Hatred of Israel has become a proxy war on the West
The fact that Israel is a Western, technological, liberal, and successful democracy is one reason for the attack against it, but not the only one. Israel is a symbol of Western success, of refusal to surrender, and of steadfast resistance to terror and extremist ideologies.De-Hamasification of Gaza: Learning from Western and Arab Models of Deradicalization (pdf)
For radical movements and Western elites that have lost confidence in themselves, Israel is a convenient target. It is easier to attack “Zionism” than to confront the failures of immigration policies and religious radicalization.
Western values are increasingly portrayed as “oppressive.” Thus, hatred of Israel becomes a tool for undermining the very idea of the West.
The gravest problem is not the extremist chants but the silence of the establishment.
Politicians, university presidents, newspaper editors, and opinion leaders prefer “not to get involved.” They condemn late, weakly, or not at all. In doing so, they signal that this new antisemitism, cloaked in moral language, is tolerable.
History, however, teaches a simple truth: Hatred that is not checked in time does not stop on its own.
The struggle over Israel’s image on the international stage is not a narrow public relations battle. It is a struggle over the character and freedom of the free world. Israel is the frontline, not the final target.
The choice is now clear: Take a firm stand on values or continue to surrender in the name of false morality.
This is not only about Israel’s future. It is about the future of the West as a whole.
Since Hamas's takeover of Gaza in 2007, its extremist religious-nationalist ideology has been systematically embedded across all spheres of Gaza life - from education and religious institutions to welfare and the media - producing a profound "Hamasification" of public consciousness.The Name "West Bank" Erases the Truth
In the wake of the Gaza war, military disarmament and physical rehabilitation alone will not ensure long-term security and stability. A far deeper process of "de-Hamasification" is required: dismantling Hamas's ideological and institutional hegemony and replacing it with a more moderate civic and normative infrastructure.
Instead of Western deradicalization models such as those implemented in Germany and Japan after World War II, we propose adopting operational principles drawn from contemporary Arab models, particularly the model applied in the Gulf states, which combines a firm crackdown on extremist actors with re-education toward religious tolerance and broad-based economic rehabilitation.
Deradicalization in Gaza should be conceived as a comprehensive institutional and cultural reengineering of the entire sphere of life. The scale of destruction vividly demonstrates to the public the costs of the "resistance" project and may generate openness to a more moderate political and ideological alternative - provided that such an alternative is presented credibly, consistently, and with Arab and international support.
Two models from Arab states are relevant to Gaza. The first is a restrictive containment model that relies primarily on security measures (Egypt, Tunisia). The second is an ambitious model of comprehensive social transformation (the UAE and Saudi Arabia). In both, many of the lines of action are similar, albeit implemented with different emphases.
These include the use of security measures of coercion, enforcement, and surveillance; the inculcation of a national narrative that elevates state identity and state law above all other identities and normative frameworks; the promotion of "moderate Islam" as an alternative to extremist Islam, which is framed as a deviation from religious truth; and the engineering of public consciousness across various spheres of social life, with the aim of undermining the extremist narrative and entrenching the preferred narrative.
In the Middle East, a place name is never just a name - it is a claim.
For decades, the term "West Bank" has stripped the land of its historical identity.
A mid-20th-century substitution, it replaced the indigenous names Judea and Samaria to sever the Jewish connection to the region.
Now U.S. lawmakers in a dozen states and both houses of Congress are advancing legislation to restore these original names in official U.S. documents.
Judea and Samaria are crucial to Israel's survival. Their ridges tower up to 3,000 feet over the coastal plain where 70% of Israel's population and Ben-Gurion Airport reside.
These highlands are a strategic asset that protects the country from invasion. Without them, Israel would be less than 10 miles wide at its narrowest point and indefensible.
Samaria is a region mentioned more than 100 times in the Bible as the heart of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
To the south, Judea is the birthplace of the line of King David. Even under the Persian Empire, Judea was the official administrative name for the province.
Christian scriptures treat Judea and Samaria as the actual districts on the Roman map, proving that a millennium after the kings of Israel, the world still used these names.
When the UN drafted the 1947 Partition Plan, it repeatedly referred to Judea and Samaria.
The transition to "West Bank" occurred in 1950, when Jordan annexed the territory and sought to justify a Jordanian presence west of the Jordan River.
Its rule lasted less than two decades, yet it managed to cloud thousands of years of history.
Herzog lands in Australia for solidarity visit after Bondi terror attack, will meet PM
President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog landed in Australia on Sunday to kick off an official visit at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, following the December terror shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
Herzog’s office said in a statement that he will visit Jewish communities across Australia “to express solidarity and offer strength to the community in the aftermath of the attack.”
The president will also hold official meetings with senior Australian officials, including Albanese, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, and others “from across the political spectrum.”
The visit has drawn widespread opposition and organized protests from local anti-Israel groups calling for Herzog’s arrest for allegedly inciting genocide.
Palestinian Action Group activists have organized a rally in central Sydney for late afternoon Monday to protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza and to demand Herzog’s arrest.
🔵 President @Isaac_Herzog and his wife Michal Herzog, laying a wreath now at the Bondi Pavilion. pic.twitter.com/i4OSGDAS95
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 9, 2026
Albanese government accused of ‘hiding’ Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia amid no parliamentary address
The Albanese government has been accused of “behaving like cowards” over the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
It comes after Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles confirmed that President Herzog would not address the Australian Parliament.
Liberal MP Tim Wilson told Sky News Sunday Agenda that the government was avoiding showing respect for a visiting foreign leader because of political sensitivities.
“They’re trying to run and avoid recognising and respecting the head of a foreign government or foreign state,” Mr Wilson told Sky News.
“They’re hiding because of, frankly, the antisemitism that exists on the progressive left of politics. That is the simple reality.
“The government should be welcoming him, respecting him and supporting him in every way in his role. We need to bring Australia together.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Mr Marles will meet with President Herzog during his visit.
Israel's president was invited by the Albanese government to visit the families of victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack, following requests from the Australian Jewish community.
“I do think they're hiding and they're trying to avoid being seen or associated or wait and see whether that's the case,” Mr Wilson said.
“I would have thought it was appropriate for him to do things like address parliament in these circumstances.”
🎧 My interview on @kann_news (English) about President @Isaac_Herzog's historic visit to Australia, why it is so important after Bondi, any how those calling it "divisive" are in the extreme fringe minority. pic.twitter.com/1l97glROqR
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 8, 2026
Queensland to ban 'from river to sea' and 'globalize intifada' chants under new legislation
Queensland is set to ban phrases calling for the globalization of intifada and the destruction of Israel, making it the first Australian state to do so.Former Hamas hostage Eli Sharabi recounts captivity in Palm Beach talk
On Sunday, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli announced that his government would be bringing in a new reform package in response to the Jewish community’s demand for stronger legislation to drive out antisemitism.
The tough laws, to be introduced in Parliament this week, focus on fighting antisemitism and hate by addressing terrorist symbols and phrases, and by increasing safety around places of worship.
As part of the package, Crisafulli is making chanting or displaying the slogans “Globalize the Intifada” and “From the river to the sea” an offense. Anyone who contravenes this new legislation can be penalized with up to a two-year prison sentence.
He is also increasing penalties for displaying terrorist symbols from sis months to two years’ imprisonment, and will extend the existing prohibition of the display of symbols to include terrorist organizations and state sponsors of terrorism, including the Hamas flag and emblem, the Islamic State flag, the Hezbollah emblem, and Nazi symbols.
A former Hamas hostage held in Gaza for 16 months recounted his time in captivity and the road to survival during a recent appearance at Palm Beach Synagogue.
During a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Scheiner, Eli Sharabi reflected on the 491 days he was held by Hamas and the experiences that led him to write “Hostage,” a firsthand account of his abduction from an Israeli kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023, and his survival in captivity.
Released in June 2025 — about four months after Sharabi was freed alongside two others in a ceasefire and hostage-release deal — "Hostage" is the first memoir by a released Oct. 7 hostage, according to news reports.
The book offers a firsthand account of Sharabi’s captivity and touches on his life after his release, including the loss of his wife, Lianne, and teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, in the initial Hamas attack. He later learned that his brother, Yossi, who had been kidnapped from a different home in the same kibbutz that day, also had died in captivity.
"It was important to write this book so that nobody in the future will try to change the evidence and try to write his own history, like people tried to do with the Holocaust," Sharabi, 53, said during the Jan. 26 program in Palm Beach. "For me, writing this was my testimony of Oct. 7." Former Hamas hostage Eli Sharabi (right) talks about his 491-day captivity in Gaza and his book "Hostage" with Rabbi Moshe Scheiner at Palm Beach Synagogue on Jan. 26.
"The process of writing this book was a very therapeutic process for me to speak about what happened and tell people. I promised Lianne, Noiya and Yahel that I would not let anyone forget them and try to make them proud of me."
A message from Hamas captivity survivor Eli Sharabi, on the one year anniversary since his release from Hamas captivity in Gaza:
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) February 8, 2026
"08/02/2025 - A date I will never forget, the date of my release.
After 491 days in Hamas captivity, I was granted my life back, and I am grateful for… pic.twitter.com/6O77BR7RjZ
Eli Sharabi survived a year and a half in Hamas captivity, tortured and starved, only to learn that Hamas had burned his house and killed his brother, two daughters, and wife.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 8, 2026
A year after his release, he not only lives, he is grateful for life.
The courage it takes to rise… pic.twitter.com/cPqVcnN38T
One year ago today, Ohad Ben Ami was released from Hamas captivity, alongside Or Levy and Eli Sharabi, after a year and a half in terror tunnels.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 8, 2026
Starved and unrecognizable, the three men’s “release ceremony” shocked the world, with images that echoed those of Auschwitz… pic.twitter.com/DMlU5YKlfI
This is how they responded to the report:
— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) February 8, 2026
“We regret the distress caused to that hostage, and the fact that, despite all our efforts, a Red Cross representative was unable to gain access to him."
Pure gaslighting. Disgusting organization. pic.twitter.com/u0SeUmU1s2
I’m the father of Malki Roth, an American child murdered before reaching her 16th birthday. Malki’s killer has been an @FBIMostWanted Terrorist since 2017. What the world ‘knows’ is that the #Hamas woman who calls the massacre “my operation” lives free in Jordan.
— Arnold Roth (@arnoldroth) February 8, 2026
Can we speak? pic.twitter.com/53oh11oGcv
'You’ll see chaos': Gazan-born Jewish convert warns West of Islamist ideology
With his slick black ponytail and confident stride, Dor Shachar emanates a kind of Israeli Jewish cool in the lobby of a luxe Tel Aviv hotel. But Shachar was born Ayman Abu Soobuch, a Muslim from Khan Younis in Gaza, where he was taught to hate Jews.Former pro-Palestinian activist from Stanford explains why she left the movement
Born in 1977, he grew up in the alleys and markets where Hamas and other terror factions were local fixtures, long before the January 2006 elections that vaulted the Islamist group into power 20 years ago.
He watched the movement’s rise from the inside; he says the ideology represented not just the gunmen in balaclavas, but the culture that elected them.
“Who chose Hamas? The majority chose Hamas,” he told the Post.
As a boy in Khan Younis, Shachar’s earliest lessons about Jews came from his own grandfather. The older man would invite Jewish visitors for coffee and bread, yet in a different breath urged his grandson to “free the land” one day, by killing Jews.
“I said to myself, ‘how can it be? On one side he invites them for food and drink, and on the other he says to kill them.’ From a young age I understood something is wrong.”
His neighbours included names that would later become synonymous with terror: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and bombmaker Yahya Ayyash. “I knew them well,” he recalled, describing them as “community faces” alongside others from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and the PLO. He knew that some neighbours — and his own brothers — had killed Israelis.
In the open market, he says he once saw Sinwar sever the head of a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel, amid cheering onlookers. Another time, he and his mother found a head in the market street. “They said he was suspected of cooperating with Israel,” he noted. Bystanders were nonchalant, as he remembers it.
He recalled children’s television shows that preached “‘go and kill the Jews.’” In mosques, he recalled sheikhs shouting that killing Jews was “the greatest commandment” and “Allah’s will.”
Schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were little different: Jews were “pigs, dogs and infidels” who did not deserve to live, and children were told Israelis had one eye in the forehead, or three legs.
“But I knew the soldiers, and they’d given me candy sometimes. They don’t have one eye in the forehead — they aren’t like that. The Jews who came to the market in Khan Yunis to give us food aid didn’t have one eye in the forehead. The Jews who came to the weddings of our neighbours didn’t have three legs or an eye in the forehead.”
A former pro-Palestinian activist at Stanford University has described how her experience inside campus protest movements led her to reassess her views on Israel, antisemitism, and political activism following October 7.
In the interview, Taryn Thomas said she initially joined pro-Palestinian activism with what she described as good intentions, driven by limited knowledge of international politics and strong emotional reactions to images from Gaza. Like many students, she said, she trusted peers, professors, and social media narratives without questioning their framing.
Thomas traced her early activism to the Black Lives Matter movement, where she said Palestinian symbols were frequently present. Only later, she argued, did she come to see this as a deliberate effort to graft the Palestinian cause onto other minority struggles, often by applying terms such as apartheid, Jim Crow, or colonialism in ways she now believes were inaccurate. Turning point in Thomas's activism
She said October 7 marked a turning point, not immediately because of what she saw in the media, but because of what she did not see. Thomas said she encountered almost no coverage of Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians in her social media feeds or on campus, instead seeing immediate justifications framed through historical narratives. She said it was not until a year later, when she visited a Nova music festival exhibit, that she viewed footage of the attack, which she described as deeply disturbing and emotionally overwhelming.
The interview also detailed what Thomas characterized as cult-like dynamics within campus protest groups, including internal policing, media training, exclusion of dissenting voices, and hostility toward anyone labeled a “Zionist.” She said antisemitic rhetoric and acts, including vandalism and threats, were dismissed or excused in the name of the cause.
Cabinet deepens Israel’s hold on Judea and Samaria
The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a series of measures aimed at deepening Jerusalem’s hold on Judea and Samaria and expanding Jewish communities in the region, according to the Ynet outlet.
The decisions promoted by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are reportedly expected to bring about far-reaching changes to land acquisition rules in Judea and Samaria.
The approved measures include lifting confidentiality from land registry records; canceling historic restrictions on land sales to non-Arabs; and abolishing the requirement for prior approval of transactions, per Ynet.
The Cabinet resolution reportedly also authorizes Israeli enforcement action against illegal construction in Palestinian Authority-governed Area A of Judea and Samaria when structures are deemed to affect heritage or archaeological sites in the area.
Sunday’s resolution also transfers planning and construction powers for Hebron’s Jewish community, including the Cave of the Patriarchs, from the P.A.-run Hebron Municipality to Israeli authorities, in addition to transferring responsibility for managing Rachel’s Tomb to Jerusalem.
The Palestinian presidency “strongly denounced” the decision, according to the P.A.’s official WAFA News Agency, calling it “an open Israeli attempt to legalize settlement expansion, land confiscation, and the demolition of Palestinian properties.”
It urged the U.N. Security Council and the U.S. to intervene to stop the decision.
Regavim, an Israeli NGO focused on land-use issues, commended the Cabinet’s decision, which reverses a “distorted and discriminatory reality that has governed land policy in Judea and Samaria for years,” it said in a statement.
WILD FOOTAGE 🔴
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
Arab clans clashed violently in the Israeli city of Ofakim, with pickup trucks attempting to ram rivals, chainsaws used to chase vehicles, and stones flying across the streets.
In short, it’s the Wild West. pic.twitter.com/OwHTCZLQcp
Al Jazeera Forum Platforms Terrorist Leaders and Their Sympathizers
At the 17th annual Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, familiar faces took the stage to discuss the aftermath of October 7 and its broader regional and global implications. These figures are familiar not for their credibility, but because the lineup included terrorist leaders and their sympathizers.
Upon entrance to the forum, an “in memoriam” lined the halls filled with faces of Al Jazeera journalists who died during the Israel-Hamas war. Eitan Fischberger, who first exposed the terror-filled line up of speakers at the conference, found that five of these so-called journalists are also familiar faces. It was not for the trustworthy and accurate reporting that these “journalists” became well known, but rather because all five of them had well-established ties with terrorist organizations such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas terrorist leader Khaled Meshaal and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were two of the biggest attractions at the event. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, sanctioned by the U.S. for her pro-terror rhetoric, also took part in a session via video call.
Related Reading: Hamas, the Iranian Regime, and a UN Rapporteur Share the Stage at the Al Jazeera Forum
Despite the mass slaughter of Iranian civilians, the focus of every speaker at the conference was laser-focused on Israel. This was not accidental. After all, Abbas Araghchi, who, given his position in the Iranian regime, has stood by as thousands of Iranian citizens were murdered, was given a spotlight.
From that platform, Araghchi blamed Israel for regional instability, saying that “Israel’s expansionist project requires that neighboring countries be weakened” and amounts to the “enforcement of permanent inequality.” For this, he called for Israel to be “punished.” The irony would be laughable if it weren’t so grotesque. A senior official of a regime that jails dissidents, executes protesters, and bankrolls terrorist proxies across the region stood before an audience and positioned himself as a moral authority on justice and stability.
Predictably, in Hamas terrorist leader Khaled Meshaal’s session, he similarly dodged any blame for the ensuing war. What he did was suggest that “the flood” – the operation name chosen for the October 7 massacre – successfully brought the Palestinian cause back to global consciousness. He specifically praised the outrage seen on university campuses and across social media, treating international unrest as a strategic victory.
Naturally, as a terrorist leader, Meshaal deflected the requirement for Hamas to disarm, saying “criminalizing the resistance” is not something it can accept. As long as Israel exists, Hamas will not disarm. It is the most recent example of Hamas leaders being explicit in their absolute unwillingness to adhere to the ceasefire agreement to which they signed.
Beyond actual terrorists, terrorist sympathizer Francesca Albanese was invited to speak, joining a session abroad via video. Unsurprisingly, her words echoed those of the terrorist leaders listed above, as she spoke of Israel as the “common enemy” of the world.
It is dangerous enough that a UN Rapporteur shared a platform at the same conference as terrorists. That her language is barely distinguishable from that of designated terrorists should probably come as little surprise given Albanese’s previous form.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
If Hamas thinks that they can wait out the President and that somehow they can keep their arms and that they will be able to have a future in ruling Gaza, they apparently have a hearing problem.
The sooner they understand that and the… pic.twitter.com/Y1tRy5i2b7
Mashaal again rejects Trump demand for Hamas to disarm
Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on Sunday reiterated the terrorist group’s opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand to lay down arms and vowed “to defeat our enemy, Israel, God willing.”
Speaking at the 17th Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, Mashaal said that the Islamist group would not disarm during the current Phase 2 of Trump’s plan, which calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons with the deployment of an International Stabilization Force to the Gaza Strip.
“As long as our people are under occupation,” he told attendees, “talk of disarmament is an attempt to turn our people into victims, to make their elimination easier and to facilitate their destruction at the hands of the Israeli side, which is armed with every international means of warfare.
“Questions about the resistance’s weapons are being raised forcefully. Some want to place it in the context that whoever carried out Oct. 7 must be cornered and made to pay the price,” continued Mashaal, in reference to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of some 1,200 people.
“As those who participated in the resistance, we must not accept this,” he declared, saying that “resistance is the right of occupied peoples.”
Mashaal praised the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which around 1,200 people, primarily Jewish civilians, were murdered, thousands were wounded and 251 were taken hostage.
The massacre “returned the Palestinian cause to the forefront of regional and international attention, and it is no longer possible to bypass it; resolving it has become a necessity,” he told the forum.
Mashaal again vowed to defeat Israel, saying that the Jewish state “represents an existential threat and danger to us and the region.”
Asked about the U.S.-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a transitional Palestinian body meant to exclude Hamas, Mashaal stressed the terrorist organization’s rejection of “foreign rule” over the Strip.
Khaled Mashal, head of Hamas Abroad at Al-Jazeera Forum in Doha: As Long as There Is Occupation, There Will Be Resistance – Resistance Is the Right of Every Nation pic.twitter.com/erLIvTYQyw
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 8, 2026
Top Hamas officials still alive today and their country of residence.
— Hamas Atrocities (@HamasAtrocities) February 8, 2026
How many do you think will still be alive at the end of this year?
1. Khaled Meshaal - Hamas leader abroad (69) - Qatar
2. Khalil al-Hayya - Head of the Political Bureau (65) - Qatar
3. Musa Abu Marzouk -… pic.twitter.com/hTjLjFiGss
Israeli envoy: Palestinians seeking ‘back door’ status upgrade via UN General Assembly presidency
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on Saturday accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to upgrade its status at the world body “through the back door” by seeking the presidency of the General Assembly.UN's Albanese says humanity has 'common enemy' in Israel at Al Jazeera forum
Riyad Mansour’s bid “is a blatant attempt to upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations through the back door, to turn the General Assembly into a platform for anti-Israel propaganda, and to undermine the U.N.’s objectives,” tweeted Danon.
While Mansour “pretends to represent the Palestinians,” according to Danon, Ramallah’s U.N. representative “continues to engage in self-promotion and the systematic erosion of the institution’s credibility.
“This is what politicization looks like—draining the General Assembly of substance,” the Israeli diplomat concluded.
Mansour is seeking to serve as president of the U.N. General Assembly for its 2026–2027 session, which opens on Sept. 8, after being formally nominated by the 22-member Arab Group caucus in late March.
The 193-member General Assembly elects its president annually under a rotation system, with the larger Asia-Pacific Group—which represents some 55 member states, including Arabs nations—slated to fill the post.
Humanity “now has a common enemy,” United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese told the Al Jazeera Forum via video link on Saturday night during her speech condemning Israel.
Albanese, appearing at the same conference as Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, spoke during the panel "The Palestinian Cause in a World Moving Toward Multipolarity."
During the panel, she condemned countries for maintaining relationships and arms trade with the Jewish state and alleged global inaction during the two-year Israel-Hamas War.
“The fact that most of the media in the Western world has been amplifying … the genocidal narrative is a challenge. But at the same time, here also lies the opportunity,” she said. “Because if international law has been stabbed in the heart, it is also true that never before has the global community seen the challenges that we all face.”
She stressed that humanity “now has a common enemy … And the respect for fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to gain our freedom.”
“We need to stand up, we need to do the right thing,” she said.
Albanese inclusion a 'profound failure'
Danny Danon, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, responded to the reveal in his own X post on Thursday, calling Albanese's inclusion a "profound failure" of the system.
"Francesca Albanese exploits her position at the UN to echo terrorist propaganda and antisemitism," Danon's post read. "And if what she has done so far was not enough, she is expected to speak at the Al Jazeera forum alongside the chief murderer who heads the Hamas terrorist organization, Khaled Mashaal."
Wrong again @FranceskAlbs.
— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@USAmbUN) February 8, 2026
Humanity has a “common enemy” in antisemites that label the entire Jewish nation a “common enemy” of humanity. https://t.co/67BrniAX8A
Watch: NGO Monitor Senior Researcher @vincent_chebat discusses finding a publicly available photo of Hussam Abu Safiya on Facebook and asks, why didn’t media outlets or NGOs do the same? pic.twitter.com/KpaMykND6O
— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) February 8, 2026
MSF published a Q&A justifying its refusal to share its local staff lists.
— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 8, 2026
Let's break down some of the claims: THREAD 🧵1/5
MSF actually admits to providing payments to the families of MSF workers killed in Gaza. These include the families of Fadi Al-Wadiya, a PIJ rocket… pic.twitter.com/D4qEVDrCsL
No real humanitarian organization would knowingly hire terrorists.
— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 8, 2026
That is why Israel wants to vet the local staff list to see if any terrorists are among them. By refusing to share the list, MSF chooses to remain in the dark.
No genuine humanitarian organization should want… pic.twitter.com/mIpLZuEiIu
As a humanitarian organization, MSF should not want any of its humanitarian supplies end up by Hamas. Instead, they choose to smear Israel for being cautious that dual use items don’t end up by Hamas, ignoring all the times dual use items entered Gaza for medical purposes.
— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 8, 2026
5/5 pic.twitter.com/jMpaEg9Naj
IAF strikes terrorists who crossed ceasefire line in northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli Air Force on Sunday struck “several terrorists” who crossed the truce-instituted Yellow Line in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“IDF troops operating in northern Gaza identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line and approached the troops, posing an imminent threat to them,” the military said.
“Immediately following the identification, the Air Force, guided by the forces, attacked the terrorists and eliminated one of them in order to remove the threat,” the army added.
On Saturday, Israeli ground troops also killed two terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line. In one incident, the 7th Armored Brigade operating in southern Gaza killed a terrorist who had crossed the ceasefire line and “constituted an immediate threat” to them.
In another incident in the northern Strip, the 3rd Brigade, a reserve infantry unit, killed a terrorist who approached them after crossing the Yellow Line, according to the military’s statement.
In both incidents, “immediately after the identification, the forces eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat,” it added.
Troops of the IDF’s Southern Command remain “deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to act to remove any immediate threat,” it concluded, referencing the U.S.-brokered truce.
That’s not a new video. It was in circulation from late 2024-early 2025. Also, it shows you don’t know that all close range fights look pretty much like this… also, IDF didn’t suffer any losses here - only few minor injuries, Hamas on the contrary lost all of its 6 fighters here https://t.co/nPXiaIhG9r
— Michael Elgort (@just_whatever) February 8, 2026
Jake Wallis Simons: Was Epstein really a Mossad agent?
When I’m feeling glum, I cheer myself up by thinking about an obscure British Muslim activist called Asghar Bukhari. Back in 2015, he posted a message on Facebook that was unimprovable. “Are Zionists trying to intimidate me?” he wondered. “Someone came into my home yesterday while I was asleep… The only thing they took was one shoe.” Where the shoe eventually turned up – under the bed perhaps? – is not a matter of public record. Either way, on that day the “#ShoeishConspiracy” meme was born.
Israeli footwear espionage may be absurd, but Bukhari’s paranoia is hardly unusual. Over the years, Mossad has been blamed for everything from assassinating Princess Diana to the presence of a shark in the Red Sea that ate a German grandmother.
Partly, it’s a compliment. As Menachem Begin once remarked, “the world may not necessarily like the fighting Jew, but the world will have to take account of him”. Many feel, however, that it reflects an anti-Semitic cast of mind, which, uniquely among racisms, ascribes demonic powers to its victims.
Which brings me to Jeffrey Epstein. Tucker Carlson and other unhinged social media blowhards have accused the late paedophile of being an Israeli spy. But speaking on my podcast, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who developed the Hezbollah pager operation, dismissed the rumours as a load of bunkum.
He would say that, wouldn’t he? Perhaps. But if Epstein was an agent, he was a particularly incompetent one. Take Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, who was pictured sneaking into Epstein’s New York townhouse in 2016.
Mossad fingerprints? Hardly. Consumed with bitterness since his bruising election defeat in 2001, Barak has devoted himself to fostering Left-wing networks. Israeli politics are increasingly defined by a struggle between the Right-wing government and an unelected liberal Blob; Barak’s venomous manoeuvres against Benjamin Netanyahu rather suggest that he wasn’t one of his covert operatives (and Netanyahu has explicitly denied it).
BREAKING - OUTRAGEOUS
— On Elpeleg 🎗️ (@onelpeleg) February 7, 2026
Former Norwegian foreign minister and current party leader Ine Eriksen Søreide supported both Hamas’s kidnapping of hostages and Epstein’s human trafficking.
The same politician who believed Hamas should be allowed to keep the hostages in Gaza also… https://t.co/oRMjca0rxP pic.twitter.com/pDNZ9bclpn
Netanyahu: Epstein-Barak ties suggest two worked to subvert Israeli democracy
Jeffrey Epstein’s “unusual close relationship” with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak suggests the American multimillionaire was working to “undermine Israeli democracy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.
Netanyahu in a social media post charged that Epstein’s close ties to Barak actually prove “the opposite” of claims that the convicted sex offender, who died in prison in 2019, was employed by the Jewish state in any capacity.
According to Netanyahu, “Barak has for years obsessively attempted to undermine Israeli democracy by working with the anti-Zionist radical left in failed attempts to overthrow the elected Israeli government.”
The current prime minister continued, “Barak’s personal fixation led him to engage in activities publicly and behind the scenes to undermine the government of Israel, including fueling mass protest movements, fomenting unrest and feeding false media narratives.”
🇺🇸🇮🇱 The full 3-hour conversation between Epstein and Ehud Barak
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) February 8, 2026
They discuss many things, including Tony Blair’s money schemes, mass immigration into Israel, and much more.
Interesting talk to play in the background while working. pic.twitter.com/5WwI16oaMk
Home Office ‘tried to silence adviser who raised concerns about Islamism’
Mr Mughal first started advising the government in 2005 when Sir Tony Blair, the then prime minister, brought him in to sit on a working group set up in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings.
Since then, he has been invited to take part in multiple government projects, taskforces and working groups on tackling extremism.
But at the end of last year he decided to quit his Home Office role, saying he no longer felt comfortable with the “insidious pressure” that was put on him not to speak out about the dangers of Islamism.
“I actively made the decision to more robustly challenge Islamist extremism and felt it wasn’t possible to continue speaking out about it while working there,” he said.
“As soon as Labour came in, I recognised a shift. Why has suddenly the focus on Islamism dropped off? There is a political perspective within this Government which has bought into advice that actually talking about Islamism is not a beneficial thing to do.
“My perspective is they feel it will cost them politically if they speak about it – they have bought into the ruse that it will cause community divisions. They desperately don’t want to lose the Muslim vote and support.”
At the last election, pro-Palestinian MPs effectively became the sixth-largest party after five independent candidates unseated Labour rivals.
The Muslim Vote organisation, which encourages British Muslims to vote for specific candidates it has approved, boasted that its “unprecedented” influence on the election results had also led to “slashed” majorities for several other Labour figures.
"Antisemitism is one of the world's oldest hatreds and it often finds a way to rear up. And then people of good faith and people of good will find a way to defeat it. And then a few decades go by and then it rears up again. And we have to defeat it again." - @ScottJenningsKY pic.twitter.com/LOTT92OucN
— YAF (@yaf) February 8, 2026
One thing the situation in Iran has made crystal clear is that whichever country, regime, group or political ideology, no matter how vile, disgusting or repressive, however many people are massacred or exterminated, as long as they are anti-West, specifically anti-US (and by…
— Omid Djalili (@omid9) February 8, 2026
National Review: Why does Tucker Carlson promote repressive Islamic societies?Where are the feminists standing up for the women in Iran? Here's what right-wing critiques miss: pic.twitter.com/FH7YcZZinv
— Peter Boghossian (@peterboghossian) February 7, 2026
Article in the New York Times from 1970 contains the entire existing discourse on antizionism and antisemitism. Jewish organizations have not advanced on this topic or done anything significant about antizionism in 50 years.
— Adam Louis-Klein (@adam_louis52328) February 8, 2026
Post 10/7, the dams have broken. It’s time for a… pic.twitter.com/dcWPdIfT60
Why do all Palestinian arguments about 1948 to omit the facts?
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) February 8, 2026
The Israeli army did not simply walk into Isdud and ask Palestinians to leave; residents of that village were accessories to an attempted colonizing genocide by helping the Egyptian tank columns advanced towards Tel… https://t.co/UJRoZyWKYr pic.twitter.com/l7FBUMXU3v
You can add the ACLU to the list of organizations that have betrayed the Jewish people and make Jews in America less safe today.
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) February 8, 2026
David Carey, Managing Legal Director of the @ACLU on the judge's decision in the case of Guy Christiansen at Ohio State University:
“We applaud the… pic.twitter.com/wewvcM658N
When they said "resistance by all means possible" I was silent because I thought it would impact people 6,000 miles away from me.
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) February 8, 2026
When they said: "Zionists are not welcome here" I was silent because I thought it was a few rabble rousers on campus.
Then, a candidate to the… https://t.co/y3TXJWrhfx pic.twitter.com/Rob2CHk7Du
Pro-Palestine Group to Hold "Genocide" Exhibit at Orange County Mosque
The Islamic Society of Orange County (ISOC) will jointly host an exhibition titled "Architecture of Genocide" with the Palestinian Youth Movement LA-OC-IE beginning February 14. According to watchdog groups, ISOC—led since 1981 by Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi—has functioned as an apparent incubator of extremist ideology and a platform for figures connected to terror-finance networks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.Palestine Action emboldened after activists cleared in sledgehammer trial
Siddiqi also held longtime leadership positions within the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which federal prosecutors listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial—the largest U.S. terror-financing prosecution on record.
The Mosque’s Ties to the “Blind Sheikh”
ISOC’s alleged connection to extremism traces back to the early 1990s. In 1992, Dr. Siddiqi invited Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman—widely known as the “Blind Sheikh”—to deliver a lecture at the mosque, according to the New Yorker. Siddiqi personally translated the speech, during which Abdel Rahman dismissed nonviolent interpretations of jihad as weak.
One year after appearing at ISOC, Abdel Rahman was arrested. He was later convicted for his connection to the the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, for which he received a life sentence. He died in federal custody in 2017.
The pattern did not end with Abdel Rahman. In the mid-to-late 1990s, an American convert named Adam Gadahn began attending ISOC, where he was reportedly radicalized under the influence of individuals connected to Abdel Rahman’s circle, including Khalil Deek and Hisham Diab. ISOC staff briefly hired him as a security guard, but he was later fired and no longer remained at the mosque.
By 2006, Gadahn had risen to become Al-Qaeda’s English-language propaganda chief—a position earning him the designation “Azzam the American.” He was indicted on treason charges in 2006 and killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2015.
Palestine Action has been emboldened after activists were cleared over an attack on an Israeli-owned arms company, leaked messages reveal.UK Conservatives seek retrial of acquitted Elbit intruders
The proscribed group has vowed “the battle continues” and declared itself “jubilant” and ready to stage further protests, according to the series of messages between activists obtained by The Telegraph.
On Wednesday, a jury at Woolwich Crown Court controversially cleared six people of aggravated burglary at the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, Bristol.
The group used an old prison van to ram-raid the factory in the early hours of Aug 6 2024.
Video footage showed a police officer being attacked with a sledgehammer so badly that she suffered a spinal fracture that left her unable to work for months. The raid also caused more than £1m damage to the factory.
Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin were found not guilty of using or threatening unlawful violence.
All six were also acquitted of aggravated burglary, and the jury also found Ms Rajwani, Ms Rogers and Mr Devlin not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury deliberated for 36 hours and 34 minutes, but could not reach verdicts on charges of criminal damage against all six defendants.
No verdict was also reached on the charge that Mr Corner, 23, inflicted grievous bodily harm on Sgt Kate Evans or on the charges of violent disorder against Ms Head, Mr Corner and Ms Kamio.
On Saturday, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it was seeking a retrial on the charges on which the jury failed to reach a verdict, and that it would confirm the indictment at a court hearing on Feb 18.
The messages obtained by The Telegraph were sent on the encrypted app Signal hours after the verdicts.
One supporter wrote: “We are all jubilant. A lot of us are at Woolwich. But the battle continues. If anyone can make this [it] would be appreciated.”
A top member of the U.K. Conservative Party on Thursday called for a retrial of six individuals acquitted of burglary charges despite admitting to breaking into a factory owned by Israel’s Elbit Systems firm in 2024.
“There is no justification for this violence, no matter how strongly someone feels about a cause,” Chris Philp, who is the Conservatives’ point person for internal affairs, including law enforcement, wrote to Stephen Parkinson, the director of Public Prosecutions, as per a report in The Telegraph.
“The verdict risks giving the green light to mob violence in pursuit of a political objective,” Philp wrote of the acquittals on Wednesday in a trial of six anti-Israel activists. They admitted during the trial to breaking into a Bristol building owned by Elbit, a defense contractor, on Aug. 6, 2024.
A jury cleared defendants of aggravated burglary charges, but they may face a retrial on additional charges of criminal damage and violent disorder. The jury reached partial or no verdicts on those counts, according to the BBC’s report of the conclusion of the trial, which began on Nov. 17 at Woolwich Crown Court in the British capital.
A police officer testified that one of the intruders, Samuel Corner, had hit her with a hammer, causing her lasting injuries.
The Police Federation, representing frontline officers, also wrote to Parkinson, saying they had “serious concerns” about the “operational and safety” implications of the decisions for officers handling protests and public order.
The Federation noted rhetoric by Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, who welcomed the verdicts as a “moral vindication.” His words “risked sending a message, intentional or not, that injury to police officers is an acceptable or incidental concern of political protest,” the Federation wrote.
The jurors found three defendants—Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin—not guilty of violent disorder, though they did not deliver a verdict on the criminal damage charges. The remaining defendants— Corner, Charlotte Head and Leona Kamio—may face a retrial for both additional charges, The Guardian reported.
“No regrets”? Not about the police officer whose spine was broken. Wow. pic.twitter.com/GHJz5xrbZC
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) February 8, 2026
Iranian State TV employee arrested ‘on suspicion of inciting racial hatred’
An employee of Iranian State television who celebrated the 7 October mass-terror attacks against Israel and regularly fulminates about “Jewish supremacy” in the UK has reportedly been arrested by West Midlands Police today as she was on her way to address the launch meeting of the “Anti-Zionist Movement”.
Latifa Abouchakra, who works as a ‘reporter’ for Press TV, was one of the speakers due to address the opening meeting of the organisation today in Birmingham. The original venue for the meeting, The Old Print Works, cancelled the booking last week after widespread outcry due to the nature of the group and those associated. Apart from Abouchakra, this includes David Miller, who sacked by the University of Bristol in 2021 and now produces a show for Iranian State television, and Rahmeh Aladwan, a doctor who was suspended by a medical tribunal in December for 15 months while the General Medical Council undertakes a full review into her conduct. Aladwan was arrested twice last year, on suspicion of offences including malicious communications and inciting racial hatred. Both Miller and Aladwan also regular promote conspiracy theories about “Jewish supremacy” in the UK.
Following the withdrawal of The Old Print Works, the “Anti-Zionist Movement” posted on social media, saying: “Catch us if you can. Venue will ONLY be announced to ticket holders on the day.”
In a statement this afternoon, West Midlands police said:
“This afternoon we have arrested a woman from London on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, as part of our policing response to a planned gathering in Birmingham.
“The woman, aged 35, was held in the Kings Heath area of Birmingham at around 2.30pm. Officers acting on information that she was due to attend a launch event for the ‘Anti-Zionist Movement’ stopped a car she was travelling in and detained her.
“She was wanted by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of a Public Order Act offence, as part of an investigation by the London force into speeches and social media posts made between May and October last year in the capital and Birmingham.
“Our officers continue to work to understand the plans of the organisers of today’s event, which has been advertised as taking place in the Moseley area of Birmingham. We have a policing operation in place and continue to liaise with key stakeholders, including members of the local Jewish community.”
The only speaker I imagine it could be is Latifa Abouchakra who works for Iranian regime Press TV. I am surprised it’s taken this long for her to be arrested. https://t.co/pvV63Y1N3l
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) February 8, 2026
Former doctor Rahmeh Aladwan explains what “Free Palestine” means: The violent expulsion of every single single Jew and the theft of their property in order to create a 100% Arab ethnostate.
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) February 7, 2026
pic.twitter.com/Z5gmkgbO4d
These Belfast pro-Pals go into shops EVERY DAY and remove Israeli products from the shelves. They complain that staff put them back five minutes later. These people’s faces should be circulated around shops so they’re never let in. pic.twitter.com/sTrpyrLUu0
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) February 7, 2026
Pro-Palestinian groups join anti-Olympics protests in Milan, demand Israel be ousted
Pro-Palestinian groups were among the organizers of a demonstration against the Winter Olympics in the host city of Milan, whose fringes turned violent, Italian media reported on Sunday.
Although the protest, which took place on Saturday, mostly focused on the environmental and financial impact of the Olympics, at least one Pro-Palestinian activist addressed the participants, according to the daily newspaper La Repubblica.
Marchers also held placards denouncing Israel and demanding that it be ousted from the Games.
Smaller demonstrations against Israel’s participation in the Games also took place in previous days.
The Saturday demonstration started peacefully, with an estimated 10,000 people taking to the streets of Milan on the first full day of the Games. However, toward evening, a group of around 100 protesters threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after breaking away from the main body of the rally.
Police in riot gear and with shields responded with water cannon to try to disperse the group, some of whose members wore hoods and scarves to cover their faces. Order was restored after a few minutes. Six people were detained, police sources said.
The march was organized by grassroots unions, housing-rights groups and social center community activists protesting against the housing costs, the presence of US ICE agents in Milan, and the felling of hundreds of trees to build the new bobsled run in the Alpine town of Cortina.
According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, pro-Palestinian groups that joined the rally demanded the release of Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, who was arrested in December with several other activists under suspicion of raising millions of euros for Hamas under the guise of fundraising for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
In Ohio Friday Sermon, Khalil Meek, Founder and Former CEO of Muslim Legal Fund of America: America Is Leading the World in Every Problem There Is, American Society Is Hungry for the Truth – Islam Is the Answer pic.twitter.com/YoJRw61JZi
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 8, 2026
'Israelis steal kidneys': Teacher gets fired in California after sharing antisemitic video
A teacher was fired in San Diego, California, after uploading an antisemitic video saying that “Israelis steal kidneys, livers, and eyes,” N12 reported on Saturday.
A former member of the San Diego Unified School District in California, the teacher, identified as Nasreen Atassi, was removed from the staff after the Jewish community pressured the authorities. “There’s no chance we would allow such a person to enter classrooms,” a local Israeli told N12.
According to StopAntisemitism, Atassi was a special education teacher.
In the shared video, the teacher claimed that Israel “stole the protests, like they always steal from people – including body parts such as kidneys, livers, and eyes.” The declaration came as a reference to American Jews' support for demonstrations by Iranians in the US.
San Diego special education teacher Nasreen Atassi goes on an antisemitic rant, falsely claims Israelis steal “livers and kidneys and eyeballs”.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) February 3, 2026
Imagine this monster near a special needs Jewish child?pic.twitter.com/Pu7qGgTe31
Yet more evidence of the mess 🇦🇺 is in - teachers brainwashing kids with pro-Palestine anti-Israel materials. The Royal Commission had better investigate this travesty. Great reporting by @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/Wavf21VsKY
— Nicolle Flint (@NicolleFlint) February 7, 2026
Lebanese Sunni Sheikh Hassan Al-Moraib: Minorities in the Region Can Only Be Protected under a Sunni Embrace; Ahmed Al-Sharaa Can Become the Leader of Lebanese Sunnis in a Split Second; I Don’t Think Khamenei Will Flee to Beirut pic.twitter.com/7m4kLekJZz
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 8, 2026
Kuwait has added eight Lebanese hospitals to its national terrorism list, Kuwaiti media reported, a move that Lebanese health officials said they had not yet been formally notified of and were still seeking to verify.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 8, 2026
Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper said the decision was taken by a…
Trump admin. expects Araghchi to bring 'meaningful substance' to next meeting, sources tell 'Post'
The Trump administration has told Iran that it expects the Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, to arrive at their next meeting “with meaningful substance,” two people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
On Friday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and US Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper met with Araghchi and other Iranian senior officials in Oman.
The first meeting was described as a “good meeting,” focusing mainly on how the negotiations would be conducted rather than on the core issues themselves, the sources said. The Americans expect the Iranians to come to the next meeting prepared to offer concessions on the nuclear issue and other matters, they added.
On Sunday, Araghchi said a complete halt to uranium enrichment was absolutely unacceptable to Iran.
“The discussions should focus on scenarios in which uranium enrichment continues, alongside assurances that the enrichment is solely for peaceful purposes,” he said.
Araghchi insisted that the missile issue and the “regional arena,” i.e., Iran’s proxies, were off the agenda for the negotiations.
“The subject of the negotiations is the nuclear issue, and that is how it will remain,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to leave on Tuesday for a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
Former Gen. Jack Keane on Iran: “Set the condition for regime collapse”
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
“That historic opportunity is simply this: if we can set the conditions for regime collapse, think of that. No longer this kind of regime running Iran, destabilizing the region. It offers the opportunity… pic.twitter.com/X3h2ugJ9qh
Key points from remarks by Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi today:
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
• Enrichment is non negotiable
Iran will not give up uranium enrichment under any circumstances, including war.
• No retreat under pressure, backing down is surrender.
• Iran doubts U.S. intent due to… pic.twitter.com/ODdcZmuiCk
‘Every likelihood’ of US strikes on Iran as military build-up in region raises questions
Former British commander Richard Kemp offers his assessment of the instability in Iran and weighs in on whether the ongoing unrest across the region could be drawing to a close.
“There is certainly a large build-up of US forces and some other allied forces, including some British forces in the region,” Mr Kemp said.
“To apply huge pressure on Iran to force them into some kind of agreement that’s suitable for President Trump.
“If that doesn’t work … then I think there is every likelihood that he will use significant military force against Iran, and maybe that would prompt or precipitate the downfall of the regime.”
Iran at a Crossroads… Will the U.S. Step In? Amir Fahkrovar Weighs In | The Brief
Former political prisoner Amir Fahrovar (National Iranian Congress) joins The Brief to explain what Iranians are facing under an internet/media blackout, the reported death toll and mass detentions, and why many protesters want a Constitutional Republic—not a monarchy or theocracy. We discuss the IRGC, foreign proxies, the 1979 legacy, and a day-after plan for free elections and a written constitution.
Despite talks, analyst sees US strikes on 'paper tiger' Iran as likely
Middle East analyst Elizabeth Tsurkov says people close to President Trump believe he is likely to strike Iran, arguing the Islamic Republic’s failure against Israel revealed a “paper tiger” abroad — even as it remains ruthlessly lethal toward its own citizens.
Speaking to Iran International in Washington, Tsurkov, a senior non-resident fellow at the New Lines Institute, said the recent US military buildup in the region is the largest since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and has raised expectations that force may ultimately be used.
“People who know the president personally have told me they believe he will attack,” she said, adding that talks are unlikely to succeed because “the maximum that the Iranian regime is willing to offer is less than what the US is willing to accept.”
Talks between Iran and the United States were held on Friday, with multiple back-and-forth exchanges taking place both through an Omani mediator in Muscat and reportedly in face-to-face meetings.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said the talks concluded with an agreement to keep negotiations going, after both sides outlined their positions.
'Paper tiger'
Tsurkov said Iran’s performance in its June conflict with Israel underscored the limits of its ability to harm a capable adversary.
“Iran was doing their best to kill Israelis and damage infrastructure, but killed around 30 people and failed to hit targets that could have altered the conflict, such as facilities producing air-defense missiles,” she said. “Israel, by contrast, destroyed missile production sites and struck nuclear facilities inside Iran.”
"I think after the 12-days war with Israel, uh, there's a uh um there's a term was coined that they are paper tigers... they are a paper tiger to the outside world."
The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program last year, for which Trump set a 60-day ultimatum.
When no agreement was reached by the 61st day, Israel launched a surprise military offensive on June 13, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
Hundreds of military personnel and civilians were killed in the Israeli airstrikes. Tehran responded by launching more than 500 ballistic missiles and 1,100 drones, killing 32 Israeli civilians and one off-duty soldier and causing widespread damage.
A ceasefire ended the 12-day conflict, but the fate of nearly 400 kilograms of near weapons grade enriched uranium is still unknown. Tehran has said it will not give up the uranium stockpiles.
Tsurkov, who was held from 2023 to 2025 by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, said the conflict exposed a familiar pattern.
“The militias in Iraq pose a significant threat to the Iraqi people. They have killed thousands of innocent Iraqis, Shia and Sunni,” she said.
“They’ve killed only a couple of Israelis with a drone attack. The same with the Iranian regime: it managed to kill around 30 Israelis and really did try to kill more. But when it comes to the Iranian people, when you are facing unarmed protesters, you can just mow them down and kill tens of thousands in the span of about two days.”
Australia went through this exact bogus debate ("we can't designate the IRGC because its the organ of a nation state!") in 2022-23 when significant pressure mounted to proscribe the IRGC during the #WomanLifeFreedom protests and a Senate Inquiry into the Islamic Republic’s human… https://t.co/VyMS0VUdri
— Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert (@KMooreGilbert) February 8, 2026
Iranian takes his own life after pledging for Trump, US not to make a deal with Iranian regime
“If you’re watching this, then I’m not around anymore,” said Pouria Hamidi, an Iranian man from the southern port city of Bushehr, in a video shared by Farsi-language Iran International, appealing to US President Donald Trump and Western countries to halt any kind of agreement with Iran’s ruling establishment.
After sharing the video, Hamidi reportedly took his own life, becoming another victim of the Iranian conflict, which already killed dozens of thousands of people. “More than 40,000 people died, killed, massacred, more than the Russia-Ukraine war, and more than the Israel-Palestine war,” said the Iranian man.
By recording a ten-minute reflection, Hamidi wanted to call Washington’s attention in order to beg the US government not to pursue negotiations with the Islamic Republic, “To make a deal with this regime is to betray all those people who died. So please, I beg you, do whatever you can to stop this deal,” he said.
The Iranian citizen noted that the US President Donald Trump had told the Iranians to “keep protesting, and we did, we trusted him.” Addressing a possible future deal, Hamidi said that to fight people carrying guns is not possible, framing that the Iranian people can’t defeat the Islamic regime.
“The government itself hired terrorist groups, Muslim terrorist groups, to kill people. And we still don't know what they did with the bodies,” said the Iranian man on his appeal. He intended to explain the current situation of today’s Iranian young generation, noting that the population wants Islam out of the country, “We are running away from it, especially my generation,” he added.
Hamidi noted that the Iranians face a moment of despair, and that the US attack against Iran would be their last hope, “You don't know how hopeless our people are right now. I mean, I myself, I can't eat. I can't sleep,” he added.
A man in Iran’s southern port city of Bushehr posted a video in English appealing to US President Donald Trump and Western governments to avoid any deal with Iran’s ruling government, before taking his own life. pic.twitter.com/q6Fs8uMyIu
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 8, 2026
Counter-terror police review ‘Iran propaganda’ channel operating in London
Counter-terror police are reviewing broadcasts by a London-based TV channel accused of being the “propaganda arm” of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Telegraph previously revealed that LuaLua TV was a member of the Islamic Radios and Television Union, which was subjected to sanctions by the US treasury department in 2020 for being “owned or controlled by” the IRGC Quds Force.
On its online broadcasts and social media channels, LuaLua TV regularly heaps praise on senior Hamas and Hezbollah commanders, whom it describes as martyrs and heroes.
Shadow ministers Alicia Kearns and Nigel Huddleston have written to Sir Mark Rowley, the Met police commissioner, to ask whether police are investigating the channel for “promoting proscribed terrorist groups”.
In their letter, they said: “LuaLua TV broadcasts online from its headquarters in London, regularly praising terrorist attacks by proscribed groups Hamas and Hezbollah. It also promotes Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps propaganda.
“This includes referring to the former head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, and former head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, as heroes and martyrs.
“It also broadcasts and promotes sermons by Ayatollah Khamenei, whose regime has in recent weeks executed thousands of young Iranian protesters in cold blood, let alone its persistent and pernicious attacks to undermine our country and commit assassinations on our streets.”
Ayatollah’s Khomeini’s Grandson, Ali Ahmad Khomeini: Any Muslim Country Will Do to Israel What Hamas Did Once It Can; The Americans Will Die before They See Us Humiliated pic.twitter.com/W2ZjISjGOI
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 8, 2026
Iran International: Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei skipped the annual air force meeting for the first time in 37 years. pic.twitter.com/aSKLCcbf8T
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
🚨The weekly threat: In Palestine Square in Tehran it was written, "Against a rain of missiles, this is a small area." pic.twitter.com/iQlf442ngB
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) February 8, 2026
IRGC media released a new AI generated video depicting a simulated attack and sinking the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier pic.twitter.com/UhTTW0maJ1
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
India’s Coast Guard seizes 3 Iran linked oil tankers about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 8, 2026
- AL JAFZIA
- ASPHALT STAR
- STELLAR RUBY pic.twitter.com/6iiozteME4
#ICYMI: Iranian Regime Mouthpiece 'Kayhan' On President #Trump: Soon He Will Be 'Food For Snakes And Vermin'; '#Iran Must Arrest Him… And Hang Him'; His Brain Is 'The Size Of A Pea' - Report & audio here https://t.co/OsZXnVXGr5 #MEMRI pic.twitter.com/GPEN2o1JLR
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 7, 2026
Three Jews threatened by knife-wielding man in Paris
Three young men wearing kippahs were accosted on Friday evening by an individual armed with a knife near the Trocadéro in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
The incident took place shortly after 7 p.m. on Avenue Gustave V de Suède. After leaving a nearby synagogue, three men wearing kippahs were walking around the neighborhood when they noticed an individual staring at them intently. The individual approached them and asked them three times, “Are you Jews? Are you Israelis?”
When one of the three men answered in the affirmative, the individual took a knife out of his pocket. The victims fled and sought refuge with police officers who were nearby. They were not injured.
All three victims filed complaints and an investigation was opened for acts of violence with weapons and on religious grounds.
In a message posted on social media, Jérémy Redler, mayor of the 16th arrondissement, condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms” and expressed his full support for the victims. He stressed that such acts constitute a direct attack on the values of the Republic and the safety of its citizens.
He also reaffirmed his personal and political commitment to combating Jew-hatred. “I will continue to fight relentlessly against antisemitism,” he said, reiterating that “hatred and violence targeting a community have no place in Paris.”
🚨 Headlines in Western media:
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) February 8, 2026
"The court in Denmark convicted two Swedish youths for an attack using grenades at the entrance of the Israeli consulate in Copenhagen (October 2024)." Here are the “Swedish youths.” pic.twitter.com/aMQhyafuq1
On this day in 1979, Josef Mengele—the Angel of Death of Auschwitz—died quietly in Brazil.
— Gerald Posner (@geraldposner) February 7, 2026
Justice never caught him. And the world didn’t know the truth for another 6 years.
After I wrote MENGELE, his son Rolf joined me on live U.S. television. Rolf and his family had protected… pic.twitter.com/i4q8ODd0YJ
🚨 SHOCKING: NEW ZEALAND MAN ISSUES CHILLING THREAT TOWARD ISRAELIS
— Kofy Time (@kofy_time) February 8, 2026
Disturbing comments caught on camera in New Zealand — a man threatening Israelis during a conversation with New Zealand Christian Activist Richard Sisson. pic.twitter.com/sUDuJio59N
The South African branch of top British private school Roedean has come under fire when its tennis team refused to play a match against players from a Jewish school.
— Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) February 8, 2026
The girls refused to go on the tennis courts and play because their opponents were Jewish.
it.
“This disturbing… https://t.co/chc1UyQMLA
Sometimes it’s ok to laugh at ignorance. 😂🫣 pic.twitter.com/iRPHm97rN3
— David/Dovid Bashevkin (@DBashIdeas) February 8, 2026
IBM invests in Israeli startup Anima to bring “vibe coding” into the enterprise
IBM has made a strategic investment in Anima, an Israeli company that converts digital designs into production-ready software code using artificial intelligence, signaling how quickly large corporations are embracing a new generation of developer tools known as “vibe coding.”El Al to fly to Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines
The investment, announced by Anima on Thursday, is intended to accelerate the use of its platform inside major organizations that are struggling to keep pace with the demand for digital products. Anima sits between designers who craft the look and feel of applications and engineers who must translate those visuals into working software.
Founded in 2017 and backed early by Y Combinator, Anima has built what it describes as an API-first system tightly integrated with the popular design tool Figma. Its software uses AI agents that draw on a company’s brand guidelines, design systems, and existing front-end code to generate interfaces automatically. More than 1.5 million users have installed the product, and companies including Amazon, Samsung, Apple, Disney, Deloitte, and Accenture are cited as customers.
Organizations using Anima report completing projects up to 50 percent faster and cutting as much as 80 percent of the manual front-end coding typically required to turn a designer’s mock-ups into functioning applications. Other AI coding tools such as Bolt.new and Replit rely on Anima to create user-interface code from professional designs.
Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, announced on Sunday that it will launch nonstop service to Hanoi, Seoul and Manila from Tel Aviv, marking a major expansion of its service to Asia.
The thrice-weekly flights to each city will bring to a record 60 the number of destinations serviced by El Al.
The flights to Vietnam—which is already serviced by rival Israeli airline Arkia—will begin in October with economy fares starting at $899 round-trip, while service to South Korea will get underway in March 2027.
No date has been set yet for the launch of the flights to the Philippines.
El Al already offers 16 weekly flights to Thailand and five to Japan.
Meanwhile, the carrier’s subsidiary Sun d’Or, also known as Sundor, will be launching seasonal flights to Catania, Sicily; Cagliari, Sardinia; Basel, Switzerland; and Zagreb and Dubrovnik in Croatia, as well as returning to Denmark after a quarter-century.
Emily in Paris’ Lucas Bravo is in Tel Aviv 🇮🇱filming an ad for Israeli brand Renuar with Israeli model Yaël Shelbia.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 8, 2026
While the FreePalestine crowd is busy throwing Starbucks and smashing McDonald’s windows, top actors refuse to participate in this hate fest.
Welcome, Lucas! 💜 pic.twitter.com/eSZh79Yvqi
A powerful moment and an unforgettable story from 2022.
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) February 8, 2026
In 2019, former Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei was forced by the Iranian regime to avoid a match with Israeli judoka Sagi Muki, simply because Muki is Israeli.
Afterward, Mollaei fled Iran. In 2021, while representing… pic.twitter.com/DVaqpzH16D
Jared Firestone, skeleton racer for Israel’s Olympic team, sends a powerful message of solidarity to StandWithUs followers from the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. ❄️🇮🇱 Good luck Jared! pic.twitter.com/rCOXNQfaUn
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) February 8, 2026
The @IDF has released what it says its its Superbowl ad.
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) February 8, 2026
Much more inspiring for an American Jewish kid who’s getting called a “dirty Jew” than hoping a taller, cooler black kid will save him. pic.twitter.com/t31Gu4GL3e
Israeli music icon Matti Caspi dies at 76
Matti Caspi, one of Israel’s most influential and innovative musicians, died on Sunday at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) following a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 76 years old.
“With aching hearts and deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved husband and dear father,” Caspi’s family said in a statement. “His love and the creations he left behind will always remain a part of us.”
Born on Nov. 30, 1949 in Kibbutz Hanita, Caspi was widely regarded as one of the giants of Israeli popular music—a composer, singer, arranger, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist whose work blended classical music, jazz, Brazilian and Latin rhythms, rock and avant-garde influences. He studied piano at the Nahariya Conservatory and showed musical talent from an early age.
Caspi made his first public appearance at 16 on Kol Yisrael radio’s youth talent program Teshu’ot Rishonot. During his military service in the Israel Defense Forces, he performed with the Southern Command Band, an experience that helped launch his professional career. He later formed the trio The Three Fat Men, which evolved into They Don’t Care, scoring early hits such as “Ani Met” (“I’m Dying”).
During the Yom Kippur War, Caspi toured IDF bases alongside the legendary Canadian Jewish singer, Leonard Cohen, who later arranged Caspi’s song “Lover Lover Lover.” In the 1970s, Caspi began a celebrated collaboration with lyricist Ehud Manor, producing enduring classics such as “Brit Olam” (“Eternal Covenant”).
Over the decades, Caspi released dozens of albums and wrote or composed close to 1,000 songs, many of which became staples of Israeli culture.
Among his best-known works are “Eich Zeh Shekochav Echad Me’ez?” (“How Is It That One Star Dares?”), “Od Yavo Hayom” (“The Day Will Still Come”) and “Od Tir’i Et Haderech” (“You Will Still See the Way”). His last studio album, “Kmo Be’rikud” (“Like in a Dance”), was released in 2017.
This morning Israel lost one of it’s music legends, Matti Caspi. In Israel, Caspi was one of the defining voices of the 1970s, known for songs like “Lo Yadati SheTelchi Mimeni” (“I Didn’t Know You Would Leave Me”) and “Brit Olam” (“Covenant of Love”). For non-Israelis, he might… pic.twitter.com/t4ghtEa6dj
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) February 8, 2026
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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