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Monday, December 15, 2025

12/15 Links Pt2: The Palestine Firsters; How Antisemitism Is Entering Mainstream Culture; Radical Anti-Israel Group Planned To Bomb Los Angeles Buildings

From Ian:

Eli Lake: The Palestine Firsters
What Rhodes and Carlson either fail to understand or deliberately overlook is that the Palestinian national movement itself has not really changed in the past century. Despite the hope generated among some by the Oslo Accords in 1993, PLO chieftain Yasir Arafat responded to the explicit offer of statehood in 2000 with a five-year intifada that brought waves of suicide bombers to Israeli schools, markets, and synagogues. Now the youth wing of the Palestine Firsters who disrupted the comings and goings of Jewish students on campus and are seeking to prevent Jews from entering synagogues in New York and Los Angeles (for a start) want to “globalize the intifada.” Indeed, a few radicals already have, with gruesome consequences, like the murder of two young people outside a Jewish event in Washington, D.C., in May 2025.

The obstacle to Palestinian statehood has always been that Palestinians believe that their state cannot exist unless the Jewish state is negated. How is it in America’s interest to advance that delusion?

What Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have learned is that the rest of the region is no longer willing to allow the failures of Palestinian leaders to hinder the pursuit of their own national interest in normalizing ties with Israel. That was the main takeaway of the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreements brokered by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, which forged diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab states.

For Rhodes, these peace agreements were themselves a failure. “After Mr. Trump abandoned the Oslo consensus and moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, Mr. Netanyahu and AIPAC showered him with adulation,” he writes. “Yet when Mr. Trump rolled out the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and some autocratic Arab states, many Democrats credulously heralded it as a ‘peace’ agreement even though it didn’t end any wars and it sidelined the Palestinians.”

That rendering of recent history is preposterous. The decision of Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates to recognize Israel came three years after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved our embassy there. The Oslo consensus was wrong. America’s Arab allies once held U.S. foreign policy hostage by demanding the creation of a Palestinian state. But the Arab regimes have evolved.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Firsters are actively seeking to shift American policy in the Middle East in the opposite direction. They want to turn America against Israel just at the moment when Arab states have been engaged in an unambiguously positive turn toward the West—which involves bringing to an end the Arab world’s destructive and pointless eight-decade commitment to seek Israel’s destruction. The Palestine Firsters want the United States to pick up that diseased baton and wreck an alliance that has advanced the national interest for decades.
Primed To Lead Israel
REVIEW: ‘A Call at 4 AM: Thirteen Prime Ministers and the Crucial Decisions that Shaped Israeli Politics’ by Amit Segal
"In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles," Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, once quipped.

At some point later in his career, perhaps he muttered to himself, "In order to survive a full term as prime minister, you need way more than the ability to split a sea and have God give you two inscribed tablets on a mountaintop."

We’ll never know.

But as Amit Segal’s A Call at 4 AM: Thirteen Prime Ministers and the Crucial Decisions That Shaped Israeli Politics demonstrates, one seems to need divine intervention to survive years at the head of the world’s only Jewish state and emerge unscathed by public opinion, war, or scandal.

That, ironically, is partially the fault of Ben-Gurion himself. As Segal, one of Israel’s most renowned journalists, documents in his riveting political history, the country since its inception has had to operate by the seat of its sand-swept pants. Besieged by Arab countries seeking its destruction from the day of its birth, and already welcoming Jews from all over the world (including thousands forced to flee from those same Arab countries), the Israeli leader channeled the ancient Jewish habit of free debate, honed over centuries in the beit midrash (house of study). "In the absence of a democratic tradition and under the specter of a deadly national conflict," Segal writes, "there was a genuine fear that any minority who felt unrepresented would try to storm the parliament building with tanks."

Israel’s notoriously complex coalition-based parliament, the Knesset, has proved more stable than originally expected. Its model, despite its seemingly ever-dramatic daily headlines, stands head and shoulders above its neighbors. No doubt millions of viewers in Israel and America chuckled when President Donald Trump got up to deliver his remarks celebrating the successful release of the remaining living hostages taken by Hamas, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opening address and remarks from the Knesset's speaker, only to have POTUS realize it wasn’t his turn yet because the leader of the opposition to the ruling coalition, Yair Lapid, had his turn to speak first.

"Even on the Knesset's stormiest days," Segal notes with characteristic humor and insight, "it is worth remembering that the opposition leader in Egypt is in jail, the opposition leader in Syria drives around in an armored personnel carrier, the opposition leader in Lebanon lies six feet under, and the opposition leader in Israel meets the prime minister once a month for a friendly conversation over coffee and bagels."
Michal Cotler-Wunsh and Nadav Steinman: How Antisemitism Is Entering Mainstream Culture
For decades, efforts to demonize, delegitimize and apply double standards to Israel, and implicitly justifying violence against Jews, occurred mostly in academic institutions, fringe activist movements and international forums. But lately, these ideas have migrated into mainstream public life in the West - into sports stadiums, concert halls, music festivals, and entertainment platforms. Demonizing and otherwise targeting Jews and the Jewish state, once the realm of UN resolutions or academic debates, have now become commonplace in mainstream forums.

The working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), adopted by more than 40 countries including the U.S., Germany, France and Britain, explicitly identifies as antisemitic the denial of Jewish self-determination and the application of double standards to Israel. Today's virulent anti-Zionism, masquerading as criticism of the Israeli government, has stoked Jew-hatred and helped unleash and normalize it in the public square.

Israel, the Jew among nations, is uniquely targeted for bans from cultural events, Israeli artists and athletes are singled out, Jewish visibility is increasingly framed as provocation, and convicted terrorists are recast as political prisoners. The letter signed by 200 celebrities calling for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti reflects an environment where violence against Israelis is romanticized, and anti-Zionism is presented as a moral duty, couched in the language of human rights.

The normalization of antisemitism creates the conditions for hate that does not stop with Jews, because it's never about Jews alone. What is being mainstreamed is a thuggish sensibility in which any targeted group can be demonized. The deeper threat from rising antisemitism is the general erosion of fundamental principles of life and liberty. The Barghouti letter shows not just the moral lapse of celebrities. It is a siren warning of a fire that isn't even close to being extinguished.


Kassy Akiva: Leftist Pro-Palestinian Group’s New Year’s Eve Bombing Plot Foiled By Feds
Federal authorities thwarted what the Department of Justice described as a “massive and horrific” terror plot involving a pro-Palestinian, far-left group planning a series of bombings in California beginning on New Year’s Eve.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI and the Department of Justice disrupted the scheme by four alleged members of the “Turtle Island Liberation Front,” which officials describe as anti-government and anti-capitalist.

Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield, and Tina Lai were arrested around December 12 in Lucerne Valley, California, where investigators believe they were preparing to test explosive devices ahead of the planned attacks. Each has been charged with conspiracy and possession of a destructive device.

According to Bondi, those arrested planned to attack targets in Orange County and Los Angeles, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and vehicles.

According to an affidavit obtained by The Daily Wire, Carroll gave an eight-page handwritten document titled “Operation Midnight Sun” that detailed the bombing plot to a law enforcement source. The plan included planting backpacks with pipe-bomb improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and simultaneously detonating them at five locations, including two American companies, at midnight on New Year’s Eve. The plans included information about how to manufacture the bombs and guidance to avoid leaving behind evidence.

The suspects took multiple steps to carry out their plot, including acquiring bomb-making materials and traveling to a remote location in the Mojave Desert to construct and detonate a test explosive on December 12. While there, they began assembling devices using materials such as precursors, PVC pipes, and fuses before being arrested, according to the affidavit.

“This was an incredible effort by our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the @FBI to ensure Americans can live in peace,” Bondi said. “We will continue to pursue these terror groups and bring them to justice.”

“Turtle Island” is an indigenous term for North America adopted by radical leftists who reject the continent’s name as colonialist.


The Israeli Case for Optimism about America
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, 66, was born and raised in Scranton, Pa. He immigrated to Israel at 18, served in the 1982 Lebanon War as a combat medic, and earned a doctorate in political philosophy at the University of Haifa. He also worked as Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff from 2004-05 when he was finance minister.

The history of the U.S.-Israel relationship adds some perspective as to its future. Leiter said, "When we bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, Reagan was irate. He threatened [Prime Minister] Begin with sanctions." When Israel bombed Syria's nuclear reactor in 2007, "Bush 43 doesn't threaten sanctions, but he's not very happy about it." Then came the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "In 2025, we almost became one intelligence community. People don't understand the level of collaboration that we had for three, four months."

"While all these idiots were writing about 'daylight' and anger" between the U.S. and Israel or between Trump and Netanyahu, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister "Ron Dermer and I used to come out of the White House laughing. 'Let them say it. It's perfect. We couldn't break this cover if we tried.' We reached a situation where we begin the operations, and the U.S. completes the operations." Israel helped the U.S. by swallowing the big initial risk and doing most of the "dirty work." The U.S. helped Israel by finishing off what only it had the military capability to do.

Much of Leiter's case for optimism rests on what Israel can offer America. In the Middle East, "the potential is an extended Abraham Accords, to the degree that Israel and its neighbors enter into a regional entente, so the U.S. could reduce its footprint and have its allies take responsibility for the region."

This vision hinges on Israeli strength. "Without that, Saudi Arabia is not going to protect the region itself." Leiter views Israel as America's only realistic way out of being dragged into Middle East wars. "The U.S. will need fighting allies." Nonfighting allies like Saudi Arabia spend more on fancy military equipment but get pushed around by Iran. Leiter said Vice President JD Vance "may not have the same intestinal identification with Jews that Donald Trump has. He didn't grow up in New York, and probably he didn't light Hanukkah candles with Jewish friends and business partners. But so what? I've been in a dozen consequential meetings with JD, and I haven't noticed in him a scintilla of anti-Israelism or distance from Jews or Israel....Where it matters, I've only seen good and positive stuff. JD believes in America first, and I think he believes that part of America first is having a strong ally like Israel."
Dem House Candidate Offers Condolences to Australia’s Jewish Community—Only To Delete the Statement and Replace It With a Message That Omits Jews
A House of Representatives candidate in Pennsylvania posted a heartfelt message on X about the shooting at Brown University and attack at a Hanukkah festival in Sydney, Australia, before deleting the post and replacing it with one that only mentioned Brown.

"2 killed in Providence," Bob Brooks, a Democrat running for Pennsylvania’s Seventh Congressional District against Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie, posted at 9:32 a.m. on Sunday. "11 killed in Sydney. Deeply tragic, and it didn’t have to happen. Sensible gun safety laws save lives. Holding the Brown University community and the Jewish community in Sydney in my thoughts today."

Less than an hour later, though, Brooks had a change of heart. He deleted his initial message and posted a new one that made no mention of the massacre of Jews in Sydney.

"2 killed and 9 injured in Providence," Brooks wrote at 10:11 a.m. "Deeply tragic — and it didn’t have to happen. Sensible gun safety laws save lives. Holding the Brown University community in my thoughts today."

Brooks, a left-wing populist who served as a firefighter before opening up a lawn care business, already has endorsements from the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.). He also has the backing of much of the Keystone State’s Democratic establishment, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, who issued his own statement about the Sydney massacre that left at least 16 dead and another 40 injured.

The deleted message appears to be the latest example of far-left Democrats minimizing anti-Semitism and support for terror. Just last month, after activists protested outside a synagogue with chants of "Globalize the Intifada" and "Death to the IDF," New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s (D.) spokeswoman issued a statement accusing the synagogue of "promot[ing] activities in violation of international law." The synagogue hosted a group that helps Jews move to Israel.

Like Mamdani, Brooks has received the support of J Street, a left-wing anti-Israel Jewish group whose leader, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said protesters who call for mass violence against the Jewish people "don’t intend" to offend Jews. Ben-Ami said he became convinced Israel has committed a "genocide" in Gaza after a debate with disgraced former MSNBC personality Mehdi Hasan.


Academic reported to police after saying ‘Zionist’ Jewish schools should be ‘put to an end’
An academic has been reported to police for an alleged hate crime after saying Jewish schools in Britain should be “put to an end”.

Community groups say social media posts by the controversial academic Prof David Miller about their children’s education has left them in fear.

Prof Miller, who has long campaigned against Zionism and the state of Israel, posted a series of messages on X in which he criticised the presence of around 140 Jewish schools in Britain.

He accused the schools of radicalising their pupils into Zionism by arranging tours of Israel and offering routes to recruitment by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

In a December 8 post Prof Miller, who was found by an employment tribunal last year to have been unfairly sacked by Bristol University over his anti-Zionist beliefs, stated: “There are about 140 Jewish schools in Britain. Almost all of them are explicitly Zionist.

“In addition there are about 35 mainstream schools with significant Jewish pupil intake where the Zionist movement is allowed to organise.

“What this means is that the Zionist movement – especially via the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) – pours significant efforts and money into radicalising young Jewish kids into the racist idea that they have a ‘birthright’ to steal Palestinian land.”

The professor of sociology added: “They also encourage this via youth groups . . . and student groups like the Union of Jewish Students – all bankrolled by the UJIA.

“They offer every 16 year-old British Jew the chance to go on ‘Israel tour’ which they describe as a ‘rite of passage’.

“And they also recruit some directly into the Lone Soldier Programme, a mechanism for young British Jews to become members of the murderous genocidal occupation forces and participate directly in killing Palestinian children.

“We won’t stop the genocide until we begin to put an end to this great engine of indoctrination and radicalisation.”


Local Spies with Lethal Gear: How Israel Reinvented Covert Action
When Israel launched its 12-day attack on Iran in June, a network of secret agents on the ground proved critical in crippling Tehran's defenses.

Some of them weren't professional spies or commandos. They were ordinary locals empowered by Israeli high-tech gadgetry.

Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, had spent years identifying and cultivating inside Iran a silent force, including victims of Iranian repression, ethnic minorities sidelined by regime policies, and people from Afghanistan and other neighboring countries who can live and work openly in Iran.

At secret camps outside Iran, Israel trained its recruits to operate sophisticated, automated and remotely-controlled equipment.

Then Mossad instructed them to go about their daily routines across Iran, as part of what it calls a "drawer operation" - one that sits quietly in reserve until the drawer needs to be opened.

That day was June 13, when the strategically located agents used rockets, drones and other weapons smuggled into Iran to destroy nearby air-defense systems and missile launchers.

The transformation of clandestine action has been made possible by increasingly compact electronics, batteries and explosives.

Spy agencies can equip field agents with capabilities unimaginable a few years ago.

With the advent of powerful remote or autonomous devices, the people deploying them can be amateurs with minimal training. Being local, they can remain hidden or escape before an attack.
Trump says looking into whether Israel violated ceasefire by killing Hamas leader
US President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration was looking into whether Israel violated the Gaza ceasefire by killing a Hamas leader on Saturday.

The White House sent a scolding message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, expressing Washington’s anger over the assassination of senior Hamas official Sa’ad Ra’ad, which it described as an Israeli violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, two American sources told Axios.

Sa’ad, the former deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing and one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7 attacks, was killed in an Israeli strike over the weekend.

It was previously confirmed that Jerusalem did not inform Washington of the attack in advance of the strike.Israel denied accusations it violated the ceasefire, instead asserting that Hamas broke the agreement by planning an explosive attack which wounded two soldiers.

“The killing of Ra’ad Sa’ad, an arch-terrorist who worked day in and day out to violate the agreement and renew the fighting, was carried out in response to these violations and was intended to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire,” an Israeli official told Axios.
Hamas marks 38 years since its founding, cites October 7 massacre as milestone
Hamas called the October 7 massacre a “towering milestone” in a statement commemorating the 38th anniversary of its founding.

“Al-Aqsa Flood was a towering milestone in our people’s march toward freedom and independence, and it will remain a firmly established landmark marking a true beginning for repelling the occupation and ending its presence on our land,” the Sunday release stated.

The terror group then said it would pursue its objectives “regardless of the sacrifices” while asserting that Israel had failed to achieve its war aims.

“We stand with pride and honor before the steadfastness, bravery, sacrifices, and resilience of our great people in all arenas, foremost among them our people in Gaza, the land of dignity, defiance, and loftiness, who struggled, persevered, and stood guard in defense of the land and holy sites on behalf of the entire nation,” the statement added.

Hamas called on mediators and the United States to enforce a ceasefire framework, open crossings, and accelerate humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Hamas says Oct. 7 massacre a victory on 38th anniversary of founding
It rejected any external “guardianship” over Gaza or wider Palestinian territories, insisting that Palestinians alone should decide governance, placed the release of Palestinian prisoners at the top of its priorities, and urged continued proceedings at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

The release said that Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque remain the core of Hamas’s conflict with Israel and would “remain purely Islamic.”

Hamas then praised its supporters across the region and internationally, calling for expanded solidarity actions.

Hamas was established in 1987. It is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to its charter, the organization was established to liberate Palestine from Israel in order to establish an Islamic state. It holds aspirations on all territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River and refuses to acknowledge Israel in any capacity.


John Anderson: No Longer The Lucky Country For Jews | Julian Leeser
Julian Leeser joins John Anderson for an assessment of the disturbing return of anti-semitism to the Australian public sphere. Leeser sets out the historical contours of anti-semitism and why Hamas's October 7 attacks became a catalyst for hostility on Australian soil.

The conversation criticises the failure of the current Australian government to curb anti-semitic rhetoric and acts of vandalism. Instead, it has instead chosen to legitimise the actions of Hamas by recognising a Palestinian state at the UN. This is an important discussion that urges Australia to have the courage to confront extremist, anti-democratic values and ensure every Australian is able to live in safety and dignity on our shores.

Julian Leeser is the Liberal Party Member for Berowra in Sydney. He is the editor and author of numerous books on a bill of rights for Australia, federalism, and Indigenous issues.

00:00 Introduction
02:30 What is Anti-Semitism?
08:26 The substantial impact of the Jewish Diaspora for our western civilisation
23:12 The negligence of the Federal Governments in combatting Anti-Semitism
27:15 Human Rights are being hijacked!
36:45 When the bell tolls for Israel, the bell tolls for all of humanity
45:24 A crisis of confidence in the west
50:30 The appalling nature of Anti-Semitism on Australian University Campuses


John Anderson: The UK Is Funding & Importing Cultural Chaos | Connor Tomlinson
Connor Tomlinson joins John for a compelling examination of Britain’s fractured politics and its loss of cultural self-belief. Tomlinson offers a frank account of how mass immigration and rising Islamist separatism are reshaping the social fabric of Britain. Difficult but necessary questions are examined concerning integration, national cohesion, and whether the country still has the confidence to uphold its own cultural inheritance.

Despite the challenges, Tomlinson insists that renewal is still possible if Britain can rediscover the confidence to enforce its laws, protect its institutions, and expect newcomers to adopt its cultural values. This conversation is a call to restore order, confidence, and a shared sense of direction for Britain's future.

Connor Tomlinson is a British political commentator, writer, and policy researcher known for his work on immigration, identity, environmental policy, and the cultural challenges facing the UK. A regular contributor to GB News, TalkTV, The Lotus Eaters, and a writer for Courage Media.

00:00 Trailer
01:50 What are English values?
5:25 Immigration in Britain
12:24 The rise of radical Islam in younger generations
18:20 Christianity vs Liberalism
24:28 Why young men are becoming conservative and Christian
29:12 bifurcation of young men and women
35:25 Charlie Kirk and how to combat the progressive left
44:53 Can a multicultural democracy function?
53:38 The collapse of Labour and the Conservative Party
58:03 The rise and challenges of Reform UK
1:08:40 Remigration and Reclaiming British culture
1:14:14 The challenges of depopulation and immigration
1:20:40 Is England heading towards civil war?


Triggernometry: The Real History of Islam with Raymond Ibrahim
Raymond Ibrahim is an American author, historian, and Middle East specialist known for his works on Islam and the West.

00:00 - Introduction
01:15 - How Did Islam Begin?
13:21 - The Story Of Muhammad
22:14 - Who Was Muhammad's Successor?
33:53 - The Islamic Golden Age
39:32 - What Was Life Like For Non-Muslims Under Muslim Rule?
45:39 - The Turks And The First Crusade
55:51 - Were The Crusades Successful?
01:02:06 - What Role Did Jews Play?
01:08:58 - How Did Islam Go From All-Conquering To Complete Collapse Of Its Dominance?
01:26:18 - The State Of The West And Where Are Things Heading?
01:42:50 - How Do We Move Forward?
01:48:59 - Is Islam Compatible With The West?
01:52:52 - What Policies Should The UK Put In Place To Deal With Islam?
01:59:30 - What's The One Thing We're Not Talking About That We Really Should Be?




Palestinians protest PA prisoner payment reform, in sign of implementation after snag
Hundreds of Palestinians attended protests across the West Bank on Sunday against the Palestinian Authority’s new prisoner payment system. The public anger indicates that Ramallah is moving ahead with the Western-pushed welfare reform, after a series of illicit payments made under the old mechanism led to the firing of the PA finance minister last month.

Demonstrations were held in the cities of Ramallah, Tulkarem, and Nablus, with attendees including the families of prisoners, as well as relatives of individuals killed or wounded in attacks or clashes with Israeli forces.

Speakers at the rallies accused the PA of “criminalizing the Palestinian national struggle” and of trying to frame the stipends as welfare after the reform signed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas in February required that future payments be conditioned on financial need, rather than the length of a prisoner’s sentence.

The wife of one prisoner speaking at the Ramallah protest said her family, along with those of at least 1,612 inmates, have not received their monthly stipends in over eight months.

Israel has denied that the PA reform is in place, and its National Security Council dispatched a three-person delegation to Brussels in late November to make the case that payments have continued under the old system, which Jerusalem dubs “pay-to-slay,” accusing the PA of incentivizing attacks on Israelis.

The delegation handed over a “big dossier” of evidence, a European official told The Times of Israel, saying it was not a hard case to make, given Abbas’s firing of PA foreign minister Omar Bitar for signing off on illicit payments made under the old mechanism.

The European Union is the largest foreign donor to the PA, but continued funds are linked to reforms by Ramallah, including of its prisoner payment system. “We are extremely unhappy after what happened last month. We are serious about the link of the EU money to their reform benchmarks,” the European official said.

The Foreign Ministry declined requests to provide the evidence it has backing its allegations against the PA, but a Western diplomat familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that it falls short of a “smoking gun.”

Western countries are aware of the batch of stipends made last month that led to Bitar’s firing, but Israeli claims of a more widespread PA cover-up have yet to be proven, and a US-backed audit of the reform is expected to move ahead next year at Ramallah’s request, the diplomat said.

Recent weeks have seen an uptick in applications for welfare stipends through the revived National Economic Empowerment Institution known as “Tamkeen,” after initial months saw very little Palestinian buy-in to the unpopular reform, a PA official said.


Far-right German lawmaker charged for alleged Nazi salute in parliament
Prosecutors in Berlin have filed charges against the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) Matthias Moosdorf for allegedly greeting another party member with the banned Nazi salute during a parliamentary session, they said in a statement on Monday.

The Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, voted in October to lift the Russia-friendly cellist-turned-politician’s parliamentary immunity, paving the way for the charges.

According to prosecutors, Moosdorf, 60, performed a heel click and a Nazi salute near one of the entrances of the historic Reichstag building during a parliamentary session in June 2023, ensuring the salute “would be perceptible to others.”

In Germany, the use of slogans and symbols linked to anti-constitutional groups, including the Nazis, has been illegal since World War II.

In a statement, Moosdorf rejected the accusation that he had performed the Hitler salute while checking his wife’s coat at the building’s cloakroom.

“It is shameful that someone is trying to fabricate a political spectacle at this level instead of constructively engaging with the content of our party and its political positions,” he said.

The AfD, which is already polling first in surveys across Germany ahead of five state elections next year, has been forging stronger ties with MAGA-aligned Republicans.

The party was classified earlier this year by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as a right-wing extremist organization.


Despite war, tech exits soared to $59 billion in 2025 thanks to Wiz deal — report
In 2025, a year of war and geopolitical uncertainty, the Israeli tech market for “exits” — mergers and acquisitions as well as initial public offerings of shares — is on track to record one of the best years over the past decade.

The value of Israeli tech exits, including M&As and IPOs, this year jumped by a whopping 340 percent to $58.8 billion, up from $13.4 billion in 2024, according to the 2025 exit report by consultants PwC Israel released on Monday. The big surge was driven by Google’s $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity unicorn Wiz, the largest deal of an Israeli-founded company. Excluding the Wiz deal, the value of M&A deals and IPOs, doubled to $26.8 billion compared to 2024.

In the second-biggest exit in Israeli history, Palo Alto Networks, a Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity firm founded by American-Israeli entrepreneur Nir Zuk, in July announced the acquisition of Israeli firm CyberArk in a deal valued at $25 billion.

“Both the Wiz and Cyberark deals set a new upper threshold for our position on the global exit map and prove that Israel holds a special place in setting the conventions for the future of global cybersecurity,” said Yaron Weizenbluth, partner at PwC Israel. “Conversely, in the past year, while the number of deals grew significantly compared to the previous year, their value, excluding the mega-deals, has decreased.”

There were another two acquisitions above $1 billion this year, including local fintech firm Next Insurance and Melio, bought for $2.6 billion and $2.5 billion respectively.

Despite the large increase in the value of this year’s M&A transactions, the average acquisition deal size in 2025 dropped by about 40% to $160 million from $268 million in 2024, the report showed.

“Among other reasons, this is due to the growth in the number of ‘young’ companies, less than three years old, where 54% of them are defined as having a significant affinity for AI,” Weizenbluth explained.
Israeli cyber startup Armis nears deal to be sold to ServiceNow for up to $7b — report
Israeli-founded cybersecurity unicorn Armis Security is in advanced talks to be acquired by US software company ServiceNow Inc. in a deal that could be worth up to $7 billion, Bloomberg News reported over the weekend.

The report cited a number of people familiar with the situation, who said the deal could be announced within days. Armis declined to comment on the talks when contacted by The Times of Israel.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, ServiceNow has a market value of almost $180 billion and is the developer of an AI-driven software platform for workflow processes.

The advanced takeover talks come just a month after Armis raised $435 million in fresh capital from investors, taking the company’s valuation to $6.1 billion. The firm said the proceeds of the November funding round will be used for a three-year plan to increase revenues and prepare for an initial public offering.

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Armis was founded in 2016 by Yevgeny Dibrov, CEO, and Nadir Izrael, CTO, to develop a software system that would allow companies to adopt new connected devices without fear of cyberattacks.

The cybersecurity platform automatically discovers, monitors and provides information about all devices — from traditional laptops and smartphones to smart TVs, webcams, printers, HVAC systems, industrial control systems and medical devices — before they connect to an organization’s network. It manages an organization’s cyber risk exposure in real time and quarantines any suspicious and malicious devices.

Its customers include global brands such as Colgate-Palmolive, United Airlines, Allegro MicroSystems, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Mondelฤ“z International.
Secret Elbit deal with foreign state among the largest in company’s history
Israeli weapons technology firm Elbit Systems recently signed one of the largest deals in its history with a foreign state whose identity may not be made public, Hebrew media reported on Monday.

The deal involves a “strategic defense system” based on “groundbreaking” technology, and is planned to span about a decade, according to Calcalist.

The contract is worth around $2.3 billion and was signed with the full involvement of Israel’s Defense Ministry, according to the report.

Shortly after the deal was cemented in November, Elbit submitted a “vague” notice to Israel’s stock exchange, characterizing the contract as “a strategic solution with an international customer,” the report continued.

The secrecy of the deal was reportedly a condition stipulated by the foreign state, with any disclosure of its details leading to its nullification.

The Hebrew publication noted that the company’s latest deal is a feature of Israel’s new budgeting strategy, which encourages weapons sales with other countries as a financing solution for its own arms industry—instead of using funds from the treasury.
Israel's Growing Partnerships across Central Asia
Israel is looking to expand its diplomatic ties and trade with five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Although they are Muslim-majority nations, the "Stans" have discovered the benefits of working with the Jewish state.

"Israel established diplomatic relations with all five countries in Central Asia in the early '90s as the Soviet Union fell apart," said Yuval Fuchs, deputy director-general for Eurasia and the Western Balkans at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Israel has quietly become a partner that many of these countries want to work with.

While even post-independence, the Central Asian nations were dependent upon Russia. But after 35 years of independence, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many Central Asian states have distanced themselves from Russia politically and economically, seeking to diversify their diplomatic friendships.

Israel is seen as technologically advanced with much innovation, politically stable, and militarily competent, but geographically distant and non-threatening.


Inside Hollywood’s Secret Conservative Club & If Hollywood Is Over | Patricia Heaton
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Patricia Heaton about her iconic TV career on Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle; what it was like to be a conservative in liberal Hollywood and host “Friends of Abe” meetings at her house for secret Hollywood Republicans; her first hand experience seeing wokeness ruin the jokes in the comedy writer’s room; if Hollywood as we have always known it is truly over; the shift from classic multi-cam sitcoms to today’s streaming-driven landscape; the resistance she’s faced being a pro-life conservative in Hollywood; rising antisemitism and her work supporting Israel through the October 7th Coalition; and much more.






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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 

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