Marco Rubio effectively ties Trump's vision to Western civilization itself - Monica Showalter

 

by Monica Showalter

"The speech of the year" - Wall Street Journal

 

In what the Wall Street Journal's editorial page dubbed "the speech of the year," Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out that President Trump's vision for America and the world is closely tied to the ideals of ancient Greece, which brought forth the great civilization of the West.

It was extraordinary in its depth and projection.

Imagine a Democrat -- or even Pope Leo --giving a speech like this, standing against the Acropolis itself in Greece, fiercely affirming that the Western civilization brought about by Greece is worth fighting for and dying for: 

The buildup is slow and careful -- describing what Western civilization really is, what it amounts to:

These institutions and ideas – these institutions and ideas were the outward expression of more fundamental qualities we see in the ancient Greeks – qualities that can’t be reduced to any particular political system or theory.

Here, in Athens, we found the first full realization of all the essential traits that would come to define the West: fierce individuality and relentless ambition; daring exploration and invention; a yearning for discovery, for adventure, risk and glory.  An insatiable curiosity about the world and the principles by which it operates, a hunger to know the mysteries of nature and grasp the secrets of the cosmos.  An impatience with the notion of impossibility, chafing at all boundaries and limits, straining to peer into the depths of the unknown.

These were not just the formulas or precepts of a particular school of philosophy.  They were the characteristic of a people – expressed in their traditions, their stories, their imagination; in the qualities they demanded of their citizens; in the things they lived and fought and died for.

To know them is to know ourselves.

What blossomed here in this place was the Western desire to uncover all that ignorance, darkness, and distance had kept hidden from the mind of man.  The Greeks did not just shape history; the Greeks gave us history itself. Much about – much of what we know about many ancient civilizations comes almost entirely from the records of Greek explorers and historians, explorers and historians who didn’t just chronicle the histories of their own people, but ventured outwards to observe and record the sagas of foreign peoples and cultures all across the world.

Where others looked inward, the Greeks were the first to direct their focus outward, to chase the thrill and glory of seeing all that was strange and new.  It was this trait – it was this trait that would push the West to create and build things that others could not, marking us out from so many other cultures and civilizations where stability and subsistence were the highest ends of life.

But it is not just the ambition to explore the unknown that we inherit from the Greeks; it is the conviction that the unknown canbe known.  The confidence that the world can be charted and measured and mapped and understood – and that there is a rational order to the cosmos, governed by certain fundamental laws, laws that men can observe and the mind can come to understand.

This was the foundation of the Western mind: our math, our science, our medicine.  Our philosophy, ethics, and religion.  It paved the way for the gospel of Jesus Christ to find fertile soil in Europe and flourish into the empire of Christendom. It was the foundation of the riches of Christian theology – of Augustine and Aquinas and the whole tradition of natural law.

Then, and without naming names, he cites the leftist forces that have devalued it:

For the Greeks of antiquity, the pursuit of excellence was the very principle of man’s existence.  They organized all of civic life around contest, ambition, competition: in philosophy and poetry, in sculpture and drama, in athletics and art, in war and statecraft.  The classical Greek city was an arena for great men to test and prove themselves, to hone their potential through perpetual struggle – to be the best, the strongest, the most beautiful, straining to inch ever closer to perfection.

Now I know that to modern ears, what I just described, this way of life, may sound odd; it may even sound cruel.  The ideal of many ideologies in our time has, frankly, become a world of perfect safety, devoid of risk or failure, with neither the glory of victory nor the shame of defeat.  Too often these days, we build downwards. We design our standards to ensure no one will lose; we preoccupy ourselves more with the comfort of the worst than the potential of the best.  We hold the most exceptional things among us hostage to the average, the ordinary, the mediocre.

The men who made the Parthenon, they built upwards. They held that the highest and most noble aspiration in life was to surpass all others, to strive to be the best in all things.

Here, too:

Today, too much of the West has forgotten this quality.  Over time, we in the West came to feel ashamed of the very things that made us exceptional.  We felt embarrassed that our achievements set us apart from the rest of the world.  Our prosperity somehow became a source of guilt.  We no longer believed we deserved and had earned our greatness. 

The word “nationalism” became a dirty word.  And so we tore down our monuments; we condemned our own history.  And in too many places, we taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit.  In the process, we opened our borders and outsourced our industry, and allowed our militaries to wither and to decay. 

He even had a dart for the Bush administration, which derailed itself on belief in this fallacy, or perhaps Pope Leo, with whom he clashed on this matter in May:

Now it’s has become fashionable today to believe that enlightened foreign policy means prioritizing the global community over one’s own people.  And I think here, too, we have much to learn from the men of ancient Greece because they knew that there was nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation, nor anything selfish or wrong about fighting to defend its interests above all else. 

And all through, there was criticism of Islamism, and its stagnation and tyranny, something he, once again did without naming names. After all, we do have allies we are cultivating in those quarters, not every Muslim is an advocate of Islamism -- Islam actually had a golden age that ended as barbaric and cleristic forces took over, also derived from embracing Greek ideals, which he didn't bring up. Every heard of 'algebra'? That was skillful diplomacy, too.

Naturally, the left hated this speech, affirming who we are and where we need to be going, what our destiny should be. And yes, destiny is a Greek idea, too.

But for the rest of us, it was a tonic, a purpose, something the West-hating left can never match. The Journal added this at the end of its piece:  

Our view is that Americans are aching for this kind of vision and leadership, and they will respond to someone who offers it.

That was very well said. If we don't know who we are and where we are going, all is nothing, and the forces of barbarism, whether on the left, among the globalists, or among the Islamist dark-agers, will do it for us. 

What Rubio shows by this great speech is that he may be our best next president.

Image: Screenshot from U.S. Department of State video, on YouTube

Related Topics: Marco Rubio 

Monica Showalter

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/10/marco-rubio-effectively-ties-trump-s-vision-to-western-civilization-itself/

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In Michigan, the issue is erasing Jewish interests, not the Jewish vote - Jonathan S. Tobin

 

by Jonathan S. Tobin

Electing “progressives” like El-Sayed requires more than just normalizing antisemitism and antisemitic candidates. It also means telling Jews to shut up.

 

Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed speaks at a town hall campaign event with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) in Warren, Mich., on Oct. 3, 2026. Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s (D-Mich.) decision to campaign on behalf of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate in her state, was, she says, a function of a desire to help someone who would be on what she calls “Team Fight” rather than “Team Flight.” By that, she meant someone who would battle President Donald Trump alongside her in the U.S. Senate, rather than seek compromises with the Republican administration like her more moderate colleague Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

In taking this stand, she has fallen in line with the rest of her party in backing El-Sayed. But in framing the question as one of “fight” or “flight,” she was deliberately avoiding the historic implications of her choice. One more Democrat in the Senate could give her party control of both houses of Congress, and make it easier for them to impeach and try Trump, regardless of the partisan nature of such a procedure.

Given that even under those circumstances, a conviction and his ouster from office would likely be impossible, the stakes won’t involve the future of the republic as much as handing Democrats the sinecures and power that come from being in the majority.

But electing an open antisemite like El-Sayed would be truly momentous not just for the Jewish community, of which Slotkin is a member, but for its implications for the future of her party and the nation. From that perspective, characterizing the decision as one of “fight” or “flight” is actually quite apt. But the truth is that what she and a host of other Jewish Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, are doing is engaging in “flight” rather than fighting to hold the line against antisemitism inside her party at a time when it is surging around the globe.

‘No such thing as Jewish voters?’

What made her decision to join forces with El-Sayed particularly interesting was revealed during a joint interview with him on the MS NOW cable-TV channel.

In it, Slotkin didn’t just play the loyal Democratic soldier swallowing the indignity of endorsing a man who seeks to drive the overwhelming majority of American Jews out of the public square. In doing so, she is supporting someone who embodies the illiberal red-green alliance of leftists and Islamists that is taking control of liberal parties around the world.

When asked about the fact that most Michigan Jews, including the majority who are loyal Democrats and politically liberal, simply won’t go along with electing an antisemite, Slotkin’s reply was succinct.

She said, “There’s no such thing as the Jewish voters, just like there’s no such thing as the Muslim voters or the black voters. People have their own views, and the things that they prioritize are going to drive their vote.”

In a sense, she’s right. Citizens vote as individuals and not as part of groups. And, indeed, most American Jews have not voted in lockstep on issues like Israel, even if the majority of them are supporters of the Jewish state. That is especially true of Jewish Democrats, who have always placed Israel’s security below many domestic concerns, whether it was health-care costs or legalized abortion. It’s something that has particularly frustrated Trump, whose pro-Israel policies and efforts to fight antisemitism in education have not been rewarded by most Jewish voters.

To some extent, that’s also true of other groups, like Muslims and African-Americans, though both of those constituencies have been more likely to treat issues relating to their community’s safety as a priority. By contrast, liberal Jews tend to treat universal concerns as more important than those that personally concern them. As writer Cynthia Ozick famously said, “Universalism is the ultimate Jewish parochialism.”

Tolerating antisemitism

But as Jews in Michigan and elsewhere have come to learn in the three years since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terror attacks on Israeli communities incited an unprecedented increase in antisemitism, El-Sayed’s candidacy is not, strictly speaking, about voters’ views about the Jewish state. It’s about their willingness to tolerate the mainstreaming of Jew-hatred here in the United States.

So, when Slotkin seeks to deny that there is such a thing as “Jewish voters,” she’s signaling something very different from the fact that not all Jews cast votes solely on the basis of a candidate’s views on Israel. Along with other Democrats, both Jewish and non-Jewish, she is seeking to establish something far more important.

For them, party loyalty remains more important than opposition to antisemitism or, as Nessel said last month, the continued existence of the State of Israel. She expanded that idea and said that it was even worth it to “sacrifice the comfort, safety and security and even the very future of our own people” for the sake of a victory for the Democrats.

Slotkin is not quite so explicit in her indifference to the plight of the Jewish people, either in Israel or the United States at a time when antisemitism is raging, especially among the left-wing base of the Democrats. But by declaring that there is no such thing as a Jewish vote, even when it concerns the fight for her people’s survival, Slotkin is actually going further. She is calling for the erasure of Jewish communal interests from the public square, essentially telling Jews who disagree to shut up and fall in line.

While Slotkin, Nessel and Schumer claim that the real issue on the ballot in Michigan is a referendum on Trump, it’s important to point out that although El-Sayed’s implacable hostility to the president is not in question, it wasn’t the issue that carried him to victory in the Democratic primary.

Spreading blood libels

El-Sayed won his party’s nomination not so much by excoriating Trump but by targeting Jewish supporters of Israel, whom he accused of seeking to purchase Congress. He portrayed his moderate Democratic opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), as a stooge of the nefarious plot to purchase and manipulate American foreign policy by AIPAC and the Jews.

El-Sayed’s use of that traditional antisemitic trope—as well as his spreading of blood libels against Israelis committing “genocide” in Gaza, or being an “apartheid” and illegitimate “ethno-state” that has no right to exist—should have been a deal-breaker for any decent politician who cares about the way his rise illustrates the mainstreaming of Jew-hatred. So, too, should his refusal to condemn or even acknowledge that the Muslim Brotherhood is an international Islamist terror movement.

But for Jewish Democrats like Schumer, Slotkin and Nessel, elevating someone who holds such views, which they would not hesitate to denounce as beyond the pale if uttered by a Republican who echoed the similar views of a far-right antisemite like former Fox News host and current podcaster Tucker Carlson, to the Senate is not too high a price to pay for increasing their share of power in Washington.

Part of that price means not just denouncing the idea of Jews voting to defend their community. It means declaring that worries about Jewish security being threatened with harassment, intimidation and violence by advocates of the “Free Palestine” movement deserve to be minimized or dismissed altogether.

The evidence of the last three years contradicts that blithe assumption.

A security crisis for Jews

The vast increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes throughout the country, most of which are associated with anti-Zionist and blatantly antisemitic rhetoric and positions, has created a crisis for American Jews unlike any they have ever faced in this country. While not all Americans fully comprehend what is happening, it has not escaped the notice of most Jews that every synagogue, Jewish school and institutional building now requires extraordinary security measures to ensure that advocates for “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” don’t inflict harm on them. Meanwhile, neighboring churches and mosques don’t need such protection.

Yet those who agree with El-Sayed and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that calls to “globalize the intifada”—a demand for terrorism against Jews, wherever they live, and Jewish genocide—are not worthy of condemnation are telling the Jews that their lives and security are unimportant when compared to the chance of adding another Democrat to the Senate.

This isn’t happening in isolation from what has happened elsewhere in American society. In education, the media, publishing, pop culture and the fine arts, Jews and Jewish concerns are increasingly being challenged, marginalized and even erased.

This is all being done in the name of toxic left-wing ideas like critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism that divide humanity into two impermeable and permanently warring groups: “people of color,” who are always victims no matter what they do, and “white” oppressors, who are always in the wrong. Despite being the most persecuted minority in history—something that continues to this day in the form of the aforementioned surge of antisemitism—Jews are classified by left-wing ideologues as among the latter.

That’s why left-wingers on college campuses or concert stages feel free to falsely accuse the Jews of committing “genocide” while ignoring the fact that the goal of the side they are supporting in the Middle East conflict—Hamas and the Palestinians—is the actual genocide of half of the Jews on the planet who live in Israel. Moreover, they do so from a sense that they are attacking bad people and helping the good guys. They spew Jew-hatred while thinking of themselves as progressive and enlightened humanitarians.

That’s bad enough. But when Jews with leadership roles in our democratic republic tell other Jews to accept antisemitism, they are effectively siding with those who accept this skewed view of the world.

Still, it only works if the Jews who haven’t bought into this insanity, regardless of their political views, insist that Jewish security and antisemitism are not issues on which reasonable people should be required to agree to disagree.

A vote for Jewish survival

There needn’t be such a thing as a “Jewish vote” when it comes to a host of issues on which partisans disagree—from levels of taxation, social issues and foreign policy. But there has to be one when it comes to Jewish survival, both in Israel and the United States. Jews needn’t be fans of Trump, or any Israeli politician or political party. But those with a sliver of self-respect or concern for their fellow Jews and Americans, in general, should regard antisemitism as a litmus test of decency, if not self-interest.

This is not about, as Slotkin insists, the idea that “people want to see a Jewish woman and a Muslim man being able to get along, debate, push and pull each other, and move the state forward.”

What we expect from Jews in politics is recognition that normalizing hate isn’t about moving anything forward. It’s sacrificing a vulnerable minority on the altar of partisan politics. That isn’t progressive or pragmatic. It’s immoral. And we should treat any Jewish politician who makes that exchange as beneath contempt and unfit for the public trust.

The normalization and the mainstreaming of Jew-hatred, such as what we’ve seen with the embrace of El-Sayed, isn’t about what you think about either major party, since neither cannot be entirely trusted on the issue. Yet at a time when security at their houses of worship is outsourced to hired armed guards, the issue of Jewish safety is one on which no Jew can remain neutral or silent.

Erasure of Jewish concerns cannot be tolerated. Decent persons, Jew and non-Jew alike, must never accept the notion that they are obligated to be quiet about this or any issue relating to the safety of their families when threatened by ideologues.

On such grounds, a Jewish vote must exist, but it must also be seen as part of a broader bipartisan faction, albeit one based on zero tolerance for bigotry.

Politicians like Slotkin may be too cynical or tainted by toxic ideology to understand what they are doing and the consequences it will have for all Americans. Nevertheless, they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with telling the Jews to be quiet about threats to their safety any more than if she were telling African-Americans not to oppose politicians who were fine with black genocide. 

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, available on major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won 60-plus awards for his columns, commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

Source: https://www.jns.org/opinion/column/jonathan-s-tobin/in-michigan-the-issue-is-erasing-jewish-interests-not-the-jewish-vote

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Hamas used double agents, deception to fool Israel ahead of October 7 massacre, study finds - Danielle Greyman-Kennard

 

by Danielle Greyman-Kennard

Through the evening of October 6, Israeli intelligence was fed the impression that there was a state of routine in Gaza, allowing Hamas to conceal its plans while arming and concentrating its forces.

 

Hamas terrorists arrive to secure the area search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages - an Israeli soldier and a Thai national - from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on December 1, 2025. as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the ICRC

(photo credit: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images)

 

Hamas’s leadership planned to use strategic deception to lull Israel into a false sense of security before the October 7 attacks, activating double agents as late as the eve of the invasion to feed the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) false information, as revealed in a new study by Lt.-Col. (res.) Yehonatan Duhoch-Halevi published on Wednesday by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).

A core part of Hamas’s strategy was conceived in early 2022 and sought to create the impression that Israel’s “carrot and stick” policy, which combined threats to assassinate senior Hamas leaders with economic relief for Gaza, was working, according to the research.

Through the evening of October 6, Israeli intelligence was fed the impression that conditions in Gaza were routine, thus allowing Hamas to conceal its plans while arming and concentrating its forces, according to a senior figure in Hamas’s military wing.

According to the terrorist’s testimony, Hamas identified an Israeli espionage network in 2017 and was able to recruit some members of the network to become double agents operating under Hamas’s direction.

The IDF investigation into the failures leading up to the massacre noted that, on October 6, indications of a Hamas attack were received alongside reassuring signs, although the investigation did not explain what those reassuring signs were. The Shin Bet investigation reported that “human intelligence sources,” or intelligence agents, had confirmed that the terror group was operating routinely.

HAMAS TERRORISTS secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the Red Cross search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on December 1, 2025. (credit: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas officials have since acknowledged the use of deception as part of the preparations for the attack. In a late 2023 interview with Ammar Taqi, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal admitted that, ahead of October 7, Hamas carried out strategic and tactical deception, including conveying "reassurance" messages.

“Regarding the aspect of strategic deception and the method of deception, as I mentioned, there was a general feeling that [Gaza] [under Hamas leadership] was focusing on its affairs, and wanted to bring in a certain amount of fuel, electricity and aid, meaning [Gaza] was licking its wounds and pains because of the blockade imposed on it, and after the 21 war [Hamas] did not respond to the escalation [in actions] carried out by the occupation in al-Quds and Al-Aqsa,” Mashal said.

“For example, as I mentioned, during the previous Ramadan, in this year 2023, on days 13 or 14 in the middle of Ramadan, they [the Israelis] broke into Al-Aqsa, and the public [wondered] where was Gaza? The enemy began to analyze and thought that Gaza was occupied with itself. The holidays came from September 15 to October 6 [2023], and then, behold, the movement's leadership wisely sent deception messages to the enemy once again. We know some of them.”

Hamas inspired by Egypt's deception during Yom Kippur War

“The [Jewish] holidays came from September 15 to October 6 [2023], and then, behold, the movement’s leadership wisely sent deception messages to the enemy once again. We know some of them.”

Mashal also admitted that he took inspiration from Egypt’s strategy during the Yom Kippur War, when Egypt attacked Israel on a religious holiday and shared that Cairo had told soldiers to go on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca to lull Jerusalem into believing that no war was coming.

 

ספטמבר 2026 – בכיר בחמאס לפני שחוסל: "למרות האפילה הזו, חסימת האופק [לשיפור המצב] ומצב החולשה הגלוי לעין, ולמרות הבגידה מצד אחים לנו ובני עמנו מקרב הערבים והמוסלמים, יש לנו ודאות שאללה לא ינטוש אותנו, ושניצחון הקבוצה המאמינה והלוחמת בדרך הג’יהאד הוא עניין וודאי והבטחה אלוהית" ב-3 באוקטובר 2026, פרסמה הזרוע הצבאית של חמאס, גדודי אל-קסאם, את "איגרתו האחרונה של מפקד החטיבה הצפונית, עז אל-דין אל-ביכּ [عز الدين البيك], להנהגת ההתנגדות [חמאס], מספר ימים לפני שנפל חלל בדרכו של אללה". עז אל-דין אל-ביכּ, שהיה גם חבר המועצה הצבאית הכללית של גדודי אל-קסאם, נהרג בתקיפה ישראלית ב-29 בספטמבר 2026 בדירה בשכונת א-נסר [النصر] בעיר עזה, יחד עם מהנד עבד אל-בארי אבו אל-פול (مهند عبد الباري أبو فول). להלן תוכן האיגרת ששלח עז אל-דין אל-ביכּ: יום שלישי: 8/9/2026 {אנו מושיטים עזרה לשליחינו ולמאמינים בחיי העולם הזה, וביום אשר יתייצבו העדים} [קוראן, פרק: 40 פסוק:51] אל האח המפקד הלוחם בדרך הג’יהאד [קטע מושחר], ישמור אללה וישגיח עליך. השלום עליך ורחמי אללה וברכותיו, ולענייננו: בתחילת הדברים, אנו מבקשים מאללה שאיגרת זו תגיע אליכם בעודכם נהנים במלוא הבריאות והרווחה, ושילביש [אללה] אתכם בלבוש הבריאות והשלום, ושישמח את עיניכם בניצחון חייליו ובעוז בני בריתו [של אללה], ושיציל את עמנומהמתקפה של האויב האכזר הזה. הו אללה, אמן. זו איגרת של בניכם מקרב הלוחמים בדרך הג’יהאד של החטיבה הצפונית [של גדודי אל-קסאם], אשר חונכו בידי אנשים כמותכם מקרב מפקדיהם הצדיקים, ומקרב המפקדים הגדולים שנפלו שהידים [חללים בדרכו של אללה]. איגרת זו נושאת בחובה עבורכם את כל משמעויות האהבה, הציות והשייכות להנהגתם ולמייסדים הראשונים של הפעילות הלוחמת [العملالمقاوم]. למרות עוצמת הניסיונות [המבחנים הקשים בזירת העימות], גודל האובדן, המצב הקשה, ולמרות המזימות והתחבולות מצד האויב הפושע ועוזריו, עדיין אנחנו [קיימים] ונישאר בדרך ששרטטתם לנו: דרך הג’יהאד והנפילה חלל בדרכו של אללה [الاستشهاد], עד להשגת המטרה המיוחלת, ברצון אללה. ואנו מאשרים לך, מפקדנו האהוב, שמערכת "מבול/ שיטפון אל-אקצא" [معركة طوفان الأقصى] היא בבחינת התגלות של גזירות אללה יתעלה, וזה ניכר בדבקות האגדית של המוג’אהידין, בסבלנות העם הנכבד הלוחם בדרך הג’יהאד ובהיאחזותו באדמתו. אנו סבורים שזו מערכה [צבאית] אלוהית שהונהגה בידי מפקדים מבורכים, הזוכים להשראה אלוהית, אוהבי דרכו של אללה, אשר הקדישו את חייהם להכנת המיזם האדיר הזה, "מבול אל-אקצא", שהוא המחשה ממוזערת של הסוף הבלתי נמנע והנפילה הרועמת של הישות הפושעת הזו, וניצוץ מערכת השחרור וחיסול הישות הכובשת הזו, ברצון אללה ישתבח ויתעלה. ולמרות כל האפילה הזו, חסימת האופק [לשיפור המצב] ומצב החולשה הגלוי לעין, ולמרות כל הבגידה מצד אחים לנו ובני עמנו מקרב הערבים והמוסלמים, יש לנו ודאות איתנה שאללה לא ינטוש אותנו, ושניצחון הקבוצה הזו המאמינה והלוחמת בדרך הג’יהאד הוא עניין וודאי והבטחה אלוהית, ואחריו יבואו רוממות והעצמה [עליונות ושליטה], ברצון אללה. כך חינכתם אותנו, וכך הגיעה תובנה זו אלינו מכם מחומרי הקוראן והחינוך הג’יהאדי, ומכך שנטעתם בנו את הוודאות שהבטחת אללה קרובה [למימוש]. {כבר כתבנו בַּזַּבּוּר [ספר תהילים], לאחר דבר התוכחה, לאמור, עבדיי הישרים יירשו את הארץ} [קוראן, פרק:21 פסוק:105] ואנו שולחים לך, מפקדנו האהוב, את ברכת [קטע מושחר], אשר הזכיר במפגש קודם עמו את מפגשיו עמך ועם האח השהיד המפקד [של גדודי אל-קסאם] אבו מחמד [אחמד סעיד] אל-ג’עברי, ירחם עליו אללה [חוסל ב-14 בנובמבר 2012]. הוא מעביר לכם ברכת שלום חמה והערכתו הרבה, ואת תפילתו עבורכם להחלמה ולבריאות מלאה, ושאללה יאחד אותנו עמכם על אדמת ארצנו המשוחררת והמטוהרת, ברצון אללה. האח הלוחם בדרך הג’יהאד, המפקד האהוב, מי ייתן ותישאר בבריאות ובשלווה, ואל תשכח אותנו בתפילותיך הטובות. אנו מבקשים מאללה שישמח את עיניך בניצחונו, ושיאחד אותנו עמך בחצרות מסגד אל-אקצא המשוחרר והמטוהר מטומאת הכובשים, אתם ואחינו הנהגת התנועה הלוחמת בדרך הג’יהאד. הייה בטוח שאנו, ברצון אללה ובעצם היותו איתנו, איתנים וסבלניים, מושרשים באדמתנו, אוחזים בנשקנו, ממשיכים בדרך שנסללה בדמם של מפקדינו, המוג’אהידין שלנו ובני עמנו הגאים, עד שאללה יקיים את הבטחתו. קבל את ברכותינו עבורך ועבור האחים הנכבדים שסביבך, ומי ייתן ותישארו תחת שמירת אללה, הגנתו ובהשגחתו. סימוכין: https://t.co/XSPv37skOg עז אל-דין אל-ביכּ. תמונה: גדודי אל-קסאם

— Jonathan D. Halevi (@jdhalevi) October 7, 2026

“A message, in order to fulfill its purpose, must be an indirect message, meaning messages that will not be understood [by the enemy] to be deception messages, which the enemy will swallow. The enemy also uses deception against others, and the resistance succeeded in deceiving the enemy, and it picked up false messages,” Mashal said at the time. “After that, there was concealment, meaning avoiding exposing the preparations: Of course, the tunnels...”

The JCFA study noted that Hamas-affiliated political commentator Issam Shawar said that Hamas had been taken by surprise by a similar strategy a few months earlier when Israel began Operation Shield and Arrow against Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in May 2023. According to Shawar, one day before the launch of the operation, Israel carried out a deception operation by informing Hamas that it would allow the transfer of the financial grant from Qatar to pay the salaries of public-sector employees.

The use of deception by Hamas was also noted by Palestinian journalists immediately after the October 7 attack. On October 8, 2023, JCFA noted that Palestinian journalists had commented on Hamas’s use of deception tactics.

Fadi Ramadan noted that Hamas had carried out two separate deception operations.

The first created a false impression in Israel that the planned attack would come through the tunnels, whereas Hamas launched a ground invasion.

The second involved conveying to Israel that the “carrot and stick” policy had been effective.

JCFA also suggested that former Palestinian Authority (PA) minister for prisoner affairs Sufian Abu Zayda had been deceived by Hamas’s plans.

Explaining that the terror group had a channel of contact with Israel through Zayda, JCFA said that the former PA official was enlisted to negotiate a deal with Israel to release Palestinian prisoners for the bodies of Israelis already held in Hamas captivity before October 7.

Zayda had reportedly met with Ghazi Hamad in Gaza, who confirmed that now-assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had authorized the deal. After his return to Israel, Zayda contacted a retired Shin Bet officer who arranged a meeting between him and active Shin Bet personnel in Ashkelon.

In July 2022, Zayda met with Sinwar in Gaza, in the presence of Rawhi Mushtaha, where Sinwar presented his priorities regarding a possible agreement with Israel concerning the release of prisoners.

Sinwar-Zaida meeting led to increased Israeli interest in deal with Hamas

According to Duhoch-Halevi’s assessment, the meeting between Sinwar and Zayda strengthened Israel’s interest in a deal, and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar personally met with Zayda to hear from him the conditions set by Hamas for a possible deal.

Zayda claimed Bar asked him to convey a message to Sinwar that Israel would be willing to advance far-reaching economic measures in Gaza.

The negotiations between the sides advanced to the stage of deliberations over the names of the prisoners to be released as part of the deal, and drafts were exchanged between the sides.

On September 14, 2023, two days after Hamas conducted its major annual military exercise, Zayda met with Sinwar, again in the presence of Mushtaha, and Sinwar dictated a message to Zayda for the Israeli side, according to which “by the end of September we will put cards on the table that will cause an earthquake regarding the negotiations, and they should prepare to empty the prisons.”

Zayda was asked to convey this message verbatim to the Shin Bet representatives who were in contact with him, and another meeting with Yahya Sinwar was scheduled for October 8. Abu Zayda traveled to Israel, conveyed the message to Shin Bet personnel, and returned to Gaza on October 5, ahead of another planned meeting with Sinwar.

“It appears that Abu Zayda was a component of the deception plan operated by the Hamas leadership in an attempt to convince Israel that it was serious in its intentions to reach an agreement for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israelis (living and dead) held in Gaza, as a move that would lead to the regulation of relations between Israel and the Hamas government on the basis of economic relief on Israel’s part and infrastructure development in the Gaza Strip,” Duhoch-Halevi said, adding that it was “reasonable” to think Sinwar’s scheduled meeting with Zayda on October 8 “served as a smokescreen for the secret continuation of military preparations.”

Danielle Greyman-Kennard

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-911050

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Iran Fueling Palestinian Jihad, Preventing Terrorists' Disarmament - Khaled Abu Toameh

 

by Khaled Abu Toameh

Three years after October 7, the international community should stop asking only what Israel intends to do next. It should ask what Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their Iranian patron intend to do next.... They keep reminding us. They intend to continue their jihad until the elimination of Israel.

 

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad [PIJ] Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhala declared that his organization would remain committed to "the path of jihad and resistance," which would continue "by all possible means," as long as the "Zionist project" remains on supposedly Palestinian land.

• PIJ's anniversary statement was explicit: the organization said it would continue, alongside other "resistance forces," on the path of jihad until it achieved what it calls its rights and had "liberated" its land. It described Israel as a "criminal Zionist entity."

• US Treasury Department assessments have, for years, documented Iranian state sponsorship of Hamas amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. The Treasury Department has also identified Iranian funding, weapons and training for PIJ through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

• "Hamas continues to rely on global fundraising efforts, donations, hundreds of millions of dollars in state sponsorship from Iran, and abuse of sham charitable entities for revenue." — US Treasury Department's "2026 National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment," March 2026.

• The question is not whether Hamas or the other Islamist terrorist groups will agree to a temporary pause in fighting. The real question is whether these organizations are prepared to abandon their weapons and their ideology of armed struggle.

• No peace plan or diplomatic initiative will succeed so long as the Iran-backed terrorist organizations retain the ability to launch another October 7 massacre.

• Three years after October 7, the international community should stop asking only what Israel intends to do next. It should ask what Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their Iranian patron intend to do next.... They keep reminding us. They intend to continue their jihad until the elimination of Israel.

Three years after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the second-largest terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, is making one thing clear: it has no intention of abandoning its armed struggle against Israel. Pictured: PIJ and Hamas terrorists stage a public meeting in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 28, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Three years after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the second-largest terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, is making one thing clear: it has no intention of abandoning its armed struggle against Israel.

On the contrary, the Iran-backed terrorist organization is reaffirming its commitment to jihad (holy war), armed resistance, and the destruction of what it calls the "Zionist project."

That message should be taken seriously by anyone hoping that the Gaza war can end with the disarmament of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the other armed groups.

In statements marking the third anniversary of the October 7 attack and the 39th anniversary of PIJ's founding, the organization's leaders did not speak about surrendering their weapons, dismantling their military infrastructure, or transferring control of Gaza to a new Palestinian government.

Instead, they spoke about continuing the fight.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhala declared that his organization would remain committed to "the path of jihad and resistance," which would continue "by all possible means," as long as the "Zionist project" remains on supposedly Palestinian land.

He also declared that the "unity of the resistance forces in Palestine and in the region" would remain in place.

Nakhala went further, describing the October 7 attack, which he called "Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood," as a "natural response" to what he described as Israeli aggression. He portrayed the conflict as a battle between one nation and one enemy: the "Zionist project and its allies."

"The Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood came as a natural response to this ongoing aggression, and it was a natural extension of our people's struggle and resistance against the Zionist project that uprooted us from our country, Palestine."

In other words, three years after October 7, the Palestinian jihadis and their patrons in Tehran have not repudiated the attack. They have not apologized for the massacre of Israeli civilians. They have not apologized for bringing death and destruction on their own people.

Instead, they continue to celebrate October 7 as part of a purportedly legitimate historical struggle.

PIJ's anniversary statement was explicit: the organization said it would continue, alongside other "resistance forces," on the path of jihad until it achieved what it calls its rights and had "liberated" its land. It described Israel as a "criminal Zionist entity." Needless to say, PIJ, Hamas, and the other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip do not recognize Israel's right to exist.

This is exactly the issue that must not be obscured by diplomatic language about ceasefires, peace plans, and reconstruction. The question is not whether Hamas or the other Islamist terrorist groups will agree to a temporary pause in fighting. The real question is whether these organizations are prepared to abandon their weapons and their ideology of armed struggle.

The latest statements from the Islamist terrorists provide a clear answer: No.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad proudly announced that more than 2,000 of its fighters had been killed in Gaza, dozens more had been killed in the West Bank, and more than 80 were killed on the Lebanese front. According to the organization, its fighters fought alongside Hamas's Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian factions.

This boast is particularly important because PIJ is not operating in isolation. The organization openly identifies itself as part of a wider regional "resistance" camp that includes Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.

Nakhala paid tribute to Iran's rulers, to the late Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, as well as to the leaders and fighters of the Houthis and Iran-backed Iraqi militias. He described them as part of the same struggle against Israel and its allies.

The message is clear: the Iranian regime and its terror proxies in the Middle East have always seen the war against Israel as part of a broader regional confrontation. This premise should concern not only Israel but also the United States and other Western countries.

The PIJ statements also demonstrate the continuing influence of Iran. PIJ openly praises Tehran and regards Iran as one of its principal supporters.

Given the documented history of Iranian funding, weapons and training for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the continuing relationship between Tehran and these groups remains an important factor in evaluating their ability and willingness to abandon armed struggle.

US Treasury Department assessments have, for years, documented Iranian state sponsorship of Hamas amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. The Treasury Department has also identified Iranian funding, weapons and training for PIJ through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In its "2026 National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment," the Treasury Department reported:

"Hamas continues to rely on global fundraising efforts, donations, hundreds of millions of dollars in state sponsorship from Iran, and abuse of sham charitable entities for revenue."

Statements by the leaders of the Iranian regime and their terror proxies repeatedly refer to the United States as an ally of Israel and accuse the US of complicity in Israel's actions. The rhetoric of the Islamists does not portray the conflict as a narrowly Palestinian-Israeli dispute. It portrays Israel and its allies as a single enemy camp.

This distinction matters.

Those who believe that the conflict will end simply by persuading Hamas and PIJ to accept a new political arrangement in Gaza should listen carefully to what the terrorist groups themselves are saying.

Defeating Islamist terrorism cannot be treated as a short-term diplomatic exercise. No peace plan or diplomatic initiative will succeed so long as the Iran-backed terrorist organizations retain the ability to launch another October 7 massacre.

Three years after October 7, the international community should stop asking only what Israel intends to do next. It should ask what Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their Iranian patron intend to do next. The answer is already available. They keep reminding us. They intend to continue their jihad until the elimination of Israel.

• Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)

 

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22909/iran-palestinian-islamic-jihad

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Iran targeting US military bases in Germany, weeks after Israel warned partners - report - Reuters

 

by Reuters

Israel reportedly warned US and German partners three weeks ago of a potential threat, with concern focused on bases supporting US military operations and logistics linked to the conflict with Iran.

 

A Boeing C-17A globemaster III cargo plane of the US Air Force takes off from Ramstein Air Base on April 02, 2026 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

(photo credit: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

 

Iranian intelligence services are targeting US military bases in Germany, including Ramstein and Spangdahlem, amid concerns over potential covert attacks linked to the Iran conflict, German news outlet WirtschaftsWoche reported on Thursday.

Israel warned US and German partners three weeks ago of a potential threat, with concern focused on bases supporting US military operations and logistics linked to the conflict with Iran, the report said, citing several unnamed Western intelligence officials.

The German defense ministry and the US forces in Germany were not immediately available for comment.

A C-17 Globemaster cargo plane of the US Air Force takes off from Ramstein Air Base on April 02, 2026 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. (credit: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

 

Israel warned Germany of Iranian threat against air bases 

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Israel had warned Germany of an increased risk of attacks against US military bases on its territory, particularly Ramstein Air Base and Spangdahlem Air Base.

Both Ramstein and Spangdahlem are used by NATO air forces, with the former serving as the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa and NATO Allied Air Command.

The intelligence assessments also included concerns about possible drone attacks, but did not point to a specific time or target.

Idan Kweller contributed to this report.

Reuters

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-911035

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Vance unveils sweeping visa crackdown, ends PERM for Microsoft - Ben Whedon

 

by Ben Whedon

The vice president highlighted the lower average wages of imported foreign workers in the university system than American graduate students, saying the schools were using them to undercut wages for graduate students.

 

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday announced a sweeping probe into major universities using J1 visas at unusually high rates and also barred Microsoft from using the PERM program.

The vice president highlighted the lower average wages of imported foreign workers in the university system than American graduate students, saying the schools were using them to undercut wages for graduate students.

"These universities are employing J1 visas for federally funded grants at a rate of about 61%. The national average is 38%. So something weird is going on at these universities!" Vance said. "They're using these visas way too much. They're using them to undercut the wages of American grad students and American researchers. And it simply has to stop."

Vance specifically highlighted Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, and MIT as institutions he believed merited investigation.

On the tech side, Vance also announced that the administration was barring Microsoft from PERM, a permanent resident program that Vance said treated foreign workers like "indentured servants" an worked to undercut American wages.

"We decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft, which means they will no longer be able to apply, they'll no longer be able to take those H1Bs and apply for permanent resident status within the United States of America," he said.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/vance-unveils-sweeping-visa-crackdown-ends-perm-microsoft

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Fauci diary reveals he disparaged Trump, praised China, and lost secret files in ransomware hack - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

From criticizing Donald Trump to detailing a personal ransomware attack, newly released notes written by Fauci offer one of the earliest glimpses into how he adapted to Trump-era Washington as a permanent public official.

 

Newly released diary pages belonging to Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the government’s most influential chief health officials for nearly four decades, show that he disparaged Donald Trump, praised Chinese health officials, and lost a set of confidential records in a ransomware attack. 

The files were the latest batch of entries in Fauci’s so-called diary to be released publicly by Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Paul is currently investigating whether Fauci or his aides destroyed government documents to avoid disclosure under public information requests. Government emails are generally required to be preserved under the Federal Records Act.

Although that Act says that "willfully and unlawfully concealing, removing, mutilating, obliterating, destroying, or carrying away any public record or document is punishable by up to 3 years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both," when Fauci was pardoned by President Joe Biden, Paul told Just the News in June that "I think we should challenge the pardon, because it's an extraordinary pardon. It's a pardon not for a specific crime, and it's a pardon over a 10-year period. It's the same that he got, the same thing Hunter Biden got."

Fauci kept meticulous and wide-ranging records

Fauci’s diary has landed the ex-health official in hot water. During his time as the leading government health official during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauci kept a meticulous record of his meetings, phone calls, and other day-to-day activities. Last month, the committee released memos showing he privately believed that the death rate of COVID-19 was much lower than he told Congress just one month later, Just the News previously reported.  

Paul summoned Fauci to testify before his committee in August, but the retired top doc refused to answer most questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Paul's panel referred Fauci to the Justice Department for possible prosecution for contempt of Congress. Fauci was granted a pardon by President Biden which covered all potential federal offenses committed between 2014 and 2024. That led some constitutional experts to insist that Fauci does not have the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment.

Longstanding dislike, distrust of Trump 

The new records show the health official repeatedly criticized Donald Trump during the 2016 election and eventually called for him to be impeached over a government shutdown in early 2019, Just the News reported.  

“He is acting more and more bizarre. Should be impeached, but Dems are rightfully concerned that this will galvanize his base,” Fauci wrote in a diary entry memorializing Jan. 1–7, 2019, in the midst of a government shutdown. 

The records also show that Dr. Fauci’s dim view of the president developed long before the president took office. The entries show that Fauci began contemplating what a Trump presidency would mean to his agency’s funding during the 2016 campaign and also commented on his debate performance. 

“Trump made a fool of himself in the debate on Monday 26 Sept,” Fauci wrote. 

You can read the new diary pages below:

2026.10.6_Fauci-Diary-Release-Missing-Years_Full-Package.pdf

 After a video recording of Trump was published in October in which the New York mogul told a colleague about his efforts to seduce a woman, Fauci was appalled and argued it should be disqualifying for him to be president. “Trump caught in [sic] Tape denigrating women,” Fauci wrote. “Anyone else would be disqualified by this; however, his people still support him.”

“Trump acting very erratically. Continues to implode,” he wrote a few days later. 

After Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the election, Fauci continued to write in his diary about how he viewed the incoming president. In December, Fauci said “Trump continues to spout outrageous things on one day and seem reasonable on the next day.” He then lamented that his planned nominations for cabinet positions were “scary.” 

Darts for GOP, laurels for Chinese government health officials

“Congressman Price (R-GA) for HHS. He is against ACA, Medicare/Medicaid, abortion, anti-science and he is an orthopedic surgeon. Will give him a chance, but let us see,” he added. Price served as President Trump’s first Secretary of Health and Human Services in his first administration. 

The records show that Fauci also praised a prominent Chinese official, the then-Director General of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Gao Fu served as the head of that Chinese agency during the COVID-19 pandemic before leaving in 2022.   

“Big Chinese visitor day - Hosted Gao Fu (George) here at NIH. He is the Director General of the China CDC. Very smart and nice guy,” Fauci wrote in September 2017. “Then went down to CSIS to meet with Chinese delegation - Liu Fandong - Vice Premier of China; Li Bin - Minister of National Health and Family Planning; Dr Cao - Director of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS). Present was Sec. Price and a group of Chinese and USA interested parties. I gave brief description of activities of NIH in collaboration with Chinese.”

Fell victim to ransomware attack, lost confidential files

In another notable entry, Fauci detailed a cyber incident that compromised his personal files, including confidential files surrounding prior anthrax attacks. These files also included letters written by Fauci during his time in government.  

“I was attacked by ‘Ransonware’ and my entire unprotected folder (CDrive – Word Files) was encrypted. Luckily, I had a backup of most of my historical daily notes and my autobiography was on a separate, nonaccessible folder. However, I lost all of the letters that I have ever written as well as other important documents in the Word Files folder,” Fauci wrote on July 22, 2016. 

“I had originally created this [folder] for the confidential files that I made right after the anthrax attacks since I did not want them accessible to anyone. However, I soon began putting other important documents into that folder – Bad idea!!!” he added.  

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/congress/fauci-disparaged-trump-praised-chinese-and-lost-secret-files-ransomware-hack

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IDF officer killed in southern Lebanon, three others injured during operation - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

Tzapalamus was killed when a Humvee flipped during operational activity in the area of the Litani River.

 

Capt. Eliav Haim Tzapalamus, 21.

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

 

Capt. Eliav Haim Tzapalamus, aged 21, from Haifa, died in an operational incident in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Thursday.

He was a combat officer in the Combat Engineering Corps, 603rd Battalion, 7th Brigade.

Tzapalamus was killed when a Humvee flipped during operational activity in the area of the Litani River. 

Three other IDF soldiers were lightly injured in the incident. All three were evacuated to the hospital to receive medical treatment, and their families have been notified.

"It is with a broken heart and deep sorrow that I received the devastating news of the death of Captain Eliav Haim Tzaflemos (of blessed memory), a Haifa resident and active-duty IDF combat officer, who fell in battle in southern Lebanon," Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said in a Thursday evening statement.

Peacekeepers from a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy monitor for drones along the coastal road to Naqoura, southern Lebanon, September 11, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Raghed Waked)

"Eliav set out to defend his people and his country, and he will not return. He was part of Israel’s generation of heroes, young people with dreams, aspirations, and a whole future ahead of them, who shoulder an immense responsibility for the nation's security and the safety of its citizens," Yahav said. "A generation that reminds us all of the meaning of mission, dedication, and love for the land.

"Eliav was the son of Hali, a Haifa Municipality employee, and Beni. Dear Hali, all of us, your colleagues at the Haifa Municipality, are stunned and heartbroken."

"There are no words to comfort a family facing such a terrible loss. The Haifa Municipality family and all the city's residents bow their heads today, embrace you, and share in your profound grief. May his memory be a blessing."

Two soldiers injured after reportedly mishandling ammunition

Separately, KAN News reported that two soldiers were lightly injured in another operational incident in southern Lebanon.

According to KAN, the two are believed to have been injured after mishandling ammunition.

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-911108

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Republicans Are Fighting Again. Let’s Enjoy the Show - Spyridon Andrews

 

by Spyridon Andrews

Staying home on the basis of principle may make a disaffected Republican feel virtuous, but it accomplishes nothing.

 

There are plenty of reasons for Republican voters to be pissed off about the upcoming election. The Iran War, the economic consequences of another Middle Eastern adventure, the unfinished DOGE business, the Epstein debacle, and the seemingly endless supply of Republican congressmen who arrive in Washington promising to clean up the swamp and immediately begin looking for waterfront property. Then there are the allegations of congressional misconduct and taxpayer-funded settlements, which ought to make everybody furious regardless of party. It’s quite a spectacle, and we haven’t even gotten to the Democrats yet.

A substantial portion of the Republican base believes that Washington is back to business as usual, only worse. They have a point. We were promised an assault on waste, corruption, government incompetence, and the permanent ruling class. Instead, we’re still waiting for the indictments we were promised after the 2008 housing crisis. Apparently, accountability in Washington is a concept with an exceptionally long gestation period.

There are, however, a few things we have to keep in mind. First of all, the split within the Republican Party is nothing new. The late, great Phyllis Schlafly wrote about this division in her bestseller A Choice Not an Echo during the Goldwater era. She described the Republican establishment as a cozy little operation run by wealthy northeastern elites who treated the party like a Greenwich country club. She hit the target with her criticism, pointing out that good little Republicans like us were expected to pay our dues, keep our mouths shut, and allow the gentlemen in the room to select the presidential nominee. She despised the northeastern elite almost as much as she despised the leftists who were in the midst of commandeering the Democratic Party.

This same establishment hated Goldwater, Reagan, and Trump in succession. These are the guys responsible for the Doles, the Romneys, the Bushes, and the wars. So when voters turned to the outsider Trump, they thought they were going to get an angry version of Reagan. Instead, his second term has been schizophrenic at best. It seems to many of us who voted for Trump that the Rockefellers are back in charge.

Reagan knew that winning required a coalition. That was his brilliance. He settled on a few core ideas: lower taxes, defeat the Soviet Union, and bring some patriotism back to the country. He opposed abortion and repeatedly called for a constitutional amendment to ban it. But he was affable, and his convictions didn’t prevent him from working with other Republicans or even Democrats to get things done. Reagan showed us how Republicans can win by keeping a fragile coalition together. The infighting didn’t stop, of course, but during the Reagan era it was conducted more in private than through public rants and tantrums.

I don’t believe there would have been a Reagan presidency without the work Phyllis did. She was unabashedly anti-communist, pro-family, and pro-woman. She set the table for Reagan, and if we had stuck to her script in confronting cultural Marxism, we might be a majority party today. Instead, those same eastern intellectuals let the wolf in through the back door.

Schlafly also presaged much of the anti-war sentiment among Republicans today. She called the draft an invasion of the home, was skeptical of foreign entanglements, and was more concerned with fighting communism at home. Her writings are not far in spirit from those of working-class Republicans who believe we should be taking care of business at home rather than trotting around the world getting ourselves into intractable conflicts that are not in our national interest.

Eisenhower also warned of the military-industrial complex. Ike was more moderate than Phyllis in many ways, and there was even speculation that he might run for president as a Democrat. He actually turned down overtures from Democrats who wanted him as their candidate. But he was no less concerned about the dangers of unchecked military power—as was candidate Donald Trump, before someone apparently convinced him that Iran was going to be a cakewalk. This proves another point: a president can surround himself with great advisers, but he has to listen to them. Reagan understood that.

This is all a long way of saying that Republicans don’t always agree. Infighting has always existed, and it is exaggerated by the leftist media, which sees an opportunity to make things worse for us. But I say to hell with them. At least Republicans are still arguing about what they believe. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, seems willing to broaden its coalition to include just about anybody with a grievance and a protest sign: Maoists, radical Islamists, militant feminists, blue-haired lunatics who take over city blocks, anti-civilization Antifa bomb-throwers, and, worst of all, Ivy League graduates.

And look at some of the organizations that support them such as the teachers’ unions. American public education has deteriorated so badly that perhaps the unions should consider removing the word teachers from their stationery. Planned Parenthood, whose practices and politics have become a permanent battleground over abortion and the treatment of unborn life. The Democrats are supported by a trail of NGOs, political financiers, assorted fraudsters, and the ever-present George Soros, whom conservatives have elevated into something resembling King Lizard of the progressive universe.

Republican voters would rather commit political suicide than violate their core principles, and often we have. Democrats, on the other hand, seem willing to embrace almost any new passing imbecility, except, of course, God, patriotism, family, or the defense of Western civilization. The current Democratic Party would make Jefferson and Andrew Jackson vomit.

So where does this leave us?

I wrote some time ago that whatever disappointments Republican voters might have with the current crop of Republicans, there was a benefit nobody had adequately priced into the equation. But, today, I would say there are actually two.

First of all, handing Congress back to a bunch of crooks and crazies is worse than handing the keys of your Ferrari to Keith Richards on his way back from Kanye West’s bachelor party. Staying home on the basis of principle may make a disaffected Republican feel virtuous, but it accomplishes nothing. A Democrat party that was once merely irritating and wrong has, in my view, become a moral peril. And handing it the keys to Congress is a hell of a way to register a complaint against Republican leadership.

Which bring me to Marjorie Taylor Greene as the poster child for what not to do.  If Greene was so damn furious about what was happening in Washington, the voters had given her the opportunity to do something about it. She had a national audience, a platform, and the ability to confront the Republican leadership from inside Congress. She could have been a permanent pain in the ass. A lot of courageous people would have loved to have the opportunity she had. Instead she left Congress and wound up on The View.

Contrast that with Schlafly. When she concluded that the Republican establishment was corrupt, she didn’t announce that she felt like an ex-wife and was going home. She wrote a bestseller, went on the road, organized women by the millions, confronted the party bosses, embarrassed them, defeated them, and helped create the movement that gave us Ronald Reagan.

Greene could have gone on the attack and taken constructive action. If Epstein disturbed her as much as it disturbed many of us, she had an opportunity to become a formidable voice for decency, reform, and accountability. Instead, she left the room. And following her into tantrum land is not a particularly brilliant strategy for Republican voters.

No, we cannot emulate this cowardice of backing away. We have to engage, and we have to stop assuming that just because somebody is a Republican, he will do the right thing. He won’t necessarily. How we hold our own party accountable deserves a longer essay, but the lesson from Schlafly is simple enough: when the establishment disappoints you, you don’t surrender the party to it. You fight.

Now, apart from the work ahead of us, I want you to stop for a moment, fellow conservatives, and ponder the good things in life.

Because there is a second benefit to all of this, and it is magnificent.

We have been witnessing a nearly decade-long meltdown by some of the most ridiculous people in America. And all it cost was your vote for Trump. Normally, people would have to pay thousands for tickets to this kind of entertainment, but we’ve had a front-row seat to a spectacle that no playwright could have invented without being accused of exaggeration.

Remember the people who organized themselves after Trump’s first election for the purpose of screaming at the sky? This really happened. In New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, people gathered to engage in primal screams at the sky. Yes, our votes helped produce this remarkable form of political expression. When It happened, it seemed difficult to improve upon. Little did we know that screaming at the sky would eventually rank among the most intelligent things the Left would actually do.

Another Republican victory may not give us everything we want. But, the one thing we can reasonably expect, however, is spectacle.

There will be marches. There will be costumes. George Clooney and Rosie O’Donnell will issue emergency communiqués. The next Stephen Colbert clone, whoever he is, will announce that democracy has died. A flurry of stars will threaten to leave the United States and then, tragically, remain. Social media will become the national fainting couch for the Left.

Late-night television hosts will cry, be canceled and then there will be further outrage. There will be petitions and astounding lunacy, such as political protesters acting like cats, dogs or other animals. There will be emergency meetings, and Nancy Pelosi reporting live from inside her ice cream freezer. And somewhere, somehow, an entirely innocent object will become responsible. A statue, a painting, a building, or a historical monument.

Do you really want to miss this? Before you answer, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

There were the climate activists who sprayed orange powder on Stonehenge in 2024, apparently to punish the Druids for inventing fossil fuels. Then there were the protesters in Madison, Wisconsin, who tore down a statue of a Union officer who died fighting slavery, apparently because nobody had bothered to read the plaque. They also attacked a monument celebrating women’s progress. In a single evening, the revolution managed to declare war on both the abolition of slavery and women’s rights. A truly Olympian standard of stupidity.

There was the teachers’ union that declared war on a corporation in which its members’ pension funds held shares, a virtuouso performance in idiocy. If the campaign succeeds in damaging the investment, perhaps the union can organize another protest against its own pension managers.

And who could forget the autonomous Republic of Seattle, encouraged by its feckless mayor? Protesters occupied city blocks and attempted to demonstrate what life would look like without conventional police authority. Surprise that it wound up in chaos and death, despite the endorsement as a “summer of love.” Then Seattle took it a step further, electing a mayor that invited the businesses to leave the city, a standard of recklessness so astounding that even ordinary idiots stand back in admiration.

Rosie left for Ireland but tragically came back. But at least we got a break for a year or two while she was gone. Perhaps another election will persuade her to leave again. Harry and Meghan actually did leave America and go back to Britain. Do we really want to create a political climate that encourages them to come back?

And there were the protesters who claimed democracy was in danger by dumping red powder on the protective case containing the Constitution, the seminal document of Democracy. Another Republican Congress will virtually guarantee this level entertainment for at least two more years.

And do we really want another round of congressional hearings, complete with the hushed tones of cable television dimwits? How boring. Wouldn’t we rather have Michael Moore ranting, Alec Baldwin making an even bigger ass of himself, and Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin declaring the end of the Republic?

So courage fellow conservatives. If it is any consolation, I have no doubt that if Phyllis Schlafly, Ronald Reagan, or Barry Goldwater were alive, they would be disgusted by the hypocrisy and cowardice of some Republican leaders. They would demand answers about Epstein and government corruption. And I suspect they would have little patience for eastern establishment Republicans who cozy up to Wall Street while Main Street gets taken to the cleaners.

But those are disagreements within our party, and we need to confront them ourselves. We cannot leave the room and allow the same establishment that opposed Goldwater and Reagan to take possession of the Republican Party once again.The fact that Donald Trump has, for many of us, failed to deliver on important promises doesn’t mean abandoning the fight will teach anybody a lesson.

It is our party, and we will not take it back by backing away. Life isn’t easy, and democracy is hard work. That’s what makes self-government interesting and desirable. Schlafly understood it. Reagan understood it. And the rest of us had better understand it before the party and take the fight to then, before the Republicans become a permanent subsidiary of the Greenwich country club.

So let’s stop believing everything Republican politicians promise, and use that as an excuse to do nothing or withdraw entirely. Let’s enter the fray ourselves, and bring the party back to the people.

And while we’re doing that, we can enjoy the show. 

Spyridon Andrews

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/08/republicans-are-fighting-again-lets-enjoy-the-show/

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