Middle East and Terrorism

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Israel sends diplomats to Lebanon for ceasefire body meeting for first time - Amichai Stein

by Amichai Stein

Israel and Lebanon are sending diplomats to the Naqoura ceasefire meeting for the first time, aiming to show movement in the stalled talks.

US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus listens to statements following a meeting with Lebanon's president at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on August 26, 2025.

(photo credit: ANWAR AMRO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

For the first time, an Israeli diplomat and a Lebanese diplomatic figure, both of whom are not military personnel, will take part in Wednesday's meeting of the body overseeing the ceasefire in Naqoura, Lebanon.

Uri Resnick from the National Security Council (NSC) will head the Israeli delegation to the Naqoura talks. At the same time, Lebanon will send former ambassador to the United States, attorney Simon Karam, to lead the Lebanese delegation.

Including diplomats in the talks

The US special envoy for Lebanon, Morgan Ortagus, and US Ambassador in Beirut, Michel Issa, pressured Lebanon and Israel to include civilian/diplomatic personnel alongside the military ones in the delegations.

"It's in your strategic interest", the two told the Israeli and Lebanese governments.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (R) meeting with US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus in Beirut. American Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived late on October 27, 2025 in Beirut. (credit: Lebanese Government Press Office/AFP via Getty Images)

The goal is to meaningfully advance the talks and create at least the appearance of a step toward normalization.

The Prime Minister's Office later confirmed the move, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the deputy head of the NSC to send a representative to the talks in Lebanon.

"This is a first attempt to create a basis for economic relations and cooperation between Israel and Lebanon," the PMO stated.

Amichai Stein

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-879025

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Venezuela's Anti-US Alliances - Lawrence A. Franklin

by Lawrence A. Franklin

The main reason for the charge of Maduro's illegitimacy stems from the view that Venezuela's presidential elections have been fraudulent. Opposition protests have failed to dislodge the socialist regime, which has so far been sustained by Chinese loans, Russian weapons and Cuban troops.

Perhaps more significant to US strategic interests [than Venezuela's trafficking illegal drugs] is Maduro's cooperation with an anti-American alliance of autocracies, including Russia, Cuba, China and Iran.
Iran's regime, both before and after a number of visits to Venezuela, delivered military drones to Venezuela and has been strengthening Venezuela's military, thereby enabling Venezuela to threaten its neighbors, including Guyana, Trinidad and Colombia, as well as the US.
Cuba's role in Venezuela is even more invasive than that of Iran.
Russia's role in helping to buttress Maduro's regime includes arms sales, joint army and air force exercises, Russian naval warship visits, and the stationing of Russian defense advisors in Venezuela. In turn, Russia receives Venezuelan oil at below-market prices.
China has extended an estimated $60 billion in loans to Venezuela.
The main reason for the charge of Maduro's illegitimacy stems from the view that Venezuela's presidential elections have been fraudulent. Opposition protests have failed to dislodge the socialist regime, which has so far been sustained by Chinese loans, Russian weapons and Cuban troops. The Venezuelan people, disenfranchised and disarmed, have, in addition, been bullied into submission by regime-sponsored neighborhood revolutionary leftist gangs called "colectivos."
The Trump administration appears to be hoping that its current sanctions on Venezuela will be harsh enough for Maduro's supporters to oust him without the US having to become militarily involved. Trump recently suggested the possibility of a land invasion, about which he did not sound overly enthusiastic. If nothing is done, however, Maduro will simply continue to wreck the formerly wealthy country while its people carry on in squalor.

Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, in addition to facilitating the trafficking of illegal drugs into the United States, cooperates with an anti-American alliance of autocracies, including Russia, Cuba, China and Iran. Venezuela's comprehensive links with its authoritarian allies must be severed forcibly if necessary, to protect US interests and preserve the Monroe Doctrine. (Illustrative image by Google Gemini)

US President Donald J. Trump's condemnation of Venezuela's illegal leader Nicolás Maduro includes his regime's facilitation of trafficking illegal drugs into the United States. The leader of Venezuela's democratic opposition, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corrina Machado, has accused Maduro of being chief of a criminal narcotics organization, Cartel de los Soles ("Cartel of the Suns"). US military forces have destroyed several speedboats laden with cocaine and other illegal drugs leaving Venezuelan ports.

Perhaps more significant to US strategic interests is Maduro's cooperation with an anti-American alliance of autocracies, including Russia, Cuba, China and Iran. The US has deployed military aircraft and a fleet of 22 warships to the area, to which Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded by "signal[ing] its willingness to supply Venezuela with advanced hypersonic missiles, including the nuclear-capable Oreshnik."

Maduro's regime is also alleged to have helped arm a terrorist faction of the Colombia-based Marxist terrorist group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in its decades-long campaign to overthrow Colombia's government. Venezuela's regime also reportedly has ties to Hezbollah drug-trafficking organizations, which have cells in Venezuela and Colombia.

Iran's regime, both before and after a number of visits to Venezuela, delivered military drones to Venezuela and has been strengthening Venezuela's military, thereby enabling Venezuela to threaten its neighbors, including Guyana, Trinidad and Colombia, as well as the US. Iranian and Russian military advisors have directed military drills on land and in the seas adjacent to Venezuela. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has delivered several high-speed missile attack boats to Venezuela.

Iran and Venezuela also long ago established an air bridge between Tehran and Caracas. The flights are manned by Iranian crews and enable both countries to maintain secrecy in the global transport of weapons and terrorist operatives. In 2022, IRGC-linked aircraft flew several missions carrying only Iranian and Venezuelan nationals. One aircraft was a formerly Iranian-owned Boeing 747 with no cargo aboard.

During Maduro's visit to Iran in 2022, the two countries signed a cooperation treaty, which includes agreements on science and technology as well as deals on agriculture, communications, culture and tourism. The Maduro regime has been so welcoming to Iranian intelligence agents that some of Hezbollah's long-established Latin American network at the tri-border nexus of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay has been overtaken by Hezbollah activities on Venezuela's Margarita Island.

Venezuela's startling provision of one million hectares (roughly 2.5 million acres; nearly 4,000 square miles) of farmland to Iran in 2022 was kept under wraps until Iranian agrarian economist Ali Revanizadeh disclosed it to the Venezuelan media.

The land grant was ostensibly to be used to grow staple crops such as corn and soybeans, allowing water-starved Iran to better feed its population, now in the throes of a crushing drought. Iran's current use of Venezuela, however (here, here and here), combined with the IRGC, raises the possibility that Iran and its surrogate terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas might be using the vast acreage for military and terrorist operations.

Iran's alliance with Venezuela most importantly provides Tehran with opportunities to target US interests in Latin America and the southern United States. More than 1,500 Iranians attempted to enter the US through the southern border under the Biden administration; 700 were released into the US. It is unclear if these illegal aliens may well be manning Iranian terrorist cells in the US, or commissioned to execute intelligence or terrorist-support operations.

Maduro's links to Iranian intelligence agencies are, in addition, being used to execute operations inside the US. Iranian terrorists planned to kidnap anti-Islamic regime activist Masih Alinejad from her Brooklyn home, and transport her by speedboat to Venezuela.

Latin America's Iranian Hezbollah network appears to be propping up the Maduro regime in an oil-for-gold scheme.

Cuba's role in Venezuela is even more invasive than that of Iran. US sources relate that there are about 15,000 Cubans in Venezuela. Some are counterintelligence officers, whose job is to purge any Venezuelan military officers whose loyalty to Maduro is found suspect. One source claims that Maduro's personal bodyguards are also mostly Cuban. Venezuela reportedly hosts Cuban infantry troops commanded by two Cuban generals. Havana has also dispatched to Venezuela doctors, teachers, nurses and engineers. These Cubans are presumably helping to fill the void left by Venezuela's middle-class professionals who fled abroad.

Russia's role in helping to buttress Maduro's regime includes arms sales, joint army and air force exercises, Russian naval warship visits, and the stationing of Russian defense advisors in Venezuela. In turn, Russia receives Venezuelan oil at below-market prices.

China has extended an estimated $60 billion in loans to Venezuela. Beijing's investments in Venezuela are largely tied to the country's oil industry. Some of Venezuela's debt is being serviced by deliveries of petroleum to China. As other sectors of Venezuela's economy continue to decline, the Maduro government may be forced to pay back its debts to China by transferring more of his country's sovereign assets to Beijing.

More than fifty countries in the free world consider the Maduro regime illegitimate. This view also seems to be shared by millions of Venezuelans, nearly eight million of whom have fled the country's political oppression and economic collapse.

The main reason for the charge of Maduro's illegitimacy stems from the view that Venezuela's presidential elections have been fraudulent. Opposition protests have failed to dislodge the socialist regime, which has so far been sustained by Chinese loans, Russian weapons and Cuban troops. The Venezuelan people, disenfranchised and disarmed, have, in addition, been bullied into submission by regime-sponsored neighborhood revolutionary leftist gangs called "colectivos."

The massive interference in Venezuela's affairs by adversaries of the US should raise concerns for the continent's democracies and whether Caracas is still independent. American and Latin American democratic states need to monitor how much Venezuelan sovereignty has already been surrendered to authoritarian enemies of freedom. Venezuela's comprehensive links with its authoritarian allies must be severed forcibly if necessary, to protect US interests and preserve the Monroe Doctrine.

The Trump administration appears to be hoping that its current sanctions on Venezuela will be harsh enough for Maduro's supporters to oust him without the US having to become militarily involved. Trump recently suggested the possibility of a land invasion, about which he did not sound overly enthusiastic. If nothing is done, however, Maduro will simply continue to wreck the formerly wealthy country while its people carry on in squalor.

Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22083/venezuela-alliances

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Biden administration created exemption for many low-level Taliban ‘civil servants’ to come to U.S. - Jerry Dunleavy

by Jerry Dunleavy

Amidst renewed scrutiny about the poor vetting of Afghan refugees in the wake of the debacle in August 2021, a review of a little-known Biden Administration policy allowing former Taliban government workers to come to the United States is taking center stage.

The Biden Administration implemented a terrorism exemption for Afghan refugees allowing hundreds of low-level “civil servants” from the Taliban government to resettle in the United States in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal and evacuation from the country.

The Biden-led Department of Homeland Security and State Department announced in June 2022 that it had put together new exemptions for purportedly vetted applicants who would otherwise be blocked from the United States — including some former Taliban government workers. The policy allowed hundreds of Afghans to come to the U.S. when they would have previously likely been barred due to terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG). This reportedly allowed hundreds of former Taliban government workers to come to the U.S.

The exemptions were for Afghans who had worked as “civil servants” under the Taliban (both before 9/11 and after August 2021), as well as for Afghans who “supported U.S. military interests” such as participation in resistance movements against the Taliban or the Soviet Army and for Afghans “who provided only certain limited material support to the Taliban or other designated terrorist organizations.”

The Biden administration agencies said that the “new exemptions may apply” to “individuals employed as civil servants in Afghanistan at any time from September 27, 1996 to December 22, 2001 or after August 15, 2021.” These time periods covered both the Taliban’s first stint ruling Afghanistan — when they protected al-Qaeda before and after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and were subsequently overthrown following a U.S. invasion — and the Taliban’s current rule of the country in the wake of the disastrous and chaotic U.S. evacuation in August 2021.

The State Department and DHS added that the exemptions “could include teachers, professors, postal workers, doctors, and engineers, among others” who had worked for the Taliban government, arguing that “some civil servants held these positions prior to the Taliban announcing their so-called ‘interim government’ and continued in their roles due to pressure, intimidation, or other hardship. In other instances, individuals used their positions to mitigate the repressive actions of the Taliban, often at great personal risk.”

Connections to the Taliban not a disqualifying factor

The agencies said the exemptions did not include Afghans “who held high-level positions, worked for certain ministries, or directly assisted violent Taliban activities or activities in which the individual’s civil service was motivated by an allegiance to the Taliban” nor Afghan individuals “who share the goals or ideology of the Taliban, provided preferential treatment to them, or who intended to support the Taliban through their activities.”

The State Department and DHS under the Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they would maintain this TRIG exemption for former Taliban government workers.

“President Trump’s State Department has paused visa issuance for ALL individuals traveling on Afghan passports,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X on Friday. “The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people.”

Just the News previously reported that the Biden Administration’s chaotic evacuation from Kabul in August 2021 was marred by a lack of planning and significant security vetting flaws for the tens of thousands of Afghans airlifted out of the country amidst the Taliban takeover, according to multiple watchdog reviews and witness testimony.

The U.S. brought out tens of thousands of Afghan refugees in August 2021 during the chaotic non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) out of Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). Inspectors for DHS and the Pentagon, as well as State Department employees, have all detailed serious flaws with vetting the Afghans who were airlifted out of the capital city of Kabul amidst the Taliban takeover of the country.

Fox News reported in January of this year that, according to a DHS report to Congress for the fiscal year of 2024, “there were 6,848 TRIG exemptions” last year, with the majority — 6,653 — being exemptions for refugees. The outlet noted that this 2024 figure was much higher than years past, with 2,085 such waivers issued in the 2023 fiscal year, 603 such waivers issued in 2022, 191 waivers in 2021, and 361 in 2020.

The DHS document for 2024 reportedly said that 29 waivers had been given to Afghan allies who had supported U.S. interests in Afghanistan, while 374 were for “civil servants.” The outlet added that “3,134 were for those who provided certain limited support or insignificant material support to a Tier I or Tier II terror organization, under the 2022 exemption announced by DHS.”

Fox News said that “most of the remaining exemptions (2,946) were given under a 2007 exercise of authority for support given under duress.”

The outlet had first reported in October 2021 that this exemptions policy was going to be implemented, saying it had originally been considered in January 2017 during the Obama administration but hadn’t been put into action then.

Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released statements in June 2022 defending the move.

Mayorkas said that “doctors, teachers, engineers, and other Afghans, including those who bravely and loyally supported U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan at great risk to their safety, should not be denied humanitarian protection and other immigration benefits due to their inescapable proximity to war or their work as civil servants.” He argued that “these exemptions will allow eligible individuals who pose no national security or public safety risk to receive asylum, refugee status, or other legal immigration status, demonstrating the United States’ continued commitment to our Afghan allies and their family members.”

"We remain committed to our Afghan allies and processing Special Immigrant Visa applications as expeditiously as possible, while always protecting our national security. We are working closely with our interagency partners to do so, and today's announcement is an important step forward in that endeavor,” Blinken said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released guidance memorandum in August 2022 which sought to justify the Taliban civil servant exemption, arguing that “many individuals who worked in civil service positions in Afghanistan prior to September 27, 1996, continued to do so thereafter” and that “many did so under duress or other situations of hardship. In other instances, individuals used their positions in humanitarian capacities to mitigate the repressive actions of the Taliban regime, often at great personal risk.”

“Some of these civil servants subsequently worked for, or gave assistance to, the International Security Assistance Force, the United States government, or the [Taliban-led] Afghan government that was established after December 22, 2001,” USCIS said. “Some of these individuals continued providing essential government services even after the collapse of the Kabul government on August 15, 2021. This exemption allows the use of discretion to address these and related issues in individual adjudications, and to fulfill the United States’ humanitarian obligations while ensuring the security and integrity of the U.S. immigration system.”

USCIS said that “adjudicators” inside the U.S. government “will review benefit or protection applications, supporting documentation, testimony, and any other relevant information for indications that an individual’s employment as a civil servant may have occurred within the time frame and geographic area under the control of the Taliban.”

A group of then Republican senators — including Rubio — sent an August 2022 letter to Blinken and Mayorkas raising questions about the exemptions' policy.

“We write because the American people deserve an explanation regarding the broad, open-ended nature of this authority for exempting individuals who would otherwise be barred from immigration to the United States for supporting a terrorist organization,” the GOP members of Congress said.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national who has been charged with shooting two members of the West Virginia National Guard last week, was reportedly a member of the elite Afghan “Zero Unit” forces backed by the CIA — with the U.S. spy agency apparently having struck a 2021 deal with these Afghan commandos to bring thousands of the fighters and their families to the United States.

A number of top Trump administration officials have argued that Lakanwal was not properly vetted, while anonymously sourced reports have said he did receive vetting before being brought to the United States.

Lakanwal, a former member of the National Strike Unit (NSU) forces, which were tied to the CIA and to the former Afghan government’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), reportedly assisted in securing HKIA during the NEO and arrived in the U.S. with his family in September 2021. The Taliban took over in Afghanistan in August 2021 following then-President Joe Biden’s April 2021 go-to-zero directive ordering the full withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Years later, the Afghan fighter drove thousands of miles from the West Coast of the U.S. and is accused of attacking two members of the West Virginia National Guard the day before Thanksgiving last week, killing one and critically wounding the other in what President Donald Trump called "a monstrous, ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House."

Lakanwal has been arrested, and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro charged him with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

Jerry Dunleavy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/security/biden-admin-created-exemption-hundreds-low-level-taliban-civil-servants

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Principled Cowardice and the Seditious Six - Michael S. Kochin

by Michael S. Kochin

A coordinated bid to tell troops to distrust their Commander-in-Chief reveals how far some lawmakers will go to erode military discipline and destabilize the constitutional order.

In National Review, Andrew McCarthy has once again taken to the fainting couch. Confronted with the spectacle of Senator Mark Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers releasing a coordinated video “reminding” the U.S. military to disobey “illegal orders” from President Trump, McCarthy describes the act as “craven” but ultimately dismisses the administration’s response as “military lawfare.”

According to McCarthy, the President’s suggestion of a criminal probe or a court-martial is an abuse of power because the lawmakers’ speech is “legally unimpeachable” political dissent. This is McCarthy at his most bloviating—a confident assertion of legal superiority that collapses under the slightest scrutiny of what is actually built into the Constitution to ensure its survival.

McCarthy asserts that the executive branch has “no business” investigating these lawmakers. He rests this defense on a lazy application of legislative immunity, treating the Speech and Debate Clause as a universal solvent for all legal accountability. But McCarthy, a former prosecutor who should know better, ignores a crucial distinction: legislative immunity is personal. It belongs to the Member of Congress. It does not magically extend to the staffers, the outside consultants, the NGO minions, and the digital strategists who helped coordinate, film, and distribute this stunt.

If this video constitutes a conspiracy to incite insubordination—and let us be honest, telling troops to preemptively distrust their Commander-in-Chief is exactly that—then the immunity of the Senator does not shield the network of accomplices that made the sedition possible. By waving away the possibility of an investigation, McCarthy is advocating for a distinct class of political operatives who are above the law simply because they stand in the shadow of a senator.

Furthermore, McCarthy treats the First Amendment as a suicide pact, arguing that because the video is “political speech,” it is beyond chastisement. This misses the institutional remedy that a functioning republic would demand. A Senate that actually cared about this country and the integrity of its Constitution would not hide behind the First Amendment. It would call Senator Kelly and the other Senate incendiaries to the bar of the chamber.

The remedy for sedition within the legislature is self-discipline. These members should be forced to retract their remarks or justify them under oath. If they believe the President is issuing illegal orders, let them present the evidence. And if they fail to justify their attempt to fracture the chain of command, their expulsion from the Senate should follow swiftly and surely.

It is not, of course, that either of these things is likely to happen. The Justice Department is likely too timid, and the Senate is too partisan. The tragedy here is not just the Democrats’ provocation, but that Mr. McCarthy is putting his mostly dissipated reputation and his fading platform in service of ensuring that accountability does not occur.

McCarthy chides the President for “rattling sabers,” yet he offers cover for those rattling the very foundations of civil-military relations. By framing this as a mere squabble over “norms” rather than a question of loyalty to the constitutional order, he normalizes the behavior he claims to find “unhelpful.”

One has to ask: What in America has gone wrong that Mr. McCarthy does not wish that she or her Constitution survive? When the definition of “political speech” is expanded to include coordinated attempts to subvert military discipline, and when legal commentators rush to shield those attempts from scrutiny, we are no longer dealing with the rule of law. We are dealing with a surrender to the very lawlessness McCarthy claims to abhor.

Michael S. Kochin is Professor Extraordinarius in the School of Political Science, Government, and International Relations at Tel Aviv University. He received his A.B. in mathematics from Harvard and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. He has held visiting appointments at Yale, Princeton, Toronto, Claremont McKenna College, and the Catholic University of America. He has written widely on the comparative analysis of institutions, political thought, politics and literature, and political rhetoric. With the historian Michael Taylor he has written An Independent Empire: Diplomacy & War in the Making of the United States (University of Michigan Press, 2020).

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/02/principled-cowardice-and-the-seditious-six/

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Thailand buys Israel’s Barak MX air defense system in $107 million deal - JNS Staff

by JNS Staff

“The Air Force must be prepared for future threats by procuring modern weapon systems to enhance air defense, which currently faces limitations in dealing with emerging threats effectively,” said the Royal Thai Air Force.

Integrated BARAK MX air and missile defense system in operational configuration. Credit: Israel Aerospace Industries.

Thailand’s Royal Air Force has selected Israel Aerospace Industries’ Barak MX air and missile defense system to enhance protection of bases and assets, according to Janes.

The procurement includes one initial Barak MX battery worth $107 million, the international defense and security news site reported on Tuesday.

This acquisition fulfills the Air Force’s Military Base Defense Development Project, outlined in a June 2025 white paper which called for ground-based air defense capability over a range of at least 35 miles by 2028.

The Barak MX can intercept aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and ballistic threats. The network-centric system was combat-tested during Israel’s successful interception of an Iranian missile and drone barrage in 2024.

“The Air Force must be prepared for future threats by procuring modern weapon systems to enhance air defense, which currently faces limitations in dealing with emerging threats effectively,” said the Royal Thai Air Force.

Barak MX batteries have already been sold to countries including Morocco, Azerbaijan and Slovakia—where a 560 million euros ($580 million) agreement was signed in 2024.

Globes reported on Monday that Greece is close to signing a major 3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) deal with Israel for three air defense systems, including Barak MX.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/thailand-buys-israels-barak-mx-air-defense-system-in-107-million-deal/

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Manhattan Institute poll finds 17% of GOP members are ‘anti-Jewish Republicans’ - Andrew Bernard

by Andrew Bernard

The poll suggests that majorities of Hispanic, black and young male Republican voters “believe the Holocaust was greatly exaggerated or did not happen.”

Tucker Carlson speaking with attendees at the Indiana University tour stop of the "This Is The Turning Point" tour at IU Auditorium in Bloomington, Ind., Oct. 21, 2025. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons.

Some 17% of GOP supporters are “anti-Jewish Republicans” with beliefs including Holocaust denial or the view that Israel is a “settler-colonial state” that drags the United States “into wars we have no business in,” according to a poll which the conservative Manhattan Institute released on Monday.

The survey defined current GOP supporters as either registered Republicans or voters who backed U.S. President Donald Trump in 2024, regardless of formal party affiliation.

It found that 37% of these Republicans believe the Holocaust “was greatly exaggerated or did not happen as historians describe,” with 77% of Hispanic GOP voters, 66% of black GOP voters and 54% of male GOP voters under 50-years-old holding that view.

The institute defined an “anti-Jewish Republican” as any respondent who either self-identified as racist and antisemitic or believed that both the Holocaust was exaggerated and that Israel is a “settler-colonial state.” Some 12% of GOP voters described themselves as having “hostility to, or prejudice against, Jewish people.”

In line with recent national surveys of voters, the poll found a sharp age divide in attitudes towards Israel and Jews.

“Anti-Jewish Republicans are typically younger, disproportionately male, more likely to be college-educated and significantly more likely to be new entrant Republicans,” or voters who cast their first ballot for Trump in 2024, the survey authors wrote.

“They are also more racially diverse. Consistent church attendance is one of the strongest predictors of rejecting these attitudes,” they wrote. “Infrequent church attendance is, all else equal, one of the strongest predictors of falling into this segment.”

Conducted from Oct. 15-26, the poll combines surveys of four separate voting blocs: “1,493 Republicans and/or 2024 Trump voters, 301 black Republicans and/or 2024 Trump voters, 501 Hispanic Republicans and/or 2024 Trump voters and 500 additional registered voters.”

As a proportion of the electorate, Republicans are similar to Democrats in the rates at which they hold anti-Jewish views.

“The survey finds slightly higher levels of anti-Jewish sentiment among Democrats: 20%, compared to 17% among Republicans,” the authors wrote.

The poll found that GOP voters are more concerned about dual loyalty to a foreign country among Arab-Americans than Jewish-Americans.

“Four in 10 members of the current GOP believe that most or all Arab or Muslim Americans have greater loyalty to a foreign country than to the United States,” the Manhattan Institute wrote.

“For every other group, no more than three in 10 believe that most or all members are more loyal elsewhere. The same is true of views on Jewish Americans,” it wrote. “Despite online discourse, only 11% of GOP voters say that nearly all Jewish Americans owe loyalty to a foreign country—essentially identical to perceptions of Italian Americans and evangelical Christian Americans.”

Andrew Bernard

Source: https://www.jns.org/manhattan-institute-poll-finds-17-of-gop-members-are-anti-jewish-republicans/

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America First Legal wins case against Fairfax County Public Schools over boys in girls' bathrooms - Natalia Mittelstadt

by Natalia Mittelstadt

AFL obtained judgment on behalf of a female student who was told that if she was uncomfortable with a boy in the girls’ bathroom, then she must use a different restroom

America First Legal has won a federal case against Fairfax County Public Schools over boys being allowed to use girls' bathrooms.

The nonprofit law firm announced Tuesday that it obtained judgment Friday on behalf of a female student who was told that if she was uncomfortable with a boy in the girls’ bathroom, then she must use a different restroom. The school board, after failing to get the case dismissed, offering judgment, awarding nominal damages to AFL’s client and paying costs and attorneys’ fees.

The female student is a practicing Roman Catholic whom AFL alleged was being forced to comply with county policies that violated her religious beliefs and constitutional rights.

Fairfax County Regulation 2603 requires all students to use “preferred pronouns” for gender-expansive or transgender classmates, and allows biological males to access girls’ restrooms and locker rooms by claiming gender identity.

“Our client’s rights were violated, and today she has justice," AFL President Gene Hamilton said. "This judgment is a crucial reminder that no one is above the law. Fairfax County attempted repeatedly to block this case, and they failed. America First Legal will not stop defending students whose safety and dignity are threatened.”

Natalia Mittelstadt

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/america-first-legal-wins-case-against-fairfax-county-public-schools-over-boys

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'Post' witnesses blockbuster deployment of Germany's Israeli-made Arrow anti-missile defense - Yonah Jeremy Bob

by Yonah Jeremy Bob

Defense officials have told the Post that, following the Arrow's outstanding performance during the 2023-2025 war, several other countries are interested in purchasing the Arrow.

The Jerusalem Post's Yonah Jeremy Bob visits Holzdorf Air Force base in Germany, December 3, 2025.

HOLZDORF AIR FORCE BASE, GERMANY - Germany on Wednesday deployed its Israeli-made Arrow air defense system at Holzdorf Air Force base with top Israeli defense officials and select media, including the Jerusalem Post, in attendance at a historic ceremony years in the making.

Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram flew to Germany on Monday, both to prepare the ground for the ceremony and to make progress regarding submarines Berlin is providing to Jerusalem, which, according to foreign reports, have nuclear weapons capabilities.

"It is an amazing historic moment when Israeli air defense technology protects Germany, despite the distant history of the Holocaust," Baram said.

The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that the ceremony and the unveiling were imminent for later this week.

This $3.6 billion deal will be the first time the Arrow 3 is deployed outside Israel. Continued movement on the issue comes on one hand as Berlin continues to buy weapons from Israel, while at the same time it is removing a temporary, but lengthy, weapons sales ban on Jerusalem over the recently concluded Israel-Hamas War.

Defense officials have told the Post that, following the Arrow's outstanding performance during the 2023-2025 war, several other countries are interested in purchasing the Arrow. However, Israel is not prepared to sell to just any country.

The Jerusalem Post's Yonah Jeremy Bob visits Holzdorf Air Force base in Germany, December 3, 2025. (credit: YONAH JEREMY BOB)

German Air Force Defense Chief Lt-Gen Holger Neumann said that his country now has a "true 360 degree defensive architecture. This protects not only Germany, but also NATO command structures."

"This project would not have been possible without the deep friendship and trust between Germany, Israel, and the US. This is more than diplomatic cooperation, also based on shared values and true reliability," he said.

According to the air force, "Geopolitical realities demand unprecedented modernization of the Air Force and the closing of critical capability gaps. With the acquisition of Arrow, the Air Force is taking a decisive step toward strengthening Germany's and Europe's air defense. This system is designed to intercept and destroy incoming medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) at very high altitudes – well over 100 kilometers and thus outside the Earth's atmosphere."

"Arrow utilizes so-called hit-to-kill technology, in which the interceptor missile directly strikes and destroys the target before the enemy warhead can enter the target area. This destruction at the edge of space is essential to minimize the danger posed by radioactive or chemical warheads and debris over populated areas," said the German air force.

Further, the German air force stated, "The national procurement from the German Armed Forces' special fund sends a clear signal to partners and fulfills a core requirement of this new era: ensuring security in all dimensions. The system is intended to form the top layer of a multi-layered defense shield, complemented by the Patriot systems. Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target and IRIS-T SLM Infra-Red Imaging System–Tail/Thrust Vector-Controlled, Surface-Launched Medium Range, and is a central pillar of protection for Germany and its allies."

Former IDF air defense chief Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav told the Post, "Arrow 3 is the only system in the world that has demonstrated the ability to intercept ballistic missiles in real combat. In the Iron Swords War, we stood the ultimate test of fire - and we succeeded.”

“This is not just a technology sale. This is a deep strategic partnership with Germany and NATO, based on mutual trust and shared values of protecting civilian lives. Arrow 3 represents 30 years of research and development by IAI, Elta, and MLM. This is the pinnacle of Israeli engineering - a technology that only a few powers in the world are capable of developing,” said Kochav.

Moreover, he stated, "The deal will create thousands of quality jobs in Israel for the next decade, strengthen the high-tech defense industry, and establish Israel’s position as a global leader in air defense. Israel is the only country in the world with daily operational experience in operating a multi-layered defense. This knowledge, accumulated over tens of thousands of operational hours, cannot be bought - but we share it with Germany.”

“The war in Ukraine has proven that Europe needs ballistic missile defense. Arrow 3 provides the only proven solution today," added Kochav.

"States that fail to invest in defense jeopardize their security. Europe must be able to defend itself. Israel is a technological powerhouse. We must defend against high-altitude threats," Senior German defense official Jens Plotner said.

The Post learned back in 2024 that IMDO Director Mr. Moshe Patel, “Arrow 3” Project Head for Germany Colonel Carsten Koepper, and IAI’s Missiles and Space Division Head Mr. Guy Bar Lev were the lead parties, while the discussions also included representatives from IAI’s MLM Division and Elta.

Further, the ministry said in 2024 that the Arrow system, which includes the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors, was developed in cooperation between Israel and the USA to counter long-range ballistic missile threats, with IAI as the prime contractor.

Progress on Israel-Germany submarine deals

While Baram and other senior defense officials have been in Germany, they have made new progress regarding the ongoing submarine deals, which have unique offensive and defensive capabilities.

Multiple foreign publications have reported that Israeli submarines are part of a triad of nuclear deterrence, which Israel possesses along with land-based and air-based weapons. Though Israel has never publicly admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, former prime ministers like Ehud Olmert and others have, at times, slipped up and alluded to the weapons program.

Besides the offensive dimensions, the IDF made unusual disclosures during the 2023-2025 war about the involvement of submarines in operations against Iran, Yemen, and Syria, including operations that assisted with Israel's defense against aerial threats.

Movement on both the submarines and the Arrow - along with new levels of Israeli and German cooperation in other cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence - signals that the special relationship between Berlin and Jerusalem remains despite the recent war.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to visit Israel next week in parallel with sixty years of Israeli-German relations.

Regarding the Arrow, although the deal to provide it to Germany was already signed in 2023, the deal's strength was boosted threefold by the system’s stellar performance in 2024 and again in 2025. On April 13 and 14, the Arrow was instrumental in shooting down the vast majority of the 120 ballistic missiles that Iran fired at Israel.

On October 1, the Arrow did not shoot down as high a percentage of the 180 Iranian ballistic missiles fired on Israel, with reports that some dozens struck the Nevatim and the Tel Nof air force bases, but it was still viewed as performing at a high level. Moreover, sources have indicated that Israel may have decided to “allow” certain ballistic missiles through to those locations once it had already evacuated them of pilots and aircraft.

While both bases took on some significant damage, no pilots or aircraft were lost during the Iranian attack.In June of this year, the Arrow once again shot down a high percentage of Iranian missiles during the 12-day war with the Islamic Republic. Though far from hermetic, and 28 Israelis were killed and a much larger number wounded, the physical and economic harm was still very small in military terms compared to the 550 missiles Iran fired.

Yonah Jeremy Bob

Source: https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-879068

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Knesset adopts Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, coalition boycotts vote - Keshet Neev

by Keshet Neev

Lapid’s push for a Knesset vote on Trump’s Gaza plan pressures Netanyahu as key coalition figures signal opposition.

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid speaks before a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, February 17, 2025

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan was approved in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday after Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) brought it for a vote.

No MKs from the coalition participated in the vote, boycotting attendance as their seats stood empty. MK Tally Gotliv (Likud), from the coalition, attended the session but abstained from voting.

Lapid’s move was widely perceived as an attempt to embarrass Prime Minister Netanyahu, as several ministers in the prime minister's right-wing cabinet, as well as other coalition lawmakers, have publicly rejected the Trump plan.

It had been unclear how coalition members would vote.

Lapid said he had been in contact with representatives of the American administration ahead of the vote, who had asked him about it.

“I told them that the opposition will support it, and I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu will ensure that the coalition also comes to support it and express gratitude to President Trump.”

Opposition is based on section 19 of the plan

Opposition to the plan centers on section 19, which calls for “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

Lapid's proposal was titled, “The Knesset decides to accept and adopt the 20-point plan of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.”

He noted that "the vote should be a moment of unity in the Knesset, reflecting the unity among the public regarding the efforts of President Trump and his team.”

Keshet Neev

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-879051

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Tuesday, December 2, 2025

PA Textbooks: Six-year-olds to be taught about 'martyrs' - Israel National News

by Israel National News

A current review of Palestinian Authority textbooks points to incitement, historical rewriting, non-recognition of Israel and encouragement of jihad.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas Flash90

A report published by IMPACT-se presents a grim picture of the Palestinian Authority's school curriculum for 2025-2026.

According to the report, this is a direct continuation of inciting content that contradicts UNESCO standards for education for peace and tolerance.

The report examined 290 textbooks and teaching booklets used in grades 1-12 in schools in the Gaza, Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, including UNRWA educational institutions.

The findings show that the materials continue to encourage hatred, extreme nationalism, antisemitism, and political violence.

The books contain explicit antisemitic descriptions. Jews are portrayed as liars, corrupt, "devil's helpers" or "bloodthirsty monsters", and the texts even promote the complete dehumanization of Israelis.

For example, Israeli soldiers are described as snipers shooting children "for no reason", or as carrying out massacres while "laughing loudly."

Descriptions of jihad and martyrs appear in dozens of places, even at elementary school ages. First-grade students are exposed to the word "Shahid" when learning the Arabic letter هـ. Concepts such as "the peak of faith" and "reward in paradise" are linked to jihad, and sometimes to descriptions of 72 virgins.

In addition, the science and mathematics books themselves are political: algebra equations include variables like "number of shahids", and physics exercises include descriptions of a girl firing a slingshot.

Israel is not mentioned at all. Its names disappear from maps, its borders are not marked, and cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa are removed. Instead, "Greater Palestine" from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is taught.

The report notes that even after years of pressure from the European Union, no substantive reform of the content was implemented. New books for 2025-2026 continue to replicate the same inciting patterns, including in books produced after the October 7th massacre.

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/418685

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