telegraph can reveal.

Campaigners have hatched a plot for Left-wing activists and members of the Muslim community to attend a demonstration on Saturday declaring support for Palestine Action, the recently banned terror group.

To do so would be an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. More than 200 people have been arrested for expressing support for the group since July 5.

Last week, one of the co-founders of Palestine Action won the right to challenge the legality of the ban. Now, campaigners plan to confront the criminal justice system en masse to test whether the law can be enforced if thousands of protesters descend on London.

The move would ramp-up pressure on Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, who is simultaneously battling a 25-year-high backlog in the courts and a chronic shortage of prison spaces.

Protests are planned for towns and cities across the UK, but the main event will take place in Westminster where thousands are being urged to attend and deliberately flout the terror legislation.

The Telegraph can now expose the plan, co-ordinated by a number of groups including Cage International and Defend Our Juries, after attending a pro-Palestine event last week.

At the meeting, hosted by Cage International in Birmingham, Moazzam Begg, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee, called on the Muslim community to join in the act of defiance and declare their support for Palestine Action.


Edinburgh Fringe- Everyone's welcome...





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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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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