Sunday, September 06, 2026

09/06 Links: Israel prevented many terror threats against Jews abroad over past year; Hamas Has a Human Sacrifice Strategy; Is the UK’s new leadership serving Islam?; Hoax of an inquiry

From Ian:

Israel prevented many terror threats against Jews abroad over past year, NSC official tells 'Post'
Israeli security agencies have thwarted dozens of plots over the past year, while maintaining heightened vigilance ahead of the Jewish holiday season, a senior National Security Council official told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the High Holy Days.

Iran and Hezbollah are expanding efforts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews worldwide, with Israeli security officials identifying a growing number of plots and preparations,

Iran has devoted increasing resources to promoting terrorism globally, the official said, including through individuals and newly established mechanisms focused specifically on attacks against Israelis and Jews.

“There are many people who wake up in the morning and their entire mission is to promote attacks against Israelis and Jews around the world,” the official said.

The effort involves multiple parts of Iran’s security apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force and intelligence bodies, the official said. He stressed that the buildup of these capabilities was a long-term process that had intensified over time.

“Even if the rounds of fighting have ended, and we know their limitations, in the end the Iranian feeling is not good in the kinetic balance,” he said. “So they move to their ultimate arena” – efforts to carry out terrorist attacks and target Israelis at various levels.

No country wants terrorism
The official said Israeli strikes inside Iran during the recent fighting had also targeted elements involved in terrorism, including senior figures in Iran’s security establishment.

This, he said, had changed Israel’s operational environment.

“Unlike in the past, given the circumstances, it is possible to act inside Iran itself, particularly in Tehran,” he said, adding that Israel continued to counter Iranian terrorism worldwide, both independently and with foreign partners.

Israeli security agencies have thwarted dozens of terrorist plots over the past year, the official said. Cooperation with foreign governments had also proved critical, including with countries that do not necessarily maintain close political relations with Israel.

“No country wants terrorism on its territory,” he said.

“There is information, warning intelligence, preparations and alerts,” he said. “All these activities together are directed against all the mechanisms, all the organizations and all the countries.”

Israeli authorities had thwarted concrete, “hot” plots during the past year, including cases in which attacks were stopped at the highest levels of warning, the official said.

Some operations were disrupted within hours, while others took days or weeks to halt. Preventing an attack, he added, does not necessarily require striking the terrorist cell itself.
Hamas Has a Human Sacrifice Strategy
Maj. (ret.) John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point's Modern War Institute, said in a podcast on Saturday:
"Hamas has a very unique version of human sacrifice, as their goal is to actually get their people killed. They need civilian deaths to achieve their political goals." They say "they need the blood of their women, children, and elderly to achieve their goals. They said they not only want it, they need it to achieve this goal of theirs in the afterlife, martyrdom and everything. So it's a really sick political strategy."

"Even the Japanese, the Nazis, while they accepted civilian casualties, that wasn't their strategy to get their own population killed in order to achieve this political goal....It's [in Hamas's] public statements that anybody can reference that they have this human sacrifice strategy."

"There's 600 miles of tunnels in Gaza....There's 2.2 million people there. All of them could fit in their tunnels with ease and escape what's going on on the surface. But Hamas actually makes written and public statements saying these are not for the civilians and civilians are not allowed....If I go to Ukraine, where I've been many times, the civilians go into the subways to seek refuge from the bombings that are happening on the surface."

"I've seen mountains of evidence, literally fields of food and [Israeli] soldiers doing the opposite of genocide, but the world spreads it....Israel has implemented more of these civilian harm mitigation measures, trying to prevent civilians from getting hurt, like evacuations, phone calls, flyers, all of that, but also daily pauses to allow civilians to get out of harm's way, giving out maps, tracking civilians by their cell phones, not taking airstrikes. They've actually done more of these than any military has ever tried in war, but then are accused of targeting civilians when all of the evidence, real evidence, actually there's no cases of Israel targeting civilians."

"Egypt wouldn't allow the civilians out, which I've never seen in a war that I've ever studied, where one country could save thousands by just creating a humanitarian zone outside of the main combat area."

"Early in 2024, the IPC (one of the groups that would determine famine around the world) did this study of nutrition in Gaza and reported that it was nearing famine conditions because they had changed their own metrics of the number of deaths related to starvation that would equate to famine. And now that same organization provides the data showing that none of it was true. There weren't cases of death by malnutrition and starvation that would equate to the famine marker."

"Everybody thought there were just awful things [happening], despite the actual amount of food that was going in and the lack of deaths from malnutrition and starvation that were happening. Of course, now it's too late. A year later the actual data provided from Gaza [showed that] during the war [Gaza] had nutrition higher than other parts of the Middle East where there is no war. Everybody could have gone and seen the amount of food that was going in."
Dara Horn: Four days before 9/11, an ominous warning about Islamism’s growing influence emerged at the UN
The coming week will be heavy with 9/11 commemorations, which for many New Yorkers still feels like yesterday. But this week, I’ll also be remembering another event that also feels like yesterday: thousands chanting “Free, Free, Palestine!,” “Jew, Jew, Jew!,” and “Israel commits genocide!” No, I don’t mean Columbia University in 2024. I mean the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa in 2001.

This now-infamous UN event, 25 years ago this week, was ideologically hijacked by a group of autocratic nations called the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which commandeered the proceedings to focus exclusively on Israel — thereby averting the world’s eyes from their own crimes. The Hitler-themed posters that blanketed the UN conference in Durban were funded by the family of Osama bin Laden.

The clown show began in early 2001, when Iran, hosting the Asia region’s pre-planning conference in Tehran, barred Israeli officials and Jewish groups from attending. At their blissfully Jew-free conference, delegates from authoritarian states drafted a UN declaration naming only one country — Israel — as a racist human-rights violator. The OIC included regimes whose ideas of tolerance ranged from legalizing child rape to gassing civilians with chemical weapons. These states were delighted to sign on. Later in Geneva, the OIC proposed language for the main UN declaration about Israel committing “genocide.” (The 2001 death toll from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was just under a third of that year’s homicide rate in Baltimore.)

The goal was clear to American delegate Tom Lantos, a congressman and Holocaust survivor. “If the OIC delegates could turn Israel into the new apartheid South Africa — the world’s sole racist regime — the broad agenda of the WCAR [World Conference against Racism] could be overthrown,” he later wrote.

Lantos saw that the OIC regimes’ plan was precisely to destroy the meaning of human rights. To UN human-rights commissioner Mary Robinson, Lantos argued that “allowing these same forces to appropriate terms like ‘ethnic cleansing,’ ‘genocide,’ and ’crimes against humanity’ to describe Israel’s behavior would forever debase their meaning.”

That is exactly what happened, except much worse.

In Durban, 20,000 protesters swarmed the conference venues, chanting “Free, free Palestine!” and carrying a banner reading “Hitler was Right.” Inside, delegates distributed copies of the century-old antisemitic screed “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and cartoons of bloody-fanged Jews. Ubiquitous posters featured Hitler’s face over the text “What if I had won? There would be NO Israel.”

The wall-to-wall Jew-hate silenced dissent, literally. At one point, Jewish groups organized an emergency press conference to publicize the hatred. There, one delegate recalled, a “phalanx of Iranian women in black” rushed the podium to prevent them from speaking. By then, conference security advised Jewish delegates not to walk the few blocks to Durban’s Jewish community center; it was too dangerous.

When the NGO conference forum voted on its official Declaration and Action Plan, Jewish groups attempted to add language about antisemitic violence. With precious few exceptions, 3,600 NGOs all voted to delete it. After that, surrounded by jeering crowds, the Jewish delegates walked out — quickly, with bodyguards.

In the seventy-page Declaration voted and approved by those 3,600 NGOs, only one country on earth was named. Israel was the world’s only “racist nation,” a “colonial apartheid state” guilty of “genocide.” In a victory for regimes worldwide actually engaging in racist, colonial, apartheid, genocidal rule — and a defeat for millions suffering under their reign — no other countries were even mentioned. Al Qaeda, equally unworthy of mention, waited in the wings.

To its credit, the American delegation walked out of this clown show. “I have taken this decision with regret, because of the importance of the international fight against racism and the contribution the conference could have made to it,” US Secretary of State Colin Powell said as he announced the walkout, but “I am convinced that will not be possible.”


Amb. Alan Baker: Is the UK’s new leadership serving Islam?
Miliband’s fixation on a predetermined “two-state solution” is therefore not merely political rhetoric. It ignores the very agreements he claims to support.

Equally questionable is his description of Israel’s E1 construction tender as an “unacceptable and destructive act.”

E1 lies within the territory designated Area C under the Oslo framework, where Israel retained planning, zoning, and construction authority pending permanent-status negotiations.

The Oslo arrangements did not prohibit construction by the party exercising jurisdiction in its respective area. Palestinians similarly exercise planning and construction authority in Areas A and B under their jurisdiction.

Whatever one’s political view of Israeli construction, therefore, Miliband has no basis for presenting the E1 tender as a violation of an agreed Israeli-Palestinian arrangement.

Nor is there any legal basis for Britain, the EU, or other outside governments to impose their political preferences upon Israel. Britain’s special authority over Mandate Palestine ended with the termination of the British Mandate on May 14, 1948.

Finally, Miliband’s reference to “appalling settler terrorism” deserves scrutiny. Violence by small groups of extremist Israeli settlers against Arab residents is unacceptable, illegal, and must be more vigorously prevented and punished.

But to transform isolated acts by extremists into a generalized phenomenon of “settler terrorism” is both misleading and politically prejudicial.

One may also reasonably ask why he remains silent regarding the Palestinian policy commonly described as “pay for slay” – the provision of financial benefits to Palestinians imprisoned for terrorist offenses and to families of terrorists killed while committing attacks.

If he considers terrorism “appalling,” why is this official Palestinian policy not accorded comparable attention?

And if such policies do not undermine the prospects for peace and the “two-state solution,” why are Israeli actions continually portrayed as doing so?

Britain may have “Brexited” from the EU to recover greater freedom to pursue its sovereign national interests.

Yet when it comes to Israel, one must ask whether Britain is genuinely pursuing an independent foreign policy – or simply following the prevailing European hostility towards Israel while responding to domestic Islamist and radical political pressure.

A country that prides itself on its independent judgment should first understand the facts and the law before condemning an ally.

Britain’s historic relationship with Israel deserves better than politically fashionable rhetoric masquerading as international law.
Burnham’s Israel sanctions ‘threaten UK security’
Mr Tugendhat told The Telegraph: “It’s worth remembering that Israel is one of our most important intelligence partners, and has been for many, many years.

“I can tell you, as security minister, a lot of incidents did not happen because of co-operation with intelligence sources in Israel, who helped us to protect British people from terror attacks.

“Now, the first job of the British government is the protection of the British people, and one of the things I am absolutely clear on, is that leading Britain’s foreign policy is about protecting our people first.”

He said it was the job of the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister to put “our own national interests and our own national security first, and that means that where we have friends and allies who provide us with intelligence in order to keep our citizens safe, we should work with them”.

He added: “The problem with putting electoral politics before national security is you find yourself in a situation where you risk both.”

Mr Tugendhat went on to say that Labour’s strategy risked “empowering and encouraging” the more extreme elements among both Israeli and Palestinian society, as well as making Britain “a less trusted partner in Israel”.

A fresh round of sanctions would also cause a split in Labour ranks. Backbenchers have been divided on Middle East policy since the October 7 terror attacks and the war in Gaza.

Labour Friends of Israel has claimed that it would be impossible to ban trade from settlements only, making the plans a “de facto boycott of all of Israel”.

Last week, Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, pledged a “comprehensive reset” of relations with Israel as he announced that the Government was looking into stopping British companies “financing, constructing or advertising new settlements”.

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, responded with a warning that his country would retaliate against any further sanctions.

He told the Israeli news website Ynet: “If Britain acts against the state of Israel, the state of Israel will act against Britain. We have tools.”
Nicole Lampert: Ed Miliband isn’t a ‘Jew hater’, but he is trying to appease people who are
The audacious cynicism is enough to make you wince while clapping your hands slowly in admiration.

Just hours after Andy Burnham sat with Jewish leaders who warned him of the need to reject anyone inciting hatred amid rising anti-Semitism, Ed Miliband was putting out a new video hinting at the supposed evils of Israel.

Following a meeting with some unnamed people who had been to Gaza, the Foreign Secretary put out a moody video of himself on Instagram looking even more haggard than usual, part of a post claiming that “the scale of human suffering in Gaza is impossible to ignore” and demanding: “The UK must act, and act more decisively.”

He looked agonised as he discussed how “medicines are being blocked and children dying while waiting for vital life-saving treatment”.

Far more upset than he apparently ever was about the anti-Semitism of the party he was part of during the Corbyn era. In fact, I don’t recall that he ever had a word to say about that.

It seems that Miliband’s video was tranche number two of the case to back up the Government’s intention to begin sanctions against Israeli settlements, having tried and mainly failed to get the public excited about updated plans for the E1 settlement in the West Bank.

Dead children: that’s how you get them. Talk about Jews killing children. That’s always got people excited and riled up, from the Middle Ages onwards. The fact that Miliband’s parents were both Holocaust survivors and he is being used – willingly, it appears – to create more hateful anti-Zionism with his video makes this desperate move even more stomach-turning.

As Mike Huckabee, the American ambassador to Israel, said of Miliband’s statement: “The Brits have lost it. The Jew hate of their government knows no boundaries and knows no facts.”


Israel slams British foreign secretary over Gaza ‘stories’ comment
British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband on Friday posted a video message about “stories” he’d heard about living conditions in Gaza, prompting the Israeli Foreign Ministry and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to chide him for ignoring relevant facts.

“I just came out of this meeting talking about Gaza to people who’ve been there and are there on the ground. And frankly, it was horrific what is unfolding. You know, the stories that people were telling me of medicines being blocked, children dying while waiting for vital life-saving treatment,” said Miliband, a Labour politician who is Jewish.

Miliband has often criticized Israel, but has also defended its right to exist as a Jewish state. He is widely seen as a moderate within his party.

“When you hear that account of what is happening, you know that we as a U.K. government, as the prime minister has said, have got to act and act more decisively than we have,” added Miliband in the 32-second phone video posted Friday.

Huckabee wrote about the video: “The Brits have lost it. The Jew-hate of their government knows no boundaries and knows no facts.”

A spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X: If Miliband “were interested in facts rather than stories, he would know that there are no restrictions whatsoever on the entry of medicines into the Gaza Strip, and that no medicines are being blocked; that 22,500 tons of medical supplies have entered Gaza since the ceasefire began; and that Gazans exit the Strip for medical treatment, including 200 who did so in just the last two weeks.”

Miliband “is well aware of all this, as the U.K. is a member of the International Gaza Support Center, which facilitates the delivery of medical aid to the Gaza Strip. But apparently, facts matter less (when making a video for a political audience),” the spokesperson added.

Israel’s relationship with the U.K. has soured under Labour, which won the 2024 elections and replaced the Conservative Party as the ruling party.


Palestinian Politician Just Said The UNTHINKABLE on Live TV (Now He's in Big Trouble!)
A former Palestinian terrorist just admitted what the PA has spent years denying: paying terrorists can help inspire the next generation to follow in their footsteps. This episode of Judeacation exposes what Palestinian Media Watch says the PA’s “pay-for-slay” system is really accomplishing, as senior Palestinian officials simultaneously defend attacks against Israelis and glorify a family with multiple ties to terrorism. But that’s only the beginning. You’ll also learn why Britain’s threat to punish Israel over E1 could trigger a showdown involving the Trump administration, how Iran and Hamas are allegedly trying to ignite Judea and Samaria and why new communities, thousands of homes and even six new kindergartens could signal a major shift in Israel’s future on the ground.


Jewish Onliner Identifies North American Members of Muslim Brotherhood’s Transnational Authority
IUMS Fatwas Called for Military Jihad
On August 30, 2020, the IUMS issued a collective “Palestine fatwa” declaring "peace, reconciliation, and normalization" agreements with Israel religiously forbidden and void, and affirming that "jihad and resistance for liberation" from the occupation is an obligation on which the jurists have reached consensus. The fatwa stated that:
“The jurists unanimously agree that jihad in all its forms, including fighting in self-defense or to repel injustice, becomes an individual obligation if the enemy invades and occupies a Muslim country," and it prohibited relinquishing "any part of the blessed land of Palestine."

On October 31, 2023, IUMS’s Ijtihad and Fatwa Committee issued a religious ruling declaring military intervention in the Gaza war a religious obligation for Muslim governments and armies.

A separate IUMS fatwa dated March 28, 2025 called for jihad against the “Zionist entity,” military intervention and the provision of weapons, military expertise, intelligence and money to fighters. It described participation as an individual obligation for all capable Muslims.

Jewish Onliner previously uncovered that Australian Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohammed personally participated in the 2025 fatwa alongside IUMS President Ali al-Qaradaghi and other officials. IUMS Chief Calls U.S. Electoral Gains a “Blessing”

The North American membership findings come amid recent remarks by IUMS President Ali al-Qaradaghi crediting the October 7 Hamas attack and ensuing Gaza war with the political rise of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

“Had it not been for the Al-Aqsa Flood, Mamdani and Abdulrahman El-Sayed would not have reached [where they did],” al-Qaradaghi said in Arabic. “These are among the blessings of the Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Al-Qaradaghi delivered the speech at an Istanbul event inaugurating the Turkish office of the Al-Quds International Institution, according to his official announcement.

The U.S. Treasury lists “Al Quds International Institution” as an alias of the Al-Quds International Foundation, which the United States designated in 2012 for being controlled by and acting on behalf of Hamas. In 2024, Treasury described its chairman, Hamid al-Ahmar, as a prominent international Hamas supporter and called the foundation a “sham charity”.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s “Transnational Scholarly Authority”
The Senate testimony submitted by National Jewish Advocacy Center Senior Litigation Counsel Arielle Klepach said IUMS maintains a close relationship with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which the U.S. Treasury designated in January 2026 for providing material support to Hamas.

The testimony also documented IUMS’s amplification of Council on American-Islamic Relations material and previous interactions between CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad and al-Qaradawi. It described those relationships as part of a wider pattern connecting American organizations with overseas Muslim Brotherhood institutions.

The George Washington University Program on Extremism has separately described IUMS as a major source of religious legitimacy for Muslim Brotherhood-aligned causes. Its research documented IUMS’s support for Hamas, calls for jihad during the Gaza war and close relationship with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt jointly listed IUMS as a terrorist organization in 2017.

The United States separately designated the Egyptian and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood branches and Lebanon’s al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah in January 2026, as Jewish Onliner previously reported.


Israeli-US org. calls for Ed Sheeran to remove Macklemore as opener after shouting 'Free Palestine'
The Israeli-American Council (IAC) launched a petition on Sunday urging Ed Sheeran and his management to drop rapper Macklemore from the remainder of the tour after claiming he used his opening set to spread anti-Zionist and antisemitic propaganda.

Macklemore took to the stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey over the weekend to call for a “Free Palestine” and accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

“I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” Macklemore said, wearing a keffiyeh draped over his shoulders.

The rapper also performed his song “Hind’s Hall” while footage from Gaza, pro-Palestinian encampments, and other political messages were projected on the stadium’s screens.

“Jewish patrons should not be subjected to this propaganda,” StopAntisemitism wrote on X/Twitter, sharing a video of the incident.

“Imagine paying over $500 to see Ed Sheeran only to be ambushed by Macklemore’s relentless anti-Israel obsession,” it wrote in a second X post. “Yes, the same Macklemore who appeared onstage dressed as an Orthodox Jew, complete with an enormous prosthetic nose.

“Fans deserve apologies and refunds. Unacceptable.”

A concert, not a political rally
“This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” said the IAC, which represents more than 150,000 Israeli-Americans.

“The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where to draw the line when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda,” it explained.

“This becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity.”

Macklemore’s decision to perform “Hind’s Hall” during his opening set was “not incidental,” the IAC added.

IAC calls for clear boundaries of activism on stage to be implemented
“The song was written in explicit support of the campus protest movement and takes its name from the nickname protesters gave to the historic Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after they broke in and occupied it,” IAC said.

“Some of those protests involved trespassing, building occupations, vandalism, and violations of the law – conduct that stands in direct conflict with core American values.”


Hoax of an inquiry
It is now clear that the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, designed to investigate the horrific Bondi massacre, is a cruel hoax played upon the Jewish communities of Australia by a cynical, cowardly and thoroughly shameless Labor government.

Back on this page on 17 January, this magazine (preceding most other commentary by seven months) recognised that what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had announced after mounting pressure was nothing more than a ‘Claytons royal commission’, the commission you have when you are not having a commission.

In that leading article, we pointed to the key flaws in the freshly announced commission: ‘First, [the Prime Minister] named a commissioner who does not enjoy the Jewish community’s unqualified support, an appointment that is read as reassuring the government rather than those most directly affected. Second, [the PM] framed antisemitism not as a discrete ideological, religious or security problem to be fearlessly confronted but as a social friction to be managed in the interests of “national consensus”, with explicit warnings against outcomes that might “undermine social cohesion”.’

As we then pointed out: ‘In effect, the commission is invited to examine antisemitism only to the extent that it does not disturb the social arrangements that have allowed it to metastasise, or provoke a backlash from those inclined to deny or minimise it.’

And so it has come to pass. A royal commission that has put no radical Islamists, or their pernicious beliefs, under the harsh glare of a forensic spotlight; a royal commission probably unique in our history in that its probings have not seen a single soul wriggling in embarrassment or sweating nervously under cross-examination; and a royal commission that can’t even bring itself to recognise what Blind Freddy concluded on the morning of 15 December last year. Namely, that decades of reckless immigration policies have imported into Australia the sick and deadly poison of Islamism, a toxic creed that propagates bloodshed, hatred, terror and death under the guise of religious doctrine.


The Modern Blitz: The Collapse of Strategic Warning
In the past, the management of borders was entrusted to routine security operations forces that served primarily to prevent "drip" attacks and localized infiltrations. This allowed many states to avoid deploying high-quality forces to their vicinity. Today, the border is a target for a rapid, systemic breach by enemy forces to achieve strategic gains. The border must be transformed from the soft underbelly of the state's security apparatus into a concentration of power sufficient to counter a Blitz threat.

Defending nations still operate on the assumption that strategic warning will provide sufficient tactical time to prepare against a developing threat. At the same time, their adversaries are operating according to a doctrine of "immediate occupation and strategic achievement."

The Hamas attack on Oct. 7 is an example of a Modern Blitz, designed for tactical paralysis and immediate strategic gain. The technological barrier was breached using simple means, with preemptive paralysis of the observation and communications array via rocket fire and electronic warfare. The forward force was too sparse and collapsed against the mass.

In the previous era, the main effort was invested in the proliferation of sensors, centralized control, and warning processes designed to generate a complete picture of what is happening at the border. We are now in a different world of "awareness of targets for immediate strike." Knowing is not enough. It is imperative to strike in time.

The direction of the solution is a transition from "Penetration Prevention" to "Immediate Containment." In this concept, the border is a space where he who detects knows how to strike, is capable of operating under disruption, and can absorb and kill. The mission is not to wait for reinforcement but to deny the enemy the advantage from the outset.

Building an immediate containment capability requires transferring significant weight from investment in infrastructure and situational awareness to investment in firepower capabilities, command independence, and systemic resilience.
The Origins of Israel's Post-October 7 Warfare Strategy
In the last three years, Israel killed much of the senior leadership of Hamas and Hizbullah as well as 29,000 Hamas and over 5,000 Hizbullah militants, crippling its enemies' combat effectiveness. Israel's military success against the Iranian insurgent proxies is surprising. It defied post-War on Terror thinking about the lack of utility of military power against decentralized insurgent networks.

Israel's success against Hizbullah was facilitated by Hizbullah's organizational evolution into a conventional terror army with conventional assets and defensive infrastructure. With Iranian and North Korean support, Hizbullah was equipped with sophisticated weaponry fortified by underground tunnels. Its tunnel networks and extensive rocket arsenal proved resistant to Israeli airstrikes.

After the 2006 war with Hizbullah, Israel began constructing a Digital Land Army, or DLA. Drones, satellite images and artificial intelligence were pooled into centralized information systems to target enemy commanders, combat units, weapons depots, and communication systems.

After Oct. 7, infantry and tank units were equipped with drones to facilitate real-time targeting of enemy forces. The IDF's Multiyear Plan envisioned digitally integrated, intelligence-driven, mass-precision air- and land strikes to rapidly destroy enemy military capabilities with the smallest possible number of IDF casualties.
Israel's Cautious Ties with Syrian Druze
The IDF has helped establish five locally managed medical clinics for Druze in southern Syria, providing advanced equipment, medicine, and even an ambulance to strengthen evacuation and emergency-treatment capabilities. Some of the clinics have also been equipped with delivery rooms.

The military wants to deepen strategic ties with neighboring Druze communities without forcing them to cut themselves off from Syria and without making them dependent on Israeli rule.

Israeli officials fear that if the Druze are perceived as having cut themselves off and aligned fully with Israel, rival actors could retaliate against them.

Israel currently controls the area from a security standpoint but does not want to assume civilian responsibility for it.

Dr. Daabous Najm, who treats patients free of charge at the clinic in the Syrian village of Khader, said: "Give the people of Israel a message that all of us want Israel. All Druze are close to one another, just like you Jews, and we are proud of Israel."

"Everyone here is dangerous to the Druze. They see us as traitors. They don't know our history with the Jews and how it goes back to Jethro and Moses. But we know, and we remember the alliance."
IDF responds to Hezbollah drones with Lebanon strikes
The IDF carried out a wave of strikes in southern Lebanon in response to Hezbollah drone launches earlier Sunday, Lebanese media reported Sunday evening.

According to the reports, the strikes targeted the area of Kfar Rumman, near Nabatieh. Two people were reportedly killed, and another was wounded in a strike in Nabatieh, which Lebanese media said was carried out by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Earlier Sunday, Hezbollah launched two explosive drones toward IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon. IDF forces fired at one of the drones and intercepted it, with no injuries reported among Israeli troops.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Sunday morning that “this is a blatant violation by the Hezbollah terrorist organization. The IDF is operating now and will continue to operate with force against the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s repeated attempts to harm our forces.”

IDF strikes Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon
Strikes were also reported in southern Lebanon over the weekend. The IDF said Saturday that it had struck terrorists and Hezbollah infrastructure overnight, including weapons storage facilities used for planning and directing terrorist attack routes.

The strikes were carried out in response to Hezbollah’s attempt the previous day to target IDF forces using a drone. No injuries were reported among Israeli troops in that incident.


7 said killed as Israel strikes south Lebanon after Hezbollah drones target troops
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday killed seven people and wounded 20 others, according to Lebanese authorities, after Hezbollah launched two explosive drones at Israeli troops operating in the area.

The Israel Defense Forces said one of the drones, which targeted troops operating in the Ali Taher Ridge area, was shot down by troops and that no soldiers were injured in the attack.

The IDF called the drone attack a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire and said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure and operatives in response.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said two people were killed and two wounded in Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Sunday morning, while two women were killed and six people wounded in nearby Arab Salim.

Eight people were wounded in the city of Nabatieh and four in Kafr Rumman, with the ministry saying the toll was provisional and included several women and three children.

Lebanese media reported that one of the Israeli strikes destroyed Ghandour Hospital in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The facility was empty of patients and staff, and according to the state-run National News Agency, it had been out of service for years.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had been using the hospital as a command center. The military also said that it had hit a weapon depots and other buildings used by Hezbollah to advance attacks.

The IDF said that recently, Hezbollah operatives involved in “artillery and surveillance” had been operating from the command center at the hospital compound. All of the strikes were carried out to “remove threats,” the military added

On Sunday evening, Lebanese media reported three dead in an additional Israeli strike in the Nabatieh area.

The IDF did not immediately comment on the strike.


Israeli security forces find rocket in Samaria counter-terror raid
Israeli security forces apprehended a Hamas cell and dismantled a rocket during a counterterrorism raid in the Aqraba area, near Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) said on Sunday.

The operation, which included forces of the Border Police’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit alongside the IDF and Shin Bet, was completed on Sunday morning, according to the joint statement.

The 10-member terrorist cell had been working to advance attacks against Israeli civilians, according to the statement. The rocket was found without a launcher and dismantled on the spot.

Questioning of one of the terrorists led forces to a weapons cache, the statement said. The cache held an M16 rifle and a large quantity of explosives intended for the production of improvised explosive devices.

“The security forces will continue to operate proactively and offensively to thwart terrorism throughout Judea and Samaria, in order to safeguard the security of residents in the area and Israeli civilians,” the statement added.

IDF soldiers on Friday completed a counterterrorism operation in the Qabatiya area in northern Samaria, apprehending five terrorists who were part of a cell planning an attack on civilians and security forces, the military said.

The operation was based on intelligence from the Shin Bet.

During searches of the suspects’ homes, the soldiers located and confiscated an M16 rifle and additional military equipment that had been concealed by the cell.

The soldiers apprehended the terrorists less than 10 minutes after arriving at the suspected locations. They were transferred to security forces for further questioning.

Earlier on Friday, the IDF said that more than 10 wanted suspects had been arrested during a 48-hour brigade-level counterterrorism operation in the Nablus area of central Samaria.

During the operation, troops searched hundreds of sites and questioned dozens of suspects.

The soldiers also dismantled more than 30 weapons-production machines and confiscated firearms, handguns and ammunition.
Netanyahu orders some West Bank outposts removed, amid US pressure over settler attacks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered some illegal outposts in the West Bank dismantled, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed on Sunday, amid pressure from the US to crack down on violent settlers.

According to a Reuters report, Netanyahu ordered the evictions in response to Washington’s pressure. The High Court of Justice on Sunday also assailed the government, Israel Defense Forces, and police for their failure to quell the attacks, though two arrests were made over an incident in the Nablus-area Palestinian town of Qusra.

The outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law, as they’re established without all of the necessary permits — however, most of them receive varying degrees of government support and funding, and some have later been formally recognized.

The state has from time to time demolished some outposts, but they are often rebuilt immediately after being demolished, and previous government decisions to crack down on the phenomenon have not been widely enforced.

The Ynet news site reported that Netanyahu’s order targeted around 100 outposts across the West Bank.

Smotrich, asked at a conference in Jerusalem about that report, said Netanyahu had given “an instruction to evict places built in Areas A and B,” referring to parts of the West Bank meant to be under full or partial Palestinian Authority control.

The effort to crack down on Area B outposts, however, was reportedly not new, as it was part of a government decision in April, according to the Ma’ariv outlet.

In addition to the lack of clarity over when the operation was ordered, it was also not immediately clear when it would begin. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.


Israeli Agents Posed as Aid Distributors in Capture of Hamas Security Head
Undercover operatives from the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) were embedded in Gaza as aid workers distributing food and drink to unwitting Gazan market stall-owners, according to a recent KAN News report detailing the lead-up to the recent capture of Hamas’s head of internal security, Mu’in al-Arabid, in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli operatives, according to KAN, established several small humanitarian aid projects and sold wares to Gazans who, in turn, sold the items at local markets. After establishing a relationship with the storefront owners, Shin Bet operatives were able to get the Gazans to help monitor the movements of various people, including al-Arabid.

Sources told KAN the Gazans only realized they had assisted the Shin Bet after al-Arabid had been captured.

The IDF and Shin Bet on Tuesday night confirmed in a statement that they had captured Hamas’s head of internal security in the Gaza Strip in the first high-level capture operation deep in Gaza in a long time.

The official statement did not make any direct mention of Gaza gangs being central to the operation, though there was a hint with a reference to Shin Bet’s “special forces.”

However, The Jerusalem Post and other media have received clear indications, along with confirmations in foreign reports, that anti-Hamas Gaza gangs were at the heart of the operation, even while supported by the IDF and the Shin Bet.
'Beyond your comprehension': US only beginning to understand Gaza militarization, Kushner says
The United States has only begun to grasp the scale of Gaza's current level of militarization, US envoy Jared Kushner told reporters in Kyiv on Sunday.

“We’re now starting to understand the scope of the militarization of Gaza,” Kushner said. “It is beyond your comprehension, and so demilitarizing it is not going to be easy.”

He also said that the US had worked with Hamas for more than four months, and that the terror group had signed an agreement committing to demilitarization.

“You can’t go in if there’s guns, right? You can’t send the government into a place,” he said.

Turning to Israel, Kushner said Washington and Jerusalem agree on the desired end state, but that political considerations in Israel are complicating the process.

“We’re working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state,” he said. “They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards, but we’re very determined that we’re working through these things.”


Kushner: Israel acting ‘a little irrational’ on Gaza due to upcoming election
US special envoy Jared Kushner said on Sunday that next month’s Knesset election has made Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government act “a little irrational” when it comes to Gaza, amid Israel’s rejection of the Board of Peace’s proposal to disarm Hamas and ongoing strikes on the enclave.

“I think we agree with the Israelis on the end state for Gaza,” Kushner said at a press appearance during a visit to Kyiv, where he was taking part in negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

“They just have crazy elections, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards,” he added.

The US has been trying to advance the Board of Peace’s plan to decommission the weapons of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza, to be paired with an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

However, Israel’s opposition to the plan has led to its stalling, and the terror group is unlikely to disarm before the Knesset vote on October 27.

Amid the opposition, Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have both called for plans to facilitate the emigration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, drawing criticism from Muslim countries, who said such plans contradict the “firm rejection of forced displacement,” in the US-backed October 2025 peace plan for Gaza.

Katz said last week Israel was prepared to facilitate departures by land, sea and air, but acknowledged that no countries were currently willing to absorb Gazans on the scale envisioned.


Blaming ‘Zionists,’ Susan Sarandon says she’s still losing film roles over Gaza stance
US actress Susan Sarandon said Sunday she was still having roles “taken away” from her in Hollywood because of her outspoken criticism of Israel over the Gaza war, and blamed “Zionists” for the hit to her career.

The “Thelma & Louise” star was dropped by her agency UTA in November 2023, shortly after the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza, over controversial remarks at a pro-Palestinian rally which she later said she regretted.

Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where she has a role in Italian film “The Echo Chamber,” she claimed the “narrative” around the Gaza war and the United States’ support for Israel had “completely changed.”

“There’s a lot of things that people are aware of now,” the Oscar winner told a press conference, referring to the extent of US financial and military aid for Israel. She mentioned “the ties of Zionists with America in our politics.”

“In terms of the power structure, I’ve still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me still,” she added.

She said later: “I think there has been a change in terms of understanding of the situation and, I think, the general public, but there are still very strongly held positions within my industry that are held by Zionists, and who have not relaxed their feelings towards me.”

“But I found my family, I found my people, and I’m okay,” she added to a round of applause.

Conflict spills over into film festival
The conflict over the war in Gaza has once again spilled into this year’s Venice Film Festival, with activists calling on organizers to raise the Palestinian flag in recognition of Palestinian directors screening at the event.

Artistic Director Alberto Barbera has said this is impossible because Italy does not formally recognize the state of Palestine, but he has pointed to several films being shown on the Lido that show the struggle of ordinary Palestinians.

The premiere of “NAZA” — about the killing of civilians in Gaza — by two Israeli directors looks set to be one of the most emotionally charged moments of the Venice festival when it premieres on Thursday.


Israeli scientists develop huge sponge to mop up and ‘eat’ oil spills
Scientists at southern Israel’s Ben-Gurion University have engineered a high-tech sponge made from plant fibers that can both mop up an oil spill and feed the bacteria that feast on oil and break it down, the university said.

The usual methods for tackling oil spills are to skim and soak up the black mess or wait for nature’s microscopic cleaners to digest it.

But oil-eating bacteria operate slowly in open water because they lack essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.

In the past, scientists tried dumping liquid fertilizers into oil-slicked waters to feed the bacteria. While it helped accelerate cleanup, the liquid fertilizer quickly diluted into ocean currents, lost its effectiveness, and sometimes caused unintended environmental consequences, such as triggering massive algae blooms.

The new research, led by Prof. Ariel Kushmaro and headed by Dr. Danit Lisa Karsagi Biron in the Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, combines physical strength with sped-up biology.

The scientists created a spongy material made from cellulose fibers enriched with nutrients, then freeze-dried and baked at high heat (pyrolysis) to create a porous aerogel that acts like an ultra-light sponge. It repels water while locking onto petroleum compounds and can absorb roughly 100 times its own mass in crude oil or fuel in just seconds. The time it takes for the aerogel sponge (in black) to consume the oil (in red). (Danit Lisa Karsagi Biron, Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Once the oil is trapped, the aerogel transforms into a micro-ecosystem. The baked-in nutrients give local oil-degrading bacteria a comfortable platform from which to guzzle their favorite food source. Instead of floating away or washing out, the nutrients remain on the sponge. Bacteria swarm the fibers, form dense colonies, and rapidly break down the trapped pollutants, then devour the sponge itself.

“These findings demonstrate the potential of the method we developed as a versatile and sustainable platform for treating oil spills in aquatic and marine environments,” a university statement quoted Kushmaro as saying. “By combining physical adsorption with biodegradation, the technology offers a promising and innovative alternative to conventional approaches, addressing both immediate containment and long-term environmental recovery.”
Why I Stand with the Jewish People even though I Am Not Jewish
People instantly assume that someone working in Holocaust education, Jewish advocacy, or antisemitism research is Jewish. The surprise on their faces when they realize I am not Jewish is unmistakable. From both Jews and non-Jews, I get the same stare of disbelief, with the same question behind their eyes: Why would someone non-Jewish do this work?

The truth is that many people who work in this space are not Jewish. In my own experience, more than 95% of the Holocaust educators I work with, teach, and mentor are not Jewish. Nevertheless, we have chosen to step into a space where we will sometimes be challenged, questioned, misunderstood, or even hated.

We do this work because we are called to it and believe it is ours to do. Because Jewish people should not have to carry the responsibility of educating the world about antisemitism and Jewish history alone. Because we can't not do this work.

During presentations, I also identify myself directly as an ally of the Jewish people. Students need to hear a non-Jewish person say, very clearly: I stand with the Jewish people. Meaningful allyship is being the person who raises the concern so your Jewish colleague doesn't always have to. It means challenging disinformation and Jew-hatred when you hear it, even when no Jewish person is in the room.

Being a Jewish ally feels like knowing you're on the right side of history. It means using your position as a non-Jew to enter into spaces where a Jewish person may not be able to go - because you may be perceived as less biased. It also means having a thick skin and being prepared to receive ignorance and flat-out hate.

I can speak as a non-Jewish person who has decided that Jewish history is human history, that antisemitism is everyone's problem, and that Jewish people should not have to stand alone against it.





Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    

 

 



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2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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

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