Tuesday, January 06, 2026

01/06 Links Pt1: Iran's Friends Are Vanishing: Why Maduro's Arrest Matters for Israel; Israel, Syria, US agree on security cooperation mechanism; Somaliland is a functioning state. Treat it that way

From Ian:

Iran's Friends Are Vanishing: Why Maduro's Arrest Matters for Israel
The arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro likely sent a shiver down spines in Tehran.

It also marks the dismantling of yet another supporting pillar in the global network Iran painstakingly constructed to finance, shield, and sustain its war against Israel.

Through Hizbullah, Venezuela became a critical offshore hub that generated cash, laundered funds, moved operatives, and enabled Iran to project power far from the Mideast.

Hizbullah functioned in Venezuela as a crime-terror enterprise intermeshed in the Venezuelan economy and protected by the government.

Hizbullah trafficked cocaine from Venezuela, transferred weapons, and helped the Islamic Republic evade U.S. sanctions.

Revenue generated in South America was sent to Lebanon, where it helped pay for Hizbullah's military buildup.

Venezuela's most prominent opposition figure, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, was asked in a November Israel Hayom interview whether a post-Maduro Venezuela would restore relations with Israel.

Machado replied: "Certainly. Venezuela will be Israel's closest ally in Latin America."

Maduro's fall represents another incremental setback in Iran's global posture.
Jonathan Tobin: Venezuela, Trump and the end of the liberal world order
The simple and unavoidable truth is that the only way to defend those values, American interests, as well as the existence of Israel, is to go around or supersede multilateral institutions. Their preservation cannot be allowed to depend on the ideas of a now bygone era. The United States, as Ferguson has also accurately noted, is locked in a new Cold War; only this time, against China and its allies in Moscow, Tehran and Caracas. It should learn from the past, but it won’t win this conflict solely by working with the tools, like NATO, that were invented to cope with the challenges of the last one.

It’s only to be expected that the assertion of American power in South America or elsewhere, such as Iran—where Trump joined the Israeli campaign to destroy its nuclear program and which he has now also threatened should it violently suppress protests—will be opposed by ideologues who think international institutions are more important than national sovereignty. The point being is that if you don’t want rogue regimes to be allowed to export illegal drugs that kill Americans or to be used as bases by Iran or China, the only answer is for Washington to act. Waiting for a global organization to undertake operations that most of its members oppose or the assent of NATO allies is almost always going to lead, as it has on so many fronts, to inaction.

Some administrations, like that of Barack Obama, turned that dependence on multilateralism into something of a fetish. The result was, among other things, the catastrophe in Syria (where Obama walked back his 2013 “red line” threats) and the 2015 Iran deal that set Tehran on a course to have nuclear weapons, with which it could dominate the Middle East and threaten the rest of the world.

The argument that American unilateralism will encourage Beijing to attack Taiwan is nonsense. As Russia showed in Ukraine and Iran proved when it fomented its multifront war against Israel on the watch of a Biden administration that was similarly wedded to multilateral myths, it was U.S. weakness—not tough-minded Trumpian strength wielded unilaterally—that is likely to lead to more wars.

It may well be that Trump’s every utterance and act will continue to send liberals and leftists over the edge, no matter how sound or reasonable his policies (such as his success in halting illegal immigration) may be. It’s equally true that there are no guarantees that American intervention in Venezuela will work. Although by not committing to a full-scale invasion, Trump appears to be heeding his own criticisms of the George W. Bush administration’s blunders in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The most important conclusion to be drawn from this latest instance of Trump’s freelancing while the global establishment clutches its pearls is that it is only by Washington’s willingness to act on its own that the threats to America, the West and the State of Israel can be effectively met. Far from the greatest peril being an erratic Trump let loose on the world stage, the president’s single-minded belief in defending American national interests is the best hope for fending off the machinations of enemies of the West. A mindless belief in the transcendent importance of the solutions that were believed necessary in 1945 to prevent another global war is not going to protect us in 2026 and the years to come.
Stephen Pollard: The loony left’s moral collapse over Maduro
Which brings us full circle back to the specific reason why we Jews should be focused on Maduro. Jason Kenney, the former Canadian defence and immigration minister in the Stephen Harper government – before Canada had a conniption fit and turned to Justin Trudeau – has written this week about how “one of the most fascinating briefings I received as a federal Immigration Minister was from a foreign intelligence agency about the connections between Venezuela and the Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah. And they showed me the receipts.”

It’s worth quoting at length: “I saw in detail how the Venezuelan regime imported raw cocaine from the FARC Marxist terror group in Colombia, and worked with the Al Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps to ship it in ‘dark’ planes to Beirut, where it was then processed in Hezbollah facilities in the Bekaa Valley. The refined product was then shipped to Europe, and the proceeds used to finance Hezbollah operations, including weapons procurement.

“When I asked how a fundamentalist organisation could do this given that narcotics are haram, I was shown fatwas issued by Hezbollah imams indicating that as long as the drugs were sold to kaffirs, and the proceeds used to finance ‘the struggle,’ that it was religiously sanctioned. I was also shown details on how Hezbollah agents were using Canada to launder illicit funds by buying stolen cars with cash from criminals gangs, and then shipping them out of the Port of Montreal for resale in West Africa. All of this was possible because of extremely close coordination between the Iranian and Venezuelan regimes.

“…This was in 2008! All evidence suggests the cooperation between these two abhorrent regimes has only grown since then, with Iran providing Venezuela with arms, helping to sustain its dwindling oil industry, and to market its sanctioned crude. In return, Venezuela has acted as a kind of giant base of operations for Iran in the Western Hemisphere, including the IGRC and Hezbollah's ongoing involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering. And, of course, both regimes have been in lockstep diplomatically, including with their shared enthusiasm for their biggest ally: Putin's Russia.”

So yes, let’s have our debate about the application of international law. But for many of those protesting about the seizure of Maduro, international law is a fig leaf. Their real concern is the very fact that Maduro, who they revere has been deposed. And let’s not forget who Maduro is, what he has done, and who it is who thinks he is a role model.
Leading From the Front Again By Abe Greenwald
Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here. Joe Biden’s presidency picked up where Obama’s left off. Only this time, the American retreat from the global stage was turbocharged by a more radicalized Democratic Party that sought to appease a newly woke left. Biden pursued a fresh nuclear deal with Iran and wasted the possibility of expanding the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia. In August of 2021, he ordered the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. And the world, as many of us had predicted, finally spun out of control.

Russia invaded Ukraine with China’s blessing, and Hamas invaded Israel with Iran’s material and monetary support. The Biden administration’s responses to these crises were at turns somewhat helpful, overly cautious, and ultimately feckless. The U.S. had lost the will to shape events beyond (and on) its borders.

Until now. Although the second Trump administration talks ceaselessly about the folly of foreign intervention, the president has reestablished the U.S. as the prime mover of world events. He’s roused NATO to take on a larger role in defending member nations, even as he backed Israel in its multifront war, destroyed Iran’s main nuclear facility, drew up a plan for a postwar Middle East, and now decapitated the outlaw regime in Venezuela.

The administration can say whatever it wants about foreign adventurism, but the world police are back in business.

There’s a lot, of course, that we don’t know. Will Trump finally become as frustrated with Vladimir Putin as he became with Iran and Maduro? If so, will he be as forceful in ending Russia’s assault on Ukraine? What will become of Venezuela over the course of the year? What happens if and when Trump becomes convinced that Hamas simply won’t disarm? How will the Trump administration respond to what seems to be a slowly crumbling Iranian state? And, finally, what happens if—God forbid—China moves on Taiwan? No clue.

But here’s what we do know: The world has once again seen the American will to act. And everyone has been reminded of the U.S. military’s unparalleled ability to change facts on the ground. A year ago, America’s enemies had reason to believe the U.S. had become a paper tiger. Today, they wouldn’t dare make that miscalculation.


Somaliland is a functioning state. Treat it that way.
In November, Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali pressed Somaliland’s case on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) Verdict podcast.

“Somaliland has built a cohesive, self-governing society with a common language, a shared history, and a vision rooted in stability and progress. It should no longer be tethered to the turmoil of Mogadishu.”

Cruz agreed: “Recognizing Somaliland isn’t charity — it’s strategy. It aligns with America’s security interests and the ‘America First’ doctrine by strengthening an ally that shares our values in a region vital to global trade and counterterrorism.”

They are correct. MAGA loyalists may doubt whether Somaliland “shares our values,” since its constitution declares “Islam is the religion of the Somaliland state, and the promotion of any religion…other than Islam, is prohibited,” and “the laws of the nation shall be grounded on… Islamic Sharia.” But it has shown commitment to democracy and economic freedom, and would be a steadfast ally in the region.

President Trump has denied that the U.S. will join Israel in recognizing Somaliland. But Trump can be flexible, to put it mildly, and the jury remains out.

International law is not like domestic law: There are few if any formal enforcement mechanisms. Its writ does not run universally, and to some degree it applies only to those who opt in to it. It is heavily influenced by politics and diplomacy.

Fully 157 UN members now recognize the “State of Palestine,” despite there being no universally accepted borders, no single government and virtually no state or economic apparatus. Nor was the “territorial integrity” of Israel given much weight.

Equally, despite its fragile nature, South Sudan was recognized by the international community and admitted to the UN in 2011 after a referendum on self-determination.

The arguments against recognizing Somaliland are beginning to sound stale and ritualistic. They should now bear the burden of proof. Any logical or moral analysis would suggest that Somaliland wants to be independent, is capable of sustaining itself, would benefit from international recognition and is being unfairly held back for the interests of Somalia, a semi-failed and barely functioning state.

Netanyahu has made the first move. His motivation is irrelevant: it should prompt others to reexamine the issue. For countries like the United States and the United Kingdom (where there is a small but influential pro-Somaliland lobby), maintaining their existing policy resembles Einstein’s apocryphal dictum: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

Financial and diplomatic support has not made Somalia stable or prosperous, but a fraction of what has been expended could transform Somaliland. Recognition would be fair, just, effective and in almost everyone’s interests, so what is holding us back?
My family suffered under cruel regime which opposed independent Somaliland – now I welcome Israel’s recognition
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland should not be understood as a provocation or a geopolitical manoeuvre. It is, rather, a sober and principled acknowledgement of history, responsibility, and political reality. At its core, it reflects an understanding of what it means for a people to survive attempted erasure, to rebuild without protection, and to insist that truth and memory matter in the face of denial.

Somaliland’s claim to statehood is neither novel nor opportunistic. It was an independent country in June 1960, recognised by a number of states, including Israel, before voluntarily entering a union with Somalia days later. That union was intended to be one of equals. Instead, it became a vehicle for repression.

In the late 1980s, the Somali state carried out a campaign of violence against the people of Somaliland that meets the definition of genocide under international law. Under the military dictatorship of Mohamed Siad Barre, this campaign was guided by a chilling doctrine: “Leave nothing but the crows.” It was a policy of total destruction. Cities were treated as enemy territory. Hargeisa, then one of the largest urban centres in the Somali Republic, was bombed by its own air force until most of it lay in ruins. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. Wells were poisoned, livestock destroyed, and escape routes deliberately mined to prevent civilians from fleeing.

This was not counter-insurgency. It was collective punishment and extermination.

These are not atrocities I have read about. I was there. I was in Hargeisa in 1988 when my grandfather was dragged from our home, and when my grandmother told me she could not return to retrieve the gold she had hidden because the army had mined the road back – even the entrances to the houses my family and others were forced to abandon.

This was not the chaos of civil war. It was organised, intentional violence directed at a civilian population. The evidence remains today in mass graves scattered across Somaliland, and in the collective memory of a society still shaped by that trauma.

What has never followed is accountability. No Somali government has formally acknowledged these crimes. Denial remains embedded in official narratives, including at international forums such as the UN Security Council, where Somalia has sought to lecture others while refusing to confront its own history of mass violence.

The expectation that survivors should simply move on without recognition or justice is a familiar one. It has been repeatedly imposed on communities that have endured large-scale atrocities, often in the name of diplomatic convenience.

During this period of abandonment, Israelis quietly provided humanitarian and medical assistance to Somalilanders. This support came without publicity or political leverage. Survivors recall it as help offered with discretion and empathy, grounded in a shared understanding of what it means to be left exposed while the world looks away. That history of solidarity places today’s recognition in a longer moral context.

The connection between Somaliland and the Jewish people predates the genocide. Somaliland once had a small Jewish population, and Jewish-owned homes and buildings still stand today. They have not been erased or desecrated, but preserved – a modest yet telling reflection of how Jewish history has been regarded locally. This relationship was built on coexistence rather than ideology, on lived respect rather than political alignment.
Israeli Foreign Minister Follows up Recognition of Somaliland With Historic Visit
Latest Developments
Sa’ar in Somaliland: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar traveled to Somaliland on January 6, the first official diplomatic visit since Israel recognized the East African nation as a sovereign and independent state last month. Arriving in the capital city of Hargeisa, Sa’ar met with Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, who pledged to open Somaliland’s embassy in Israel in the near future. A statement by Somaliland’s Foreign Ministry said that the two officials “held constructive discussions on strengthening bilateral relations, with a focus on diplomacy, security, trade, and investment, as well as regional peace and stability.”

Somalia Angered by Visit: Somalia’s foreign ministry released a statement condemning “the unauthorized entry of the Foreign Minister of Israel into the city of Hargeisa, which constitutes an integral and inseparable part of the sovereign territories of the Federal Republic of Somalia.” The statement called the visit “unacceptable interference” in Somalia’s internal affairs. Later in the day, Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdisalam Dhaay convened an “emergency virtual session of the African Union Peace and Security Council” to discuss what he referred to as “developments affecting Somalia’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” reaffirming “Somalia’s sovereignty and unity” while rejecting “external interference.” Regional Condemnation of Israel: Israel’s surprise December 26 recognition of Somaliland drew swift and harsh condemnation from regional actors, including Turkey and Qatar. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned what he termed an “illegal and unacceptable” step that would “drag the horn of Africa into destabilization,” while Qatar called the move a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty, stating that Israel should instead recognize Palestinian statehood.

FDD Expert Response
“Sa’ar’s historic visit to Somaliland underscores that Israel is no less of a regional power than its adversaries in Qatar, Turkey, and Iran. Vulnerable nations and minorities across the Middle East — from the Druze to the Kurds to the Somalilanders — look to the one Jewish state amid a cluster of Arab and Islamic states as both an ally and a model for seeking and maintaining independence. Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, spoke of an ‘alliance of the periphery’; Sa’ar’s presence in Somaliland is welcome confirmation that this goal remains intact.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“Somaliland has every moral and legal claim to nationhood status as the successor state to British Somaliland, which was granted independence in 1960 and has functioned as a de facto independent democracy since 1991. The truth is that Turkey, Egypt, and a coalition of Sunni Muslim countries will always corral global Islamist opposition to anything that benefits Israel, including pushing for the recognition of a Palestinian state that does not possess any of the legitimizing aspects underlying Somaliland’s claim. These voices should be ignored, and the United States should itself recognize Somaliland.” — Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Fellow


Israel, Syria, US agree on security cooperation mechanism
Israel, Syria and the United States announced a “joint fusion mechanism” for security cooperation.

After holding talks in Paris, the three states agreed on Tuesday to create the “dedicated communication cell” for “intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, diplomatic engagement and commercial opportunities” under U.S. guidance.

“After a period of several months, the diplomatic dialogue between Israel and Syria resumed with American backing and support,” the Israeli prime minister’s office stated. “It was agreed that the dialogue will continue in order to advance common goals and to ensure the safety of the Druze minority in Syria.”

Israel and Syria have no formal diplomatic ties, which has exacerbated tensions between Jerusalem and the new government in Damascus over fighting in southern Syria that has threatened the Druze community in that area.

Israel has repeatedly launched cross-border raids in southern Syria to counter armed groups on Israel’s border and to support the Druze, who have a large cross-border population within Israel. Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has also occupied parts of southern Syria as a security buffer zone.

The Trump administration has been keen to support the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who overthrew the Assad regime in 2024, and has removed many of the sanctions that were placed on Syria during that country’s civil war.

The communications channel announced Tuesday is the most significant formal step that Israel and Syria have taken towards working together since al-Sharaa took power after months of skepticism from Israeli officials about his viability as a potential security partner.

“I’m sure that Israel and him will get along,” U.S. President Donald Trump said of al-Sharaa during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s U.S. visit in December. “I will try and make it so that they do get along.”


Israel Cannot Accept the Continued Armed Presence of Hizbullah in Lebanon
Hizbullah is systematically violating the ceasefire agreement, rebuilding and expanding its military capabilities while refusing to disarm and steadily pushing the ceasefire framework toward collapse.

Hizbullah lost 40% of its overall strength, including thousands of fighters, weapons stockpiles, and senior leaders.

At the same time, Hizbullah has retained tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, including precision-guided systems, and it continues efforts to rebuild its capabilities, including in southern Lebanon.

Hizbullah's continued force buildup may, sooner or later, compel Israel to undertake broader action in Lebanon, including ground operations to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the south and the establishment of a security buffer along the border.

Judging by public statements and official briefings, during Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent visit to the U.S., Israel received U.S. approval to act in Lebanon in light of the Lebanese government's failure to meet its commitments to disarm Hizbullah by the end of 2025.

While Hizbullah retains meaningful capabilities, both in armed ground forces and in its capacity to launch rockets into Israeli territory, one threat that has been fully removed is the extensive deployment of the Radwan forces in villages along the border.

They were intended to serve as the launch platform for a ground assault into Israel. Now Hizbullah's ability to carry out a surprise ground attack has been significantly degraded.

Israel cannot accept the continued armed presence of Hizbullah in Lebanon. A central element of Israel's post-Oct. 7 transformation has been the abandonment of containment that characterized its prewar conduct.

Israel has now adopted an approach that denies adversaries the ability to threaten Israel, coupled with readiness to act decisively. The concept of "peace through strength" now guides policy - a concept shared by the Israeli government and the current U.S. administration.


Smotrich backs renaming COGAT to ‘Coordinator of Government Activities in Judea and Samaria’
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told JNS on Monday he supports renaming the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) office to the Coordinator of Government Activities in Judea and Samaria.

“An interesting idea—I’ll talk to him,” Smotrich said, responding to JNS’s question about Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan’s appeal to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to formally change the name of the body.

“It’s under the defense minister’s authority,” continued Smotrich, who is responsible for civilian issues in Judea and Samaria as the second minister in the Defense Ministry. “Great idea, important, really. It expresses that words have meaning.”

COGAT is a unit of the Defense Ministry established after Israel liberated Judea, Samaria and Gaza during the Six-Day War in 1967. It manages local civilian and humanitarian affairs and also liaises with Palestinians.

Dagan contacted Katz about the proposed name change six months ago, but “half a year has passed and there is no response,” he wrote in a letter to the Defense Ministry published by Israel National News on Monday.

“The fact that the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces cling to the term ‘territories’ is a moral and historical injustice,” said Dagan, adding: “Judea and Samaria are not ‘territories’—they are our home.”

The regional leader accused the ministry of “adopting the anti-Israel narrative, instead of leading with a firm nationalist and Zionist line.”


UKLFI: UTI POSSIDETIS JURIS AND ISRAEL
This is a recording of a UKLFI Charitable Trust webinar on UTI POSSIDETIS JURIS AND ISRAEL with Natasha Hausdorff and Dr Ariel Zemach, chaired by Daniel Berke. The webinar took place on 5 January 2026.

Uti Possidetis Juris is a rule of international law according to which new States emerging from empires, federations, colonies and mandates inherit the borders existing at the time of independence, unless otherwise agreed. If applied to the State of Israel, its territory would include East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, subject to any agreement that may be reached in the final status negotiations contemplated by the Oslo Accords, or any other transfer of territory by Israel by cession, prescription, abandonment or acquiescence.

Little attention was paid to the application of this rule to the State of Israel before Professors Abraham Bell and Eugene Kontorovich put this forward in a major article in 2016. Since then, articles by Dr Zemach and Professor David Kretzmer have disputed its application to Israel. Judge Sebutinde, Vice-President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) considered that the rule applies to Israel in her dissenting advisory opinion in July 2024. None of the other members of the ICJ referred to the rule in their opinions in that case.

In this webinar Natasha Hausdorff and Dr Ariel Zemach debate whether the rule applies to Israel.


"Politicians Are in Hiding!" Iranian Politician Announces STARK Prediction on Revolution!
Iran is on the brink and the dominoes are starting to fall. As nationwide protests explode across more than 100 Iranian cities, chants of “Death to the dictator” and calls for the return of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi are shaking the Islamic Republic to its core. Emily Schrader breaks down why this uprising is different, how President Trump’s arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro sent shockwaves through Tehran and why Iran’s regime may be running out of time. With firsthand accounts from former political prisoners and Iranian Jewish community insiders, this episode exposes the brutality, desperation and fear gripping the regime...and asks the question everyone is afraid to answer: Is this the beginning of the end for the Islamic Republic?

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Iran Erupts: Protests, Uprisings and a Regime Under Siege
03:12 – Trump’s Arrest of Maduro: Why Tehran Is Panicking
07:45 – The Big Lie About “International Law”
11:30 – Venezuela, Iran, and the Narco-Terror Pipeline
16:40 – Live Fire and Mass Arrests: Inside Iran’s Crackdown
21:55 – “Death to the Dictator”: Why This Protest Is Different
27:10 – Calls for Reza Pahlavi: A Leader Emerges
33:25 – Life Inside Iran’s Prisons: A Former Political Prisoner Speaks
41:50 – Israel, Trump and the Pressure That Could Break the Regime
52:30 – The Endgame: What Determines Whether Iran Falls or Survives


Ask Haviv Anything: Episode 76: How elites drive Jew-hatred, with Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
From Manchester to Bondi Beach to Denver, from Tucker Carlson to Nicolas Maduro to Zohran Mamdani to the most significant and mobilizing political ideologies of today’s Muslim world, Jews seem to loom large in the imaginations of elites. They’re attacked physically and verbally and politically. The old obsession has well and truly returned.

What does this return mean for the future of these societies? And for Jews?

The Egyptian-American writer and thinker Hussein Aboubakr Mansour returns to the podcast to make sense out of the chaos.

Chapters
00:00 Global Shifts and Diplomatic Changes
01:23 The State of Western Civilization and Islam
04:04 Anti-Semitism and Radicalization Trends
05:35 The Role of Liberal Institutions and Elites
07:42 The Impact of Economic Dislocation
10:52 Radicalization in Academia and Journalism
13:53 The Future of Western Societies
16:16 Elite Competition and Anti-Zionism
19:05 The Dynamics of Anti-Semitism in Political Discourse
22:21 The Consequences of Elite Detachment
25:06 The Role of Foreign Influence in Radicalization
28:07 The Need for Alternative Institutions
31:05 The Dystopian Future of Western Societies
39:38 The Narratives of Victimhood and Anti-Zionism
46:24 Historical Context and Ideological Roots
51:16 The Pessimistic Outlook on Middle Eastern Islam
01:03:57 The Cultural Shift and Jewish Identity


Western progressives are ‘brainwashed’ by the ‘cult’ of Islamophobia
Spiked Chief Political Writer Brendan O’Neill claims Western progressives are “brainwashed” by the “cult” of Islamophobia.

“I think people are so brainwashed by the cult of Islamophobia that they don’t even want to be seen to be criticising a ruthless regime like the one in Iran,” Mr O’Neill told Sky News host James Morrow.

“It particularly highlights the moral cowardice and the moral relativism of Western progressives.”


The Red-Green Alliance Is In Full PANIC Mode Right Now!
A geopolitical earthquake is ripping through the Middle East and almost no one in the West sees it coming. From Venezuela’s shocking alignment with Iran to Israel’s game-changing blows against the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” this explosive conversation exposes how dictatorships are wobbling, propaganda is collapsing and long-suppressed minorities are watching Israel rewrite the rules of power in the region. With brutal truths about Syria, Lebanon, Hamas, Iran and Western naïveté, this episode pulls no punches and ends with a provocative question: is Israel not just surviving the chaos, but becoming the Middle East’s last real source of hope?

CHAPTERS
00:00 – A Middle East “Earthquake” Begins
03:12 – Venezuela, Iran and the Shock Nobody Expected
07:45 – How Israel Restored Deterrence After Oct. 7
12:30 – The Nasrallah Assassination That Changed Everything
18:10 – Syria After Assad: False Hopes and Brutal Reality
24:40 – Christians, Druze, and Minorities Under Jihadist Rule
31:55 – Hamas, Soviet Propaganda, and Weaponized Victimhood
39:20 – Why the West Fundamentally Misreads the Middle East
47:05 – The Dangerous Gamble on Jolani and Islamist “Reforms”
55:30 – Israel as the Region’s Indigenous Power—and Its Future




Vance: Antisemitism does not belong in conservative movement
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance clarified his position on antisemitism in the conservative movement amid a recent backlash to his Dec. 21 speech at Turning Point USA’s America Fest, when he defended the conservative movement’s acceptance of former Fox News host and current podcaster Tucker Carlson.

During a Jan. 6 interview with CNN, Scott Jennings said that “there’s been a lot of conversation in the conservative world about certain kinds of views espoused by certain kinds of people, and they try to drag you into this conversation all the time.”

“Just for the record, does the conservative movement need to warehouse anybody out there espousing antisemitism in any way?” Jennings asked the vice president.

“No, it doesn’t, Scott,” Vance replied. “I think we need to reject all forms of ethnic hatred, whether it’s antisemitism, anti-black hatred, anti-white hatred.”

The vice president said rejecting ethnic hatred is “one of the great things about the conservative coalition,” noting that “we are fundamentally rooted in the Christian principles that founded the United States of America. And one of those very important principles is that we judge people as individuals.”

He continued: “Every person is made in the image of God. You judge them by what they do, not by what ethnic group they belong to. And I think that principle is important. It’s something we’ve got to hold onto in the conservative movement because God knows the left abandoned it a long time ago.”

His answer drew criticism on X for not being specific enough, with many responders comparing it to the way Democrats talk about antisemitism, and others wishing Jennings had asked the vice president about his friendship with Carlson.


7 October conspiracy theory event cancelled after local council intervention
Reim, site of Nova music festival massacre on 7 October 2023.

The London Borough of Waltham Forest has moved to help cancel an event due to be held on council-owned property by the local branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, featuring a notorious anti-Israel blogger on the subject of “what really happened on October 7”.

The Waltham Forest PSC had been due to hold the event on Friday 9 January at the council-owned William Morris community centre in Walthamstow. The group’s advertising described it as an event “to learn about and discuss the highly controversial narratives surrounding the events of 7 October 2023 used to justify Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza and atrocities across historic Palestine.”

The speaker at the event was Asa Winstanley, a longtime writer for the Electronic Intifada blog. Winstanley’s narrative around 7 October, as promoted via published articles, is to downplay Hamas’s actions on 7 October and instead suggest that Israel killed “many, if not most” of its own people on October 7, via use of the “Hannibal Directive”, a live-fire order intended to prevent Hamas taking prisoners back to Gaza.

The Waltham Forest PSC event was due to be held at a venue leased by the council
In the chaos which followed the mass attack on Israel, a version of the Directive was enforced at some locations, and there were individual cases where IDF troops opened fire on locations believed to hold Hamas terrorists despite the possibility that Israeli civilians were being held captive in the vicinity. However, the idea that Israel murdered hundreds of its own people via this Directive is based on mis-contextualised conflict footage and misrepresented findings from Israeli media investigations. By contrast, bodycam videos taken from Hamas fighters, for example, are described by Winstanley as having been “released by the Israeli occupation authorities and highly likely to have been subjected to selective editing” – with no evidence given for the latter claim.

Responding to news of the cancellation, Amanda Bowman, co-chair of the London Jewish Forum, said: “Freedom of speech matters, and this is not about shutting down debate at one particular event. Concerns were raised with the council because it is the leaseholder. The council then contacted the venue, and the venue took its own decision to cancel. This should be a reminder to venues to carry out proper due diligence on the events they host, especially at a time when the way an event is framed can have a real impact on how safe local Jewish residents feel”.
Anti-Israel group set to protest at Israeli real estate events in NYC
PAL-Awda, the anti-Israel group that led a protest in November outside Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, announced a new protest in Manhattan on Jan. 7 against Nefesh B’Nefesh and on Jan. 8 against CapitIL, a Jerusalem-based real estate agency, in Queens, N.Y.

“Nefesh B’Nfesh settler recruitment fair on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Manhattan and illegal Stolen Palestinian Land sale on Thursday at 6:30 in Queens,” the group wrote.

PAL-Awda NY/NJ, the New York/New Jersey chapter of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, said it will be protesting “the illegal settlement of Palestinian land,” citing NBN’s recruitment of “over 80,000 settlers” since 2003.

“It is our duty to confront the pipeline of settlement and Zionist colonial expansion that is taking place in our own neighborhoods,” PAL-Awda stated, calling for protesters to “bring flags, keffiyehs and noisemakers” to a location in the city that it will announce to followers on Telegram.

A spokesperson for Nefesh B’Nefesh told JNS that the organization “remains committed to providing a secure, supportive and welcoming environment for participants of our various programming, and will continue to prioritize their safety and well-being at all of our events.”

The Jewish group added that it is “working with all the relevant law-enforcement agencies to ensure that full protection is offered to all our participants as well as staff members.”

PAL-Awda called the upcoming Jan. 8 event an “illegal event, explicitly advertising the establishment of an ‘Anglo community,’ Ma’ale Adumim, a West Bank settlement deemed illegal under international law. We will not be silent in the face of this blatant land theft and dispossession.”
Pro-Palestinian protester says her antisemitic slogan jacket was ‘not a reason’ to get arrested
A pro-Palestinian activist arrested in Sydney’s newest protest for refusing to remove a jacket with “globalise the intifada” on it says she should never have been detained.

The 53-year-old woman, not identified out of fear of professional repercussions, was arrested at Sunday's protest after police directed her to remove a jacket displaying the antisemitic slogan.

The protest held to oppose US military involvement in Venezuela and the detention of President Nicolás Maduro, drew more than 300 Australian attendees in Sydney's Town Hall and proceeded despite a state and police prohibition on public demonstrations.

Two men, aged 26 and 34, were also detained on the day for allegedly breaching the peace.

According to the Guardian, all three were taken to Day Street Police Station and later released without charges.

The woman said multiple officers confronted her at the protest and instructed her to remove the jacket, describing the slogan as “unlawful”.

She said she repeatedly challenged police to provide the specific legislation banning the phrase on her jacket and was told the reference would be given at the station if she continued refusing.




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

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.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates