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Ruth King

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

After Manchester, there can be no doubt – anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism Israelophobia is the rotten soil in which Jew hatred now festers and grows. Brendan O’Neill

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/10/04/after-manchester-there-can-be-no-doubt-anti-zionism-is-anti-semitism/

There were two horrifying events in England on Thursday. The first was the fascistic murder of two Jews at a synagogue in Manchester. The second were the anti-Israel protests that swept big cities before the bodies of our two Jewish countrymen were even cold. ‘From the river to the sea!’, the Israelophobic mob hollered in the deathly wake of the barbarous assault at Heaton Park. Two dead Jews were not enough, it seems – these people desire the violent erasure of the entire Jewish nation.

We need to grapple with just how sick it was, how heartless, for mobs in London, Edinburgh and Manchester itself to rain hatred on the Jewish State mere hours after two Jews were murdered. This was the salt of Israelophobia rubbed in the wound of anti-Semitism. ‘I hate Jews’, that vile knifeman essentially said. ‘We hate the Jews’ homeland’, followed up the keffiyeh creeps on our streets. As Jews in England were feeling insecure, these wailing activists were rallying for the destruction of the one, tiny patch of land that promises Jews security. ‘There’s nowhere to run’ – that was the implicit and horrific cry of the Israel-hate that followed the Jew-murder.

But there was more to the marches than heartlessness – they were nothing less than a reverse Cable Street. On 4 October 1936 – today is the 89th anniversary – the radical left rallied to the defence of London’s Jews from the menace of fascism, then of the European rather than Islamist variety. They stood with Jewish EastEnders against the threat of Oswald Mosley and his blackshirts. Fast forward 89 years and now the left responds to violent Jew hatred not by siding with Jewish people but by raging against the Jewish nation. Let us speak plainly: in the wake of the terroristic murder of Jews on English soil in 2025, the left hit the streets to echo the vile prejudices of the Oswald Mosley in this situation – knifeman Jihad Al-Shamie. They have officially crossed the barricade of Cable Street. They are now on the other side.

The orgy of Israelophobia that followed the slaughter at the synagogue made it crystal clear: hatred for the Jewish State is a close cousin of hatred for Jewish people. In fact they are spiritual siblings. That these two frothing ideologies exist in tandem in modern Britain is not a coincidence, as the anti-Israel left would have us believe. It is not an accident that Britain is overrun with both ‘respectable’ loathing for the world’s only Jewish nation and ‘unrespectable’ animus for the Jewish people. The one feeds the other. Israelophobia is the rotten soil in which Jew hatred festers and grows. And it’s time more of us said so.

A wave of defensiveness swirled through left-wing and liberal circles in the UK following the racist savagery at Heaton Park. Influential ‘progressives’ made perfunctory condemnations of the attack – making sure to mention the scourge of ‘Islamophobia’ while they were at it – but then they got down to their real business. Don’t blame this horror on us, they essentially said. We campaign against a state, not a people. Our fury is reserved for a ‘genocidal entity’, not any ethnic or religious group. We’re anti-Israel, not anti-Jewish.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Unholy Iranian-Turkish Alliance A disturbing ‘security partnership’ forming. by Christine Williams

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/iran-and-turkey-discuss-military-cooperation-signal-intent-to-build-a-stronger-regional-security-partnership/ Turkey’s NATO membership serves the interests of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he pursues his expressed vision of a revived Ottoman Empire with himself as caliph, particularly now that the EU and America are arming him. Years ago, Erdogan declared that NATO members weren’t “strong enough” and did “not have the cheek” to stand up to Turkey. He’s proving to […]

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Yes, the Biden Regime Treated its Foes Like Terrorists Those claiming that Trump is a fascist are the real fascists.

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm-plus/yes-the-biden-regime-treated-its-foes-like-terrorists/ “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out,” said the late, great David Horowitz, and during the dark days of the Biden regime, they were getting out. Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.) has just revealed that far-left, authoritarian Biden regime wonks actually placed him under surveillance in the “Quiet Skies” program, which was supposed […]

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Real Agenda Behind ‘Banned Books Week’ Is it about freedom . . . or grooming? by Mark Tapson

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-real-agenda-behind-banned-books-week/ “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights” is the theme of this year’s Banned Books Week, an annual event organized by the American Library Association (ALA) to bring together “the entire book community – librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types – in shared support of the freedom to seek […]

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

DEI Expert, One of the ‘Top 50 Influential Muslims,’ Explains Why Jews Can Be Killed in Synagogues “Any hate towards said Jews would be valid” by Daniel Greenfield

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/dei-expert-top-50-influential-muslims-explains-why-jews-can-be-killed-in-synagogues/

Islam is the mask that leftists wear when they attack us. The Left is the mask that Muslims wear when they attack us.

What the last part of that means is that Islamists seek to redefine, normalize and justify every Islamic atrocity using the language of social justice.

After the latest Muslim terrorist attack on Jews, in this case attending a synagogue on Yom Kippur in the UK, Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui , a DEI expert affiliated with Rutgers, who had been named as one of “Top 50 Influential Muslims” and who is “directing one of Canada’s largest government-funded” DEI initiatives at Canada’s colleges decided to open up the Overton Window a bit more by explaining why Muslims have the right to murder Jews praying in synagogues.

“If a pro-Israel Zionist synagogue in the U.K was attacked because of the genocide in Palestine then we shouldn’t be surprised or horrified,” Ghaffar-Siddiqui tweeted. “Firstly, synagogues have been found to not be some benign neutral places of worship. They are known to be used to not only indoctrinate Zionist ideology into young Jews.”

Mayor Carolyn Parrish of Mississauga had previously tweeted out her praise for Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui who just defended murdering Jews in synagogues. News shows have had her on to discuss ‘Islamophobia’.

“Secondly, Zionist Jews have spent 2 years convincing us that ‘Zionism and Judaism are the same’… ethnic cleansing Palestinians is essential to Jewish religious doctrine, Palestine was ‘promised to them by God’, and their ‘divine right on that land’ makes them the only rightful inhabitants.”

“Any hate towards said Jews would be valid,” Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui, a Rutgers University Affiliate Faculty Center for Security, Race and Rights member argued. “We should be expecting more of these kinds of incidences, tbh. The moral world’s patience pressure valve has burst.”

By “incidences”, the professor of Sociology and Criminology at Sheridan College in Ontario means Muslims attacking synagogues which had already been going on.

That concludes with “Israel is fully responsible for any and all hate that will naturally be directed towards Jews worldwide”.

Naturally.

Muslims are responsible for nothing. Their victims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists are responsible for everything done to them. That’s the sole argument Islamic mainstreaming of their genocidal religious war ever make. It’s what all their arguments in defense of their atrocities boil down to.

The next step is to explain why selling non-Muslim children as sex slaves and beheading Christians is actually decolonization and social justice.

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ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

A Different Concept of Death An interview with author and intellectual Paul Berman about Hamas’s ideology and Western blindness. Paul Berman (October 2023)

By on October 5th, 2025

https://quillette.com/2023/10/30/a-different-concept-of-death/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=qd_2025-10-04&utm_content=archives_link1

Editor’s note: The following interview was originally published in German translation by Swiss daily newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung on October 24th. It is reproduced here with their kind permission, retranslated into English.

After the attacks of September 11th, 2001, New York author and journalist Paul Berman explored the roots of Islamist terrorism in Terror and Liberalism. In that New York Times bestseller, Berman examined the connections between radical Islam and European totalitarianism. Speaking from New York, he explains how Hamas’s terrorism fits into this picture. The interview was conducted by Andreas Scheiner.

Andreas Scheiner: The Hamas terrorist attack is seen as an attack on Israel. But shouldn’t we view it in a wider context? Is October 7th comparable to September 11th or the Islamist attacks in Paris in 2015?

Paul Berman: I think you’re right. I consider it a mistake to interpret Hamas solely as a local nationalist movement. The establishment of a conventional Palestinian state would not satisfy their demands, not in the long run.

AS: Hamas thinks bigger?

PB: Yes, it is part of a larger international Islamist movement. The ultimate goal of Islamism is to establish a certain type of Islam throughout the Muslim world  and, in some of the Islamist interpretations, beyond. Let’s not forget that Hamas interprets Zionism as a worldwide conspiracy against Islam, not just as a local matter. This means that Hamas’s struggle inevitably has a global dimension. Hamas resembles its ally, the Lebanese Hebollah, in that respect—though Hezbollah has been keener on conducting terrorist operations in remote parts of the world.

AS: Islamic terrorism often relies on suicide attacks. Was the Hamas attack different? Or did the attackers not expect to come out alive?

PB: Indeed, the attack was carried out in the mode of a suicide operation. I’m not entirely sure how many of the attackers actually survived. We do not have precise numbers.

AS: How do you determine that it was a suicide operation?

PB: You just have to look at how Hamas operated. The attackers entered a kibbutz, went into houses, and stayed there for many hours until the Israeli army arrived and there was a shootout. If they had wanted to survive, they wouldn’t have remained. They would have killed as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Then they would have retreated to Gaza. But they stayed. So, we see a characteristic of Islamist terrorism, whose primary goal is to create a massacre.

AS: It’s explicitly about violence?

PB: Yes, and the second goal is to enable the terrorists to die as martyrs. Even though it’s difficult for us to understand. On September 11th, America was completely surprised by terrorism because it couldn’t imagine a suicide attack.

AS: Was it similar in Israel?

PB: It’s more complicated there. The Israeli army has understood the nature of this ideology. I think the following happened: There are two types of war. Conventional war, in which both parties have a similar concept of death. And the other war, in which one party doesn’t share the concept.

AS: Israel underestimated the fatalism of the enemy?

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on October 5th, 2025

HAPPY SUKKOT TO ALL WHO OBSERVE THIS HAPPY HOLIDAY AND GOOD WISHES TO ALL!

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
Finally, on the 5th anniversary of the Abraham Accords I anticipate a future world that will embrace Israel as a true “light to the nations”. Michael Ordman
More good news: Maybe, just maybe, the Gaza war may be ending and the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas may be released soon. rsk
Amusing news: It turns out that the ship of fools with its poster girl Great Thunberg, ostensibly taking food and first aid to Gaza had nothing, nada, zilch, gurnisht, that would help even a Gaza lizard. rsk
Finally: Let’s remember the real “freedom flotillas” that piloted some wretched Holocaust survivors to Israel in the aftermath of the Shoah. The duplicitous English fired on them, and even arrested them and put them in squalid camps in Cyprus. rsk

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR

Eden to return to IDF service. American-Israeli Edan Alexander, who was held hostage in Gaza for 584 days, said that he intends to continue his IDF service next month. “I will once again put on the IDF uniform, and I will proudly serve alongside my brothers. Serving in the IDF is one of the greatest honors of my life.”
https://worldisraelnews.com/freed-hostage-edan-alexander-says-hes-returning-to-the-idf-next-month/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-868112

Yuval is a hero. Yuval Raphael, Nova Festival survivor and Israel’s 2025 Eurovision contestant, received the United Hatzalah Hero Award at the organization’s Los Angeles annual gala. Her rendition of resilience anthem “New Day Will Rise,” won the global audience vote and 2nd place overall, despite suffering anti-Israel abuse.
https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/article-868140

Water of Life. (TY Scott & Yanky) Two years after the 7 Oct 2023 Hamas massacre, Kibbutz Be’eri turned its bloodied fields into 139 tons of barley to make single-malt whisky, “Single Be’eri”. It featured at Whisky Live Tel Aviv (Sep 10-11) together with other local whiskies plus “SuperNova”, blended by Israel’s nine distilleries.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/whisky-event-will-join-israeli-enthusiasts-and-distillers-launch-oct-7-single-malt/ https://www.ynetnews.com/food/article/bjpqk00aceg
https://travelheights.org/whisky-live-israel-2025-sets-new-benchmarks-a-spirited-celebration-in-tel-aviv/

Robotic vehicles in Gaza. The IDF has deployed dozens of robotic armored vehicles in Gaza. They carry an explosives container, place it at the target, and retreat before detonation. They are a dramatic combat tool, neutralizing thousands of explosive devices and saving the lives of many soldiers.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/415257

Academic support for IDF soldiers. Serving IDF soldiers enrolled in further education, will continue to receive benefits in the new academic year. In addition, all lectures will be recorded and made accessible to students who are serving in the military. More benefits for those serving over 300 days, plus STEM subjects.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-868174

New rehab center in Ramla. Construction has begun on ALEH Zahav, an $81 million, 15-story, 420-bed rehabilitation facility in the Israeli city of Ramla. It will provide inpatient care, trauma therapy, hydrotherapy, adaptive sports, advanced imaging, and family support for soldiers and civilians wounded in the Gaza conflict.
https://www.jwire.com.au/new-420-bed-rehab-facility-in-ramla-to-aid-israels-injured-soldiers/

$7.8 million for recovery projects. The UJA-Federation of New York announced a fresh round of grant allocations to Israeli initiatives on Monday totaling $7.8 million, mainly to recovery projects in the north and the Western Negev. Half the funds will go to communities attacked by Hamas terrorists on 7 Oct 2023.
https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/uja-federation-of-new-york-issues-7-8-million-in-grants-to-israel/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Hypnosis before brain surgery. (TY Nevet) Surgeons at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya have been using hypnosis instead of anesthesia prior to drilling holes in the skull for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). Psychologist Dr Udi Bonshtein says it helps shorten and improve medical treatment.
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-868234

Technion’s medical breakthroughs. (TY Nevet) Latest news from Israel’s Technion Institute includes AI analysis of imperfect ECG images to pinpoint critical heart problems (see here) plus how dopamine rewires the brain to help learn new movements (see here).
https://ats.org/our-impact/todays-breakthroughs-for-the-next-generation-of-treatment-part-2/

Obese children can still be healthy. A new study from Tel Aviv University and Dana Dwek Children’s Hospital shows that obese children with illnesses had over twice the fat in their liver than healthy obese children. A Mediterranean diet may provide protection against metabolic illness, even in the case of obesity.
https://english.tau.ac.il/research/liver-fat-predicts-health
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1559271/full

More European funds for Israeli research. Two Technion faculty members have been awarded prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants. Prof Efrat Shimron for her development of a low-cost, small portable MRI machine, and Prof Ariel Rapaport for his work on fractal geometry.
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/blog/article/two-technion-researchers-win-prestigious-european-research-council-erc-grants/

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

Women’s summit in Tel Aviv. (TY Hazel) 30 women leaders, from or with roots across the Middle East and North Africa, met in Tel Aviv for the inaugural Women Champions for Change summit. Israelis, Lebanese, Iranian, Tunisians, Saudis, Afghans, Moroccans, Emiratis, and Iraqis, discussed collaborating on social change.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-shadow-of-war-iranian-afghani-women-join-others-in-tel-aviv-to-push-for-change/

Day centers for adults with disabilities. Israel Elwyn (see here previously) has just opened a $7 million day center in Herzliya for people with disabilities aged 21 and over requiring constant comprehensive support. It is funded by the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, Bituach Leumi, and the Shalem Fund.
https://israelelwyn.org.il/activity/day-programs/

Fast entry for students. Foreign visitors arriving in Israel with valid student visas will now be able to enjoy a streamlined entry process. Upon scanning their passport at the automatic machines, they will receive a printed “VIP” slip and may proceed directly to the exit gates without stopping at the counter.
https://chaimvchessed.com/updates/good-news-for-student-visa-holders-streamlined-entry-at-ben-gurion-airport/

From beauty queen to pro-Israel influencer. Israel’s Noa Cochva represented Israel at Miss Universe in 2021. In 2023, when Hamas launched the Oct. 7 attack, she was called up as a reservist. Her message is that Israeli women are both soldiers and beauty queens – strong and feminine at the same time.
https://www.jns.org/noa-cochva-from-beauty-queen-to-pro-israel-influencer/

Memorial garden in Majdal Shams. The “Peace Team Garden” was inaugurated in Majdal Shams in memory of the 12 Druze children killed by a rocket fired by Hezbollah terrorists. The garden’s funders include pro-Israel Jerusalem-based Christian organization Bridges for Peace and Toronto-based One Free World International.
https://www.jns.org/memorial-garden-dedicated-to-12-angels-of-majdal-shams/

250 legislators from all 50 states. The largest-ever delegation of US lawmakers, representing all 50 US States, attended the “50 States, One Israel” event in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked the “Democrats and Republicans alike”. Delegates visited Gaza border towns, met US lone soldier immigrants and planted 50 trees.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/saar-urges-250-visiting-us-state-legislators-to-pass-anti-bds-laws-in-their-states/ https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-867559

New York police chiefs train in Israel. (TY Yanky) 13 senior police officials from the New York area returned to the U.S. after an intensive week in Israel designed to increase their counterterrorism training and understanding of antisemitism. They also visited the Nova music festival site and several kibbutzim.
https://jewishinsider.com/2025/09/new-york-police-chiefs-israel-counterterrorism-antisemitism-training/

Top entrepreneurial universities. (TY Hazel) Two Israeli universities are listed among the world’s top 10 academic institutions for producing the most entrepreneurs, according to financial research firm PitchBook’s 2025 rankings. Tel Aviv University maintains its 2024’s 7th position. Technion Institute rose 6 places to 10th.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-israeli-universities-listed-in-top-10-global-producers-of-entrepreneurs/
https://english.tau.ac.il/news/tau-maintains-7-place (Highest non-US University)
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sjjpqw00ogg (unstoppable)

Climate Solutions Prize Tour. The Climate Solutions Prize Tour, in partnership with the Jewish Climate Trust, arrived in Israel on 14 Sep, after launching in the United Arab Emirates on 10 Sep. It connects builders, investors, and changemakers to forge meaningful partnerships, and explore transformative technologies.
https://climatesolutionsprize.com/CST25/

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

More help for the bees. Israel’s Technion is helping Israel’s – and the world’s – dwindling bee populations thrive. From AI-monitored hives to robotic honeybees, Israel’s brightest minds are ensuring that Jewish tradition and nature’s sweetness endure for generations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8n8Iv2DkpE

University prize-winner. 18-year-old Raz Dvora won the top prize at the International Mathematics Competition for University Students, just weeks after graduating high school. He had simultaneously been studying undergraduate mathematics at the Open University of Israel’s Academia in High School program.
https://www.jns.org/wire/open-university-of-israel-program-launches-teen-to-global-math-victory/

Engineering a new future for Haredim. Israel Sci-Tech Schools has inaugurated a new ultra-Orthodox hesder yeshiva, thanks to Chedvata (see here previously). Netanya’s Hermelin College combines Torah study with academic excellence in practical engineering tracks. There are now four Chedvata yeshivot.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-867220 https://chedvata.org/

Filling the Sea of Galilee. As planned (see here previously) for the first time in the world, desalinated seawater is being pumped into a freshwater lake, as Israel transfers Mediterranean water into the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret). The “Reverse Carrier” initiative will keep the level of the Kinneret above the “Red line”.
https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/skadez43xl

Eilat corals survive heatwaves. An Israeli university study has revealed that corals in the Gulf of Eilat have survived four consecutive and intensifying marine heatwaves without experiencing mass bleaching. These include the world’s most extreme event in 2024 – a resilience unmatched anywhere else on the planet.
https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change/article-868441

Vegan eggs from pea protein. Israel’s Meala FoodTech (see here previously) has unveiled Groundbaker, a single-ingredient pea protein that replicates eggs’ multi-functional performance in baked goods. It enables food manufacturers to reduce costs, decrease reliance on eggs (due to avian flu), and simplify formulations.
https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/meala-egg-replacer-groundbaker.html

Strawberry fields not needed. Israel’s Novella Innovative Technology has used its AuraCell platform to develop Novella Strawberry, a patent-pending, new generation of bio-actives derived from whole strawberry cells. Novella bypasses the need to grow the whole plant, saving time, cost, waste and the environment.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/novella-launches-potent-whole-cell-strawberry-ingredient-at-ssw-302557353.html

Hard cheese. Israel’s SCIO has launched its handheld Cheese Analyzer (see here previously). No need to prepare the sample, the portable near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy device provides fast, accurate, and non-destructive analysis of fat, moisture, and protein content in all types of cheese and curd in under 10 seconds.
https://www.scionir.com/solutions/dairy/ https://farming.co.uk/news/scio-introduces-handheld-cheese-analyzer

Satellite communications in the palm of your hand. Israel’s Commcrete has developed a suite of ultra-compact satellite communication systems (Flipper, Stardust & Bittel) to work without clear sky access or heavy antennas, enabling secure voice, text, data, and location-sharing globally, in any environment or weather.
https://www.commcrete.com/ https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rkzk00fthlx

Science that makes you laugh and think. A team of Ben Gurion University Professors and students has won an Ig Nobel – the international science prize for making people laugh and then think. They published a study to reveal what happens to bats when they get drunk. They won ten trillion Zimbabwe dollars (60 cents in 2008).
https://www.science.org/content/article/ig-nobels-are-science-s-most-lighthearted-event-year-not-typical
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635710000446?via%3Dihub

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Israeli hi-tech had a record year. Despite the war. Israel’s high-tech industry posted a record year for exits and cemented its global leadership in Deep-Tech. The “Status Report on Israeli High-Tech 2025,” from Dutch database management company DealRoom, totaled 1,500 active Deep-Tech companies in Israel.
https://www.jns.org/despite-war-israeli-high-tech-has-record-year-new-report-finds/

AIR ONE can fly. (TY OurCrowd) The AIRONE all-electric eVTOL aircraft from Israel’s AIR (see here previously) has successfully received FAA Experimental Airworthiness Certification.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/air-expands-evtol-flight-operations-in-florida-following-faa-airworthiness-certificate-issuance-302545049.html

ElliQ for Japan. (TY OurCrowd) Japan’s Kanematsu will develop a Japanese version of ElliQ, the interactive AI companion for seniors developed by Israel’s Intuition Robotics (see here previously) Japan has 36 million seniors. Kanematsu is also investing in Intuition Robotics to raise its total equity funding to date to $85 million.
https://blog.ourcrowd.com/ai-companion-robot-says-hello-to-japans-36-million-seniors/
https://www.jobtorob.com/elliq-japan-launch

Partnering Nasdaq to prevent fraud. (TY OurCrowd) Israel’s BioCatch (see here previously) has partnered with Verafin (a subsidiary of Nasdaq). They will combine their fraud detection technologies to combat rising payments fraud. Verafin is used by over 2,600 financial institutions.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/nasdaq-verafin-biocatch-strike-partnership-curb-payments-fraud-2025-09-03/

Managing autonomous taxis. The technology of Israel’s Via Transportation (see here previously) is to serve as the backbone of the autonomous taxi service of Google subsidiary Waymo. Via’s platform will allow for pooling multiple passengers into a single ride.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/lrmoww2qt

No worries for Elbit. Israel’s Elbit Systems has secured a $120 million contract to supply its Hermes 900 unmanned aerial system (UAS) for long-range maritime surveillance to an undisclosed international customer.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b1zvead3gx

Living financially smarter in Israel. The third annual Living Financially Smarter in Israel (LFSII) conference, at Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Jerusalem campus attracted some 350 new and veteran immigrants, plus English-speaking Israelis. They heard practical strategies on how to build financial stability and thrive in Israel.
https://www.jns.org/nefesh-hosts-living-financially-smarter-in-israel/

Free banking in Israel? In early 2026 Israel’s newest digital bank, Esh Bank Israel, promises to offer accounts completely free of fees for both retail customers and small businesses. It also will share 50% of the interest earned on their current account balances. The bank will be entirely digital, offering basic banking services.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-newest-digital-bank-to-start-offering-zero-fee-accounts-in-early-2026/

Exits, takeovers, and mergers to 5th Oct 25. US Datavant has acquired Israeli medical document analysis startup DigitalOwl for just over $200 million. Israel’s Kela Technologies has acquired Israel’s Pelanor for tens of millions of dollars. Israel’s Honeybook has acquired Israel’s Fine.dev. Brazil’s Unico has acquired Israel’s OwnID.

Startup investment – to 5th Oct 25: Via Transportation (value $3.65 billion) raised $493 million (IPO); Descope raised an additional $35 million; Commcrete raised $29 million; Datawizz raised $12.5 million; Gain raised $12 million;

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT

Oldest church organ makes music again. A pipe organ crafted some 1,000 years ago for Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity made music once more, as the instrument was unveiled at Jerusalem’s Terra Sancta Museum. It was hailed as the “oldest organ in Christendom.” It was rediscovered in 1906 during construction work.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/oldest-organ-in-christendom-makes-music-in-jerusalem-after-centuries-of-silence/

Ancient gold hoard unearthed. University of Haifa archaeologists have uncovered a Byzantine-period (6th or 7th century CE) hoard of 97 pure gold coins and jewelry at Sussita National Park. They believe it was buried in fear of the Sasanian-Persian conquest. It includes a rare 610 CE tremissis (gold coin) of Emperor Heraclius.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/415383

World’s largest fish visits Israel. Ashdod authorities recorded the the first documented sighting of a whale shark along Israel’s Mediterranean coast and only the third confirmed sighting in the entire Mediterranean. Whale sharks are occasionally seen in the Gulf of Eilat – this one is thought to have swum up the Suez Canal.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/whale-shark-spotted-off-ashdod-in-first-recorded-sighting-in-israeli-waters/
https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/skadez43xl

Israel reached Euro baseball quarterfinals. The Israel Baseball National Team beat Switzerland 9-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the 2025 European Championship. Pitcher Justin Alintoff dedicated the victory to all the Israelis fighting in the war and those who have lost their lives. Israel finished 7th in the competition.
https://israfan.com/p/alintoff-leads-israel-euro-baseball-quarterfinals

Good results. Israel finished 7th at the European Softball Championships. Israel placed 8th at the Women’s European U-18 Water Polo Championships. And Israel’s men’s U18 water polo team won the European Championship Division 1, having already secured promotion to the Elite tier.
https://www.wbsceurope.org/en/events/2025-womens-softball-european-championship/teams/34606
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_women%27s_national_water_polo_team
https://www.instagram.com/isrswimming/p/DNyJ9LJ2BIu/

THE JEWISH STATE

Bringing youths from FSU to Israel. (TY Yanky) The NGO Naale (its acronym means Youth Immigrating Before Parents) has brought 40 Jewish teenagers from the Former Soviet Union to pursue a new life in Israel. They are being supported by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) including its Ireland branch.
https://www.icej.org/blog/naale-nurturing-the-next-generations-connection-to-zion/

Training young advocacy leaders. 25 young leaders from four continents completed KKL-JNF’s Zionist Leadership Academy in Israel with a week of training, advocacy and resilience building. Now in its fourth year, the program combines about 10 months of online sessions with a mandatory intensive week in Israel.
https://www.jns.org/young-diaspora-leaders-attend-zionist-leadership-academy/

New home for lone soldiers. A new residential facility for lone soldiers was inaugurated at the Hannaton Educational Center in northern Israel (see here previously), welcoming 30 young immigrants from North America as its first residents.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/new-home-for-lone-soldiers-opens-in-northern-israel/

Future-proof in Jerusalem. (TY Sharon) Jerusalem is busy preparing for future. Construction continues at a pace. Conferences included Living Financially Smarter in Israel, the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference (including discussion on the rise of global antisemitsm), and the Michael Levin Base gala,
https://rjstreets.com/2025/09/28/from-rosh-hashanah-to-yom-kippur-on-the-jerusalem-streets/

5th anniversary of Abraham Accords. Several articles mark the five years since the Abraham Accords were signed on the White House lawns between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and the USA. Despite the current war, international cooperation still continues. Jewish religious events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been restored.
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/asher-fredman-on-abraham-accords-fifth-anniversary-continuation-depends-on-peace-as-a-strategic-choice/ https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/the-abraham-accords-offer-a-model-and-a-means-for-countering-antisemitism-on-campus/ https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/414969

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Trump’s Second Term Resets Washington’s Playbook The FBI once chased Catholics and parents with the SPLC’s “hate map.” Now, under Trump, the grifters are exposed and America’s institutions are being reset. By Roger Kimball

By on October 5th, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/05/trumps-second-term-resets-washingtons-playbook/

Remember the good old days when the FBI would hang out in the parking lots of Catholic churches where the traditional Latin Mass was celebrated? The Bureau claimed that such churches were a breeding ground for what the Biden administration called “domestic extremism” and offered plenty of scope for what the FBI called “mitigation opportunities.” Hence, they jotted down the license plate numbers of the parishioners who just got done reciting really dangerous things like “Sanguis Christi custodiat me in vitam aeternam.” “See? See? They’re talking about blood!”

Those were the days. You could go to a school board meeting and watch hapless parents being tackled and hauled off by the police for complaining that they didn’t want little Johnny battened on books like Gender Queer or, come to that, they didn’t want that bloke Jack, who called himself Jill, moseying about the girl’s bathroom or playing touch football on the girls’ team. Wot larks!

That’s all over now. Sure, here and there, you will discover some pasty-faced feminist festooning her classroom with pride flags and banners instructing us to “globalize the intifada” or whatever. But those pathetic eructations are like the twitching of a frog’s legs after the dissection has begun: vestigial motor movements produced by stimulus, not life.

The magnificent address by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last week was evidence of the new dispensation: “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses,” Hegseth said to the hundreds of senior officers he had summoned. “No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris.”

Whence this Novus ordo seclorum? Why, from Donald Trump, of course. It was he, barely inaugurated for the second time, who banned all “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives from any organization that received federal (i.e., taxpayer) funds and then went on to remake large swathes of the apparatus that governs us and the narratives through which we understand our identity and obligations as Americans.

The whirlwind that is Donald Trump has not slackened. If anything, it has picked up force and velocity since the heady days following his resumption of office on January 20, 2025. Eventually, we will be able to provide an inventory and assessment of Trump’s activities as the 47th president of the United States. That moment has not yet come.

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‘The Blasphemy Business’: The Persecution of Christians, August 2025 by Raymond Ibrahim

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21951/persecution-of-christians-august

“What we see in Africa today is a kind of silent genocide or silent, brutal, savage war that is occurring in the shadows and all too often ignored by the international community… [J]ihadist groups are in a position to take over not one, not two, but several countries in Africa…. It’s very dangerous for the national security of the United States…. Christians are going to be targeted and destroyed.” — Alberto Miguel Fernandez, geopolitical analyst and former U.S. diplomat, Fox News, August 7, 2025, Mozambique.

The Islamic State (ISIS) released a newsletter praising its “mujahideen” [jihadists] for targeting and slaughtering the Christians of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique mentioned above, and urging followers to replicate these attacks in Europe…. It praises the massacres and beheadings of Christians inside churches, and attacks on Christian communities, all of which left “pools of blood.” It calls on its followers to offer Christians three choices: “If they refuse Islam and the jizyah tax, the third option is murder.” — MEMRI, August 8, 2025, Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Our conquering ancestors ruled with swords, advancing legions and leading the way, until they terrorized the nations of their time, who came to them willingly or unwillingly, surrendering and submissive. This is the truth, and anything beyond it is false.” — ISIS newsletter, reported by MEMRI, August 8, 2025, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The “hearts still ache for revenge against the Christians of Europe. The call is still open to the heroes of Islam to attack them again and invade them in their own backyards and implement the divine rulings against them as their brothers did in Africa, and Allah will surely support those who support Him.” — ISIS newsletter, reported by MEMRI, August 8, 2025, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Below are some of the more notable incidents of the ongoing genocide being carried out against Christians in Nigeria….

“The herdsmen chased and shot at farmers as if they were animals.” — morningstarnews.org, September 1, 2025, Nigeria.

“The culmination of the efforts to stop the [church’s] construction took place on Sunday, July 27, 2025. The construction committee was subjected to a mass lynching by government officials and residents….” — Rev. Puput Yuniatmoko, persecution.org, August 8, 2025, Indonesia.

“While the language of the draft agreement [between Azerbaijan and Armenia] is general in nature, it mentions combating intolerance, racism, and violent extremism. Absent from the list of vices to be countered was religious persecution and ethnic cleansing — longstanding practices of the totalitarian Azerbaijan regime.” — persecution.org, August 14, 2025, Azerbaijan.

“During detention, we were forced to drink water from Lotas [vessels typically used in toilets]. One person would open their mouth while another poured water through the same vessel.” — Zakria John, morningstarnews.org, August 20, 2025, Pakistan.

“Nabeel Masih, a 25-year-old Christian from Lahore, died… after years of neglect, abuse, and lack of crucial medical care. At 16….Masih was accused by a man named Akhtar Ali of posting a blasphemous image on Facebook….Police had the image removed to prevent unrest, erasing the only evidence that could prove whether Masih had posted it. ” — morningstarnews.org, August 20, 2025, Pakistan.

The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of August 2025.

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A Renewed Iranian Push for the Nuclear Bomb by Majid Rafizadeh

By on October 5th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21949/iran-push-nuclear-bomb

The Iranian regime is once again racing to acquire nuclear weapons. In doing so, it is turning to Russia and almost certainly looking toward China and North Korea for support. This is an immediate and existential threat to the United States, Israel, and the Free World.

Tehran’s repeated denials are lies, masking a clear and urgent drive to obtain nuclear capability as quickly as possible.

Another urgent question: What would prevent Russia from going beyond civilian cooperation and helping Iran directly in its quest for a nuclear weapon?

If Russia feels cornered by the West over Ukraine, it may see Iran’s nuclear ambitions not as a liability but as a useful bargaining chip and a means to complicate U.S. and Israeli security calculations.

For Iran, the shortcut to a nuclear bomb would not be to build everything from scratch, but to leverage these relationships, just as North Korea once did with Pakistan.

The regime looks at North Korea and sees a model: once Pyongyang secured a nuclear arsenal, its survival was effectively guaranteed.

On top of this strategic calculation is the regime’s enduring ideological goal of wiping Israel off the map. For Tehran, even a single nuclear bomb would carry enormous symbolic and strategic weight.

The United States, Israel, and Europe must not underestimate this danger.

Iran’s regime is racing against time, determined to achieve a capability that will guarantee its survival, give it leverage over its enemies, and help export its revolution.

The Iranian regime is once again racing to acquire nuclear weapons. In doing so, it is turning to Russia and almost certainly looking toward China and North Korea for support. This is an immediate and existential threat to the United States, Israel, and the Free World.

Tehran’s repeated denials are lies, masking a clear and urgent drive to obtain nuclear capability as quickly as possible.

Earlier this week at the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that Iran will “never seek to build a nuclear bomb.” Iran’s actions, however, contradict these words. On September 26, Tehran signed a staggering $25 billion nuclear agreement with Russia to construct four nuclear power plants in southern Iran.

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