11/14 Links: John Spencer: The Evil of NAZA; ICC's Khan ordered by court to pay 25 Mil NIS to former hostages; Mossad warns of Iranian plot to target Trump with drones

From Ian:

John Spencer: The Evil of NAZA

In the entire film, there is no specific strike documented in enough detail to assess the allegation of Israeli misconduct. The viewer cannot reconstruct any attack mentioned, starting from the intelligence and going through approval to its outcome. There was and is no lack of acknowledged strikes. In numerous cases, the IDF has publicly announced what or who was the target and what the precautions were. Yet, because no strike is documented in that detail, viewers are never able to apply the elements of the allegation to anything but their own imaginations.

NAZA’s filmmakers do not tell their audience that assessing expected civilian harm is a requirement of the law of armed conflict—and that formal collateral damage estimates are a regular practice of militaries across the world. This is a required step in the law of armed conflict’s core principle of proportionality. It requires those planning or deciding on an attack to assess the incidental civilian harm expected from the attack and weigh it against any concrete and direct military advantage anticipated to be gained from the attack. The nation or actor considering the strike must refrain from an attack if the expected incidental harm would be excessive in relation to that advantage. As part of the process, it must also take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimize incidental civilian harm.

The U.S. military calls the process “collateral damage estimates” (CDE) and has long used intelligence and computer tools to conduct those estimates before an attack. U.S. military doctrine, such as the instruction titled “No-Strike and the Collateral Damage Estimation Methodology,” details how analysts are to use imagery and other intelligence to identify military targets and any civilian presence and/or protected facilities. Automated tools support the assessment, while weapons testing and computer models provide estimates of potential weapon effects.

Where casualty estimates are required, analysts consider building dimensions, construction, the area exposed to those effects, and estimated civilian occupancy during the day or night. The doctrine discusses conducting targeted intelligence collection about civilian activity and that it should replace general-population estimates when available. The CDE process also considers ways to reduce harm through weapon selection, timing, and other precautions. The doctrine explicitly recognizes that these assessments contain uncertainty and cannot predict the exact outcome of an attack.

Calculating expected civilian casualties helps a military meet its legal obligations, but the calculation alone cannot establish whether it has met them. It is not by itself evidence of an intention to kill civilians. All attacks should be assessed based on examining the intelligence, anticipated military advantage, precautions, and decisions involved.

The testimony of the anonymous sources in NAZA alleges deliberate killing, but the film does not supply the records and circumstances needed to test those allegations. Nor does it document the anticipated civilian harm, military advantage, and precautions for any strikes so viewers can assess whether an attack was disproportionate. Most of all, two directors and one anonymous soldier calling the war a genocide does not make that repellent and slanderous assertion true.

The film’s use of Holocaust-remembrance footage leads it into its most insidious strategy. By framing IDF service as a modern version of Nazi complicity, NAZA perpetuates Holocaust inversion. The Nazis constructed an industrialized, systematic killing machine to exterminate millions of defenseless, unarmed civilians, many of whom were citizens of their own country, posed no military threat, had no army, and held no hostages. That comparison erases the distinction between the extermination of defenseless civilians and a war against an armed enemy operating among civilians.

NAZA is misleading even in its title. It takes a military term for collateral damage and presents the effort to estimate civilian harm as evidence of an intention to kill civilians. The film’s flashes of destruction, political speeches, and Holocaust imagery carry the audience far beyond the targeting practices it claims to investigate. It is, instead, designed to depict Israel as monstrous and Israelis as Nazi-like villains. That is why the directors are so cavalier about misleading their audience about military terminology, the law of armed conflict, common military practices, and common sense. All they really want is for people who see it to come away from their disgraceful work substituting the letter “I” from “Nazi” for the “A” in NAZA.

Will former Hague prosecutor compensate captivity survivors?

The Jerusalem District Court has ordered Karim Khan, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, to pay NIS 25 million in damages to Eitan Mor and the families of Avinatan Or and Omri Miran, who were abducted by Hamas.

Judge Eran Shilo issued the default judgment after Khan failed to file a defense, despite having been duly served with the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in August 2025, while Eitan Mor, Avinatan Or and Omri Miran were still being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. All three were released about two months after it was filed.

The lawsuit centered on the allegation that Khan's conduct in his role at the court in The Hague contributed to the hostages' continued captivity. The families alleged that he refrained from taking legal action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad figures whom they held responsible for holding the hostages.

According to the lawsuit, Khan waited eight months before seeking arrest warrants for three senior Hamas leaders: Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh. It further alleged that he linked those applications to requests for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The plaintiffs also noted that Khan refrained from seeking arrest warrants for additional senior Hamas officials and Islamic Jihad leaders, including figures who were outside the Gaza Strip and involved in conducting negotiations with Israel.

The families argued that his failure to act against those figures allowed the terrorist organizations to continue holding the hostages. The lawsuit also alleged that Khan drew an improper moral equivalence between Israel and the terrorist organizations, and that his decisions were influenced by extraneous considerations.

The damages were awarded by default due to Khan's absence, rather than following a full examination of both sides' arguments in evidentiary proceedings.

How an evolutionary biologist is taking the fight to the 'mutating virus' of anti-Zionism

Flipping the script and building the tool-kit
Rather than trying to convert every casual critic into an ardent Zionist, Expose Antizionism Now aims to equip ordinary people with the language, confidence, and conversational strategies needed to challenge anti-Zionist premises in daily life, whether at a PTA meeting, an HR office, or the dinner table.

“From the position of our organization, we do not need you to be a Zionist,” Spielman clarified. “We just need you to be against anti-Zionism. I’m not trying to convert you to Zionism; I’m trying to get you to recognize that there’s something a little bit sick about the anti-Zionist movement, and that that is a problem.

“We have been taking the bait for a long time,” Spielman continued. “Someone levels an accusation against Israel or Zionism, and because we feel passionately, we launch into a defense. That feels really good to us, but it doesn’t move the needle at all, because the person we’re talking to operates in a completely different factual and emotional universe. By accepting the premise that Israel needs to be defended, we validate the accusation.”

Spielman’s approach focuses on shifting the power dynamic of the interaction.

“Instead of launching into a defense, ask them: ‘Where did you get that idea? Do you know what anti-Zionism is? Do you know where that concept comes from?’” she suggested. “All of a sudden, they have to answer something instead of you. You aren’t going to change someone’s mind in one conversation, but you plant a seed. You make a crack in their worldview.”

To operationalize this approach, Spielman is building a comprehensive tool kit with her volunteer team, which includes their academic adviser, Prof. Andrew Pessin, founder of the Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism. This includes downloadable community discussion kits, local training modules, and an AI-driven educational tool called Azaryah.

Azaryah allows users to chat interactively with an AI trained on the history, rhetoric, and tropes of anti-Zionism.

“It’s a partner for engaging on these issues,” Spielman explains. “You can chat with it about anti-Zionism’s history, how it functions as an ideology, and get feedback on how to have strategic conversations, set boundaries, or determine if you’re in a safe conversation. It democratizes the learning so people can engage with this information at their own schedule.”

Stripping the social permission: A strategic campaign
Operating in the Philadelphia area, a region experiencing acute political friction over anti-Israel activism, Spielman’s effort is scaling up as a grassroots start-up. Currently run by dedicated volunteers, Expose Antizionism Now is seeking seed funding and donor backing to expand its operations and deploy Azaryah at scale.

For Spielman, the battle against anti-Zionism requires walking away from superficial media outrage and focusing on long-term cultural change.

“We have to embark on that process in a very intentional, strategic way,” Spielman emphasized.

“Instead of playing Whack-A-Mole with whatever Ed Sheeran story of the week there is, we need to focus on what anti-Zionism actually gives people today. It feels good to them. It gives them a social community, a sense of righteousness, and access to elite spaces. It takes a long time for that to be beaten back, but we have to start beating it back.”

To those hesitant to confront anti-Zionist activism directly, she offers a stark historical parallel.

“A lot of the pushback that you sometimes get is, ‘Oh, well, I can’t condemn anti-Zionism because the anti-Zionists are proud of it,’” she noted. “Yeah, they are, because they think it’s a moral stance. But we have shown in the past that the Ku Klux Klan is not a moral stance. We can do this, too. We have that ability.”

Removing that social cover remains the ultimate goal.

“We need a reality where there is no more social permission, and certainly no social benefits, to being anti-Zionist,” Spielman concluded.

“Anti-Zionism’s outcomes are not freedom for Palestinians; its outcomes are the decimation of Jewish communities. It’s time we start beating it back in a deliberate, intentional, and strategic way.

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11/13 Links Pt2: MLK would have wanted a strong Israel; Trump says US antisemitism at levels ‘like Germany in 1938’; The nauseating hypocrisy of Greta Thunberg; Deradicalizing Gaza is possible but will take decades

From Ian:

The 'Israel controls America' myth has a long history - and an antisemitic foundation

Run the test anywhere else. In 1950, North Korea threatened South Korea’s existence and America’s only indirectly. Harry S. Truman sent troops, and nearly 37,000 Americans died. No one accused Syngman Rhee of controlling the White House.

In 1990, Kuwait’s exiled rulers bankrolled a public relations campaign through Hill & Knowlton. It put a teenage girl before a congressional caucus with a story about Iraqi soldiers tearing babies from incubators. She turned out to be the Kuwaiti ambassador’s daughter, and the story collapsed. That was a foreign government trying to manipulate Congress toward war, on the record. Kuwait never became a “puppet master.” It got a liberation and a thank-you.

Today, American planners openly debate fighting China over Taiwan. The island’s survival matters far more to Taipei than to Topeka or Peoria. No one claims Taiwan controls Congress.

So here is the rule of every alliance in modern American history. The senior, more powerful partner leads. The junior partner follows, lobbies, flatters, and sometimes tries to manipulate, and gets called a client, a beneficiary, or a poodle. Blair was the poodle. Rhee was the client. Kuwait was the beneficiary.

Israel is the only exception. Only with the Jewish state does the far smaller and weaker partner become the “master” and the superpower become the “dog.” No fact explains that reversal. Israel’s population is less than 3% of America’s, and its economy is about 2% the size of America’s. Its air force flies American jets, and its arsenal relies heavily on American munitions. The only thing that can turn the weaker ally into the hidden hand is the belief that Jews wield secret, outsized power over governments.

That belief has a name. The IHRA definition of antisemitism lists it explicitly: the myth of Jews collectively controlling governments. The people repeating “Israel’s war” would never apply the same standard to Britain, Kuwait, South Korea, or Taiwan. Take away the double standard and their argument has nothing left.

Their argument also erases America’s own grievance. Iran made itself America’s enemy without Israel. It held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Its Hezbollah proxy killed 241 American service members in Beirut in 1983. The State Department attributes over 600 American troop deaths in Iraq to Iranian-backed militias. Iranian agents plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington in 2011, and American prosecutors have charged IRGC operatives in plots against John Bolton and President Donald Trump.

“Death to America” was never a translation error. America had its own reasons to fight, written in its own soldiers’ blood.

And Israel has done what no “puppet master” would. For 75 years, from 1948 through October 2023, it fought every war without a single American combat soldier beside it.

Americans are free to argue that this war was a mistake, badly managed, or too costly. Those are real debates. “Israel made us do it” is not one of them. It is Henry Ford’s newspaper and Lindbergh’s speech, reprinted for a new audience with a podcast microphone. The “poodle” never holds the leash. Anyone who insists this one does isn’t describing Israel. He’s describing what he believes about “the Jews.”

Trump says US antisemitism at levels ‘like Germany in 1938’

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that antisemitism in the United States was at levels “like Germany in 1938,” at the beginning of the Holocaust.

The president was asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt about the recent rise in antisemitism in the US and what his administration was doing to combat it.

“I’m amazed to see it,” Trump said. “This is like Germany in 1938 or whatever. It’s, like, crazy what’s going on. When you look at the attacks on people, the racial attacks and the attacks, they’re, I guess, 57 percent on Jewish people, and you wouldn’t believe it.”

FBI statistics show that Jews were targeted in 63% of all religion-based hate crimes in the United States last year, down from 70% in 2024.

Trump spoke days after the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” the Nazi pogrom of 1938 widely seen as a turning point in the persecution of Jews and a prelude to the Holocaust. By then, Jews had already been stripped of their citizenship and subjected to severe restrictions, boycotts and discrimination by Adolf Hitler’s regime.

On the eve of the anniversary, pro-Palestinian activists in Philadelphia held a bicycle ride promoting a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses they accused of complicity in Israeli military actions. Jewish groups in the city called the event blatantly antisemitic, citing both its timing and its focus on Jewish-owned businesses. Organizers said the timing was coincidental.

Brendan O'Neill: The nauseating hypocrisy of Greta Thunberg

Those silly kids. Don’t they know that blubbing over polar bears is so 2019? The Current Thing is hating Israel. The ‘evil’ that now keeps pampered eco-saints like Greta awake at night is not global warming – it’s the Jewish State. The diminutive doom-mongerer long ago switched her narcissistic dread from CO2 to Zionism, trading her yellow rain mac for a designer keffiyeh, and her caterwauling about climate for the headier thrill of screaming blue murder about Israel. Get with the programme, children: the Jewish nation is now the demon that stalks the fever dreams of the young and self-righteous.

Thunberg hasn’t entirely ditched the eco-apocalypse nonsense. She still warbles about rising seas and stolen childhoods every now and then. She might no longer have spasms of infantile fury, howling ‘How dare you!’ at politicians who loved being told off by a smug teen, but she still does the green schtik. She’s currently at COP 31 in Turkey, wanging on about how the planet is being ‘killed’. How interesting that she boycotts Israel but is happy to hang out in a state that mercilessly persecutes the Kurds.

Yet the striking thing about St Greta’s pontificating at COP is how tired and even pantomime it sounds. It feels like she’s going through the motions, singing the old songs for the titillation of fiftysomething Guardianistas. The end of the world just isn’t where it’s at anymore. The end of Israel, on the other hand, the scrubbing from the map of that most demonic entity – now that will get the luxury-belief mob frothing with righteous ecstasy. Over the past three years, virtually all of them, in creepy sync, shifted from weeping over End Times to fuming over the Jewish nation.

Thunberg is now far more likely to be spotted on a boat of seafaring narcissists heading for Gaza than she is outside a parliamentary building yapping about eco-doom. She used to yelp ‘Stop oil’ – now she cries ‘Crush Zionism’. These people once wanted to keep fossil fuels buried – now they want to bury Jewish nationhood, which is all that Zionism means. She isn’t alone. If you’ve ever wondered why the ponces of Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain (remember them?!) are no longer making life miserable for working-class motorists, it’s because they, too, have switched their privileged ire to Israel. They, too, have converted from the bourgeois cult of climate rapture to the bourgeois cult of Israelophobia.

Look at Palestine Action (RIP). Many of those time-rich bozos who cut the fences of Israeli-owned business while shrieking about Zionism in cut-glass accents came from the privileged green movement. Like Greta, the Moan of Arc of greenism, they aren’t actually wedded to a particular cause – they’re just addicted to apocalypse. They crave the cheap thrill of standing up to some monstrous, planet-consuming bogeyman. Last week it was industry, this week it’s Israel. Their mercenary opportunism would be funny if it wasn’t for the fact that their new religion of Ziophobia – ‘Crush Zionism!’ – has created huge hardship for world Jewry.

We really do need a reckoning with the eco-hysteria of the past 10 years. These people told us humanity was doomed. They said billions would die. In 2018 Greta said ‘all of humanity’ will be wiped out if we don’t ‘stop using fossil fuels’ within five years. Five years later, she casually deleted that Nostradamus-lite bollocks. So intense was the doom and dread pumped into public life that kids started to suffer from eco-anxiety. Yet now they’ve all moved on. Now they’re all in the Med saying ‘Israel is evil’. Now it’s mainly Gaza these white saviours want to rescue from the monstrous forces of capitalism, imperialism, Zionism, yada yada. To stoke global fear and then shrug it off is irresponsible in the extreme. What’s more, given their End Times blather was clearly bullshit, why should we believe a word they say about Israel?

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11/13 Links Pt1: Rubio To ICC: ‘Stop Quoting Laws To Men With Swords’; Ex-bodyguard to Hamas chief, wanted in Germany over Oct. 7 plot, convicted for UK knife attack

From Ian:

The End of US Aid is No Cause for Alarm

Now, ending US aid does not mean that Israel will start to subsidize its domestic armaments industry. What it means is that the US aid has been subsidizing American defense contractors at the expense of Israel’s industry, and that will stop. As a result, Israel’s defense industry will grow stronger.

In addition to the economic benefits that brings, the IDF’s greater reliance on Israeli equipment will lessen Israel’s dependence on America, while greater exports will increase Israel’s diplomatic influence on the countries it supplies.

The main Israeli proponent of eliminating US aid – the late Moshe Arens, who served as Defense Minister under Begin, Shamir, and Netanyahu – understood all this. By accepting US aid, Israel was sacrificing the long-term strategic advantage of having a stronger defense industry in order to enjoy the short-term benefit of getting some armaments for free.

None of this is meant to imply that Israel doesn’t need US support – both military and diplomatic. But it needs to be clear that the President has no intention of limiting Israeli access to cutting edge American defense technology, cutting off intelligence cooperation, or abandoning Israel at the UN.

Far from distancing the US from Israel, the Pentagon is actively looking for opportunities to replace the aid relationship with far deeper defense cooperation. This is reflected in the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” proposed as part of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.

The idea is that America will bring its scale and its technology. The Israelis will bring their creativity and the extraordinary “venture capital” ethos they apply to defense research and development. And both countries will benefit.

Finally, it is important for Israelis to understand the internal politics in the US that is driving the President’s decision. Contrary to hysterical media reports, there is strong support for Israel among traditional Democratic and Republicans. Both parties, however, have got…serious problems.

The Democrats face an infestation of “woke” progressivism while the Republicans are dealing with a tsunami of isolation sentiment. What these two perspectives have in common – besides their predilection for magical thinking – is that they are overtly anti-Zionist and covertly anti-Semitic.

Both the progressives and the isolationists gain considerable political traction by exploiting American aid to Israel as a political talking point. While they oppose defense cooperation and intelligence sharing as well, those things aren’t salient to American voters. What voters care about most are their pocketbooks, and it’s easy to say “billions are going to the Jews!” That is a lot more compelling to voters than “we are sharing intelligence with the Jews and they are sharing intelligence with us!” or “Israel is helping us deploy advanced technologies faster!”

So there you have it. Eliminating the aid program will at worst do trivial harm to Israel’s economy, and at best may actually prove to be a net positive. It will lessen Israel’s military dependence on the US and facilitate strengthened defense relationships with other allies. And it will assist Israel’s many genuine friends in America – be they President Trump or soon to be Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries – is their effort to preserve and even strengthen the US relationship with Israel in the face of intense hostility to the Jewish people among a large and influential minority of the American electorate.

There is literally no downside to this, and Israelis – rather than wring their hands – should embrace the opportunities that the end of America’s aid program represents.

Mossad Director Gofman visits Washington, meets CIA director, pushes to resume war with Iran

Roman Gofman, director of the Mossad, has arrived in Washington, DC, to meet with senior officials from the Trump administration to discuss the war with Iran, sources told The Jerusalem Post.

Gofman's visit comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing US President Donald Trump to return to fighting against Iran.

Yashar party chairman, MK Gadi Eisenkot was not informed about the trip at the political- security briefing with Netanyahu, which was held on Thursday, Ynet reported.

Gofman is meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and will then travel to Miami to meet United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, the sources told the Post.

Trump has recently rejected Netanyahu's requests to return to fighting, Axios reported. The leaders discussed US negotiations with Iran in a phonecall on October 31, during which Netanyahu reportedly pressed Trump to strike Iran immediately after the midterm elections.

According to Axios, Trump rejected the idea at that time, preferring to continue with diplomatic negotiations.

Trump's attitude to Iran deal shifts
The president said on November 12 that the US does not need a deal with Iran and directed Vice President JD Vance, who has played a role in efforts to resolve the war, to focus "his complete and total attention" on alleged crime and corruption in Democratic-run cities and states.

His comments on Thursday marked a significant shift from his attitude for the last month, when Trump appeared more focused on striking a deal to bring the eight month conflict to an end.

"We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

All departing US flights grounded for several hours amid air traffic control comms failure

The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide on Friday for several hours after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers, in only the second such shutdown since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The shutdown caused chaos at airports, with airlines canceling more than 1,000 flights and delaying nearly 10,000, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Thousands of aircraft already in the air were allowed to land, while those on the ground could not take off. The disruption quickly spread beyond the United States, forcing the cancellation of flights from Canada and Europe, with all 42 members states of Eurocontrol — which includes Israel — halting departures at the FAA’s request.

The Department of Homeland Security said there were no signs the outage was caused by a cyberattack.

“There is no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunication outage as of right now,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters outside the White House, adding that US President Donald Trump had been briefed.

“There’s no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones. This isn’t another 9/11,” Mullin added.

Mullin said the department was examining all possible causes, including a new AI-powered air traffic control system.

The disruption was the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by equipment and communications failures, controller shortages and aging infrastructure.

Much of the FAA’s air traffic control technology is decades old. Last week, the agency said it would phase out floppy disks used to provide weather and other critical information at more than 400 facilities nationwide by the end of 2028.

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11/12 Links Pt2: Melanie Phillips: The absolute necessity of fighting back; The left’s despicable absolution of Hamas; Avi Issacharoff: 'I Went Undercover In Palestinian Territory… And Nearly Died'

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The absolute necessity of fighting back

At this exceptionally alarming time, when bad people in Israel and the West seem to have the wind behind them, two developments have lifted the spirits.

A mob of masked protesters wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags staged a “bicycle boycott” ride in Philadelphia to target and intimidate Jewish- and Israeli-owned businesses. They hadn’t expected that thousands of people would turn up to defend the Jews and actually outnumber the mob, forcing some of those louts to abandon the demonstration.

The second development involves 13 Republican-led U.S. states that have threatened trade reprisals and divestment measures against the United Kingdom and the Netherlands over their proposed trade sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria.

In both instances, civilization has begun fighting back against those running interference for barbarism.

The barbarians have gained the upper hand in the West because the decent majority of them haven’t understood that a war is being waged against them and their society in which they must either muster their courage to fight or lose their way of life.

The situation in Iran shows what happens when people flinch from this. In February, U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t flinch. He bombed Iran—albeit only after Israel had risked its own people to make the skies safe for American warplanes.

But then Trump flinched, refusing to allow Israel to continue to attack and thus further degrade Tehran’s ability to lash out. The result was Iran’s seizing control of the Straits of Hormuz, stepping up attacks on neighboring Arab states, and replenishing its ballistic-missile and other military programs.

The high oil price and spikes in the cost of living resulting from this continuing Iranian aggression helped produce the Republican rout in the midterms.

If Trump really had defeated the regime instead of the patently false victory that he has repeatedly claimed, even America’s anti-war public would have been impressed, his enemies on both sides of the political divide would have been unable to use the war against him, and the oil price would have gone down.

Instead, a re-energized Tehran has been gloating that it has defeated America in both the Straits of Hormuz and in Washington, D.C.

And it’s stepping up its efforts to sow terror around the world.

Bond between Jews and Iranians ‘fundamental,’ says exiled crown prince on Auschwitz visit

Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has celebrated the historic relationship between Jews and Persians during a visit to Auschwitz, warning that the Islamic Republic wants to “finish what Hitler has done”.

Pahlavi received the European Jewish Association's (EJA) King Solomon Award at a ceremony in Krakow on Monday evening, before joining an international delegation of politicians, diplomats and Jewish community leaders at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday.

Addressing the gathering, he reflected on more than 2,500 years of shared history, invoking the legacy of Persian King Cyrus the Great, who liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity and enabled the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.

“The bond between Iranians and the Jewish people is not a matter of sentiment and is not a matter of political convenience. It is older,” Pahlavi said.

“It is a fundamental part of Iranian history that we are truly proud of.”

He argued that the relationship between the two peoples should not be defined by the current Iranian government, but by centuries of shared history and the possibility of a different future.

The award recognised his opposition to antisemitism and his support for closer relations between Iran and Israel.

Brendan O'Neill: The left’s despicable absolution of Hamas

They’re all at it. ‘This is not a natural disaster. This is man-made genocide’, says US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. These ‘apocalyptic conditions’, this ‘abomination’, is all down to Israel, commentators say. It is ‘pure evil’, said actor John Cusack while sharing what appears to be an AI-generated video of neck-high flooding. What’s being argued here is as insane as it is defamatory. They’re not only saying Israel has been neglectful towards post-war Gaza – they’re saying it has intentionally let freezing waters slosh as part of its fiendish crusade to finish off the Palestinians. Apparently even rain becomes a tool of extermination under the rule of this unholiest nation.

This kind of commentary, so commonplace now, doesn’t only slander the Jewish homeland – it also absolves Hamas. By converting every hardship into evidence of Israeli depravity, Western pundits wipe the moral slate clean for the jihadist gang that actually runs Gaza. They wilfully overlook that the suffering of the people in Gaza, including in these floods, is primarily down to the fact that their ruthless Islamist rulers cannibalised their own municipal infrastructure to fuel their cosmic war on the Jews.

There’s a reason Gaza has poor water infrastructure – because Hamas spent years ripping water pipes out of the ground to turn them into rocket fuselages for their holy crusade against the Jewish homeland. This is not an ‘anti-Hamas smear’ – the army of anti-Semites itself has boasted of its subterranean vandalism. It has proudly released footage of its operatives digging up municipal pipelines, sawing through the metal tubing, and fashioning these arteries of water into weapons of death for the Jews. A pro-Hamas documentary on Al-Jazeera showed the militants making rockets from dug-up ‘metal water pipes’ and ‘unexploded Israeli munitions’.

Hamas has even crowed about the fact that it turned EU-funded pipelines into weaponry. As the Telegraph reported three years ago, some of the ‘30 miles of water pipelines’ gifted to Gaza by Brussels were bent into ‘an arsenal of home-made rockets’. As even the BBC said in 2021, the reason Israel banned the importing of ‘dual-use’ goods into Gaza – including pipes, cement and iron – is because there exists footage showing Hamas ‘ma[king] missiles from water pipes’.

A core reason that Gaza is ill-prepared for storms is because its theocratic rulers converted virtually the entire Strip into an engine of fascistic war. For 20 years in Gaza, civic planning has played a poor second to the logistical requirements of anti-Jewish violence. Hamas chose to build not a functioning society but a staging ground for slaughter. Pipes became missiles, hospitals became weapons depots, schools became rocket-launching facilities. And of course, foreign aid was used to build the estimated 350-mile tunnel system in which Hamas hides and plots as its subjects above ground are forced to flee the missiles of the war Hamas started with its mass murder of Jews.

It is a grotesque lie of omission to leave out such brutal truths in the discussion of Gaza’s suffering. We are witnessing the moral absolution of Hamas by a cultural establishment hell-bent on blaming the Jewish State for everything. This has been the modus operandi of the West’s media elites and activist classes since the pogrom of 7 October, and in fact earlier: to monster the Jewish State and infantilise its enemies. To depict Israel as the sole and evil author of every calamity in the Middle East, and Arabs as wide-eyed, child-like victims.

This is the double racism of Israelophobia. The Jewish nation is defamed as a uniquely monstrous entity, while the Arab side is robbed of agency and treated as the helpless infant of history. Even Hamas. Even an avowedly racist army that turned a whole strip of land into a subterranean fortress of death is let off the hook. The Jews are omnipotent, the Arabs pathetic. This is progressive politics now? That’s what the floods discussion reveals: that Israel and Gaza have been flattened into props for a moral psychodrama penned by bigoted Westerners. The flooding of Gaza is terrible. So is the flooding of Western commentary with lies about Israel and apologism for the Islamo-Nazis that want to destroy it.

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11/12 Links Pt1: Israel targets Hamas chief planning attacks from Nasser Hospital; Elliott Abrams: Where Does the U.S.-Israel Relationship Go from Here?; The intellectual fraud and moral vacuity of Benjamin Moser

From Ian:

Gen. (ret.) David H. Petraeus: It Matters How the Iran War Ends

Everyone wants the war with Iran to end. But how it ends is what matters. A settlement that lets Iran restore its revenue and maritime commerce, continue to threaten navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, rebuild its nuclear program and keep its highly enriched uranium wouldn't advance American and allied interests. It would set the conditions for the next crisis.

The U.S. has three essential goals: restore freedom of navigation through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, account for and neutralize Iran's nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60%, and impose enforceable limits on nuclear enrichment. None of this requires regime change, occupation or indefinite war. These are the minimum requirements for a durable settlement.

Freedom of navigation can't mean temporary permission from Tehran for favored countries, routes Iran can close at will or a pause in attacks conditioned on concessions. Iran's uranium enriched to 60% could be used in a crude nuclear device without further enrichment or enriched to weapons-grade rapidly. The objective shouldn't be merely to dispose of yesterday's material but to prevent Iran from quickly re-creating the same nuclear threat tomorrow.

The U.S. shouldn't lift the blockade, release substantial frozen funds, or permit renewed Iranian oil exports in exchange for a promise that Tehran will reopen the strait and discuss the nuclear questions later. That would trade concrete American leverage for reversible commitments.

Iran should first stop attacking ships and help clear maritime hazards. It should then restore IAEA access, fully account for the enriched uranium and accept enforceable limits on enrichment. The blockade could be lifted, frozen assets released, and the U.S. force posture reduced only after safe passage is in effect, the 60% stockpile has been neutralized, and the nuclear restrictions and inspections are operating.

If You Think War Is Unpopular, Wait Till You See Defeat

Sometimes good politics is bad policy and good policy is bad politics, which brings me to our current fight against Iran. War is unpopular. It always has been. War is expensive, unpredictable and, most important, deadly. It almost always takes longer than planners thought and is deadlier than experts estimated.

Only a few years after World War II, President Truman made the unpopular decision to send American forces to Korea to prevent the people of the peninsula from falling under the yoke of tyranny. Americans didn't want another war. They were tired of overseas combat and wanted to focus on domestic issues.

Truman paid a price in the 1950 midterms, as his opponents made significant gains in Congress and public support for the war deteriorated. But his backbone in prosecuting the war saved half the Korean Peninsula from totalitarianism and solidified the U.S. position against the Soviets in the Cold War.

History often vindicates difficult decisions that were deeply unpopular in their time. Our fight against Iran will prove no different. This isn't a fight for Israel or Saudi Arabia. It is a fight for Western civilization and the security of American families.

The radical Islamist forces that control Iran and their proxy groups seek the destruction of the U.S. and all Western civilization. They have kidnapped, tortured, murdered and maimed thousands of Americans and many more innocent people worldwide.

They will use all weapons at their disposal to blackmail their neighbors, build regional (and eventually global) hegemony, and forge themselves into a world power that can't be confronted. The war is unpopular, but defeat would be far less popular. We owe it to our country and the West to finish the job.

Elliott Abrams: Where Does the U.S.-Israel Relationship Go from Here?

The U.S.-Israel relationship is under assault in both parties. Both the Senate and the House will have dedicated opponents of all aid to Israel, including even the sale of defensive weapons. They will see moves like an end to military assistance as weak half-measures, when much more must be demanded.

These views do not command a majority in the Democratic caucus, nor are they held by Chuck Schumer, the likely majority leader, or Hakeem Jeffries, the likely House speaker. But they now have a firm base in Congress and in the Democratic Party; policies that were considered fringe and extremist a few years ago will now be seriously debated.

It can be predicted that Democratic leaders will look for compromises that can maintain party unity, and every compromise with the new anti-Israel team will weaken U.S.-Israel ties and Israel's defenses. The DSA crew will fight every line in a new memorandum of understanding with Israel on future military and high-tech cooperation.

They will oppose any U.S. or joint efforts against the Iranian nuclear weapons program. They will adopt the widespread European demand for immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. They will seek sanctions against Israeli military and political leaders, and boycotts that separate Israeli companies and banks from the U.S. economy.

Poll: 71 Percent of U.S. Voters Support Israel over Hamas

A Harvard CAPS/ Harris Poll taken on Oct. 24-26, 2026, found that 71% of U.S. voters support Israel over Hamas, while 75% agree that there are terrorist groups on Israel's borders including Hamas and Hizbullah.

72% say Hizbullah should be required to disarm.

77% think Israel has a right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish People, including 62% of those aged 18-24.

52% would be less likely to vote for a politician who called for the complete destruction of Israel, while 22% would be more likely, including 46% of those aged 18-24.

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11/11 Links Pt2: The day the eaters starved the haters; Labour’s cowardice on Israel and Islamism; Gal Gadot to bring Golodryga and Levi’s ‘Don’t Feed the Lion’ to the big screen

From Ian:

The Class of 1984 By Abe Greenwald

Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here.
How did we get here? In large part, this is what these kids have been taught. And 61.4 percent said their professors make their political leanings clear in the classroom (34 percent disagreed). And we don’t have to guess what those political leanings are. Aside from having seen all the academic radicals and their enthusiasm for campus protest, multiple polls confirm that progressivism dominates among professors, while the conservative professor is just about an extinct species. What concerns me is the 34 percent of students who, in all likelihood, are being indoctrinated without knowing it.

Okay, I promised some sunnier news. First, we’re winning the trans sports war. Asked about whether trans athletes should be allowed to participate in sports leagues “designated for a gender that is different from their assigned gender at birth,” 33.2 percent said yes, and 53.5 percent said no. Insanity reigns only so long as it goes unopposed.

And then there’s this: Despite the students’ overwhelmingly negative view of Israel, it doesn’t seem to be much of a priority anymore. When asked about what causes they attended rallies or protests in support of over the last year, “pro-Palestine” makes up only 11.7 percent, behind social justice (19.7 percent), LGBTQ rights (17.6 percent), pro-abortion rights (15.7 percent), anti-ICE (21.4 percent), and anti-Trump (17 percent). The only left-wing causes less popular than “pro-Palestine” were climate change (11.2 percent) and opposition to data centers (8.9 percent).

I don’t really take the waning importance of Israel as an indication of what’s in the minds and souls of college students. I read it more as the sign of a cultural trend. We’re moving away, however slowly, from “Free Palestine” and onto the next outrage. American attention is famously transient, and Israel-bashing has gotten slightly stale. And after things go stale, they rot.

Joshua Namm: The Entertainment Industry Hates Us. So why Do We Put Up With It?

On October 31 Michael Che, the host of “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live, said that Israelis voted “in record numbers” which was, he said, “great to see, regardless if you’re on the right side, the left side or the genocide.”

Get it?

The audience, of course, happily laughed at the comment (because none of this is about humor anymore: humor is now a public ritual in which laughter serves as a public declaration of absolute obedience to the narrative).

It was so important to Che that the audience get it that he actually pronounced it “gen-o-cide.”

Che also has a history of spreading blood libels against Jews.

Variety made it worse in its reporting, by having a headline that read: “SNL Weekend Update Finally Weighs in on Israel.”

They uncritically repeated the charge without any examination of why Israel went to war in Gaza. All that mattered to them was that SNL step in line and bash the Jews.

That the accusation of genocide is itself a lie, and 100% false, never matters to any of these people.

That made me think about a topic that I’ve been meaning to write about for years: the constant antisemitism of Hollywood, and our passive acceptance of it.

Like so much else, pop culture is a reflection of the society that produces it. The fact that there are multiple movies/TV shows/plays which portray Jews in a myriad of negative ways reflects the status of our culture.

And, I’m not just talking about the ever-present image of Jews as nerdy, bookish, endlessly neurotic wimps, or characters from Fiddler on the Roof.

Today’s culture often goes much further. And today they also hijack, appropriate, and rewrite our history to reinforce those negative perceptions of Jews, or worse, to promote political narratives by stealing our story.

Jaroslawa Lewicka, Israel’s last living Righteous Among the Nations, dies at 91

Jaroslawa Lewicka, the last of the Righteous Among the Nations living in Israel, passed away in Haifa on Tuesday night. She was 91.

Lewicka was born in Poland in 1935 and raised by her mother, Katarzyna, and grandfather, Alexander Levitska.

She began helping them save Jews during the Holocaust at the age of six, delivering food and medicine and serving as their messenger. In 1942, when a sealed ghetto was established in the nearby city of Zolochiv, the family continued its rescue efforts. Because of her young age, she delivered supplies without arousing the Nazis’ suspicions. The family’s home was about two kilometers from the ghetto. Jarosława regularly walked the distance carrying a small schoolbag in which she concealed food for starving Jews.

Along the way, she had to evade German and Ukrainian police officers, but she continued carrying out her mission.

In 1943, her family sheltered two Jews in their home. They provided food to a group of 25 Jews hiding in the basement of a destroyed building about two km. away until the arrival of the Red Army in 1944.

In 1989, Lewicka, her mother, and grandfather were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. In 1995, she immigrated to Israel, became an Israeli citizen, and settled in Haifa.

Lewicka’s life story was documented in Maya Klinger-Cohen’s book Only Red Candies.

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11/11 Links Pt1: US envoy Mike Waltz blasts UNIFIL as 'human shield for terrorists,' announces Lebanon visit; ‘Vile hatemonger’ Francesca Albanese accused of ‘hijacking’ words of Primo Levi to condemn Israel

From Ian:

Netanyahu's 1996 promise to end US aid to Israel fulfilled after 30 years, PMO claims

The Prime Minister's Office said Benjamin Netanyahu has fulfilled his 1996 promise to gradually end US financial support for Israel in a Wednesday post on X/Twitter.

Netanyahu, the PMO claimed, promised at the time to end the financial support, which then totaled $1.2 billion, compared to the current total of nearly $4 billion.

"He did just that," the post reads.

Israel is "strong enough economically to gradually end military support," 30 years after Netanyahu's initial promise, the PMO wrote, adding that this is because "today, Israel has a strong and stable economy."

"Israel and the US are making the important move from aid to partnership," the PMO said, using similar terminology to a Friday statement, in which the PMO said that it views US President Donald Trump's announcement to stop aid to Israel by the end of the year as a shift from military aid to "partnership," as reported by The Jerusalem Post.

"Today, Israel has a strong and stable economy. The move by PM Netanyahu and President Trump from aid to partnership shows the strength and sophistication of our relationship, and its ability to adapt and stand strong over time," the PMO wrote.

"This joint move by Netanyahu and Trump shows the strength of our relationship and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances," the PMO said.

The statement also used similar language to Netanyahu's May interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, in which he called for reducing US financial support to Israel down to zero, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "affirmation" in Paris earlier this week, citing the US's top diplomat as calling the decision "something the Israelis themselves have offered us."

Rubio says Israel's economy is at a point where Jerusalem no longer needs Washington's financial aid
Rubio recently said that Israel has become sufficiently prosperous to purchase US weapons without relying on financial assistance, the Post reported at the time.

“On the question of financing, I think Israel has clearly graduated beyond that,” Rubio also said.

PMO spokesman Doron Spielman told Fox News that "while the aid has been incredibly important, the prime minister has been working with President Trump to make the correct transition out from aid towards partnership and mutual investment."

Trump claims Netanyahu personally proposed ending US aid to Israel
On November 3, Trump claimed that Netanyahu personally proposed ending the aid during a telephone interview with Fox News' Fox & Friends.

However, the Israeli defense establishment was shocked by Trump's November 3 announcement of his decision to cut off aid, and is unclear on what it implies for immediate budgetary and weapons sales issues, the Post reported on Sunday.

US envoy Mike Waltz blasts UNIFIL as 'human shield for terrorists,' announces Lebanon visit

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz delivered a blistering attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the gala evening of the second annual Israel Hayom Summit in New York, announcing plans to visit Lebanon next week to push for fundamental changes to the peacekeeping mission in the country's south.

Waltz described the UN force as a "human shield for terrorists" and made clear that the Trump administration was seeking to overhaul its operations. "I'm going there next week to get rid of this human shield known as UNIFIL and change the peacekeeping mission that has been there for 20 years," Waltz declared. "This mission costs half a billion dollars a year, and instead of promoting peace, it has provided a human shield for terrorists," he said, adding that the goal was to turn the UN into an organization that genuinely advances peace in the region.

Turning to Iran and its network of proxies, Waltz portrayed Tehran's influence across the Middle East as significantly diminished. "The Iranian regime is weaker than it has ever been," he said, pointing to the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the blows dealt to Hezbollah and developments in Lebanon as part of a broader erosion of Iranian influence. "The cancer of the Middle East is being eradicated, step by step, by a president who had the courage not to put off the difficult decisions," he said.

Waltz also highlighted growing security cooperation between Israel and Arab countries, describing military coordination between Israel and Gulf states as one of the most significant developments of recent years. "To see Israeli soldiers fighting alongside Arab soldiers from the United Arab Emirates, and to see Arab countries helping defend the State of Israel when Iran launched its attacks, would have been absolutely unthinkable just six years ago," he said.

He pointed to what he described as a significant shift on the international stage as well, noting that 146 countries had condemned Iranian attacks on civilian targets, including ships, hotels, resorts and airports, at the UN.

A substantial portion of Waltz's speech focused on the Abraham Accords and President Donald Trump's Middle East policy.

Waltz recalled that when Trump first unveiled his vision for normalizing relations between Israel and Arab countries, many experts and diplomats dismissed it as impossible. "They said there could be no broader peace between Israel and the Arab world until the Palestinian issue was resolved. They called Trump's vision a fantasy. But we proved them wrong," he said.

Waltz, who attended the signing ceremony for the Abraham Accords at the White House in 2020, stressed that predictions that successive wars in the region would bring about the agreements' collapse had also proved unfounded. "First they said the Abraham Accords would never happen. Then they said they would never last. On October 7, they said the war would destroy them. Then they said the war in Gaza would destroy them, and now they're saying the war in Iran will destroy them. So what's the answer? Not only have they survived, they're expanding."

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11/10 Links Pt2: The lessons of Kristallnacht and the wake-up call of Bondi; The Schwinntifada Folds; Natan Sharansky on Campus Fear and the Silent Majority; Why Bondi hero would DO IT ALL AGAIN

From Ian:

US midterms exposed frightening new reality for American Jews – time to unite and fight back

The suggestion that Jews should subordinate their own survival to a supposedly greater good carries a disturbing historical echo.

In August 1934, The New York Times reported a declaration by the Association of National German Jews, whose members said they had “always, in war or peace, placed the good of the German people and the German Fatherland above our own good”.

The declaration continued: “Accordingly, we greeted the national uprising of January 1933, although it brought rigours for us, for we saw it as the only means to clear away the damage done in fourteen unhappy years by un-German elements.”

The “national uprising” was Hitler’s accession to power. What those Jews described as “rigours” would be followed by the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, and, ultimately, the Holocaust.

The circumstances are profoundly different. The warning concerns the reasoning: Jewish safety must never become expendable in pursuit of a supposedly higher political good.

Jewish voters who supported el-Sayed doubtless had various reasons. Some may have shared Nessel’s thinking; others may have dismissed concerns about him or considered Republican control of the Senate the greater danger. For some, an attenuated Jewish identity, expressed chiefly through universal ideals rather than attachment to Jewish peoplehood or Zionism, may also have played a part.

Universal concern is admirable. But when attachment to Jewish particularity becomes a source of discomfort, and Jewish self-preservation is viewed as an obstacle to the greater good, something has gone profoundly wrong.

Nessel’s words raise a question that reaches well beyond Michigan: when did concern for Jewish survival become a form of self-interest that Jews should be prepared to surrender?

There is nothing narrow or shameful about Jews defending their own safety, continuity, and right to exist. And no political party or individual is entitled to ask them to sacrifice any of those things.

A world that cannot make room for roughly 16 million Jews has a profound moral problem. Jewish contributions to ethics, science, medicine, and culture are extraordinary. But Jews should not have to present a catalogue of achievements to justify their existence.

Nor should tiny Israel, roughly one per cent the size of Saudi Arabia, have to prove its usefulness to earn the right to exist. Its manifold contributions to meeting humanity’s challenges deserve recognition. Its people’s right to live in peace and security, however, does not depend on them.

Michigan was not the only warning. After the Republican shellacking, Vice President JD Vance included “change our relationship to Israel” among four priorities he cited for winning back voters who had deserted his party.

The vice president of the United States was making the relationship with the Jewish state part of the explanation for his party’s electoral humiliation. He is also widely expected to seek the presidency in 2028. The pattern is all too familiar: when things go wrong, find a Jewish address for the blame. This time, the address is Israel, the lone Jewish-majority state.

Coming from someone a heartbeat away from the presidency, those words demand far more than a passing expression of concern.

Increasingly, the place of Jews in America is being called into question – a prospect many previously considered unimaginable.

Concerned Jews and Jewish groups must face these realities unflinchingly, show far greater unity of purpose, demonstrate courage and spine, develop innovative strategies, strengthen young Jews’ understanding of their history and identity, and build strong alliances.

If this is not the moment to wake up, then when is?

The Schwinntifada Folds By Abe Greenwald

Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here. Look, it’s sickening that this happened at all. At the start of the “Free Palestine” craze, protesters wouldn’t have plainly organized an attack on Jewish-owned businesses for being Jewish-owned businesses. But they’ve grown bolder since then, winning media and political sympathy and lifting unapologetic anti-Semites into important political offices.

So if this is a kind of arms race, I’m heartened to see a significant number on our side who are ready to escalate.

I rarely give unbidden advice, and I don’t resent those who choose not to follow my counsel. But I’ve been asked, over and over, by Jews and other concerned Americans, “What can we do about the explosion in anti-Semitism?”

The truth is, it’s hard to know what to say, and my answers often come up short: learn self-defense, obtain a legal weapon, use the law to protect your rights, make a fuss, and vote for the right people—it’s not terribly inspiring. But the events of Sunday are inspiring, and I’ll say this: Look at what the Jews and their allies did in Philadelphia, repeat it, grow it, and don’t stop. Show up everywhere. Outnumber the scum and get in their faces. Above all, be brave. Don’t steer clear of targeted businesses or neighborhoods or shuls. Don’t change your life one bit to accommodate the thugs.

Think of it like this: For three years, Israeli life was upended by a brutal war. Families watched as their young men and women went off to fight the most depraved murderers on the planet. IDF soldiers hunted down their enemies from the skies and in dark tunnels and explosive-rigged buildings, and many courageous Jews have died in the process. We merely have to be brave enough to exercise our God-given rights as citizens in this free country. So, my advice is to go where you want to go, say what you want to say, and don’t back down against the likes of “Philly Bike on Your Left,” or anyone else who expects you to cower.

New Zealand’s antisemitism problem is in New Zealand, not the Middle East

New Zealanders have every right to criticize Israel, advocate Palestinian self-determination and protest peacefully. They are free to criticize any country. Those rights do not extend to threats or nationality-based harassment.

The coalition mentioned above criticized slogans such as “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada,” which many understand as threatening Israel’s existence or encouraging violence.

It highlighted the Free Palestine Party, which it says received $82,000 in public election broadcasting funding, and alleged that its leader, Paul Hopkinson, celebrated Oct. 7 as a victory for Palestinian resistance. It also criticized activist John Minto for reportedly publishing photographs of Israeli visitors and encouraging hostile attention toward them.

These allegations raise questions about enforcement. New Zealand designated Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist entity in 2024 and has laws addressing material support for terrorism, harmful digital communications and harassment. Offensive political speech is not automatically criminal. But have authorities examined the reported incidents, and what conclusions have they reached?

Freedom of speech is fundamental. It does not confer a right to threaten people or facilitate violence. The law must protect Jewish citizens and Israeli visitors as firmly as everyone else.

The coalition also challenged New Zealand’s media, arguing that coverage has too often relied uncritically on Hamas-controlled sources without sufficient balance or context. Journalists must scrutinize claims from all sides, report civilian suffering honestly and distinguish verified facts from propaganda.

Māori, Christian, Jewish and Iranian representatives have united around a principle beyond politics: Jews and Israelis deserve the same safety and dignity as everyone else.

The coalition calls on politicians to act responsibly, journalists to uphold professional standards and police to respond decisively to threats and violence.

New Zealand must reflect urgently on where this hostility could lead. The antisemitic terrorist attack at Australia’s Bondi Beach last December is a stark warning of the devastating consequences of hatred. Geographical isolation offers no immunity. New Zealand must act to prevent a similar tragedy on its own soil.

New Zealand cannot control the Middle East’s geopolitical realities. But it can control how it treats Jews and Israelis within its borders.

Jewish citizens and Israeli visitors must be able to live without fear. If New Zealand cannot meet that basic standard, the problem is not in the Middle East. It is in New Zealand.

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11/10 Links Pt1: Will Trump Change the U.S.-Israel Relationship?; Israel's Problem with Arab Parties Isn't that They're Arab; Polls Find Most Americans Think Conflict with Iran Was Justified

From Ian:

Michael Doran: Will Trump Change the U.S.-Israel Relationship?

The assertion that America is fighting Israel's war rather than its own replaces an assessment of American interests with a theory of foreign manipulation. Yet the assertion explains nothing about how the U.S. would secure its interests once it abandons the policies and partnerships its critics reject.

Can Washington reach an accommodation with the Islamic Republic that reliably prevents it from acquiring nuclear weapons? If not, should it accept a nuclear-armed Iran? What would that outcome mean for the balance of power in the Middle East, and for the larger balance of power with China?

The purpose of American grand strategy is to maintain an international order that makes American freedom possible. That requires preserving the foundations of American power and prosperity: military superiority, economic dynamism, the dollar's central role in international finance, technological leadership, and secure energy supplies for the U.S. and its allies.

In the Middle East, oil is only part of the story. The Gulf monarchies command vast pools of capital increasingly important to artificial intelligence, data centers, and the infrastructure of the digital economy. Their sovereign wealth funds are major investors in global financial markets. They are also among the largest purchasers of American weapons, helping sustain the defense-industrial base on which American military power depends.

President Trump seeks to maintain American primacy without occupying countries or assuming responsibility for their internal political transformation, relying instead on economic coercion, selective military force, diplomacy, and capable regional allies. The objective is maximum American influence with the minimum necessary American military footprint.

That approach requires a regional balance in which Iran cannot dominate its neighbors. Iran has attacked American military installations across the Middle East, damaging aircraft, radar systems, communications equipment, and other infrastructure worth billions of dollars. Its missiles and drones threaten the bases through which the U.S. projects power. The U.S. is therefore confronting a challenge to its own military position and regional influence, quite apart from its obligations to Israel.

Report: U.S. Military Aid to Israel Won't End This Year

A week after President Trump said he and Prime Minister Netanyahu had agreed to end U.S. military aid to Israel by the end of this year, Ynet and Yediot Ahronot have learned that in the emerging security memorandum of understanding with the U.S., American military assistance to Israel will not end immediately.

Instead, the direct military aid will continue for five years after 2028, after which it will end entirely.

At the same time, U.S. funding for joint air and missile defense development is expected to rise from the current $500 million annually due to the increasing threat from drones and missiles.

The goal is to finalize a new agreement by the end of this year, before the new Congress takes office in January. However, Congress will still have to appropriate the aid funding each year.

Negotiations are being conducted by teams from both countries. The money is used to purchase weapons produced by U.S. defense companies.

Some members of Congress oppose reducing assistance to Israel since much of the money is ultimately spent in their own states and supports American defense manufacturers.

Secretary of State Rubio: Iran War Was "the Right Thing to Do"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday regarding the war in Iran: "The President of the United States identified a very real threat to this country that's existed for a very long period of time, and he addressed it. And he addressed it even though, oftentimes, the right thing to do for the country...isn't necessarily popular but necessary."

"At the end of the day I think we can all agree...there used to be bipartisan acknowledgment that a nuclear Iran would be completely unacceptable and dangerous for the United States - not just Israel, not just the Middle East - the whole world and the United States."

"So I think the President took on something that other presidents have failed to do. And sometimes when you do the right thing - I don't know if it's popular or not, but it's the right thing to do. And presidents are elected to do the hard things - sometimes difficult things, but necessary things."

Polls Find Most Americans Think Conflict with Iran Was Justified

When wars cause major political shifts, they usually involve ground combat leading to thousands of American casualties, not a temporary $1.50-a-gallon increase in the price of gasoline, which costs a typical household about $20 a week. If that's enough to bring about a political sea change, then the electorate has lost all rationality, and presidents will be constrained to wait for an attack on U.S. soil before taking military action to defend America.

The Harvard CAPS/Harris polls asked if the Iranians were negotiating in good faith. 65% of respondents said no. Should the Iranians be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz? 67% said no, including a majority of both parties. Should Iran be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon? 85% said no. Was the U.S. justified in using force if the Iranians refuse to yield on these key issues? 63% said yes. The war has dragged on when voters wanted it to be won - and they still do.

Mr. Trump and his administration need to explain to Americans the reason we took on the Iranian regime, which is the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans over the past 47 years.

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11/09 Links Pt2: When Marx met Hamas; Leiter: NYT spread blood libel against Jewish state, fueled false genocide accusations; ‘We’re never really going to be safe,’ Dara Horn says at Kristallnacht commemoration

From Ian:

When Marx met Hamas

The embarrassment of Israel
What is Israel today to Western civilisation’s Marxist-Islamist opponents? It is an embarrassment, a reminder of their failure. Marx and his followers never did “make the Jew impossible”. With its different social classes all proud of faith, flag and family, no land gives the lie to the Marxist worldview quite like Israel. For Islamists, Israel created in two generations what its neighbours could not in fourteen centuries: simply, a decent place to live. Envy always comes out sideways.

The alt-right is now shot through with antisemitism of its own, but when the Green Party equates Zionism with racism as official doctrine and calls for a single Palestinian state, its members should know that this implies annihilating Israel as a Jewish nation. Its activists seek the establishment of a Palestinian state by “all available means”.

As Jake Wallis Simons outlined in his book Never Again: How the West Betrayed the Jews and Itself, the West’s opponents are interlinked and interdependent. Antisemitism, anti-Zionism, Putin apologism, Hitler-revisionism, Tehran-backed terror. They appear to be opposed but are mutually-reinforcing. Aleksandr Dugin, dubbed Putin’s philosophical guru, has praised the “conservative revolutionist” Osama Bin Laden while Russian assistance to the messianic Iranian regime is well known.

Of course, like its western equivalent, Islamic antisemitism flourished centuries before Karl Marx came on the scene. Aside from the enforced second-class dhimmitude of Jews (and Christians) in the traditional Islamic hierarchy, Islam’s colonisation of Spain was followed by ferocious pogroms which saw the slaughter of thousands of Jews. But the postcolonial New Left has blended Marxism with historic regional enmities to create a toxic brew.

After the Palestine Liberation Organisation became a paid-up KGB client (literally: it took $200,000 a month through the 1970s), its job was turning international socialism against the state of Israel — and, inevitably, Jews. As Wallis Simons describes, Yasser Arafat “shamelessly ventriloquised Israelophobic propaganda, railing against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism and racism, the chief form of which is Zionism.” Arafat (and Moscow’s) eliding Palestinianism with anticolonialism was a “genius […] sleight of hand”. Since its aim was ejecting Jews from their ancient homeland, it was also the opposite of the truth. In his PhD thesis at Moscow’s Patrice Lumumba University, his successor Mahmood Abbas would argue that Zionists engineered the Holocaust as a pretext to establish Israel, exaggerating the number of Jewish dead sixfold. Our Labour Government has just granted him an embassy in London.

By the end of the 1970s, Palestinianism was engaged in a parallel assault on truth in the universities. In Orientalism, Palestinian-American academic Edward Saїd applied the same Marxist hierarchy of oppression to the postcolonial world, again eliding the restored ancient Jewish state with imperialism while bemoaning the failure of the (actually imperialist) Arab armies to destroy Israel in the Six Day War. Combining Islamic grievances and Marxist philosophy, this Third-Worldism has ruined much of the Western academy.

The Modern Age in arms
Faced by the Islamo-Marxists, our era begins to feel like the moment in Evelyn Waugh’s Men At Arms when the English Catholic protagonist Guy Crouchback hears the news of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, that 1939 non-aggression treaty between Stalinism and Nazism:

… everything had become clear. The enemy at last was plain in view, huge and hateful, all disguise cast off. It was the Modern Age in arms. Whatever the outcome, there was a place for him in that battle.

The enemy is in plain view once more. Socialism has returned to its roots, seeking the annihilation of peoples. What is to be done? The treatment must include our education system. Restoring western immunity to such mind-viruses means teaching our shared Judeo-Christian philosophical heritage, whence our sense of self arose. To save the tree, rejuvenate civilisation from the roots.

When tikkun olam comes at the expense of solidarity with Israel

There is no need to abandon tikkun olam to preserve Jewish solidarity. Secular Israelis volunteer in Africa and other remote regions, provide free medical care, assist local farmers, and share professional knowledge. They do so out of humanism and moral responsibility, without renouncing their national identity.

But perhaps American Jews who place tikkun olam at the center of their identity should ask themselves a difficult question: What happens if the assumption that the world will embrace us because of everything we have done to improve it proves wrong?

Vivian Silver, a peace activist from Kibbutz Be’eri, devoted her life to helping Palestinians. She helped patients from Gaza reach Israeli hospitals for treatment and worked tirelessly to promote coexistence.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists murdered her in her home. Her story is a heartbreaking reminder that goodwill and generosity cannot guarantee protection against those who reject the possibility of coexistence.

By all means, continue to practice tikkun olam. Help the disadvantaged, fight discrimination, and contribute to a better world. But don’t abandon your insurance policy along the way.

Israel is the one Jewish state, the national home of the Jewish people, and ultimately the place that provides Jews everywhere with a measure of collective security and refuge.

Its survival should matter just as much to a Jew living in Detroit or Miami as it does to one living in Tel Aviv.

Mamdani’s plan to fight antisemitism omits NYC college campuses, critics claim

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to combat antisemitism glaringly omits tackling rampant, anti-Jewish hatred at local colleges and universities, Jewish faculty and staff at CUNY and NYU said

The Mamdani administration’s “Strategy to Combat Antisemitism,” released in September, makes scant mention of colleges and universities, though City Hall said it met with all with Jewish leaders “from all corners of the community” including parents, students and educators.

“In a city that is home to one of the world’s greatest concentrations of public and private universities and colleges, the near absence of higher education from the Strategy is a significant omission,” the CUNY Alliance for Inclusion and the Faculty and Staff Against Antisemitism at NYU said in a joint statement to The Post.

“Those commitments should extend meaningfully to New York City’s colleges and universities.”

The faculty groups said antisemitism in higher education cannot be understood solely through claims regarding hate crimes and physical insecurity.

Antisemitism can also seep into the structures of academia including departments, faculty governance, academic associations, professional networks, labor unions, graduate-worker organizations, and others that determine “whose scholarship and viewpoints are treated as legitimate topics for discussion and debate.”

The CUNY and NYU groups also warned that bashing of Israel and Zionism can explode into antisemitism.

Mamdani himself is a fierce critic of Israel and his report was previously criticized for not mentioning Zionism once in its 33 pages and for refusing to adopt a formal definition of what constitutes antisemitism.

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11/09 Links Pt1: Fauda's Triumph: Confronting the Reality and Brutality of October 7; Brian L. Cox: The ICJ and the Genocide Convention: Is the Court about to change the law?

From Ian:

Fauda's Triumph: Confronting the Reality and Brutality of October 7

The events of the worst day in Israel's history come back to Doron in flashbacks while he pursues a Hamas team in Marseille. Again, the plot tracks reality: In 2025, German, Austrian, and British intelligence, working on Mossad tip-offs, intercepted a Hamas plan to mark the second anniversary of October 7 by massacring Jews in Germany and Austria. If Fauda has retained its knack for trendspotting in terrorism, we should note that in season five, Hamas recruits and trains French leftists as terrorists, much as the PLO did with German leftists in the 1970s.

Fauda offers a real-time reflection of realities that are violently reshaping the Middle East. For Israelis, the fifth season attempts to incorporate a trauma that is still ongoing. The war with Iran is not over. The political reckoning has yet to come; Israel did not hold its first post-October 7 elections until Oct. 27, 2026. Fauda also opens a well-crafted window into the core of a society that Arabs widely despise, distrust, and fear, even as security collaboration is quietly maintained behind the scenes and public ties thaw at the state level. This is important for two reasons.

The Jews of the Mista'aravim can pretend to be Arabs because they are Arabs, culturally speaking, just as European Jews are culturally European and many American Jews, as Frederick Seidel wrote in Sunrise, can pass as "just another/Greek nose in street clothes in/Harvard Yard." More than half of Israeli Jews are descended from Arabic-, Turkish-, Kurdish-, and Persian-speaking communities that never left the Middle East. The official discourse of Arab states denied this for decades and presented Zionism as a European invasion and Israelis as ginger interlopers. American universities, much of American media, and even some Democratic Party candidates still push this line even after the Abraham Accords.

Second, Fauda is candid in ways that Arab shows are not allowed to be candid. The heart of the Israeli state is its legendary security apparatus. Fauda shows a heart riven by human weakness and, especially in the fifth season, broken by strategic failure. It shows Jews as human beings. It shows the reality, obvious to anyone who visits, that the lives of Israelis and Palestinians are intertwined in a small and crowded space, and that they are closest to each other when it comes to the issues on which they are also furthest apart, religion and security.

The motor of the fifth season is the compatibility of the Arab tribal concept of tha'r, blood revenge, with the Jewish tribal concept of nekmat dam. One of the first scenes shows Eli, who has become a religious settler after losing his wife and children on October 7, and his Bedouin friend Salem (Bian Anteer), whose son died with Eli's family, praying in parallel. This is presented in the matter-of-fact way that these things occur in Israel. We do not have to be either happy or clappy when we see them praying. The series is a hard watch, and there is no happy ending; every season of Fauda ends with a small victory that defers the tide of chaos at great personal cost. But it is good to see things as they are, and surprising that a TV series, of all things, should capture so much reality.

The episodes in which we see Hamas murdering Jewish civilians came with a trigger warning. In truth, the fictional representation pulls every punch; you can compare it with the real footage that circulates online. Raz and Issacharoff chose to lessen the impact of the atrocities and show only as much as was needed to justify the response. In this, and not for the first time, Fauda shows that the difference between civilization and barbarism is not a plotline or character conceit.

Khaled Abu Toameh: What Really Lost the US Mid-Term Election? President Trump's Failure to Win Iran's 47-Year War

Iran's participation in discussions about "regional peace" does not, in the slightest, indicate that the Iranian regime is prepared to abandon the policies that have helped it comfortably to destabilize the Middle East for decades.

Had Saudi Arabia joined the Abraham Accords, it might have benefited from a really powerful security partnership – with Israel and the United States. Israel possesses extensive experience in intercepting missiles and drones, sophisticated intelligence capabilities and advanced military technology. Combined with American military power, these capabilities could have offered Saudi Arabia a level of protection and security cooperation that Turkey and Pakistan are unlikely to match. Riyadh's refusal to take that step has left the kingdom pursuing alternative security arrangements whose effectiveness seems hapless at best.

If Saudi Arabia cannot count on its partners to demonstrate military solidarity when it is attacked, what exactly is the purpose of the [Mecca Joint Defense Agreement]?

Rather than demonstrating that attacks against Saudi Arabia carry consequences for Iran and its proxies, the three countries appeared to be asking -- if not begging -- Iran for permission, or at least appealing to its goodwill, to stop the attacks. The Iranian regime doubtless -- and understandably -- interprets such diplomatic efforts not as evidence of regional strength, but as a sign that its neighbors are scared and reluctant to confront it.

For a regime such as Iran's that has repeatedly used military threats and proxy warfare to advance its interests, an approach based primarily on appeals and negotiations only reinforces that intimidation and terrorism work.

The international community should not confuse the eagerness of Iranian officials to host diplomatic meetings with any meaningful change in the regime's dangerous regional policies.

There can be no lasting regional security of any kind while the current Iranian regime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, retains the ability to threaten its neighbors through armed proxies, maintain its program to acquire nuclear weapons, and brutalize its own people.

US President Donald J. Trump, unless he truly finishes the war that Iran started 47 years ago instead of just saying he did -- and eliminates Iran's bloodthirsty regime -- will sadly go down in history as a failure rather than as one of the great leaders of all time. This can happen only if he eliminates not just Iran's nuclear threat but also eliminates Iran's current regime. Otherwise we will all be here in ten minutes to deal with Iran's new nuclear program again.

Trump's party did not lose the midterm elections because of the war; they lost it because he actually chose not to win it. He evidently allowed himself to be persuaded by Vice President JD Vance and other isolationists that diplomacy with terrorists can be a viable plan. As Trump himself might say, "That is not how it works." Iran already proved as much with the fatal delay caused by the catastrophic Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding that Vance negotiated and that did not make it to sun-up.

Trump and other international leaders in Europe and the Middle East need to stop treating the Iranian regime as a potential partner in "regional stability" and start treating it as the principal source of instability that they must finish confronting -- not accommodating.

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11/08 Links: Israel, the Palestinians and the Myth of Deterrence; When “End the Aid” Isn’t Enough: The Rising Political Movement to End Israel Itself; Israeli city sues Iran for $65 million in war reparations

From Ian:

Israel’s politicians must put national unity before personal ambition

A 79-seat government would strip away those excuses. No small faction could dictate national policy or threaten the government's survival whenever its demands were rejected. More importantly, neither bloc would be able to unilaterally force policy on the other bloc.

Most importantly, such a coalition could finally address key issues threatening Israel's future.

With Shas participating, a unity government can negotiate a realistic, enforceable framework for haredi military and national service that respects legitimate religious concerns while ensuring a fairer sharing of the national burden.

Instead of unilateral judicial reform legislation and mass protests, a unity government can pursue meaningful reform through broad consensus, safeguarding judicial independence while clarifying the proper balance between the courts, Knesset, and government.

Israel needs a comprehensive program to create affordable housing. Such a program needs to address land availability, planning delays, infrastructure, construction costs, and housing supply. Young families should not have to choose between financial security and owning a home.

The country needs a coherent national policy regarding Judea and Samaria, balancing historical and security interests with demographic and diplomatic realities. Decisions of such consequence cannot depend on the survival needs of a narrow coalition.

Israel must rebuild and modernize its education system, strengthening mathematics, science, technology, engineering, English, and civic education. Every Israeli child, regardless of background, deserves the skills necessary to participate in a modern economy.

These challenges require long-term thinking, difficult decisions, and the parliamentary strength to withstand pressure from special interests.

A broad unity government offers that foundation.

The "just not Bibi" obsession of the change bloc has contributed to political paralysis and divided the nation. Israel has endured two successive governments that left approximately half the population feeling excluded. The Bennett-Lapid government alienated much of the Right, while the most recent Netanyahu government alienated much of the opposition.

Israelis with opposing political views fought together in Gaza and Lebanon, suffered tragedies together, and demanded unity following the October 7 massacre. On October 8, we promised ourselves that Israel would never return to business as usual. We understood that political division, institutional complacency, and failures of leadership had exacted an unbearable price.

Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Bennett, Lapid, Liberman, Smotrich, and Deri must decide whether their personal ambitions and grievances matter more than the country's future. They do not need to agree on everything. They must agree that Israel's security, prosperity, and social cohesion transcend their disagreements.

A unity government will require painful compromises, but compromise is not weakness. It is the essence of responsible democratic leadership.

The arithmetic is there: 79 seats. The national challenges are undeniable. What remains to be seen is whether our political leaders have the courage to put the country and national responsibility before personal ambition and ego.

Israel has voted. It is time to stop campaigning and start governing.

As Kalman Liebskind remarked in Makor Rishon, Israel faces a historic opportunity to end its internal political warfare. Failure to seize it now might have consequences for generations.

When “End the Aid” Isn’t Enough: The Rising Political Movement to End Israel Itself

A quick look at a social media post from the newly-elected Democratic Rep.-elect Dariavila Aliza Chevalier is all it takes to understand what awaits Israel in the wake of Tuesday’s Democratic swing in America’s Midterm elections. Mere minutes after Pres. Donald Trump announced an end to American foreign aid to Israel, Chevalier posted on X: “Military aid is not enough. We need to end U.S. taxpayer funding for Israel’s war crimes, a full arms embargo, and the Palestinian right of return.”

Huh?

While there is nothing new about cutting American economic assistance, demanding an arms embargo, and weaponizing the term “war crimes,” Chevalier’s insertion of the phrase “Palestinian right of return” is a new form of escalation. Because while the majority of newly-elected Democrats may actually be centrists like Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Texan James Tallerico, Chevalier’s words still managed to lay bare the dramatic shift of antisemitism and antizionism across American culture and politics.

New Demands
What’s so telling about Chevalier’s rhetoric is both the timing and intent. Her message is chilling: Nothing but the coordinated dismantling of Zionism — in this case a “return” of Palestinians to their former homes presumably occupied by Jews — will satisfy incoming Democrats. Particularly those, like Chevalier, who are part of the party’s Israel-obsessed far-left fringe. Indeed, fellow Congressional newcomer Colorado Rep.-elect Melat Kiros spoke nearly the exact same words during an appearance on PBS this summer — she advocated for a “one-state” solution, an end to Israel as a Jewish “ethnostate” and that right of return for Palestinians. She even went one step further, provocatively suggesting Palestinians be awarded “reparations as a result of the [Israeli] genocide.”

Three months on, Chevalier was particularly clever to tether these “right of return” demands to Trump’s aid announcement. While the media was busy framing Trump’s move as a watershed moment in U.S.-Israeli history, Chevalier turned the ending of one era into the demand for a new one. It’s an era filled with anti-Zionist totems such as “war crimes,” a “one-state solution” and — most chillingly — an end to Israel’s Jewish majority. As she turns political performance into protest, Chevalier makes clear that nothing will ever satisfy protesters like herself except Zionism’s uncontested defeat.

Yes, extremists such as Kiros and Chevalier are still Democratic party outliers. But like so much of woke culture and identity politics, these extremists exert outsized power and influence by ensuring they’re the loudest voices in the room.

Jake Wallis Simons: Why the UN should pick a Palestinian over a Jew to be its next chief

Nusseibeh, formerly the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the UN, understands the dangers of tyranny: the UAE was the most heavily targeted Gulf state during the Iran war. Surprisingly, she also understands Jews, having studied Israeli and diaspora studies at university in London. She speaks Hebrew, as well as Arabic, French and English.

Unlike most of the UN, she was unequivocal in her condemnation of October 7. In addition, she has backed the Abraham Accords peace agreements, and consistently called for the Jewish state’s full integration into the Middle East. “There is an outstretched hand, despite all of this misery, in the region to Israel,” she insisted in September last year, as war raged.

This openness is something of a family tradition. Her grandfather (who opposed Nazism) and uncle (who opposed suicide bombing) were both prominent Palestinian figures who maintained close relationships with their Israeli counterparts. Her father, an adviser to the Emirati ruling family, has an extensive private library that includes a rich section on Jewish history.

Sure, she isn’t perfect. At times, Nusseibeh has been deeply unfair, calling Israel’s campaign in Gaza “inhumane” as early as November 2023, and – bizarrely – condemning the “cruel” evacuation orders issued by Israeli troops to protect Palestinian civilians from the fighting.

Moreover, human rights groups have denounced her because of the UAE’s alleged support for Sudanese rebels, who are battling the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned regime in a bloody war that has been described as genocide (the UAE denies this).

Yet international diplomacy is about shades of grey. In the absence of clean options, this unlikely candidate may prove the best hope of sanity in the madhouse.

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