[IsraelTimes] In ‘The Hidden Hand,’ veteran political strategist Warren Kinsella claims that ‘spontaneous outrage’ on the streets is actually being planned by state actors and professional agitators
Shortly after the Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... atrocities of October 7, 2023, Warren Kinsella began noticing what he considered the fingerprints of a professional propaganda campaign.
A Canadian political strategist who has worked for decades in war rooms advising prime ministers and political campaigns in Canada, the United States and Israel, Kinsella makes that case in his new book, "The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda."
According to Kinsella, Hamas and its networks, along with their Western followers, had thousands of social media accounts primed, protest banners ready, and talking points translated into multiple languages long before the IDF’s response to the carnage had even begun.
Kinsella believes that what may appear to be spontaneous outrage on Western streets and social feeds is, in fact, a coordinated political operation that could only be executed by state actors and professional agitators.
His new book claims Jew-hatred is being mainstreamed by outlaw states and murderous Moslem groups who use tools of modern campaigning such as message discipline, cash payouts and logistics training. These actors push slogans like "From the river to the sea" and "Globalize the Intifada" so quickly and uniformly that they cannot be dismissed as organic, Kinsella said.
And, he says, Western democracies have barely begun to respond.
"Almost immediately after October 7, I looked around and quickly formed the opinion that what I was seeing was an organized, professional-style political campaign, pushing out this vile, hateful propaganda against Jews, the Jewish state and Western democracy," Kinsella, a resident of Prince Edward County, Ontario, told The Times of Israel. "I spoke to other political people I know, and they all had the same reaction."
In October 2023, "there were thousands of protests around the planet using the same slogans," said Kinsella, who is also a columnist for the Toronto Sun and founder of the Daisy Consulting Group.
That, to Kinsella, was either "one hell of a coincidence" or evidence of central planning.
Kinsella sees that conclusion as central to the book’s thesis and points to comments by US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, who has accused Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... of seeking to fund and encourage anti-Israel protests.
"The bad guys," he said, "have unlimited resources and armies of propaganda," with which they have successfully convinced Westerners that Israel is an "apartheid state" and a "white supremacist colonial state bent on destroying a powerless non-white minority."
Kinsella’s documentary film "The Campaign" — which complements the book — was first screened in Toronto on March 30. Last month, it was shown in Tel Aviv at Israel’s largest documentary film festival, Docaviv, and at Canada’s Parliament Hill for politicians.
Kinsella noted on social media that 21 people "slipped out" of the Tel Aviv showing — one of whom was a woman from the hard-hit Kibbutz Be’eri, at which 101 civilians and 31 security personnel were murdered, and 32 hostages kidnapped to the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, in the October 7 terror onslaught.
"I didn’t know what to say," Kinsella wrote on his Facebook feed. "The documentary contains many, many disturbing images — including Hamas footage of some of the atrocities that took place at Be’eri. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I apologized. She told me I didn’t need to apologize. Instead, she thanked me for making the documentary... She said it is hard for many Israelis to again experience the terrible events of that day — and the cruel things that have happened around the world in the days since. So she closed her eyes during the difficult parts... And then she thanked me again."
FROM HAMAS TO ARYAN NATIONS FANATICS
Kinsella has spent more than 30 years in the trenches fighting against hate. He has confronted Aryan Nations fanatics — who jammed a rifle into his chest — dealt with bomb threats and Molotov cocktail plots, fended off lawsuits from Holocaust deniers and helped put neo-Nazi ...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both.... propagandists behind bars. His earlier books, "Unholy Alliances" and "Web of Hate," document the far right’s evolution from street gangs to online networks.
The book cites Marc Ginsberg, head of the Washington-based online watchdog Coalition for a Safer Web, who claims Iran and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... were two of the top funders of paid protesters, professional organizers, and top-tier lobby efforts, which worked together to disseminate messages designed to capture the support of politicians, voters and the media.
Kinsella argues that the campaign found fertile ground on campus quads, where fringe pro-Paleostinian groups had already built networks. It was aided, he says, by widespread ignorance of basic Holocaust and Israel-related facts among young people.
"That ship has sailed for the time being. [Young people] are receiving most of their information about current affairs, and also that history, through the lens of TikTok and X, and it’s a distorted reflection of reality," Kinsella said.
The book also posits that money, training, legal support and narrative framing helped turn fringe hatreds into mass movements.
Kinsella details, for example, a local chapter of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center that helped students at an elite the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... high school "before, during, and after their walkout," providing talking points, media training, signage and even Arabic chants for students to shout out.
The book quotes the Anti-Defamation League as saying that AROC "consistently engage[s] in strident and extreme anti-Israel activism and traffic[s] in anti-Semitic tropes."
In Victoria, British Columbia, the book claims, a group called the Plenty Collective spent roughly $20,000 a month on protest-related costs, including funds paid directly to "activists" for participating in anti-Israel rallies. The book also alleges that the Plenty Collective received financing directly from the Victoria Foundation, an established, partly publicly funded charity, as well as from the Belfry Theatre, a nonprofit that channeled additional funding that it received from the Victoria Foundation.
The scenes will be familiar elsewhere. Activists arrive in rental vans, unload professionally printed signs that can cost up to $100 each, lay out food and drink, and distribute scripts and legal hotlines in case of arrest. Organizers in reflective vests and walkie-talkies marshal chants and photo ops. In some cases, outside groups "completely run a protest," Kinsella said.
There is "political infrastructure out there to ensure that these anti-Israel pro-Hamas people are well supported."
WEST ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL FOR DECADES
Kinsella says Western democracies "[pay] insufficient attention to how [their] money is being used," while agitators know how to walk "right up to the line" of criminality without crossing it.
What has changed since October 7, he argues, is not the content of the hatred, but its reach and its impunity.
Digital forensics firm Cyabra analyzed social media after October 7, finding that 20% of pro-Hamas content came from fake or inauthentic accounts, Kinsella writes.
"The harm," he said, is that "major social media platforms are not enforcing their own end-user agreements. They’re supposed to be ensuring that people do not use anonymity to cause harm, and to defame people, and to spread racism and antisemitism and hate."
The seeds of today’s proliferation, Kinsella writes, may have been planted more than 30 years ago. In the early 1990s, consultant Gary Wexler met Ameer Makhoul, executive director of Ittijah, a network for Paleostinian non-governmental organizations founded in Israel in 1995.
Speaking to Wexler, Makhoul laid out a detailed plan: Paleostinian activists would organize on campuses worldwide, recruit campus activists globally, and secure funding from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , Arab governments, and wealthy donors. "We will get more coverage than you ever have," Wexler recalled Makhoul saying in Kinsella’s book.
Makhoul was arrested by the Shin Bet in 2010 and admitted to spying for the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah as part of a plea bargain. He was sentenced by the Haifa District Court to 10 years in prison, one of which was suspended.
The success of the hate messaging now means Israel has a lot of catching up to do, Kinsella believes.
"I love Israel. I love these Israeli people, but they have done a bad job at communicating how wonderful Israel is and how tolerant and diverse Israel is," Kinsella said. "We need to show those kids that Israel is, in fact, a diverse, pluralistic, tolerant, democratic nation surrounded by tyranny and dictatorships."
"Since 1948, but also a continual war since October 7, they’ve just not had the bandwidth to move themselves to fight this propaganda war," he said. "The time is now to turn its mind to doing that, because, as you can see around Western democracies, Israel is losing the information war."
[IsraelTimes] Dr. Rafael Medoff says editor at Dark Horse Comics demanded book on Nazi genocide include anti-Israel genocide charges
A US publisher canceled a book about the Holocaust because the author refused to add text denouncing Israel to the book, the StandWithUS advocacy group said this week.
Dark Horse Comics
…the fourth largest comic book publisher in America, known for Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Master of the Universe, among many others since its founding in 1986. It was bought out by Swedish gaming company Embracer Group in 2022, which may explain the unconscionable bullying by the editor who already published two successful books on the subject with this author…
was scheduled to publish the book, "Cartoonists Against the Holocaust," by Dr. Rafael Medoff, this summer, but informed the author’s team last month that publication had been canceled.
The book uses 150 editorial cartoons that had been printed in US newspapers in the Nazi era, alongside commentary from Medoff, to show what Americans knew about the Holocaust at the time.
An editor at Dark Horse last year told Medoff that he would add a statement to the book accusing US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... of "attempting to create concentration camp-style prisons," among other offenses, according to correspondence shared by StandWithUs.
The proposed addition also included a paragraph condemning Israel.
"A country populated by a [sic.] ethnoreligious group who were immorally and horrifically tortured and killed in the Holocaust for their ethnicity is led by a Prime Minister that the world’s top war crimes court has issued warrants for his alleged acts of war crimes an [sic.] crimes against humanity," the paragraph said.
In a response emailed to the editor, Medoff pushed back against "politicizing our book" and called the claims "factually inaccurate."
The email also said that, during a phone conversation, the editor had demanded Medoff accuse Israel of genocide in the book’s introduction to prevent people from getting "mad."
Medoff said the editor’s proposals amounted to minimizing the Nazi genocide and Holocaust inversion.
"What you are saying, in plain English, is that the Jews were victims of the Holocaust and now the Jews are committing another Holocaust," Medoff wrote. "I understand it has become fashionable in certain circles today to accuse Israel of mass murder. But being fashionable is not the same as being right."
Dark Horse had previously published two books by Medoff, both of which came out before the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... onslaught and the ensuing war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and across the Middle East.
Presumably they were financially as well as critically successful, or the third in the series would not have been approved. Unless the whole thing was the editor’s vanity project, and the new owners are more interested in the bottom line, and thought lying the best way to make more money.
The editor, Craig Yoe,
….among other things, he dropped out of college to protest the Vietnam War, and later was the creative director and general manager of the Muppets…
told The New York Post that there were "a number of errors" in Medoff’s description of the dispute, without providing further details, and Dark Horse declined to comment.
Related: The last book the two did together, Cartoonists Against Racism: The Secret Jewish War on Bigotry, is available from Amazon here, and lists a publication date of July 2, 2024, so presumably the pre-10/7 date is when the thing was approved for publication.
StandWithUs has more on the story here.
In honour of Dron6646, in the hope that his government really is succeeding in seducing the Taliban toward civilization so they will be less uncomfortable neighbours for the country he has served so well.
[KhaamaPress] India has delivered a consignment of family tents to Afghanistan’s Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... -run Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation to support Afghan families returning from neighboring countries amid a growing humanitarian crisis.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, who said the tents were provided to assist the settlement and rehabilitation of returning refugees.
In a post on X, Jaiswal said the assistance forms part of India’s ongoing humanitarian support for the Afghanistan people and is intended to help meet the urgent shelter needs of vulnerable families returning to the country.
The aid comes as Afghanistan faces a sharp increase in the number of returnees from Pakistain and Iran, where authorities have intensified deportations of undocumented Afghan nationals in recent months.
The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... and humanitarian agencies have warned that the mass returns are placing severe pressure on Afghanistan’s limited resources. Many families arrive without adequate shelter, food, healthcare or livelihoods, while humanitarian organizations continue to report funding shortages that have constrained relief operations.
India has continued to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, supplying wheat, medicines, vaccines, disaster relief materials and other aid. Although New Delhi has not formally recognized the Taliban administration, it has maintained humanitarian engagement and limited diplomatic contacts with Kabul.
The latest shipment underscores India’s continuing humanitarian role in Afghanistan as international organizations call for greater support to help the country cope with rising displacement and the growing needs of returning refugees.
#3
Dron also had some skills as an author, writing under the name Bhoot Bahadur. I quite enjoyed the short stories in Sixshot - Volume 1: Six hollowpoints for the mind.
#4
I haven’t heard that that anything happened to him, Seeking Cure — though it isn’t likely that we would, I imagine. It’s just that he talked in general terms about going walkabout in mufti on the far side of the border, from time to time, and that India was innately better at dealing with a culture like the Taliban in ways that would be more helpful to the beleaguered native population.. So the tent donation reminded me of that discussion.
#5
I doubt he went on a walkabout, mainly because he discussed his medical problems and the meds he takes to deal with it, plus he admitted he had to be hospitalized several times.
Dron liked to post here often with India POV as well as his own thoughts on various matters not related to India and the fact we haven't heard from him in a year or so pretty much tells me that he is no longer on this planet with us.
It would be nice if this was confirmed, but who knows.
[TheSentry] In the first five months of 2025, three large military convoys—including Russian-made trucks, tanks, armored cars, and boats—reached Mali’s capital city, Bamako. These deliveries came amidst a difficult period for Russian forces in Mali. The Wagner Group, whose paramilitary fighters have been present in the country since the end of 2021, had not only failed to achieve any significant battlefield successes in central and northern Mali; they had also failed to gain access to the country’s lucrative gold mining sector. For most of their deployment, they appear to have been paid directly by Moscow, as revealed in The Sentry’s “Mercenary Meltdown” investigation, while committing atrocities against Malian civilians. The Wagner Group announced its withdrawal from Mali in June 2025, largely handing over operations to the Kremlin-controlled Africa Corps.
These new weapons deliveries suggest that the Russian government is doubling down on Mali, despite the concurrent withdrawal—and multiple failures—of the Wagner Group. Though the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) claimed the equipment was sent to support the national military, most of it was intended to be used by nascent Africa Corps bases and fighters, sources in Bamako confirmed to The Sentry. The composition of the convoy suggests that Moscow is adopting a more risk-averse stance and prioritizing the protection of Africa Corps troops, as opposed to Wagner’s historically aggressive and forward-leaning approach. Beyond Mali, Russia is also increasing diplomatic engagement, providing direct military support to Sahelian leaders, and creating a strategic hub that would allow it to move with ease and project power across West Africa. The Guinea Conakry port terminal, which is operated by Russian-Guinean companies Alumina Company of Guinea (ACG-Fria) and Compagnie des Bauxites de Kindia (Kindia Bauxite Company or CBK), facilitated the aforementioned military deliveries—the port has become Russia’s gateway to the Sahel. Guinea, as well as Mali, is an integral part of Russia’s broader ambitions for influence across West Africa. With Africa Corps troops also deployed to Niger, Sudan, and Libya, the breadth of Russia’s military engagement around the region warrants scrutiny.
When the Africa Corps first deployed in Mali at the end of 2024, it appeared that the group would be an iteration, or a rebranding, of the Wagner Group in this context. This is to some extent true. The Africa Corps has roughly the same number of troops as Wagner, and many of them are former Wagner fighters. Some core leadership remains the same. However, the hierarchical structure of the Africa Corps and its direct ties to the Russian state apparatus, as well as the Africa Corps’ response to the most recent militant-imposed fuel blockade, reveal fundamental differences in how the force operates compared to Wagner. In other words, the change is not just cosmetic. Instead of using military inroads to gain mining concessions, as Wagner tried to do in Mali and successfully did in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Africa Corps is now first using Russian and Guinean businesses for its military purposes. Two subsidiaries of the Russian company United Company Rusal (UC Rusal) are supporting Moscow’s war effort, signaling that Russian businesses are facilitators of Africa Corps operations in West Africa.
[AfricanArguments] In May 2024, Ghana’s former Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Boniface Gambila, offered a candid description of what happens along Ghana’s 602-kilometer border with its northern neighbor: ‘Believe it or not, they are able to come into Ghana and go back. They move in and go back.’ He was talking about operatives of the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), al-Qaeda’s Sahelian affiliate, which has spent years waging war in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger while establishing a logistics and support network that spans both sides of the Ghanaian-Burkinabe border. A senior Ghanaian security official, interviewed in 2024, explained the state’s posture toward this arrangement with equal frankness: the threat of an attack by JNIM ‘is why we don’t disturb them too much.’
These statements describe a form of what has been called a sovereignty gap, the distance between a state’s authority and its capacity. Ghana’s case reflects a distinctive variant. Ghana’s choice not to contest JNIM likely reflects officials’ lack of confidence in the outcome, but it may also reflect concerns that confrontation would destabilise northern regions where national elections are competitive enough that small shifts in local allegiance can determine outcomes. The gap that results isn’t between the state’s authority and its capacity, but between its authority and its willingness to exercise it.
SOVEREIGNTY WITHHELD
Security analyst Kwesi Aning observed in a 2025 iWatch Africa report that Ghana hasn’t invested in its borders since the 1950s, and the conditions at the boundary with Burkina Faso bear this out. At the Hamile border post in the Upper West Region, immigration officers said that during the dry season, ‘every route becomes a potential crossing.’ ‘Some people just pass through. We can’t track them, we don’t even see them,’ one said. Surveillance systems are inadequate, and officers lack even basic tools to control movement. Ghana’s sovereignty gap along the Burkinabe border is a territorial condition, observable in the physical absence of the state from a space it formally governs. A 2026 study found that proximity to the Burkina Faso border significantly lowers civilian trust in the military while increasing trust in traditional authorities and community defense groups, confirming that the state’s absence is shaping who borderlanders turn to for security.
JNIM has organized itself around this absence. The borderlands function as connective tissue between JNIM’s war in Burkina Faso and the Ghanaian communities that economically sustain it. Stolen Burkinabe cattle flow south into Ghanaian markets, where militants sell livestock seized as forced ‘zakat’ payments through intermediaries at a fraction of market price. Weapons move in both directions: high-caliber arms from JNIM’s Burkinabe arsenals have fed the Bawku conflict with JNIM accused of selling to both factions, while commercial explosives from Ghana’s mining sector have been traced to JNIM- controlled sites in Burkina Faso and Mali. JNIM fighters also use northern Ghana as a logistical staging ground and medical base, crossing freely and routinely. Analysts have concluded that JNIM’s restraint toward Ghana appears calculated, as the group avoids disrupting supply chains it depends on. Where the Ghanaian state sees a peripheral frontier, JNIM sees space for its operations.
[DW] The withdrawal of US troops from Nigeria after the killing of an "Islamic State" leader may be less about leaving Africa than redefining how Washington fights terrorism on the continent.
The United States earlier this month withdrew most of its troops deployed for a joint counterterrorism operation in northeastern Nigeria.
The area has long been a hotbed for the Boko Haram Islamist militant group and its splinter factions — particularly the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), one of "Islamic State"'s most active affiliates globally.
US Africa Command's General Dagvin Anderson described the joint operation as a model for future security cooperation on the continent.
"We have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation," Anderson told reporters at a conference of African defense chiefs in Luanda, Angola.
"But [we] are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the intelligence sharing and the understanding that's necessary to be able to prosecute these difficult tasks," he said.
[IsraelTimes] Fifty-five Iranian fishermen have been freed from custody in the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s embassy there says on its Telegram channel.
The fishermen were detained by the UAE’s coast guard in recent months due to “special conditions” in the region, the embassy adds, in a likely reference to the Iran war. The process to send them home has started, the embassy says. Drag em thru the mine fields
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/15/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
“Fishermen”
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/15/2026 8:55 Comments ||
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[PJMedia] The British government’s cover-up of the massive Moslem sexual assault gang scandal continues to blow up, as victims in Wales try to call attention to the crisis in their area.
Welsh Tory and Senedd leader Darren Millar is disgusted at Plaid Cymru and Labour for what he says is a deliberate effort to overlook the Moslemrape gangs that have victimized Welsh girls. "We know that child sexual exploitation has been happening in Wales because brave survivors have come forward to tell their stories," Millar said, according to The UK Express. The Welsh Conservatives argue that the other political parties are refusing to "back the comprehensive investigation that victims deserve." He says that victims in Wales feel overlooked and are calling for more attention.
Millar is angling for a separate government inquiry focused specifically on rape gangs in Wales if the inquiry that Baroness Anne Longfield is leading ends up not giving enough attention to the area. Millar is particularly angry after hearing the testimony of one girl who described "how she was groomed, trafficked and raped more than 1,000 times."
The Welsh politician’s concern about that girl and other victims being ignored comes after the Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs selected multiple cities for investigative focuses, but all of them were in England. "Not one of the local investigations announced by the inquiry to date is located here in Wales," Millar complained.
He argued, "And that decision is leaving survivors here feeling overlooked and ignored, and struggling to understand why they will need to wait longer for answers. Rather than standing up for Welsh victims and pressing for Wales to be included, the new Plaid Cymru Government appears to have simply accepted that decision. I do not believe that is good enough."
What Millar is pointing out is the fact that even when finally forced to acknowledge the issue of rape gangs in Great Britannia, which victimized at least 250,000 girls according to Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe’s investigation, the acknowledgment is still incomplete and bare-bones. Perhaps that is because around 90% of the perpetrators are from Moslem countries or Moslem ethnic groups. Most UK government officials are not willing to be honest about the catastrophe of mass migration from Moslem nations.
Millar doubled down on his demand for wider attention. "Grooming gangs have operated in Wales, in cities, in towns, and in rural areas. There are victims, perpetrators, and those who could have done more to protect people. Serious questions need answering. People need to be held to account. And victims deserve justice," he said.
He also referred to the ideological sticking point that I mentioned above, which is the obvious link between rape gangs and Moslem migration to the UK. Millar himself was a little too reluctant to admit that Islam endorses the rape of non-Moslems as praiseworthy, but he did admit that no political concerns should prevent honest inquiry.
"Some argue that politicians have been reluctant to confront aspects of these crimes because many offenders in some cases elsewhere in Britannia have come from particular ethnic backgrounds," Millar said. "We must never stereotype entire communities, and the overwhelming majority of people of all backgrounds are appalled by these crimes. But protecting children must always come before political sensitivities. Fear of causing offense can never become an excuse for failing to investigate serious crime wherever it exists."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The UK government will spend a record $34.8 billion (2.7 trillion rubles) on modernizing three naval bases. The UK Ministry of Defence announced this on its website on July 14.
This modernization program will be the largest in recent decades, and its funding will be the largest since the end of the Cold War.
The plan will see three key naval bases – Clyde, Devonport and Portsmouth – receive new berths and upgraded infrastructure over the next 10 years.
Additionally, another $322 million (25 billion rubles) will be allocated to maintain the Royal Air Force's combat readiness. The funds will go toward the maintenance of the fleet of nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
On June 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Western countries are now openly talking about preparing for war with Russia. He noted that Western states are using false claims about an alleged military threat emanating from Russia to carry out their militarization.
I find it hard to believe that Brits were ever so depraved.
[KhaamaPress] Britannia’s public inquiry into alleged war crimes by the Special Air Service (SAS) has heard evidence that Afghan detainees were allegedly thrown from raised forklifts "for fun," as Sherlocks continue examining claims of unlawful killings and abuse by British special forces during the Afghanistan conflict.
Britannia’s independent public inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by members of the Special Air Service (SAS) has heard testimony that Afghan detainees were allegedly thrown from raised forklifts for amusement, adding to mounting allegations of abuse and unlawful conduct by British special forces during operations in Afghanistan.
The evidence was presented on Tuesday before the inquiry chaired by Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, the retired Court of Appeal judge leading the investigation into allegations that British special forces unlawfully killed Afghan civilians during operations between 2010 and 2013.
According to testimony heard by the inquiry, a former SAS soldier alleged that detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq were placed on forklift tines, lifted into the air and deliberately dropped after drivers braked suddenly. A witness told the inquiry he had been informed the practice was carried out "for fun."
The inquiry also heard evidence from former British Army officer Christopher Green, who testified about a 2012 night raid in Rahim village, Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, in which three young Afghan farmers were killed during an SAS operation.
The latest claims form part of a broader investigation into allegations of unlawful killings and misconduct by British special forces during the war in Afghanistan.
Previous hearings have heard allegations that some SAS personnel maintained unofficial "kill lists" and carried out night raids in which unarmed Afghan civilians were allegedly executed, including individuals reportedly shot while inside their homes. The inquiry has also examined claims that operational reports were altered to justify fatal shootings.
The UK government established the public inquiry in 2022 following years of investigative reporting and legal challenges surrounding alleged misconduct by British special forces. Its mandate is to examine evidence relating to operations in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013 and determine whether unlawful killings or attempts to conceal them occurred.
No final findings have been issued, and the inquiry has not reached conclusions regarding individual criminal liability. British military authorities have previously denied wrongdoing in individual cases, while emphasizing that the inquiry is independent and that they are cooperating with its proceedings.
The inquiry is expected to continue hearing testimony from former military personnel, Sherlocks and other witnesses before issuing its final report.
[ToloNews] British media, citing a former member of the British armed forces and a former British journalist, have reported that British troops killed Afghan civilians and mistreated detainees during their mission in Afghanistan.
Christopher Green, a former member of the British armed forces, told the Afghanistan Inquiry in confidential testimony that he regrets not speaking out about the incidents sooner.
The report states: “Green said his unit's intelligence team was pretty clear that there was nothing to suggest that the sons were anything other than farmers. I think I can only share my regret with you that I didn't speak sooner.”
One witness, without naming the province where the incident took place, said British forces killed three farmer brothers in the village of Rahim and later paid their family more than £3,600 in compensation.
Monica Grenfell, a former journalist who also worked in the kitchen and stores section of the UK's Special Forces, said: "I specifically recall him telling me that he would put prisoners on a forklift, raise it up and drive very fast so that they fell off. You felt no one was really watching them (the soldiers), and the language was just... I've never known the language like it."
The UK's independent inquiry into the operations of its Special Forces in Afghanistan began in December 2022 following serious allegations that civilians may have been unlawfully killed and that efforts were made to conceal the incidents during operations conducted between 2010 and 2013.
The inquiry has not yet reached a final conclusion.
The witnesses sound a bit dicey, and awfully scant for the amount of blame being cast, but perhaps those who’ e been involved in courts martial think otherwise.
Unlike Britain, the Czechs can afford Israeli stuff.
[IsraelTimes] The Czech Republic is in talks with Israeli firms to buy a number of air defense systems, says Foreign Minister Petr Macinka.
During a press conference with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Tel Aviv, Macinka says the Czechs are looking at the Spyder, Arrow and other defense systems.
“Regarding the Spyder, yes, we are discussing air defense systems with Israel because these systems are technologically on top,” Macinka says in response to a question from a reporter.
Building connections instead of relying in a single patron is important.
[IsraelTimes] More countries are quietly looking to expand relations with Israel, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the state memorial ceremony for Revisionist Zionist thinker Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
“Thanks to the steady cultivation of our strength, multiple countries seek our partnership,” says Netanyahu. “This cooperation is growing, not in the spotlight, but it is taking place — not with one country, but with more than one or two. It also opens future possibilities for normalization and peace.”
While expressing gratitude to the US for its assistance, he stresses that Israel “must possess an independent weapons-production capability.”
Netanyahu points at the IDF presence in enemy territory as a key accomplishment of the post-October 7 wars.
“There is no longer any containment of threats,” he says. “There are no longer terror armies on our borders. We have created buffer zones deep inside neighboring territories. The Gaza envelope is inside Gaza. The Lebanon envelope is inside Lebanon. The Golan envelope is inside Syria.”
He repeats his pledge that as long as he is in office, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu also again warns Iran not to attack Israel: “I say this to the tyrants in Iran — do not misjudge us. If we are attacked, we will respond with force. But it will not be a rerun. It will be a different level — far more powerful.”
[IsraelTimes] Khalil claims pro-Israel groups plotted with Trump administration to prosecute him and pro-Palestinian activists to shield Jewish state from criticism
Mahmoud Khalil,
…30-something, the Damascus-born Palestinian (with dual Algerian citizenship through his mother, whose family were revolutionaries back home) got a Masters in Paleo Protest from Columbia, applying his training as Apartheid Divest’s frontman supporting Hamas since 10/8/2023, which overlapped his work as a UNWRA political affairs officer. Since his arrest by ICE he’s been represented by 19 attorneys, including the ACLU and CUNY law prof Ramzi Kassem, himself once a Paleo student activist at Columbia. As a Beirut undergrad Mr. Khalil worked as a popular, MI-6 vetted local staffer for the British embassy leading soft power projects, on one of which he worked with his future wife — hijabi Leb-American dentist Noor Abdalla, suggesting either Muslim Brotherhood or Hezbollah connections. No doubt it was for her sake he went to Columbia instead of Oxford. One of these days we’ll finally get to deport him
the Columbia University pro-Paleostinian protest leader, filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... ’s administration had colluded with several pro-Israel groups to prosecute him for his advocacy.
The lawsuit is "about exposing the network of organizations, political actors and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Paleostine," Khalil, who became the face of Trump’s crackdown on anti-Israel and allegedly antisemitic pro-Paleostinian activism when he was arrested by immigration officers in March 2025, said at a presser at New York City Hall.
"For decades, the state of Israel and the Zionist organizations in this country that operate on behalf of Israel have understood that their conduct cannot survive honest scrutiny," he said. "So rather than defend or change their conduct, they resorted to making scrutiny itself impossible. They brand criticism of a government as hatred of a people. They rebrand documented atrocities as debates."
Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities in June 2025, with the Trump administration saying he was a threat to US interests and had committed fraud on his green card application. He was held in detention for several months until his court-ordered release, and has been battling deportation in court since.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges that the government’s actions violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 anti-conspiracy law intended to restrict government coordination with vigilante groups. The act was also used to prosecute the 2017 Charlottesville march’s organizers for planning to incite racist violence.
The complaint alleges there had been a "conspiracy" among private pro-Israel entities, including the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar USA, and senior Trump administration officials to target and prosecute pro-Paleostinian activists. The lawsuit names US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... , White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, former DHS secretary Kristi Noem and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
"After the October 7 [2023] attacks and the beginning of the Israeli genocide, these entities were appalled and scared about the burgeoning Paleostine rights movement occurring on campus and the cratering support for [the] Israeli government’s genocide in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ," Baher Azmy, the legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the complaint on behalf of Khalil, claimed during the presser.
He continued: "Because they could not defend their support for the Israeli government’s actions... they sought to do what cowards and bullies do, which is to repress, to punish speech that they disliked."
Inquiries from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar USA were not immediately returned.
The lawsuit comes after Betar USA, a turban pro-Israel group, agreed to halt its operations in New York after reaching a settlement with state Attorney General Letitia James, whose office found that the group had committed a "campaign of violence, harassment and intimidation against Arab, Moslem and Jewish New Yorkers."
Azmy claimed that Project Esther, a 2024 plan for combatting antisemitism written by the conservative Heritage Foundation that outlined many policies undertaken by the Trump administration last year, had created a "blueprint for the conspiracy."
He alleged that Betar and Canary Mission then worked to identify and "nominate" campus pro-Paleostinian activists for the Trump administration to target.
"It’s not like the State Department was using any reasoned judgment or deliberation," Azmy charged. "They were taking these nominations and, within a day or two, sending DHS and ICE officials to arrest Mahmoud and others and send them to faraway prisons, and so today we’re here demanding accountability."
Khalil was an organizer with Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), an alliance of campus groups that led the disruptive protests on the Ivy League campus after the start of the Gaza war. The group is no longer recognized by the university.
CUAD has praised violent mostly peaceful "resistance" by Paleostinians, including, explicitly, the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... onslaught, in which gunnies killed some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. The group hosted pro-Hamas figures on campus, called for the "total eradication of Western civilization," and distributed Hamas propaganda at a campus library.
Khalil served as a spokesperson for the group in its negotiations with the Columbia administration.
Since his release from detention, Khalil has justified the Hamas attack on Israel and dismissed concerns about antisemitism at Columbia.
In September, he called for the "collapse" of the "Zionist genocidal project and the ideology of supremacy that it’s built on."
[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar plans to travel to Washington to attend a Thursday ministerial summit on countering “the resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism,” hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an Israeli and an American source tell The Times of Israel.
Ministers from some 60 countries have been invited to the conference, a US State Department official told media outlets last week.
The Israeli official adds that further details regarding Sa’ar’s agenda are not yet finalized. The minister has largely been frozen out of high-level contacts in Washington since he became Israel’s top diplomat nearly two years ago, with US diplomacy efforts led instead by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former top advisor Ron Dermer, and US envoy to Washington Yechiel Leiter.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly called for action against what they see as a rise in political violence carried out or promoted by the far left, particularly after the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and attempted assassinations of US President Donald Trump.
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump says US forces will be leaving Iraq because “we don’t think we need the military there anymore.”
“What we do have is the oil companies are all going in now, and they’re doing partnerships with Iraq,” Trump says during an Oval Office meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who began the meeting by declaring that US forces will complete their withdrawal from his country by September 30.
[Rudaw] Political forces within Iraq's ruling Shiite Coordination Framework, including the Khadamat (Services) Alliance, support Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's efforts to elevate ties with the United States to a partnership level, a senior Alliance politician told Rudaw on Monday - though he noted that this support remains contingent on tangible outcomes serving Iraq's interests.
"Iraq is on the verge of a significant development regarding the revitalization of American-Iraqi relations," said Hossam al-Rubaie, spokesperson for the bloc, adding that while these ties already exist, "they have not been fully utilized or invested in effectively."
Rubaie said "all [political] groups support" Zaidi's effort to reshape ties with Washington, but that their support "will be conditioned on the results this visit will achieve for Iraq's interests."
The Iraqi premier commenced his high-profile visit to the US on Monday where he is scheduled to meet with senior US officials, including President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... Rubaei explained that key dossiers on Zaidi’s agenda are "security, economy, combating corruption, and creating a truly secure environment for American companies to enter, invest, and operate in Iraq."
He further noted that the US must also be "serious about revitalizing ties [with Iraq] within the framework of partnership, rather [than] guardianship or imposed dependency."
While "Iraq needs this partnership, it also possesses many advantages, including its strategic geographic location, its oil wealth, and an attractive economic environment" - advantages Rubaei said should be capitalized on and "translated into tangible and practical achievements."
Moreover, the senior Khadamat Alliance politician pointed to the Strategic Framework Agreement, signed between Baghdad and Washington in 2008 to establish a long-term, comprehensive partnership outside a purely military context.
In recent years, US involvement in Iraq was chiefly defined by combat troops. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... the Framework Agreement is designed to guide diplomacy, defense, economics, energy, education, law enforcement, and environmental health.
With the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) set to end its Iraq mission by September, Baghdad has repeatedly affirmed its keenness to anchor its partnership with Washington on the agreement.
Rubaie reiterated "the need to activate the provisions" of the accord and to "examine why many of its clauses have yet to be implemented by the American side," asserting that what Iraq needs is "real and effective implementation" of the 2008 pact.
In early June, Iraqi Prime Minister Zaidi ordered the formation of a committee to oversee the disengagement of political parties and armed factions from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), amid a wider effort by the newly appointed premier to bring paramilitary groups and their arms under state control.
The PMF was established in 2014 during the Islamic State (ISIS) emergence in Syria and Iraq in which large parts of Iraq's north and west were seized.
Created in response to a fatwa, a decree by Iraq's highest Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the PMF was initially an umbrella organization of roughly 70 predominantly Shiite gangs with 250,000 members.
I didn’t realize it was so many.
Functioning as a state-funded institution, the PMF includes armed factions widely believed to be cooperating with the Iran-led ’Axis of Resistance®’ - with its core overlap including Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, and Kata'ib Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... al-Shuhada.
Several of these groups have already begun integrating. By the end of September, with the culmination of the Global Coalition's mission in Iraq, gangs acting outside state control are expected to disarm completely.
Rubaie expressed confidence that the Zaidi government's push would succeed, as "there is a suitable national framework for implementing" this, and it has become "a major popular demand."
He further explained that the weapons in question are not limited to armed factions. "There are many other uncontrolled weapons that also contribute to instability in Iraq's security environment," he stated. Without a "clear and stable security environment," he warned, "companies will not come to invest in Iraq or create employment opportunities across various sectors."
Still, Rubaie said the incumbent government has "genuine willingness" to advance this initiative, adding that while it "has already made good progress, it could achieve even more positive results by mid-September."
The PA is paying a price in lost territory for refusing to negotiate a permanent peace treaty — or even a temporary ceasefire. We discussed the necessity of such consequences two decades ago — nice to see Bibi catching up.
[IsraelTimes] The government formally announces that NIS 1.3 billion ($431 million) was allocated by the security cabinet last month to fund the establishment of dozens of new West Bank settlements approved by the government over the last three and a half years.
The cabinet decision was formulated by the Prime Minister’s Office, and will be implemented by the Settlements Ministry and the Housing and Construction Ministry.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Settlements Minister Orit Strock and Housing and Construction Minister Haim Katz make the announcement, stating that the funds will be used to establish “pioneer neighborhoods” at the sites of newly approved settlements, which will include prefabricated homes, roads and infrastructure.
The government has during its tenure approved 103 new West Bank settlements, an unprecedented number in the history of the settlement movement.
The expedited establishment of the settlements will run in parallel to the usual settlement development process, Smotrich says, and appears designed to establish facts on the ground before any potential new government can reverse or stall the establishment of these settlements.
“We are making sure that the decisions we made regarding the legalization and establishment of new settlements in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] do not remain on paper, but are translated into reality on the ground. One after another, we are passing budgetary government resolutions that allocate funding for roads, for infrastructure, and now also for buildings and caravans,” Smotrich says of the new settlement funding.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Before the Israeli government had even set a date for the Knesset elections, a new scandal rocked the political landscape. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is rapidly losing its "predicted mandates," increasingly losing ground in the leadership race to the "angry patriots."
Against this backdrop, the ultra-conservatives are also on alert, having decided to close ranks and nominate a compromise candidate. This candidate is Hanamel (Shanamel) Dorfman, a lawyer and far-right politician close to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and known for his behavior, both borderline and beyond the pale.
And while his reputation is far from perfect even among the Orthodox, the show of unity among the conservative wing could well further undermine Netanyahu's position.
AN UNLAWFUL LAWYER
Dorfman has a rich and extremely controversial biography, even by the standards of the Israeli right.
As a young man, he joined the radical settler movement "Youth of the Hills," which readily clashed with both Palestinian communities and Israeli police in the West Bank, establishing illegal settlements in the gray zone.
During this period, Dorfman, to put it mildly, wasn't particularly constrained by moral standards: he urinated on the corpses of defeated enemies, collected ransom money for young pogromists, and, according to some reports, helped them organize weapons caches. He himself was on the brink of imprisonment several times, a fact he proudly boasts of to this day.
As opponents of the "Youth of the Hills" noted, it would have been difficult to find a more lawless lawyer in Israel at that time than Dorfman.
However, over time, he transitioned from a street activist to a security official, taking up the post of chief of staff to the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, whom he had known since their time practicing law together.
Having found himself in one of the most powerful positions in the internal security system, Dorfman quickly created a mechanism to protect yesterday's "friends from the hills" from prosecution, as a result of which the number of illegal actions by radical youth in the West Bank jumped several dozen times.
At one point, even the Shin Bet counterintelligence agency had to subdue the zealous youths, creating a special operations unit within it. This, however, didn't stop Dorfman or result in any negative consequences for him.
It's also interesting that Ben-Gvir's chief of staff has followed in his boss's rhetoric, demonstrating loyalty by repeating his main talking points at every opportunity, at every meeting with the security forces. For this reason, his subordinates have even nicknamed him "pocket Itamar."
COMPROMISE CANDIDATE
Dorfman's nomination to the Knesset came as a surprise to many, including Conservatives.
Prior to this, he had shown little interest in politics and preferred to remain in the shadow of his odious boss. Ben-Gvir himself, despite having greater political experience than Dorfman and his intention to run for reelection to parliament, is in no rush to rush to the forefront of the election campaign. After all, he has become known as a toxic figure even among conservatives.
Especially after the public mockery of the arrested activists of the Sumud flotilla, which was heading to the Gaza Strip. His Conservative colleagues also had to deal with the consequences, which did not enhance Ben-Gvir's popularity.
On the other hand, some ultra-conservatives enjoyed even less popularity among the general electorate—especially after the mass protests and pogroms by the ultra-Orthodox. A figure was needed who would be as charismatic and active as Ben-Gvir, but with lower negative ratings and generally acceptable to other forces in the conservative camp. Dorfman's transition to parliamentary politics gracefully addressed this need.
His preliminary election program contains, at first glance, mutually exclusive provisions - from promises to “save the zealots of faith” from persecution and to “fundamentally revise” the entire spiritual and moral foundation of the Jewish state to threats to “overthrow external enemies” (Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran) and even some “friends” - for example, Jordan, whose territories should “someday become part of Greater Israel.”
By combining the incompatible, Dorfman creates the image of a politician who is willing to fight for a strong Israel while respecting and honoring its traditions, including its spiritual ones. It's no surprise that some Orthodox spiritual and political authorities—for example, Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef —have come out in support of this candidacy.
JOIN FORCES
It's worth noting that the Conservatives timed their counterattack against Netanyahu well.
Much of Likud's resources are now diverted to maintaining stable relations within the government's inter-party alliance, as well as to repelling the opposition's attempts to win back some of the undecided electorate.
This gives Conservatives the opportunity to more effectively campaign and conduct targeted outreach to their supporters, which is evident, among other things, in the dynamics of public opinion polls.
According to the latest estimates, the conservative parties Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Otzma Yehudit (Dorfman is the candidate for the latter) each hold eight seats in the next Knesset. This means they could win a combined 24 seats (compared to Likud's 23) and claim a leading role in forming the future government.
However, in order to fully utilize their combined weight and claim the appointment of a prime minister or key ministers from their ranks, the three forces must first unite into a political platform (similar to the "Together" movement of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid ).
The formally allied Religious Zionism party, led by another parliamentary hawk, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, is currently receiving around five seats (fewer than the Arab parties) and risks failing to pass the electoral threshold. So the "conservative troika" can only rely on themselves.
However, they are in no rush to do so, fearing pressure from their competitors. This pressure comes not only from Netanyahu's supporters (who clearly haven't forgiven their former allies for their numerous attempts to undermine the coalition's legitimacy over religious differences), but also from the "angry patriots" (the Yashar party), who built part of their election platform on criticizing the unjustified concessions to the ultra-Orthodox.
Of course, even if his ranks were to close, Dorfman would not be able to immediately rise to the post of prime minister: his senior comrades, including Ben-Gvir, simply would not let him get ahead.
Dorfman moves more like a locomotive, ready at any moment to profitably "bargain" his mandate with Otzma Yehudit's allies or opponents, depending on the situation. And in return, he receives a lucrative and less-than-responsible ministry—for example, the Ministry of National Security.
At the same time, there is no doubt in the conservative camp about Dorfman’s loyalty.
Given his illustrious past and significant negative ratings, the likelihood of the controversial lawyer defecting to his opponents is minimal—no centrist or leftist party in Israel will risk its reputation for a couple of extra seats. Moreover, one of them would have to be shared with a "promising candidate."
#5
Throw in diaspora Jews as well as gentiles grom.
Posted by: Penguin of the best desert ||
07/15/2026 9:53 Comments ||
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#6
And yet, you opine on any and all American topics (including politics) after saying repeatedly "words fail"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2026 10:07 Comments ||
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#7
#5 Well, start by considering the difference between proportional representation and "winner takes all" used in USA. Add to it the fact that the World been trying to eradicate the Jews for three thousand years - but the Jews just kept surviving, and are resented for it. Throw in the fact that current day Western Culture is suicidal.
All that is just a start.
🇺🇸 U.S. VOICES FRUSTRATION AFTER ISRAEL HALTS ADDITIONAL U.S. TANKER LANDINGS AT BEN GURION
The U.S. reportedly expressed frustration after Israel temporarily blocked additional American aerial refueling tankers from landing at Ben Gurion Airport.
🇺🇸 U.S. VOICES FRUSTRATION AFTER ISRAEL HALTS ADDITIONAL U.S. TANKER LANDINGS AT BEN GURION
The U.S. reportedly expressed frustration after Israel temporarily blocked additional American aerial refueling tankers from landing at Ben Gurion Airport.
Washington says the aircraft are critical to regional operations and deterrence against Iran, while Israel says the move is meant to reduce disruptions to civilian air traffic and suggests using military airfields instead. Israeli officials insist there is “no crisis” between the allies, and PM Netanyahu has reportedly discussed the issue with U.S. officials.
Don’t be rude. You’re getting refueled close to the battlefield — don’t demand that Israel also give up her own national airport — accept the slightly less convenient digs at her military airports for most of your airplanes.
#1
American military planners prefer Ben Gurion International Airport over local military airfields because of its superior, well-equipped infrastructure and its central location close to hotels and support amenities.The primary reasons for this preference include:Advanced Infrastructure: Ben Gurion features heavy-duty runways, extensive parking aprons, and specialized ground-support facilities capable of seamlessly servicing large numbers of heavy strategic refueling aircraft (such as KC-135s and KC-46s).Logistics and Central Location: Being Israel's main civilian gateway near Tel Aviv, it places crews and support personnel close to major commercial hubs, high-capacity lodging, and transportation networks.Operational Flexibility: Operating out of a major international airport allows the U.S. Air Force to integrate smoothly with regional supply chains and maintain strategic requirements under preferred conditions.While this preference has created friction with Israeli officials—who argue that hosting dozens of tankers heavily disrupts civilian traffic and threatens thousands of passenger flights—the U.S. military continues to lean toward Ben Gurion for its unmatched logistical convenience
#4
I understand all that, Sonny Spaviger7693, in general at least. Nonetheless, at a time when certain other countries aren’t letting American warplanes land at all, the fact that Israel is offering military airports to meet an American military need is seriously freaking awesome. Especially when the Americans are already leaning hard on Israel to stop fighting the war she is in the middle of with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas.
#6
On paper there are 99 pax parking spots at TLV plus cargo spots. The US is being cut down to only using 20 total spots. That seems reasonable. US military aircraft spend most of their time on the ground while commercial aircraft operating international routes plan to turn in under 3 hours.
That being said - the US aircraft are presumably segregated in their own area with additional ground security. And are closely parked to free up space for all the other traffic. That frankly makes them a huge target for anything from mortars to drones to rocket attacks. Which in turn means additional ADA support that can't be used elsewhere.
Note that in the recent rounds of attack Israel has been noticeably absent from strikes on Iran. Doing so would trigger the tit for tat that the other US allies in the area have enjoyed. I doubt that Israel will refrain from joining the party indefinitely. When they do it'll be interesting to see which target set the Iranians pursue.
Posted by: mossomo ||
07/15/2026 08:58 ||
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Link ||
[186 views]
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#1
I posted this to highlight Middle East Politics. Iran bombed Qatar, granted US Assets in Qatar, Iran bombed Qatar the other day and now today is sending the FM to pay respects to a Qatar Emir that had passed. If Mexico fired missiles into the USA, we would not accept Mexican diplomats a week later, but it is a little different in the middle east.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanon wants immediate movement on plans agreed to last month for its army to take control of designated zones, while Jerusalem still has misgivings
Tehran’s priorities today are the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear file.
“The Iranians are using Lebanon as an excuse. They will always use it as an excuse.”
Karim Bitar, a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, told AFP that the risk of major fighting returning to Lebanon as a result of the regional escalation “is, of course, not negligible.”
“But I think that Iran today will think twice before asking Hezbollah to launch new strikes against Israel,” he said.
Tehran “wants to maintain Hezbollah as a long-term deterrent tool and does not want to use it immediately to open a new front,” he added.
No. Withdrawal is the reward for the other side standing down. Hezbollah refuses to do so in Lebanon, while Turkey is not only being aggressive in Syria, President Erdogan is draming aloud of erasing Israel altogether, and demanding America sell him the weapons capable of doing so. Israel is still recovering from the first 10/7 — they don’t need tocreate conditions for the next one.
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call last Thursday to begin withdrawing IDF troops from southern Syria and Lebanon, Barak Ravid of Channel 12 and Axios reports, citing American and Israeli officials.
According to the report, Trump warned that Israel’s military presence in Syrian territory is creating tensions that could lead to an escalation, telling Netanyahu, “They don’t want you there. You should redeploy.” He reportedly made a similar request regarding Lebanon.
The Prime Minister’s Office said last week that during the call, Netanyahu stressed “the need for security zones along Israel’s borders,” while the White House declined to comment on the substance of the report but highlighted Trump’s “strong relationship” with Netanyahu and described the US president as “a fighter for peace.”
Last month, Israel agreed to withdraw its forces from two designated “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon as part of ongoing negotiations with Beirut to allow the Lebanese Armed Forces to assume security control in those areas. But two and a half weeks have passed and Israel has yet to pull out from either pilot zone, slowing talks between Jerusalem and Beirut.
[IsraelTimes] Channel 13 reveals new details of the aborted Mossad plan to topple the Iranian regime earlier this year, which the spy agency called “Puss in Boots.”
The plan envisioned Israeli strikes on Revolutionary Guard Corps positions along Iran’s border with Iraq, in Iranian Kurdistan.
The strikes were designed to open the door for Kurdish fighters to cross into Iran, according to the report, and push into Kurdish cities in the country’s northwest.
The Mossad expected thousands of young Kurds to join the fighters, turning into a mass movement that could reach Tehran itself. Once that happened, it was thought that a mass protest movement with millions of demonstrators would bring down the regime, according to the report.
The Kurdish offensive was one of the key elements of the plan, which also would see former hardline president Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad
... former president of Iran... ultimately take control of the country.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Israel engaged in a multi-year effort to recruit and re-install Ahmadinejad, in a campaign that included a meeting with then-Mossad chief David Barnea on the sidelines of an academic conference in Hungary,.
At the beginning of the war, Israel and the US did carry out heavy strikes against Iranian security forces – including regime officials, army bases, missile systems, police stations and Basij sites – in the country’s northwest in an effort to ease the Kurds’ path, but leaks to the media, lobbying by Turkey, and wariness among the Kurds themselves led Washington to pull the plug on the idea.
#6
NYT and JPost and Times of Israel all repeat the same talkling points. I dont know about this one, NYT and JPost are fakenews. They had me until I read the Kurds and Ahmadinejad were k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage. Reminds me of when I was six.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The resumption of strikes on Iran violates the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington and closes the path to conflict resolution. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated this on July 14.
"We view what is happening as a violation of the memorandum, and there is not much to comment on," the minister said at a press conference following talks with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabré Fadoul.
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the attacks are damaging civilian infrastructure in Iran and civilian facilities in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
"This will lead to nothing good. And most importantly, it doesn't contribute to a settlement. It closes the door that the memorandum seemed to have opened," Lavrov said.
On June 15, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum calling for a cessation of hostilities and the creation of conditions for a settlement of the conflict. However, on July 8, US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire no longer in effect, and on July 10, he officially notified Congress of the resumption of military operations against Iran.
The American leader also claimed that Tehran had failed to comply with the terms of the memorandum and permitted further strikes, including against the Natanz nuclear facility. On July 13, Trump announced that the US was resuming the naval blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
In the following days, the US repeatedly launched strikes on Iranian territory. On the night of July 14, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported the end of a nearly five-hour wave of attacks, which struck Iranian military facilities in Bushehr, Jask, Konarak, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, and Abu Musa Island.
Posted by: badanov ||
07/15/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[190 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
But nuclear war in ME would be even better - for Russia's oil business.
روسيا تراجع رهان القوة في الساحل.. من تين زواتن إلى أنفيف خسائر تدفع موسكو نحو السلام#Russia#Azawad#Algeria#Sahel دفعت الخسائر المتراكمة التي تكبدتها القوات الروسية في مالي، منذ معركة تين زواتن في يوليو 2024 وصولا إلى معارك أنفيف الأخيرة، موسكو إلى مراجعة رهانها على الحسم… pic.twitter.com/BhY6Ov9qbo
— عمر الأنصاري | Oumar Alansari (@Oumar_Alansari) July 14, 2026
Text:
Russia Reassesses Power Bet in the Sahel.. From Tin Zaouatine to Anfiv, Losses Push Moscow Toward Peace
#Russia #Azawad #Algeria #Sahel
The accumulated losses suffered by Russian forces in Mali, from the Battle of Tin Zaouatine in July 2024 to the recent battles of Anfiv, have pushed Moscow to reassess its wager on military resolution in the Sahel, amid regional moves to open a new political path led by Algeria with support from Niger, according to informed sources.
Tin Zaouatine early revealed the difficulties of Russian forces operating in the desert environment against groups that possess knowledge of the terrain, freedom of movement, and the ability to target convoys and supply lines. Then came Anfiv to confirm that increased equipment and air cover do not guarantee control, nor prevent the attrition of isolated bases and forces.
Activist Akli Shuka, citing sources he described as reliable, reported that around 47 members of the "Africa Corps" were killed in Anfiv—a toll not confirmed by independent sources. According to the sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conveyed to officials of Sahel Alliance countries a message stating that the military option has faltered, and that dialogue and reconciliation with Azawad have become the most realistic path.
The sources say Russia has become convinced that continuing the war under current conditions will turn its presence in Mali into an open-ended attrition operation. The trajectory from Tin Zaouatine to Anfiv has proven that Malian forces and their Russian allies can reach certain positions, but they lack the capacity to establish permanent control or secure vast desert expanses.
Moscow, per the sources, no longer views settlement as a retreat, but as a means to protect its interests, reduce losses, and shift from direct involvement in a costly war to a role as a security and political partner.
In this context, Russia is betting on Algeria as a reliable ally capable of managing the balances between Bamako, Sahel Alliance countries, Azawad movements, and tribal and political components in the north. Algeria has long borders with Mali, experience in mediation, communication channels with local parties, and strategic relations with Moscow.
The sources indicate that Niger played a pivotal role in the recent rapprochement between Mali and Algeria, and is leading within the Sahel Alliance a push to restore relations with neighboring countries, shifting from a policy of rupture and confrontation to de-escalation and seeking settlements.
Niamey seeks to build a path that allows Alliance countries to return to their regional orbit without appearing to retreat, while restoring Algeria to its security and political role. It also recognizes that continued war in Azawad threatens not only Mali, but expands the operational spaces of armed groups along the borders of Niger and Burkina Faso.
The sources do not expect peace between Bamako and Azawad to face substantive opposition if it provides for a ceasefire, addresses political and security demands, and stops the bloodshed. The new path may not revive the 2015 Algiers Accord in its previous form, but rather an framework starting with a ceasefire and transitional security arrangements, followed by negotiations on local governance, power and resource sharing, and the return of displaced persons.
The sources see Russia's acceptance of this path as decisive in changing Bamako's stance, after Russian support over the past years formed one of the pillars of betting on recapturing the north by force.
Any agreement with Azawad will leave the file of jihadist groups as the next challenge, particularly the "Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims" linked to al-Qaeda, and the "Islamic State in the Greater Sahara."
The sources do not rule out that the "Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims" might incline toward de-escalation or local understandings, based on its discourse about a Malian national project of which it would be a part. However, its entry into any genuine political path will remain conditional on halting attacks, respecting civilians, providing guarantees regarding its ties to al-Qaeda, and accepting national settlement rules.
Neutralizing the group or incorporating some of its components into a de-escalation process could unify efforts against the Islamic State, which remains the party most likely to reject any settlement and attempt to sabotage it.
Thus, the ongoing moves reflect not just a rapprochement between Mali and Algeria, but a broader shift in the Russian approach to the Sahel. From Tin Zaouatine to Anfiv, the losses have confirmed to Moscow that force may prevent collapse, but it does not create stability, and that Algeria may be the shortest path out of a war with no apparent military end.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
[PJMedia] The British government’s cover-up of the massive 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...Arabic term meaning 
[IsraelTimes] Channel 13 reveals new details of the aborted Mossad plan to topple the Iranian regime earlier this year, which the spy agency called “Puss in Boots.”
