Monday, March 23, 2026

From Ian:

The Golders Green ambulance attack reveals the depths of the new Jew hatred
We’ve been told since Brexit that a new 1930s is upon us. Apparently, British voters politely asking for more democratic clout and better border control constituted a terrifying descent into Nazism. All the while, those menacing Britain’s tiny Jewish community – smaller in number than British Sikhs – were rendered invisible.

Smashed shops, firebombings, murder – purely because they are Jews. I don’t know how many echoes of history need to ring out, how much broken glass needs to rattle on the ground, before the anti-fascists rouse from their slumber. Or realise they’ve slipped on to the other side.

Muslim anti-Semitism, in particular, has been lent cover by all the usual idiots and cowards. Despite anti-Semitic attitudes being stubbornly higher among British Muslims, despite Islamic extremism being the biggest terror threat we face by a country mile, every political discussion must at some point pivot to the spectre of the ‘far right’.

Given you could now fit the actual far right in the back of an Uber XL, this requires smear tactics and spectacular mental gymnastics – like when Gary Neville responded to the Heaton Park killings by bemoaning the blokes putting Union flags on lampposts, or when Green MP Hannah Spencer blamed the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing on the ‘division’ generated by Reform UK.

The arguments are almost too stupid to rebut. Apparently, Jihad al-Shamie only decided to lunge at Jews with a knife because he was made to feel ‘unwelcome’ by the sight of our national flag, and Salman Abedi only blew up girls at a pop concert because he stumbled across one of Nigel Farage’s old speeches to the European Parliament.

These are just the more low-wattage attempts to defend the indefensible. Jew hatred is back. But our rulers cannot compute it, let alone fight it. For that would require ditching their comforting ideologies, their identitarian blinkers, their deranged Israelophobia. It would mean accepting that they are part of the problem.
Jake Wallis Simons: We love life, they love death and Britain still can't pick a side
The firebombing of the ambulances is a case in point. We saw it in the Manchester synagogue stabbings and in all likelihood, we have seen it again: unbridled antisemitic incitement has consequences. Ever since October 7, our country has been debased by weekly carnivals of Jew-hatred on our streets, powered in large part by the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies. Yet when Suella Braverman labelled them “hate marches”, it was she who was silenced rather than the racist agitators.

Once again, even as the ambulances smoulder, the same propaganda is all over social media. If the Jews hadn’t tried to defend themselves against the jihadi hordes of Hamas and the Islamic regime in Tehran, if they had simply rolled over and joined Kier Starmer in bleating that vanquishing your enemy is “against international law”, they claim, then ambulances would not be firebombed in London.

Such are the foul consequences of lies. Such is their weaponisation. Such are the results of fanning the flames of hatred for years, or taking no action when it happens under our noses.

There was no “genocide” in Gaza – which genocide features evacuation warnings and humanitarian aid? Which genocide involves soldiers fighting hand-to-hand in tunnels to avoid harming civilians when the Strip could easily have been levelled from the air? – just as there are no “war crimes” in Iran.

Saturate people’s brains with footage of the appalling sufferings of war, however, and deceitfully frame it as evidence of atrocities, and lies have borne the fruit of hatred. Even our political leaders are not immune. With one eye on the Muslim vote, which is increasingly functioning as an anti-democratic sectarian bloc in a contribution to our social decline, the Prime Minister recognised a state of Palestine with the Israeli hostages still in the catacombs, earning the open congratulations of Hamas.

About ten days later, two Jews were killed in Manchester, again to the great satisfaction of the jihadis in Gaza. When David Lammy turned up to offer his condolences, he was heckled by the grieving Jews of Manchester, and with good reason.

What does all of this amount to? Simple: Britain faces a choice. Either we find the courage to look the Islamists in the eye and tell them that enough is enough, or we see the disappearance of our Jewish community and the gradual fall of our democracy. If that sounds alarmist, look back at history. Read the 2015 government report on the Muslim Brotherhood, which labelled the group a national security threat and yet resulted in no action.

As Israeli prime minister Golda Meir famously said, “they say we must be dead. And we say we want to be alive. Between life and death, I don’t know of a compromise.” Does Britain wish to stand on the side of the ambulances that seek to save us, or the arsonists who fetishise blood? Disturbingly, the country is finding it hard to make up its mind.
Daniel Sugarman: Golders Green, antisemitism and Passover
In a little more than a week, we will sit at the Passover table to conduct the seder. We will tell our children the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The people of Israel were honoured in Egypt – Joseph served as the Imperial viceroy – until it all came crashing down. What happened? The book of Exodus, quoted in the Haggadah, the telling over of the Passover story, tells us. “A new king arose, who did not know Joseph”. Did he literally not know who Joseph was? Unlikely. But Joseph – and his service to Egypt, helping protect the populace from the ravages of famine – meant nothing to him. The Bible goes into detail about what was the first instance of antisemitism in history – the charge, repeated so many times down the millennia, of dual loyalty.

“Let us deal wisely with them”, says Pharaoh to his people. “In case they increase in number and a war befall us and they join our enemies and wage war against us.”

A little later on in the Haggadah, we will read the paragraph of Vehi Sheamdah, which says “in every generation, our enemies rise up to destroy us”. It would be taken as paranoia were it not demonstrably true. The last few years have seen a sickening sanitisation of Jew hate in public life. In an era where every antisemitic attack is followed by a tidal wave of accusations of false flags and dual loyalty, where Jews are blamed for the very attacks they are targeted by, this takes on a new meaning.

That paragraph of the Haggadah ends by saying “and the Holy One, blessed be he, rescues us from their hands.” Returning momentarily to my charedi upbringing, the word for “rescues us” – matzilenu – has the same Hebrew root as the name of the organisation whose ambulances were firebombed – hatzola – literally, “rescue”. At the time I write this, more than £1 million has been been raised for Hatzola NW, raised by thousands of people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike – and the government has pledged to replace all the ambulances that were destroyed.

Those who seek to intimidate us and bring us down will find it far harder to do so than they think.


Hatzola ambulances set alight in Golders Green arson attack
Police have launched a major investigation after an antisemitic arson attack on ambulances run by the charity Hatzola in the heart of London’s Jewish community.

At least three emergency vehicles were alight at 1.45am as explosions, caused by exploding oxygen tanks on board rather than bombs, were heard in the Golders Green area. The attack took place at the charity’s Golders |Green base in the car park of the Machzei Hadass synagogue, which was visited by Rishi Sunak during the 2024 election campaign.

Within half an hour, CCTV of three hooded men, one carrying a canister, was circulating across social media.

Local Cllr Dean Cohen, who was one of the first on the scene, described the sight that greeted him as “utterly shocking, terrifying”.

He told Jewish News: “The targeting of life-saving vehicles stationed the the car park of a synagogue is particularly chilling and will send shockwaves through our community at a time of already heightened fears over antisemitism in the UK. It’s beyond time for the authorities to wake and and do more to tackle this hate running riot.”

Mark Gardner, chief executive of CST, told Jewish News: “This has obvious comparison to similar antisemitic arson attacks recently in Belgium and the Netherlands. CST thanks all those who responded from 999 emergency agencies; and Shomrim, Hatzolah and our own CST volunteers.”

Hatzola is a volunteer service which supports Jews and non-Jews in medical emergencies.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “My thoughts are with the Jewish community who are waking up this morning to this horrific news.”

Superintendent Sarah Jackson, who leads policing in the local area said: “We know this incident will cause a great deal of community concern and officers remain on scene to carry out urgent enquiries. We are in the process of examining CCTV and are aware of online footage. We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage.

“There have been no arrests yet, and we would urge anyone with information to please contact us as soon as possible – you can do so anonymously if you wish.

“We will be engaging with faith leaders and carrying out additional patrols in the local area as we continue our investigation to provide reassurance and a highly visible presence.”


Rabbi Benjy Morgan: Today in north west London, Jewish lifesavers became targets
You can burn our synagogues, but you cannot burn our faith.
You can attack our ambulances, but you cannot extinguish our compassion.
You can kill Jews, but you cannot destroy the soul of a people.

Because that soul does not reside in what we possess, but in what we are.

And it is for that reason that, this morning, Hatzola simply announced that all its services would continue as normal.

There is something profoundly moving in that quiet statement. No rhetoric, no defiance for its own sake, only a continuation of purpose.

Because Hatzola did not begin with ambulances. It began with individuals, using their own cars, guided by a simple but powerful conviction: that when another human being is in need, one responds.

That spirit cannot be targeted. It cannot be extinguished.

You can damage the external forms, but the inner flame endures.

That has always been the story of the Jewish people. We have faced darker chapters than this, more sustained hatred, more devastating loss. And yet we remain.

Because we carry within us something that cannot be taken away.

Am Yisrael Chai.
The flame they try to extinguish is the very one that will outlive them.


Who burns ambulances? Shaken but unbowed, Golders Green looks for answers
By mid-morning, Golders Green felt unusually still.

Police tape cut across the street where four Hatzola ambulances had been burned overnight. Behind it, small groups of local residents – many from the area’s Orthodox Jewish community – stood watching quietly. Some had come straight out from home, others lingered after school drop-offs, trying to take in what had happened.

Among those gathered were also members of the Iranian community, some holding flags.

Vahid Abazari, a supporter of the Iranian monarchy, told Jewish News he came to the scene to show solidarity.

“We came here straight away to find out what’s going on,” he said. “We’ve suffered from terrorism for many years… so we wanted to come and support.”

Television crews and photographers clustered near the scene, while firefighters and emergency workers moved in and out. A red London Fire Brigade vehicle remains parked nearby, its presence a reminder of the night before.

“I woke up at around seven,” one local man told Jewish News. “I wasn’t shocked that something happened… but when I saw what it was – ambulances – that surprised me.

“It’s a service for everyone. Jews, non-Jews… anyone in the community.”

Around him, conversations drifted between neighbours – some speaking quietly, others more openly frustrated. For many, the shock was less about the fact of an incident and more about what had been targeted.

Simon Tobi, a local resident who is standing as a candidate in the upcoming Barnet council elections, said he felt “shock… very upset that it could happen, especially to four ambulances.”

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” he said. “These people need to be tracked down and punished for what they’ve done.”

He added that, if elected, he would push for closer cooperation with authorities and stronger local safety measures, saying: “We want to make our streets safe again.”


‘Our phones haven’t stopped and our service continues unbroken,’ says Hatzola UK
Hatzola insists it’s business as usual for its team of 61 volunteers operating in and around Golders Green.

A 24/7 community service, Hatzola North-West covers Hendon, Golders Green, Finchley, Mill Hill, Hampstead and Colindale.

Over the past year, it has taken 7,000 calls, a 10% year-on-year increase when compared with 2024 and 2023, with volunteers clocking a total of 2,000 hours a month.

Emergency medics attended 4,200 calls, with three volunteers dispatched every two hours, and attending 50 life threatening calls a month.

Laurence Blitz, chair of trustees for Hatzola UK, told Jewish News: “What happened overnight is shocking in the extreme. The emergency services were magnificent and we are deeply grateful. However, our phones haven’t stopped, our volunteers are responding to call outs, and our service continues unbroken.

“We have no time to grieve. We are grateful to the London Ambulance Service and St John’s Ambulance who have loaned us vehicles, to the Government who offered to replace the ambulances we have lost, and to the Health Secretary and our MP for their support.”

He added: “To our community. Our schools are open, our shuls are full, our shops, cafes and restaurants busy; life goes on.”
More than half a million raised for Hatzola NW within hours of firebomb ambulance attack
Thousands of people have donated money to the Hatzola NW charity after four of their Golders Green-based ambulances were targeted in a firebombing overnight, with more than half a million pounds donated in the space of a few hours.

The attack, which took place in the early hours of Monday morning, showed individuals in hoods setting fire to the vehicles on Highfield Road, in a parking lot belonging to the adjacent Machzikei Hadath synagogue. Subsequent explosions from the torched vehicles shattered the windows of nearby apartments; no injuries in connection to the arson attack were reported.

At the time of writing, more than 1,500 donors to a Charity Extra page had raised more than £415,000 for Hatzola NW, with £200,000 of that figure donated by the Ronson Foundation.

“Following the horrific antisemitic attack this morning on Hatzola Ambulances in North West London, our community is once again confronted with the stark reality of hatred directed at those who dedicate their lives to saving others”, the fundraising page message said.

“Hatzola’s responders are there for everyone -day and night- providing critical, lifesaving care without hesitation and without charge. To target them is not only an act of violence, but an attack on the very values of compassion and humanity that bind our community together.

“We are launching an urgent appeal to rebuild what has been lost – we cannot afford to let our life saving work be put on pause.”

Separately, a GoFundMe page set up early this morning had raised more than £73,000 of its £125,000 aim at the time of writing, with more than 700 people donating. Many others donated directly to the charity via its website.


‘The intifada has come to London’ | What we know about the Golders Green ambulance attack
Four ambulances run by a Jewish community group in London’s Golders Green were set on fire in the early hours of Monday morning. Iran-linked terrorists have claimed responsibility. Here, Lorin Bell-Cross – political correspondent at the Jewish Chronicle – outlines what we know so far about the ambulance attack, and explains why Labour cannot speak frankly about the threat to British Jews.




Rally to be held in Golders Green in response to firebombing of Hatzola ambulances
Grassroots activist groups Stop the Hate and OurFight are hosting an urgent public event this evening in response to today’s arson attack in Golders Green, where four Jewish community ambulances were firebombed.

The meeting, at 6:30pm outside 20 Russell Parade on Golders Green Road, is intended by the groups in question to bring together campaigners and allies to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, confront the growing threat of anti- Jewish racism, and to demand stronger, more decisive action from those in positions of responsibility.

Promoting the event, the groups said Monday’s attack “represents a deeply troubling escalation in the targeting of Jewish communities and lifesaving services. It comes amid a sustained and alarming rise in antisemitism across the United Kingdom, where Jewish people are increasingly facing intimidation, violence and fear in their daily lives.”

Stop the Hate and OurFight said they were calling on the government, police and Crown Prosecution Service to take “urgent and meaningful steps” to address antisemitism, including “ensuring that hate crimes are properly investigated and prosecuted, increasing protection for vulnerable communities, and ending the culture of impunity that allows anti-Jewish hatred to persist.”

They added that the gathering will serve “as both a moment of solidarity and a platform for action, making clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated and that Jewish communities must be protected.”


Starmer leads cross-party condemnation of ‘shocking’ ambulance arson attack
The prime minister and political leaders from all main parties have condemned the arson attack on Jewish community ambulances in Golders Green.

Keir Starmer described the incident, which took place in the early hours of Monday, as a “deeply shocking”.

He added: “My thoughts are with the Jewish community who are waking up this morning to this horrific news. Antisemitism has no place in our society. Anyone with any information must come forward to the police.”

Starmer said he had been in contact with Jewish community leaders and “it’s really important that we all stand together”.

He said: “This is a horrific antisemitic attack. And of course, my thoughts, I think all of our thoughts, will be with those in the vicinity, the residents who are understandably very concerned, the Jewish community across the country, deeply concerned.

“I’ve already been in touch with community leaders this morning and will continue to do so during the day. But antisemitism has no place in our society, and it’s really important that we all stand together at a moment like this.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also expressed anger at the attack, which was captured on CCTV cameras in the area.

“What kind of person targets Hatzola, a volunteer-run ambulance service?” posted Badenoch on X. “Just last week in Golders Green, members of the Jewish community told me how they live in fear of constant attacks.

“The police must find those responsible. A hatred of Jews is growing in our country, and all of us need to make it clear in our words and actions that Britain will not tolerate antisemitism.”


Dutch police foil suspected synagogue bombing plot as explosives found near site
A suspected attack on a synagogue in the Netherlands has been prevented after explosive materials were discovered near the building, prompting arrests and renewed concern over a spate of incidents targeting Jewish sites.

Dutch authorities intervened in the town of Heemstede, in the country’s western region, after identifying explosives close to a synagogue. Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with the alleged plot.

The incident was highlighted by the European Jewish Congress (EJC), which warned of the escalating threat facing Jewish communities across Europe.

In a statement posted on X, the EJC said: “The discovery of explosive materials near a place of worship is extremely alarming and highlights the serious and ongoing threat facing Jewish communities. Preventing this attack likely averted potentially devastating consequences.

“This incident underscores the urgent need for heightened vigilance, strong intelligence cooperation and reinforced protection of Jewish sites. Authorities must ensure that those responsible are identified and that any wider networks behind these attempts are dismantled.

“Jewish communities must be able to live, gather, and pray in safety. Attempts to terrorise them will not succeed.”

The foiled plot comes amid a series of attacks on Jewish locations in the Netherlands in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, an explosion damaged part of a Jewish primary school in Amsterdam. While no injuries were reported, the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, described it as “a deliberate attack against the Jewish community” and “a cowardly act of aggression”.
US has discussed need to continue UN reforms with sec-gen candidates, Waltz says
The next secretary-general of the United Nations must implement key reforms, Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the House Appropriations Committee at a field hearing on Friday at the U.S. mission to the world body in Manhattan.

Waltz highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate waste and excess at the United Nations, including an unprecedented 15% cut to the regular budget, as well as reductions of peacekeeping mission troops and reforms to U.N. staff pay and pensions, which have grown significantly.

U.S.-led reforms have eliminated almost 3,000 positions at U.N. headquarters, resulting in $126 million in savings, according to the envoy.

“The U.N.’s budget in the last 25 years has quadrupled,” he testified before the committee. “We have not seen, arguably, a quadrupling of peace and security around the world commensurate with those hard-earned dollars.”

The global body is accepting applications for the next secretary-general, who is to be elected later this year, following the expiration of António Guterres’s term. Discussions with candidates are underway, and Washington is testing the degree to which they align with U.S. priorities, according to Waltz.

“This is a critical moment with senior leadership transitions approaching,” he said. “If we walked away tomorrow,” which he said neither he nor U.S. President Donald Trump was advocating, “it would be reinvented somewhere else.”

The United States contributes about 20% of the U.N. budget. Washington is behind hundreds of millions of dollars in paying dues to the global body.

“I will push hard and continuously to have it right here in the United States where it belongs,” Waltz said.
UKLFI: The Role of UN Special Rapporteurs & Criticisms of Francesca Albanese, explained by Mark Goldfeder
What are UN Special Rapporteurs, and what rules are supposed to govern their conduct?

In this interview, we speak with Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, about the role of Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations Human Rights Council and the legal standards that apply to them under the Council’s Code of Conduct.

The discussion focuses on the mandate and responsibilities of Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian-controlled territories and the wider debate about impartiality, independence and accountability within the UN’s Special Procedures system.

Goldfeder explains how Special Rapporteurs are appointed, what the Code of Conduct requires in terms of professional behaviour and independence and how concerns about compliance with those standards can be raised within the UN system.

The conversation also looks at the strengths and limitations of the current oversight mechanisms and the broader questions being raised about the credibility and reform of the Special Rapporteur system.

This interview is presented for educational purposes as part of the UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust’s work advancing legal education and discussion relating to international law, Israel and antisemitism.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:06 Role of Special Rapporteurs & UNHRC Code of Conduct
02:33 Concerns regarding Francesca Albanese
03:39 How complaints about rapporteurs are assessed
05:09 Strengths and weaknesses of Special Rapporteur framework
07:20 Vetting and appointment processes
07:39 Why impartiality matters for credibility of UN institutions
08:22 Legal action filed in US against Francesca Albanese
11:07 Potential real-world consequences of controversial rhetoric
11:54 Prospects for accountability and future developments




Call me Back Podcast: Why We Fight - with Micah Goodman
Are the stakes of the Iran war higher than Israelis understand?

Micah Goodman joins Dan to try and understand the different narratives that drive this war: Iran’s war against the West, the Iranian people’s war of liberation, the United States’ paradoxical relationship with Israel, and China’s hegemonic fantasies. While Israelis are primarily concerned with guaranteeing their own safety, Micah argues that the war puts all these narratives to the test, and that the stakes of winning (or losing) the war may define the future of the balance of power around the world.

In this episode:
The “Great Convergence”: Why This War Is Different
The U.S.-Israel Paradox
America First and MAGA (Can Israel’s Military Beat Conspiracy Theories?)
Trump’s War Doctrine: Strength Without Quagmire
The Global Stakes: China, Iran, and Deterrence
Zionism and the Bigger Meaning of This War


UKLFI: Challenging Institutional Appeasement - the Aston Villa / Maccabi Tel Aviv Affair
This is a recording of a UKLFI Charitable Trust webinar on "Challenging Institutional Appeasement" about holding the West Midlands Police to account after their decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from coming to a match against Aston Villa. The Panel: Simone Schehtman and Michael Rowe, chaired by Natasha Hausdorff. It was recorded on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.

On 16 October 2025 the Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group (SAG) decided that fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club would not be allowed to attend its away match on 6 November 2025 against Aston Villa. This decision was based on a recommendation by West Midlands Police (WMP) that was apparently made in order to appease those who objected to the presence of Israelis in Birmingham.

The speakers in this webinar played a major role in ensuring that West Midlands Police (WMP) have been held to account for this recommendation and that remedial steps are being taken.

WMP’s Chief Constable was forced to resign on 16 January 2026. A retired Jewish Chief Superintendent has been appointed by WMP to oversee antisemitism training. WMP are now addressing reports of antisemitism immediately and are working closely with representatives of the Birmingham Jewish community to promote harmony across the city. Other UK police forces are asking WMP for advice on how to avoid making similar errors to those which led to the decision to ban the TA Maccabi fans.

Simone and Michael will explain how these and other results have been achieved, and what can and should be done to prevent appeasement of racial prejudice by other British institutions.


"Is Netanyahu Dead?" Can Democracies Survive the Age of AI Propaganda? | Travis Hawley
When people no longer trust their own eyes, disinformation stops being background noise and becomes a battlefield.

The conspiracy that Benjamin Netanyahu is dead may sound absurd. But the ease with which it spread reveals something far more serious: hostile actors no longer need bombs alone to destabilize democracies. They can do it with algorithms, fake accounts, recycled footage, and millions of willing believers.

In this episode of EylON the Record, Eylon Levy speaks with Travis Hawley, a former US Air Force intelligence analyst and open-source investigator, about how the conspiracy theory that Netanyahu is dead went viral, who helped push it, and what it reveals about the broader information war facing Israel and the West. They explore how state and non-state actors exploit social media, AI, and collapsing public trust to spread falsehoods, inflame hatred, and weaken democratic societies from within.

In this episode, we discuss:
How the “Netanyahu is dead” conspiracy spread from fringe rumor to mass delusion
The role of Iran-linked propaganda, bot networks, troll farms, and useful idiots in amplifying lies
Why fake footage of destroyed Tel Aviv and AI hoaxes are part of a wider asymmetric war
Whether democracies can defend themselves when social media rewards manipulation over truth

This conversation goes beyond one viral lie. It is about what happens when open societies are flooded with industrial-scale deception and citizens lose the ability to distinguish evidence from narrative. Understanding that threat correctly is no longer optional. It is a matter of democratic self-defense.

00:00: The Disinformation Apocalypse
06:39: How the Netanyahu Conspiracy Started
09:16: Bots, Sock Puppets, and Troll Farms
11:59: The State Actors Behind Disinformation
14:58: The Business of Online Hate and Propaganda
17:50: How Coordinated Networks Spread Conspiracies
20:32: Why Western Societies Are So Vulnerable
23:04: Viral Fakes, AI Hoaxes, and the Tel Aviv Lies
25:42: Can Social Media Be Fixed?
35:39: How Democracies Should Fight Back
41:19: What Individuals Can Do


Lebanon Finally Moves on Hezbollah. Is It Too Late? | Jonathan Elkhoury
For years, the world treated Hezbollah as a problem to be managed... or ignored? Now Lebanon is being forced to confront what that evasion has cost.

In this episode of EylON the Record, Eylon Levy speaks with Jonathan Elkhoury, a Lebanese-Israeli and the son of an officer in the former South Lebanon Army, about Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanon, why the Lebanese state failed to dismantle it after the November 2024 ceasefire, and why Israel no longer believes diplomacy alone can remove the threat. Together, they examine whether Lebanon’s sudden moves against Hezbollah are genuine, whether peace talks with Israel are serious or tactical, and what this means for Israel, Lebanon, and the wider war against Iran’s proxy network.

In this episode, we discuss:
Why the 2024 ceasefire failed and how Hezbollah rearmed despite diplomatic guarantees

Whether the Lebanese government truly could not confront Hezbollah — or chose not to

Why Israel sees renewed diplomacy as a way of freezing the threat rather than removing it

Whether Hezbollah’s defeat could create a real opening for peace between Israel and Lebanon

This conversation goes beyond the latest strikes and ceasefire talk. It is about the long-term cost of letting armed proxies outgrow the states that host them — and about what happens when diplomacy becomes a substitute for enforcement instead of a path to peace.


Erin Molan: Candace, Charlie Kirk… Do All Roads Lead Back To Joe Kent?
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, also referred to as “Charlie Kirk’s Rabbi,” joins Erin Molan for a wide-ranging, explosive interview that goes far beyond one headline.

From the growing threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities… to rising tensions across the Western world… to a bombshell claim about the private chat linked to Charlie Kirk and how narratives involving Candace Owens may have spread — this episode connects the dots.

According to Wolicki, members of that chat believed they had identified a potential source behind the leaks. He also references moments involving Joe Kent that he says raise serious questions.

Also in this episode:
The reality of Iran’s missile reach
Rising extremism and tensions in Western cities
The debate around Christian Zionism
Divisions within MAGA and what it could mean for upcoming elections

00:00 Welcome + What’s Coming
01:10 Iran’s Missile Range Shock
02:30 Why This Changes the Threat Landscape
04:10 Joe Kent, Iran & Trusting the Regime
06:00 Israel Strike Reaction + Global Impact
07:30 Extremism in Western Cities (Sydney, UK)
09:30 Cultural Clash & Failed Appeasement
11:30 UK Backlash + Political Weakness
13:30 Why This Matters for the West
23:00 Joe Kent, Charlie Kirk & The Candace Owens Leak
41:30 Christian Zionism & The Theology Debate
50:00 MAGA Fracture, Politics & The Midterms
1:00:00 Fan Feedback + Final Thoughts




Graham Platner doubles down on anti-Israel rhetoric
Graham Platner, the progressive Maine Senate candidate, in a CNN interview that aired Sunday accused Israel of committing genocide and said the U.S. should cut off all aid, as well as dismissed concerns that bringing the Iran war to a halt would endanger U.S. forces in the region.

“I fundamentally believe that a nation that is committing a genocide should not be a place that we are putting money. We should be leveraging the fact that we have a lot of power in this relationship due to our funding,” Platner said in the interview. “We should be leveraging that to, frankly, get the Israeli government to stop behaving in such an utterly atrocious fashion.”

Platner said that he would vote against any further funding for the war in Iran, dismissing concerns that cutting funding for the war would leave U.S. forces in harm’s way, despite ongoing attacks by Iran.

“I’ve been very close to the realities of wars [in Iraq], and that was a war that never should have happened, and that we find ourselves here with another war that should not be happening, that is resulting in destruction and horror, all, frankly, on the taxpayers dime,” Platner said. “That is money that should be spent here in the United States, on schools, on hospitals, on infrastructure.”
Progressive congressional staff meet with Columbia protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi
The Congressional Progressive Staff Association, a congressional employee group for progressive staffers and prospective staffers, hosted a happy hour this week with Columbia University protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi, whom the administration has been trying for months to deport.

The Department of Homeland Security has characterized Mahdawi as a “ringleader” in anti-Israel protests at Columbia and accused him of using “threatening rhetoric and intimidation” against Jewish students.

The administration has also claimed that Mahdawi admitted to being involved in and supporting terrorist violence, including telling a gun shop owner more than a decade ago that he had “considerable firearm experience” and used guns to “kill Jews while he was in Palestine,” that he attempted to purchase a rifle and a machine gun, that he claimed to have made guns for Hezbollah and that he said that he enjoyed killing Jews.

Mahdawi’s lawyers have denied those claims and noted that they were dismissed by law enforcement at the time.

In a “60 Minutes” interview in December 2023, Mahdawi said he could “empathize” with Hamas and its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. “To empathize is to understand the root cause and to not look at any event or situation in a vacuum. This is for me that path moving forward.”

On his Instagram page, Mahdawi shared photos honoring what he called the “martyrdom” of his “cousin,” Maysara Masharqa, a field commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade — designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel, the E.U. and others — calling him a “fierce resistance fighter.”

He also called Hamas a “product of the Israeli occupation” and reportedly helped craft a statement justifying the Oct. 7 attacks as “rooted in international law.”
'Moderate' Mikie Sherrill Attends Ramadan Services With Imam Who Faced Deportation Proceedings Over Alleged Ties to Hamas and Calls for 'New Intifada'
New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill, who ran for election in November as a "moderate" Democrat, visited a New Jersey mosque on Friday that has been linked to terrorist activity since its founding in 1989 and whose cofounder was convicted of funneling money to Hamas. During that visit, Sherrill met with a cleric who has faced deportation proceedings over his own alleged ties to the terror group and for calling for a "new intifada."

At the Islamic Center of Passaic County, which Sherrill visited for Ramadan services, according to photos posted on social media, she met with Imam Mohammad Qatanani. "This is a community with the five pillars of Islam that is constantly looking to do good works," Sherrill, sporting a head covering, said in remarks in the mosque after meeting with Qatanani. "And that is something I think is lacking now in this country."

While Qatanani has denied having ties to Hamas, he has espoused extremist anti-Israel views. The cleric called for a "new intifada" against Israel during a rally in Times Square in 2017 against the Trump administration's plans to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, according to court documents. "No peace process and negotiation without liberation in Palestine," said Qatanani. "We have to start a new intifada. Intifada, intifada!"

Mohammad El-Mezain, a cofounder of the Islamic Center, was convicted in 2009 of funneling money to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation. Mohammed Al-Hanooti, who allegedly raised more than $6 million for Hamas, served as an imam at the Islamic Center in the 1990s, according to the magazine Islamic Horizons. And Qatanani, whom Sherrill met with, has been accused of having ties to Hamas. According to Department of Homeland Security court filings, an Israeli jury convicted Qatanani in 1993 of being a member of the terrorist group. Federal officials have filed several deportation cases against Qatanani, alleging he failed to disclose his Hamas conviction in a visa application in 1999.
DSA-backed D.C. mayoral candidate apologizes privately to Jewish leaders over pledging to boycott Zionist events
Janeese Lewis George, a Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate for mayor of Washington, D.C., met with prominent local rabbis and Jewish community leaders last week amid fallout over a DSA questionnaire she filled out outlining her views on Israel and antisemitism.

The March 19 meeting, at the Orthodox Ohev Sholom Congregation in Shepherd Park, was arranged after her responses to a DSA endorsement questionnaire were made public last month, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

In the questionnaire, Lewis George pledged not to attend events focused on “promoting Zionism and apartheid.” She also said that she had attended a D.C. Jewish Community Relations Council event in December only to talk about opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation measures in the region, and that she did not agree with JCRC’s stances on Israel, Zionism and antisemitism.

At the meeting at Ohev Sholom, Lewis George apologized for her statements in the questionnaire, one of the event’s attendees told Jewish Insider, and cried when someone in the meeting described feeling hurt by her answers in the questionnaire.

She blamed the anti-Israel responses on one of her staff members, and said she would have submitted a different response if she had seen it before it was submitted.

However, she has not expressed that same sentiment publicly. A spokesperson for Lewis George did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Monday.

Lewis George did not make any promises to apologize publicly or to further address her comments in the DSA questionnaire, according to the meeting attendee.

The meeting included rabbis and senior leaders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School, the Edlavitch D.C. JCC, Temple Sinai, Ohev Sholom, Adas Israel Congregation, Tifereth Israel Congregation, Temple Micah, the JCRC and Tzedek DC, a legal services organization.

Lewis George will appear at a rally hosted by the Metro DC DSA chapter on Wednesday alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most vocal detractors of Israel in Congress.


How a Small Canadian University Went to War on a Professor Because He Said He Stood With Israel
There are scandals that erupt loudly, filling front pages and provoking parliamentary outrage. And then there are scandals that unfold quietly inside institutions so small that almost nobody notices.

The latter are often the more revealing.
The University of Guelph-Humber is not one of Canada’s large or prestigious public universities. It is a small joint campus operated by the University of Guelph and Humber College, with roughly 6,000 students. In most national rankings of Canadian universities, it sits near the bottom tier of the academic hierarchy.

It is not the sort of place that commands national attention.
This may explain why what happened there has received almost none.

If the same sequence of events—suspension without charges followed almost immediately by the spread of defamatory allegations of violence and safety risks—had unfolded at the University of Toronto, Harvard, McGill, or York University, it would almost certainly have triggered a serious debate about academic freedom, defamation, antisemitism, and procedural fairness in Canadian or American higher education.

Instead, it occurred at a small campus that few people outside Ontario have heard of. And so the story has largely passed unnoticed.

It begins with a professor named Paul Finlayson.
For roughly fifteen years, Finlayson taught business courses at the University of Guelph-Humber. During that time, he developed a strong reputation among students and faculty.

The campus ran a recognition program known as “shout-outs,” in which students were asked to identify their favourite professors. According to Finlayson and numerous students, every year the program was conducted, he received more votes individually than the rest of the business department combined.

He wrote four textbooks. He built courses. He stayed late, students called him on the weekend when they were jammed up on a project, his classrooms were known for their humour. His student evaluations were consistently strong. He accumulated no disciplinary record. He minded his own business.

By the ordinary standards of academic life, it had been a modestly successful and largely uneventful career. CNN was not calling for his opinion. He was not an academic star, but he was still a dependable lecturer at a small, relatively unknown university. Students frequently said his classes were the only ones in which they actually learned something.

Then came October 7.
After the Hamas massacre in Israel, Finlayson responded, as millions of people around the world did. In an online exchange with a man in Pakistan who had called for the eradication of Israel, Finlayson replied that he stood with Israel and described Hamas as Nazis, pointing out that Hamas emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood—an organization founded in 1928 that historically expressed admiration and solidarity with Hitler’s National Socialist party.

Finlayson’s comment was directed at someone with no connection to his university.
Finlayson says he still has no idea how the exchange reached the University of Guelph-Humber administration.

But once it began, events at the heavily Muslim campus moved quickly. He was suspended almost immediately, without charges or explanation. At the time, he had no idea that a routine social media post had set such dire machinery in motion.

Criticism of an organization designated as a terrorist group by the Canadian government was unacceptable at the University of Guelph-Humber. Even more striking, Finlayson’s own union local, OPSEU 562—an organization to which he had paid thousands of dollars in mandatory dues for representation—treated such criticism as a “hate crime.”

On November 17, 2023, the University of Guelph-Humber Assistant Vice Provost (AVP), George Bragues, acting at the direction of his superior, Vice Provost Melanie Spence Ariemma, immediately removed Finlayson from campus without providing any clear explanation. The only communication from the AVP was a casual comment that the reason was related to what Finlayson had said on social media, though Baragues said he knew no more than that and noted that he was simply following orders.
Israel's 'Genocidal Aims' Denounced by Harvard Researcher at Harvard-Sponsored Event Days After U.S. Government Files Antisemitism Lawsuit Against University
The weekend after the federal government sued Harvard for ongoing "relentless antisemitic on-campus discrimination," Harvard co-sponsored an event with a boycott-Israel advocacy group in which a Harvard researcher accused Israel of "genocide" in Gaza.

Signup for the online event of the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council was available via the website of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health & Human Rights, which sits within Harvard’s School of Public Health. The "Harvard FXB program" was announced at the start of the event as a cosponsor, and the main speaker at the event, Bilal Irfan, was introduced as a bioethicist at "Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s hospital."

After greetings from Alice Rothschild of the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council, which is promoting on its website a report about Israel’s "engineered collapse of Palestinian life," and Miguel Garcia, global secretary of the People’s Health Movement, which issued a statement Thursday condemning "Israel’s military assaults on Lebanon and the US backing that makes it possible," Irfan plunged into a slide presentation that he described as "documenting the Gaza genocide."

Irfan spoke of what he said was "Israel’s policy of destroying the health system," which he said was "a part of the genocidal aims." He accused Israel of acting to "abduct these physicians" without mentioning that the Israel Defence Forces have described at least some Gaza doctors as suspected Hamas terrorist operatives and the released Israeli hostage Sharon Cunio said that most of her time in Hamas captivity was spent in a hospital. Irfan did not mention Hamas once in the entire presentation. At one point he referred to October 28, 2023, as "three weeks into the genocide" without making any mention of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. He accused Israel of "targeted attacks on maternity wards," without acknowledging that Hamas stores weapons in hospital neonatal incubators. He also demonized Israeli doctors: "there are a number of Israeli health-care providers who are pro-genocide."

Among the other accusations that Irfan made against Israel were "sexual violence against children" and detaining children "in small cages," an accusation he said dated to June 2023.

Irfan complained that he had trouble publishing some of his findings because of pressure from journals and medical societies to "keep it two-sided" and because of funding guidelines "pushing people to not support boycotts of the apartheid regime."

He concluded by urging people to "continue advocacy in your personal and professional lives."
'Plainly Wrong': Berkeley Law Dean Accused of Violating Settlement Agreement Over 'Anti-Zionist' Student Group Bylaws
A Jewish legal advocacy group is accusing the University of California, Berkeley's law school dean of violating the terms of a just-announced settlement that resolved a lawsuit challenging student group bylaws that barred speakers based on their Jewish, Israeli, or Zionist identities.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced Thursday that Berkeley agreed to settle the lawsuit, which the group filed in November 2023 alongside the center's Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education organization, whose members include Berkeley Law professors and Berkeley students. They accused the school of allowing student organizations to pass bylaws that banned speakers who supported Israel or Zionism.

The settlement, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, states that the law school's registered student groups cannot "include prohibitions on speakers" in their bylaws and constitutions, nor can they "limit officers, board members, or speakers based on a category that is protected under federal or state law." Berkeley agreed to implement mandatory faculty training on anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli discrimination and publish a statement on its website noting that "bans on Zionists have historically been used by some individuals and institutions as a pretext for excluding Jews."

Shortly after the settlement's announcement, Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky told the law school student body in an email obtained by the Free Beacon that the bylaws must change, but restrictive speaker policies could remain.

"Under the settlement, student organizations may continue to have policies as to who they will invite as speakers, including on the basis of viewpoint," Chemerinsky wrote. "However, under the settlement, the Bylaws of the student organization cannot state a policy of restricting who may speak at the organization's events."

"Simply put, student organizations may continue to have the same policies that they have adopted restricting who they will invite to speak, but these policies cannot be contained within their Bylaws," he added.
Columbia's Socialist Students Vow To 'Liaise' With 'Death to America' Group, Contradicting School's 'Zero Tolerance' Policy
Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), a recognized student group, says it is working "to plan actions and liaise with Columbia University Apartheid Divest [CUAD]," the student organization that wished "death to America" after President Donald Trump initiated military operations against Iran last month and that organized the anti-Israel encampment that fomented chaos on campus in 2024. That appears to violate the Ivy League school's "zero tolerance" policy toward CUAD—and its recent claim that no recognized groups are affiliated with it.

Columbia touted that policy in a March 1 statement, saying that "last year the University took the step of requiring all recognized student groups, including those who had previously affiliated with 'CUAD' … to acknowledge and comply with the University's Zero Tolerance policy in order to retain their official recognition."

"All currently recognized student groups have no affiliation with the group that calls itself 'CUAD,'" Columbia said. "The University stands by its Zero Tolerance policy." The statement came after CUAD posted "Death to America" in Persian in the wake of President Donald Trump's opening salvo of strikes on Iran.

YDSA's official Columbia webpage, however, includes a link to an interest form that says the group coordinates with other banned "leftist groups"—Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)—to "plan actions and liaise with Columbia University Apartheid Divest." The form says it's for the 2024-2025 school year, but YDSA included a link to it in an August 19 Instagram post.
UCL warns of disciplinary action after ‘Zionists not welcome’ chants near campus
UCL has said it will take disciplinary action against any of its students found to have taken part in chants declaring “Zionists are not welcome here” during an incident near its central London campus.

Footage shared online last week appeared to show masked individuals chanting the slogan during a confrontation close to the university, prompting concern among Jewish students and community groups.

The incident came days after a report by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) highlighted rising antisemitism on campus.

In a statement, a UCL spokesperson acknowledged the impact of the scenes, saying: “We know how deeply distressing this incident, which took place on a public street outside our university, will have been for many of our students and staff.”

The university stressed that the incident occurred off campus and outside its direct authority, adding: “Our security team closely monitored the situation, but unfortunately we have no control over what takes place in the public realm and not on UCL property and, in this case, no authority to tell either the stallholders or the counter-protesters that such activities could not happen in a public space.”

However, UCL reiterated its position on antisemitism, stating: “We have repeatedly made clear to our community that all forms of antisemitism are entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated at UCL.”

It added that action would be taken if any students were involved: “If any of our students are found to have been among the counter-protesters chanting discriminatory slogans, then we will not hesitate to act.”

Responding to the footage, Conservative MP Laura Trott said the scenes reflected a wider problem facing Jewish students.

“This is a grim picture of the appalling behaviour Jewish students are facing,” she wrote on X. “These vile individuals are masked to intimidate. We should not tolerate this.

“Any student involved must face firm disciplinary action, or we signal this behaviour is acceptable. Enough.”
Cornell’s president did something remarkable
Over the past year, I have found myself returning, more often than I’d expect, to a question that once felt almost theoretical: what does it mean for a university president to say no? Not to the ordinary pressures of institutional life, which are constant and familiar, but to demands that arrive from outside the university, framed in the language of morality and urgency, carrying with them an implicit expectation that the institution will align itself accordingly.

A letter published this week by Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff offers one such answer. The immediate context was a student assembly resolution calling on Cornell to sever academic ties with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The demand was presented as an ethical imperative, and variations of this argument are now appearing across campuses in the United States and beyond, typically grounded in the belief that universities, precisely because of their values, are obligated to translate those values into institutional positions on contested political questions.

What was striking in Kotlikoff’s response was not only that he rejected the call, but how he chose to do so. He articulated a view of the university that is at once simple and, in the current climate, increasingly difficult to sustain: that academic collaboration is not a form of political endorsement, that universities exist to enable the exchange of knowledge rather than to curtail it under pressure, and that once decisions about academic partnerships begin to follow political demands, the principle of academic freedom itself begins, quietly but unmistakably, to erode.

Importantly, his letter addressed something that is usually left implicit. Kotlikoff pointed out that Cornell maintains 159 active agreements with institutions in 59 countries, many of which conduct research with military and security applications, and some of which operate under governments accused of human rights violations. Cornell itself holds military research contracts. None of this appeared in the resolution. Only the partnership with an Israeli institution was singled out for severance.


Israeli diplomat slams UK anti-Israel art exhibit featuring swastika as antisemitic
Israel’s charge d’affaires in the UK condemned an art exhibit that associates Israel with Nazi imagery, calling it antisemitic and indefensible.

The exhibit by artist David Collings, called “Drawings against Genocide” and showing in the town of Margate in southeast England, features drawings that harshly criticize Israel over the Gaza war in graphic terms. One work features text reading “Stop apartheid demon,” and others show Israeli soldiers stepping over skulls in scenes doused with blood.

One work displays a drawing of US President Donald Trump with a swastika and an Israeli flag, along with the words “Death,” “Israel” and “Epstein,” a reference to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender. The caption of that drawing reads, “Trump thinks: ‘Hmm, Epstein… Better invade Iran & murder Muslims,'” a likely reference to the claim that Trump launched the ongoing Iran war to distract from his associations with Epstein.

The exhibit drew attention on social media after Zoe Strimpel, a British Jewish writer, posted on X that she visited the exhibit on Saturday and confronted Collings, leading to jeers from onlookers.

Strimpel said that when she protested to the artist about the imagery, he was “instantly aggressive” and accused her of “defending a genocide.”

Regarding the Nazi symbolism, she said Collings told her, “Israel are the Nazis.”

Some of the visitors to the exhibit wore “globalize the intifada” t-shirts, Strimpel noted, a slogan which some see as a call for violence against Israelis and Jews.

Strimpel’s post drew responses of outrage from many, among them Conservative lawmaker and former senior cabinet minister Michael Gove, who wrote “Truly terrible,” and Jewish Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, who said it was “Disgusting.”
Police take no action over ‘baby-eating Jews’ depictions
An exhibition featuring the paintings of the Evening Standard’s former art critic has been condemned for its “use of Nazi imagery”, in which Jews are reportedly “depicted as blood-soaked, baby eating demons” – but which local police have confirmed they will be taking no action against.

“Drawings Against Genocide”, an exhibition by Matthew Collings at Margate’s Joseph Wales gallery, features childlike drawings of IDF soldiers and politicians including Trump and Netanyahu, as well as prominent British Jews, including Sir Simon Schama and Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of the Community Security Trust.

As well as depictions of IDF soldiers grinning while standing over skulls and blood, Collings’ pictures include one of a naked Benjamin Netanyahu, with the words “Israel” and “Greater Israel” written on him, spewing blood from his mouth and the words “change reality” and “hypnotism” in front of him while he chants “invade Iran, invade Iran.” The caption alongside the drawing reads: “It’s the project, not the guy – it really doesn’t matter if he’s alive or dead” – which appears to be referring to Zionism as a whole.

The exhibition also identifies key British Jews as the target of the artist’s ire. “Simon Schama, genial BBC historian, condemns the protests against the genocide as a ‘weekly kristallnacht’ reads one, alongside a representation of Schama himself. Schama has described Collings’ exhibition as “appalling”. Another shows Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of CST, describing how in the artist’s opinion he “is always being invited onto the BBC to lie about the motives of the many Jews who condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

Journalist Zoe Strimpel described her experience at the gallery at the weekend, describing how she was “shocked by the use of Nazi imagery – the room is full of the Star of David pasted around figures meant to be Israelis and the Jewish ‘lobby’ spewing blood, to say nothing of blonde yummy mummies wearing ‘globalise the intifada’ shirts, I spoke to the artist to share my reaction as a Jewish person.

“He was instantly aggressive. As soon as I started to say I was shocked and threatened by what I was seeing because it was Nazi imagery, the artist started yelling at me that I didn’t mean anything I was saying.”






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

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

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

Blog Archive