Monday, May 04, 2026

05/04 Links Pt1: Australia was ‘golden’ but not anymore, Jews tell royal commission; Iran fires missiles and drones at UAE; South Korean ship attacked near Strait of Hormuz

From Ian:

The Violence They Wanted By Abe Greenwald
Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here. Israel, overall, is thriving. Its terrorist enemies are on life support and their main patron is paralyzed and destitute. At the same time, it’s never enjoyed closer ties with a multitude of Arab neighbors, some of whom it’s providing with defense assets. The Israeli stock market and birth-replacement rate both keep breaking records.

You’d think that if a movement had failed as conclusively as the supposed free-Palestine crowd, it would either rethink its approach or begin to fall apart. But it’s done the opposite. With this record of failure on its stated aims, the movement is now becoming bolder and, sadly, more accepted by important figures outside its ranks.

What, then, keeps it going? Why are unapologetic Hamas supporters now driving through the gates of the Democratic and liberal establishment to stake their claim at its heart?

Because, while Gazans are miserable and Israel is flourishing, the “anti-Israel” thugs have succeeded in one powerful way. Around the world, they’ve unleashed an unprecedented storm of hateful violence. In synagogues and schools, at religious celebrations, and on campuses and the streets of Jewish neighborhoods, they’re getting Jews killed for being Jews.

It’s what sustains them because it’s what they wanted from the start. And history shows that cowards bow before those who embrace uncompromising violence. The beasts are attacking, and the cowards are bowing.

The Jews, in the face of threat and despite the reality of death, stand upright—in Israel and the Diaspora. We must because no one else will, because the threat isn’t going away on its own, and because it is only courage that defeats depravity.
Jay Solomon: The Iranian Terror Group Targeting Europe’s Jews
Counterterrorist experts tracking HAYI believe most of its recruitment is happening online, rather than by the IRGC activating local cells or dispatching terrorists into Europe. These experts said HAYI is using Telegram, in particular, due to its high engagement rate and relative anonymity.

In one recent Telegram chat, an anonymous recruiter asked a potential operative in the UK: “What expertise and abilities do you have?” The potential operative replied: “Open to hearing what you need, depending on what I would get in return.”

“Print out a photo of Trump and Netanyahu, set it on fire in one of London’s famous streets, and send a video of it,” the recruiter then wrote. “This is the first step to building trust, and I will pay for it,” the recruiter continues. The payments would be made in cryptocurrency, according to the Telegram messages, which were viewed by The Free Press.

U.S., European, and Israeli officials are particularly alarmed by HAYI’s use of teenagers and criminal gangs, many of whom appear to display no loyalty to Iran or the IRGC. And those arrested often aren’t Muslim.

The foiled March 28 attack on Bank of America’s headquarters in Paris offers a case in point. French police arrested four men, aged 16 to 21, while they attempted to ignite a large pyrotechnic device at the bank’s entranceway in the city’s eighth arrondissement. Police investigators learned that the eldest man recruited the teenagers by offering them between 500 and 1,000 euros to carry out the operation.

HAYI’s apparent use of amateurs in Paris likely diminished the effectiveness of its operations. But that doesn’t mean they lacked ambition, according to Parisian police authorities. France’s Le Monde, citing forensic experts at the Paris Police Prefecture, said the device planted by the HAYI team was “very high power” and could have generated a “fireball several meters in diameter.”

HAYI’s terrorism and social-media operations are intertwined to maximize their propaganda value, counterterrorism experts said. The recent attacks on Jewish targets in the Netherlands, including a synagogue and religious school, were followed minutes later by online posts of videos and comments. “The close proximity of these channels to Iranian-aligned networks, combined with the near-immediate reporting and access to attack footage, suggests that they were informed of the incidents almost in real time, either directly by the perpetrators or via intermediaries,” Julian Lanchès of the International Center for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague wrote last month.

U.S. officials said there has been no evidence that HAYI has sought to conduct operations inside the U.S. But there is mounting concern about that possibility now that the U.S.-Iran war has entered its third month.

Tehran has shown a growing willingness to operate inside the U.S. in recent years, often using proxies and criminal gangs. Last year, two members of an Eastern European criminal syndicate were convicted of trying to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an Iranian American journalist who lives in New York, on the orders of the Iranian government. And in 2022, a Lebanese American man named Hadi Matar stabbed and nearly killed novelist Salman Rushdie at a cultural festival in upstate New York. Matar is facing charges of providing material support for Hezbollah. In March, another Lebanese-American man allegedly rammed his car into a Michigan synagogue in a terror attack that the FBI says was “Hezbollah-inspired.”

The surge in anti-Israel activism on U.S. college campuses also could provide an organization like HAYI with a rich environment to draw recruits to its cause, counterterrorism officials told me. “Could it translate across to the U.S.?” asked Roger Macmillan, a London-based counterterrorism expert who has closely tracked HAYI’s emergence over the past two months. “Of course it could.”
Palestinian Authority's 'Reforms': Incitement in Classrooms, Empty Promises to the West
[T]he European Parliament has condemned Palestinian Authority textbooks for the seventh year in a row, citing the ongoing defamation of Jews, incitement to violence, and the promotion of jihad (holy war) as well as "martyrdom." Members of European Parliament also called for future PA funding to be strictly conditional, based on genuine reform. Demanding conditions and accountability is overdue but extremely welcome.

"[T]he PA [Palestinian Authority] has repeatedly and explicitly rejected calls to reform its curriculum. In public statements... senior PA officials—including the Prime Minister, Minister of Education, and curriculum directors—have all affirmed their unwillingness to make even minor changes to school textbooks." — Impact-se, November 2025.

"A central component of the PA curriculum's antisemitic narrative is that it categorically rejects Jewish presence in the region. Not only has content teaching Jewish history and the origin of the Jews been ejected entirely from PA textbooks since 2016, but the current curriculum explicitly refutes the very existence of a Jewish people.... The PA curriculum encourages students to believe that they share the same goal: of expelling the colonizing 'invaders,' the Jews, from the Palestinians' indigenous homeland, presumably to Europe, as they are presented as entirely foreign to the region." — Impact-se, November 2025.

In fact, the reverse is true. In 1977, senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Zuheir Mohsen openly admitted in an interview in the Dutch daily Trouw: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality, today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

The Jews have lived in the area, such as Judea, continuously for nearly 4,000 years; they are the indigenous people as much as the Arabs are.

The PA's own Ministry of Education recently admitted that textbooks currently used in schools "have not been revised at all."

No one is asking the Palestinians to embrace Zionism. However, any society that aspires to statehood and peaceful coexistence -- also not at all certain -- must prepare its next generation for nonviolence, mutual recognition, and respect. So far, there is scant evidence that these results are even in the bottom quadrant of the Palestinian leaders' goals.

This systematic indoctrination has poisoned the minds of generations, making reconciliation far off, if possible at all.

The funding of terrorism must stop. Aid should not subsidize incitement. It should demand the total cessation of terrorism and the total cessation of terrorist funding.

Until such a time, the PA's promise of reform will continue to ring extremely hollow, and peace will be out of reach.


Deborah Lipstadt: Muslims are undermined when politicians refuse to name the Islamist threat
The problem is extremist Islamist jihadism and their compatriots on the far left. I know quite well that the far right also poses a very real threat. But the stabbings, fire bombs, assaults, and the like are currently coming in the main from Islamist extremists.

When politicians and leaders refuse to acknowledge that, they throw moderate Muslims, such as Baroness Falkner of Margravine the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who has made this argument, under the bus.

There is some good news. Increasing number of British non-Jews, horrified by this turn of events, are openly proclaiming “We stand with British Jews.” Thank them. Expressing gratitude is an essential element of being Jewish. When so many non-Jews remain silent and go about their business as usual, those who are willing to speak out are to be valued greatly.

But grateful as I am for their solidarity, we must also tell them that it is not solely Jews who are being threatened. This is an attack on Western culture and civilization in its broadest manifestations. This is an attack on democracy and the rule of law. This is an attack on British society in its entirety, including mainstream Muslims. This is a brutal assault on us all. It has started with the Jews, but it will not end with them.

I have seen some people proclaiming on their social media platforms, “We stand with British Jews.” I would like to amend that slogan to: “We stand with British Jews, not out of sympathy, but because they are us.” (The phrasing may not rise to the level of the Bard, but you get my drift.)

I was deeply moved by a video of Adam Boxer, a teacher at The Totteridge Academy (TTA), a London secondary school, delivering the Thought of the Day for the students. Explaining what he did as a CST volunteer at his synagogue his children’s school, he demonstrated his kevlar-reinforced stab jacket for the students. His presentation was low-keyed, matter of fact, and sobering. Very British and very powerful.
Australia was ‘golden’ but not anymore, Jews tell royal commission
Australia’s federal royal commission investigating the conditions that led to the Bondi Beach massacre on Dec. 14 began taking testimonies on Monday in Sydney, revealing the unhealed wounds of the local Jewish community to the nation.

“Antisemitism was allowed to come into the open,” said Sheina Gutnick, whose father, Reuven Morrison, was killed in the Bondi attack, according to AFP.

Gutnick referred to the shift in the country following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel’s northwestern Negev.

“Now Bondi holds a really, really heavy weight in our community’s heart,” AFP quoted her as telling the members of the inquiry.

Two Muslim gunmen, a father and his son, left 15 people dead at the Chanukkah event at Bondi Beach, where Gutnick’s parents had originally met.

As of today, more than 5,700 people have made submissions to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

The commission learned from witnesses that Jewish groups had recorded 2,062 antisemitic incidents in the year following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, and that parents feared sending children to Jewish schools, the report continued.

Jewish author Michael Gawenda recounted how his life had completely changed in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

“For me, friendships ended,” ABC News quoted him as writing to the commission.

“I had lived my life in the public sphere, as an Australian journalist and editor and later as a journalism educator, but I was being reduced to a Zionist supporter of a genocidal Israel... People I mentored did not contact me, not even when the physical attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions were growing, when it was clear that Jew hatred was becoming more pronounced,” he said.

Gawenda went on to share that many of his bookstore events for the promotion of his new book at the time, “My Life as a Jew in Melbourne,” were canceled.

“Bookshops, it seemed, were keen to have me. But after October 7, these were canceled, mostly on the basis that staff at the bookshops did not feel safe to have a Jewish book featured this way,” he wrote.

Alex Ryvchin, chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, who migrated from Ukraine as a child, said that his former family home was struck by a firebomb in January 2025 in what he said was a clear sign of escalation in antisemitic attacks.

“That was January; by December on that same road, three kilometers down, there was a horrific massacre that has transformed us permanently,” AFP cited him as saying.

“We were on a path to catastrophe,” he said, adding that he continues to receive death threats.


‘Globalise the Intifada’ event to proceed in Sydney despite Clover’s crackdown
A controversial forum linked to the slogan “Globalise the Intifada” will proceed in Sydney on Tuesday night after organisers shifted the event to a new location.

The gathering was due to be held in a City of Sydney venue on Monday before it was cancelled by the council over concerns regarding community impact.

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore pulled the pin on the controversial event, which was set to take place in a government building, blaming the media and its "discourse of division" for stopping the event.

The event was advertised as “why it's right to say: globalise the Intifada”.

Activist group Stop The War On Palestine confirmed the event would now take place outdoors at Charles Kernan Reserve in Darlington, near Redfern Station.

The forum is scheduled to begin at 6pm.

“Venue cancelled but forum is going ahead,” the group said in an Instagram post.

Organisers pushed back on the council’s decision, arguing their event does not pose a threat to public safety.

“We reject the implication … that our meeting risks public safety and respect for members of the community,” the group said.

They also criticised media coverage of the event and its messaging.

Organisers rejected the characterisation that the event is linked to violence against Jewish people.

They said the phrase has been misunderstood, describing it as “a call to end the violence of Israel’s occupation” rather than an endorsement of harm.

The group also took aim at NSW Premier Chris Minns, who has previously condemned the slogan.

They labelled his position a “baseless smear”.

Due to “grave concerns” from the Jewish community and mounting backlash from community leaders, as well as former prime minister Tony Abbott, the City of Sydney withdrew its venue booking.


Dan Hodges: I've been watching Zack Polanski closely and I've worked out his plan. Something deeply sinister is happening to our politics…
Zack Polanski has been leader of the Green Party for just seven months. And he's already been found out.

On yesterday's media round, his mealy-mouthed attempt to minimise the new anti-Jewish terror sweeping Britain was finally exposed.

Asked by Trevor Phillips to justify his comment that 'there's a conversation to be had about whether it's a perception of unsafety or whether it's actual unsafety', he dodged, obfuscated and eventually floundered.

If people were stabbed, that was terrible, he agreed. But that was somehow unconnected from the marches in which people have openly carried posters demanding a 'Global Intifada', and Israel's extermination 'from the river to the sea'.

He experienced a similar car crash moment over his retweet of criticism of the police officers who had bravely confronted and disarmed the Golders Green attacker. It was the wrong 'forum' to express those concerns he initially admitted, before then expressing his 'shock' at the footage, and finally claiming even the Met Police Commissioner had confirmed 'an unusual use of police force' had been employed.

When Polanski was elected to leadership of the Greens – to great fanfare – he was heralded by his supporters on the Left as a new, vibrant, insurgent political force. But as the events of the past week have shown, he isn't. He's just Jeremy Corbyn in a slightly sharper suit.

Watching him yesterday, I was struck with how his attempts to deflect criticism of his stance on anti-Semitism mimicked those of the former Labour leader. Corbyn and his supporters would angrily insist it was impossible for him to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Jews because he was a life-long warrior against racism.

Polanski and his acolytes make a similar claim, insisting the Green's leader's own Jewish heritage means he cannot be accused of green-lighting anti-Semitism.


Iran says US must scale back demands, end war
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that the United States must moderate its demands on the Islamic Republic, warning that Washington “cannot use the language of threats and force.”

He said “our priority is to end the war,” urged the “other side” to abandon “excessive demands” and reiterated Tehran’s claim that it is the “guardian and protector” of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The international community must hold the United States and the Zionist regime accountable for imposing insecurity on this waterway and for creating problems that are being felt across the world,” Baqaei added, referring to the State of Israel.


US, Gulf states push new UN resolution targeting Iranian mines in Strait of Hormuz
The United States is partnering with Bahrain and other Gulf Cooperation Council states on a new U.N Security Council draft resolution requiring Iran to cease laying mines and collecting tolls in the Strait of Hormuz and stop its attacks on commercial ships attempting to pass through the critical waterway.

The measure would require Iran to stop laying sea mines, disclose their locations and cooperate with international efforts to remove them. It also calls for establishing a humanitarian maritime corridor in coordination with the United Nations to ensure the continued flow of aid shipments.

Over 80 of its agencies use shipping lanes in the area, including to transport needed items to crisis zones in East Africa.

Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters on Monday that the United States expects “a large coalition of countries that agree.”

“Regardless of a conflict, or regardless of the parties of the conflict, or regardless of how they feel about it, a country cannot lay mines in international waterways, and cannot use international waterways as a revenue source or attempt to charge international shipping tolling,” Waltz said.

“That not only applies to the Strait of Hormuz, that applies to any international waterway—the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, the Bering Strait,” he added, noting Iran is in violation of the U.N. Law of the Sea, Geneva Convention and U.N. Charter.

“This is an incredibly important precedent that we are setting here, that this is unacceptable and it’s illegal,” Waltz said.

The resolution would require Iran to immediately disclose the numbers and locations of the sea mines it has placed down and work with the international community to remove them.
Two American-flagged ships transit Strait of Hormuz amid Iran standoff, US says
The U.S. military said on Monday morning that two U.S.-flagged vessels successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz, the first such passage since Iran effectively halted commercial traffic in the strategic waterway on April 18 amid escalating tensions.

The transit came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced “Project Freedom,” a U.S.-led initiative to ensure the free flow of commercial shipping through the vital global trade route.

“U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom,” U.S. Central Command wrote on Monday morning. “American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping. As a first step, two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey.”

Details of the operation were not immediately clear, including whether the vessels had a U.S. naval convoy escort or which type of American military ships or aircraft were in the area to support the operation. It was also not disclosed what type of cargo the transiting vessels were carrying, nor their origin or destination.

The move underscores Washington’s effort to reopen one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, through which roughly 20% of global energy supplies typically pass.

Iran warned it would respond forcefully to foreign military activity in the strait. The commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said “any foreign military force, especially the American military,” would be targeted if it attempts to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

Analysts say the U.S. operation could force Tehran to choose between confronting American naval forces or allowing commercial traffic to resume. The standoff has driven up energy prices and disrupted global shipping, while the United States has simultaneously enforced a blockade on Iranian exports.
South Korean ship attacked near Strait of Hormuz, South Korea's government confirms
A South Korean ship sailing near the Strait of Hormuz was attacked on Monday, according to the Korean media outlet Chosun Daily, citing a government official.

Earlier on Monday, the outlet quoted an official from the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry saying that the Korean government was still verifying the attack.

"We have initially confirmed that there have been no casualties among our nationals as of the first check," the official said.

Trump said Iran fired shots at the cargo ship and some other targets as the US launched an operation seeking to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. He urged South Korea to join that effort.

The fire broke out in the engine room of the Panama-flagged cargo ship, where 24 crew members, including six Korean nationals, were on board, a HMM spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the cause of the fire was not clear at the moment.

Fire extinguished, ship to be towed to Dubai port
The South Korean shipper confirmed on Tuesday that the fire had been extinguished.

The ship will be towed to a nearby port in Dubai, the company said, adding no casualties have been reported so far.

Earlier on Monday, an American official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that Iran's navy did not hit a United States Navy ship near the Strait after the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-aligned Fars News Agency claimed that two missiles had hit a US naval frigate near the port of Jask at the Strait's southern entrance.
Iran fires missiles and drones at UAE, causing injuries
Iran launched missile and drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates on Monday for the first time since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in April, according to a statement from the UAE.

“The Ministry of Defense announced that on May 4, 2026, UAE air defenses engaged 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and four drones originating from Iran, resulting in three moderate injuries,” according to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In a statement, the ministry “condemned in the strongest terms the renewed terrorist, unprovoked Iranian attacks targeting civilian sites and facilities in the country using missiles and drones, which resulted in the injury of three Indian nationals.”

It called on Tehran to halt the attacks, saying they are “a dangerous escalation in violation of the principles of international law and the charter of the United Nations. The UAE holds Iran fully responsible for these unprovoked attacks and their repercussions,” the ministry stated.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the targeting of the UAE “a declaration of the renewal of Iran’s war against the allies of the United States and Israel across the region.”


US sinks Iranian boats in Strait of Hormuz
The United States sank several Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz as part of Project Freedom, an operation to “restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping,” which began on Monday.

Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, spoke to reporters in a press call on Monday, noting that six Iranian small boats spotted in the Strait were eliminated quickly.

“We have an enormous amount of capability and firepower concentrated in and around the strait, including 864 Apache and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters,” he said.

Cooper stated that “over the last 12 hours, we’ve reached out to dozens of ships and shipping companies to encourage traffic flow” ... consistent with the president’s intent to help guide ships safely through the narrow trade corridor.”


Hezbollah drone attack targets IDF soldiers in Southern Lebanon
Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists on Monday launched a “suspicious aerial target” toward Israel Defense Forces soldiers deployed in Southern Lebanon, the military said.

“The results of the interception are under review,” stated the IDF, adding that the drone did not cross into Israeli territory and air-raid sirens sounded “in accordance with protocol.”

The incident triggered alerts in the Upper Galilee border town of Kibbutz Misgav Am, sending the community’s 400 residents running for bomb shelters.

Also on Monday, the Israeli Air Force successfully intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle in Lebanon “prior to its crossing into Israeli territory,” according to the statement.

Overnight Sunday, Hezbollah launched an anti-tank missile toward IDF soldiers operating in Southern Lebanon.

“No injuries were reported,” the military stated, adding: “In a rapid response, the IDF struck the launch post from which the anti-tank missile was fired.”

“The IDF will continue to operate against threats directed at Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, in accordance with the directives of the political echelon,” the statement continued.

Over the past several days, troops from the IDF’s 7th Brigade eliminated 10 armed Hezbollah terrorists in separate incidents, according to the military. The gunmen were operating near Israeli soldiers, posing a threat, and were targeted with precise strikes.

Meanwhile, troops located and dismantled a loaded launch position and destroyed weapons storage sites and other Hezbollah terror infrastructure.


Over 92% of Gaza Envelope residents have returned home—report
More than 92% of residents of the Gaza Envelope region have returned home, joined by 3,000 new residents, the Tkuma Directorate said in a midyear report published on Sunday, two and a half years after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, devastated the area.

The Tkuma Directorate is an Israeli government agency established on Oct. 19, 2023, under the Prime Minister’s Office, that leads the national effort to revive the Tkuma Region, defined as cities and communities located within seven kilometers (~4.3 miles) of the Gaza border—as well as Israel’s northern region, also affected by the war.

The directorate is responsible for the rehabilitation of 47 communities in the Tkuma Region.

Five of the 10 most severely affected communities—Nirim, Re’im, Kerem Shalom, Ein HaShlosha and Nahal Oz—have had their residents return home. Kissufim’s residents are returning gradually in a process expected to end by the summer, the directorate said.

Be’eri, Kfar Aza and Holit remain in advanced stages of reconstruction, expected to be completed during 2026, with a gradual return of residents throughout 2027. Nir Oz’s recovery is slated for completion by the end of 2027, the agency added.

The remaining communities had returned within the first year following their evacuation.
IDF: Eight Gaza tunnels destroyed, dozens of terrorists killed
Israeli troops in Gaza dismantled eight tunnel routes and killed dozens of terrorists, the military said on Sunday, as reservists from the 205th Brigade completed a two-month operation in the northern Strip.

The brigade, operating under the 252nd Division east of the Yellow Line, worked alongside the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit to locate and destroy tunnel infrastructure, including through drilling operations, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The Yellow Line demarcates areas held by the IDF from those under Hamas control under the terms of the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire.

The deployment marked the brigade’s sixth since the start of the war, following previous operations in southern Gaza and Southern Lebanon. Troops from the 14th Brigade are set to replace them in the area.

The IDF said forces under Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire framework and will continue operations to eliminate immediate threats.

Israeli troops killed several Hamas terrorists in separate incidents near the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip over the past few days, according to the military.

On Sunday, forces killed a member of Hamas’s Beit Lahia Battalion who, according to IDF intelligence, had launched rockets at Israeli territory during the war. The suspect was identified moving toward troops and was deemed an “immediate threat,” the military said.


Commentary Podcast: Escort Service
Today we discuss the president announcing American escorts for ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the negative reaction by shipping companies and insurers, and how the ongoing war might impact the midterm elections with the rise of radical democratic candidates.


'He Was Easily the Most Antagonistic to Israel': Anti-Israel Activist Who Advised Biden, Schiff To Head Influential Democratic Foreign Policy Group Designed To Staff a Future White House
An anti-Israel staffer for Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) who was once pictured wearing a keffiyeh and dancing in front of a banner calling Israel an apartheid state is slated to head an influential Democratic foreign policy group designed to staff the next Democratic presidential administration, Axios reported on Monday.

Maher Bitar, a Palestinian American who served as a senior official on former president Joe Biden's National Security Council and who most recently served as chief counsel to Schiff, has been selected to lead a reconstituted version of National Security Action (NSA), a Democratic foreign policy vehicle that offloaded many of its members into the Biden administration. Founded in 2018 by Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Obama foreign policy guru Ben Rhodes, the organization is expected to peddle "similar influence in the 2028 election and the next Democratic administration," Axios reported.

"Of any of the significant staffers who could impact the White House's foreign policy, he was easily the most antagonistic to Israel and in direct opposition to the President under which he served—sometimes in obvious ways and more often sub rosa," one former senior foreign policy adviser to Biden told the Washington Free Beacon. "There was the Biden/Jake wing and the Maher/Pod Bros wing. NSA is clearly betting on the latter prevailing in 2028."

With Bitar at its helm, NSA is signaling that Democrats are leaning in to growing hostility to Israel in the party and among their elite foreign policy ranks. Bitar spent years leading anti-Israel organizations that promote the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and, as a college student, led his campus's branch of the anti-Semitic Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) advocacy group. SJP chapters are now banned or suspended on dozens of college campuses due to violent, hateful language and related misconduct.


Australian National University called out amid fears Iran is targeting 'soft' institutions to spread influence
An Australian academic previously imprisoned in Iran under false espionage claims has unleashed on the continued collaboration between Australian academics and the Middle Eastern regime.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert said universities were the 'soft underbelly' that Iran was using to exert foreign influence in a tweet over the weekend.

She highlighted one particular journal article - which she said was 'just the tip of the iceberg' - by Australian National University (ANU) employee Farid Rahimi, jointly penned by ex-Iranian strategic affairs vice-president Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The article, 'Reviving Iran's Science Diplomacy: New Horizons Opened by President Pezeshkian', was published in early 2025 and featured in an Iranian state academic journal. It called for Western governments to 'reduce sanction pressures' on Tehran.

'This paper was put out under an ANU byline and indexed in ANU's own 'research output' portal,' Dr Moore-Gilbert said.

'This seems to be an example of soft power foreign influence par excellence. Both ANU and the Australian security agencies must investigate the academic concerned.

'How does he have access to the former Iranian foreign minister?

'How was it that they came to co-author an article together which, not coincidentally, advances Tehran's agenda on sanctions under the guise of scholarly research?'


NYPost Editorial: Luxurious Gaza cafes poke quite the hole in the ‘genocide’ narrative
Horrors! The latest atrocity in Gaza, reports Al Jazeera, is a wave of “luxurious” cafes and restaurants that have sprung up, “revealing a new genocidal reality.”

That’s right: Israel-haters have yet another new definition of “genocide,” wherein “fancy” restaurants “built with expensive materials, carefully painted, furnished with tables, sofas, and elegant chairs, with glass facades and shining lights,” giving off a “luxury feel” are fresh proof of the “genocidal abnormality” that Israel has inflicted on the people of Gaza.

It’s genocidal, you see, because not everyone in Gaza can afford to go there: “The expensive new establishments reflect the deeply unjust social order that has emerged in Gaza.”

Has emerged, or was there all along?

The Gaza foodie scene — amply documented on many Instagram feeds — is supported by the local elite, many of whom “engaged in illicit activities like smuggling, looting, and hoarding during acute shortages.”

Huh. Sounds like vindication of those Israeli claims that Hamas was routinely stealing aid, causing shortages and intensifying the suffering of the average Gazan, while also (again) disproving the noise about “famine.”




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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