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Ruth King

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Has Xi Jinping Lost Control of China’s Military — And China Itself? by Gordon G. Chang

By on October 19th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21996/xi-losing-control-of-china

Tellingly, the most senior of the nine officers axed on the 17th was General He Weidong, the second-ranked vice chairman of the Commission and Xi Jinping’s No. 1 loyalist in the PLA. The general had gained prominence as Xi’s top enforcer in the military.

Gen. He was not the only officer who backed Xi and has now been taken out of the military’s leadership ranks. Moreover, it is difficult to identify any Xi adversary who was purged in the last 18 months.

It is unlikely, at a time Xi Jinping appears to be fighting for political survival, that he would remove his most important supporter in the military. It is far more probable that Xi has lost control of the People’s Liberation Army, especially because the removals strengthen Gen. Zhang, Xi’s adversary.

China, by Thursday, could have a new leader. Or a new round of purges.

On October 17, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced that the Communist Party’s Central Committee and Central Military Commission had, after investigations, removed nine senior officers from their posts in the People’s Liberation Army.

The stunning announcement occurred on the eve of the long-delayed Fourth Plenum of the Party’s 20th Central Committee, scheduled to start tomorrow, October 20, and continue for four days. On the agenda are crucial economic matters, including the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which covers the rest of the decade, 2026-2030.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on October 19th, 2025

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Psalm 29:11
“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”

You probably can imagine the elation in Israel now that the 20 living Gaza hostages have finally come Home. Although the war with Hamas terrorists is not yet over, many Israeli soldiers are also able to return Home to their families. Reservists are back Home, re-focusing on their goals to build a better world for everyone. Michael Ordman

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR

Hostages released. After 738 days, all living Gaza hostages are back in Israel. A timeline and videos and photos of some of the emotional reunions. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/416200
https://www.jns.org/israel-set-to-redeem-hostages-in-first-phase-of-trump-peace-plan/
https://www.jns.org/watch-israelis-gather-at-hostage-square-to-celebrate-return/

Giving thanks. US President Donald Trump had a tumultuous welcome when he spoke at the Israeli Knesset (parliament). His first words were, “We gather on a day of profound joy, of soaring hope, of renewed faith, and above all, a day to give our deepest thanks to the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPAkvSgxDWY

Bereaved father seeds “honoring” startups. After Izhar Shay lost his son on 7 Oct 2023, he launched “Next October” to support early-stage businesses that agree to commemorate one of the approximately 2,000 people, killed on 7 Oct and in the ensuing war, in perpetuity. In two years, the project has enlisted 450 startups.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/bereaved-by-october-7-an-entrepreneur-seeds-startups-with-memorials-to-those-lost/ https://www.nextoctober.org/ https://www.nextoctober.org/ourstartups

Seeds of renewal. More about the 3-year initiative to rehabilitate and redesign 32 early childhood educational centers of excellence for ages 3–6 across the Gaza Envelope and northern Israel. (See here previously)
https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/philanthropys-role-in-rebuilding-early-childhood-education-in-israel/

Maintaining Mankai production. Israel is the only country in the world where the superfood Mankai (see here previously) is grown commercially. So it was vital that the man managing the Mankai at Kibbutz Be’eri returned two days after the Hamas 7 Oct 2023 invasion. Otherwise it might have disappeared from the world.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/skur8qytll

Hummus in Damascus. Israelis used to speak about the day when we’d be eating hummus in Damascus as a longed-for era of peace. We’re now eating kosher hummus in Damascus, says Mendy Chitrik, the Safed-born rabbi of Turkey’s Ashkenazi community and the chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/48-surreal-hours-in-damascus-an-israeli-reporters-travelogue-from-an-enemy-capital/

PM Prize to Mossad operatives. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Prize has been awarded to the Mossad operatives involved in the “beepers” attack against Hezbollah, and the 12-day Operation Rising Lion war against Iran. https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-barnea-award-mossad-operatives-pm-prize/

Zikim Beach reopens. The IDF is reopening to the public, Zikim Beach, located near the Gaza border, on Oct. 16, marking the first time the area has been accessible since the start of the war two years ago. The IDF views the opening of the beach as an additional step in the rehabilitation of the area.
https://www.jns.org/idf-reopens-zikim-beach-for-first-time-since-oct-7/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Combat medicine advances. Wounded Israeli soldiers are surviving serious injuries that would have been impossible just a few years ago. E.g., drones parachuting temperature-controlled whole blood units into the battlefield; or a portable device that separates oxygen from the air and uses it to ventilate wounded soldiers.
https://www.kosu.org/world-news/2025-09-18/how-israels-combat-medicine-has-changed

Why the immune system ignores food. (TY David Fieldstone) I missed this discovery in May by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute. They identified that ROR-gamma-T cells trigger a chain reaction of four types of immune cells, which stop the body’s attacking cells (CD8 cells) from responding to food proteins.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/food-friend-not-foe-%E2%80%93-new-study-explains-why
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-856867
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09173-x

Oxygenating patients during lung transplants. (TY Atid EDI) Israel’s Inspira Technologies (see here previously) announced that a top U.S. hospital has expanded its clinical use of the INSPIRA ART100 system to lung transplantation procedures, one of the most demanding applications in advanced respiratory care.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/02/3142763/0/en/Top-U-S-Honor-Roll-Hospital-Expands-Use-of-INSPIRA-ART100-System-to-Lung-Transplant-Procedures.html

Restoring vision in a shingles-blinded eye. (TY Atid EDI) Israel’s CorNeat Vision (see here previously) has implanted its KPro artificial cornea to restore perfect vision in a patient blinded by corneal scarring from the Shingles virus. In addition, the eye, once deformed by shingles, now looks remarkably natural and healthy.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/corneat-visions-artificial-cornea-restores-perfect-2020-vision-in-shingles-blinded-eye-302543974.html

Partnering to diagnose Huntington’s. (TY Atid EDI) Israel’s NeuraLight has partnered with New York’s CHDI Foundation to build one of the largest eye movement datasets for Huntington’s Disease. It will support CHDI’s work to develop sensitive, trial-ready tools with the potential to develop HD therapies.
https://neuralight.ai/neuralight-and-chdi-foundation-collaborate-to-develop-precision-eye-movement-biomarkers-for-huntingtons-disease/

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

The largest US flag ever hoisted in Israel. The largest American flag ever flown in Israel has been raised in the Binyamin Regional Council in a gesture of gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump. Measuring 26×36 feet, the red and blue striped flag is visible to passengers on planes landing at Ben Gurion International Airport.
https://www.jns.org/ahead-of-trump-visit-largest-us-flag-ever-flown-in-israel-hoisted-in-judea-samaria/

International Jerusalem march. Thousands, from 70 countries, gathered in Sacher Park for the International Jerusalem March, hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) during the Sukkot holiday. The ICEJ represents millions of Christians around the world who support Israel.
https://www.jns.org/the-international-jerusalem-march-brings-joy-and-friendship-to-the-capital/

Tourism to Tajikistan launched. Israel’s Tourism Minister Haim Katz made the first official visit by an Israeli Cabinet member to the Muslim state of Tajikistan. There he signed the first bilateral tourism accord with Tajikistani Committee for Tourism Development Chairman Jumakhonzoda Jamshed Jurakhon.
https://www.jns.org/israel-and-tajikistan-sign-tourism-agreement-in-landmark-visit/

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Powering Intel’s AI laptop revival. Intel has unveiled its first 18A-based processors, developed in Israel. They will form the basis for Panther Lake, a new Israeli-developed family of 900 AI models that will support real-time translation, image recognition, and much more, while maintaining strict user privacy.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hkwnfmhpex

Israel’s largest AI cloud. Israel’s Vast Data (see here previously) has entered a strategic partnership with Israel’s Shonfeld Data Services (SDS) to power what is being described as Israel’s most advanced sovereign AI infrastructure. It will be built on Vast’s AI Operating System.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/uz6dlauqi

National AI HQ. Israel has appointed Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez Askal to head its newly established National Artificial Intelligence Headquarters. It will oversee the creation and execution of Israel’s AI strategy, focusing on innovation, regulation, infrastructure and research while bolstering Israel’s international standing in the field.
https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-appoints-general-to-lead-national-ai-initiative/

More cool data centers. Israel’s ZutaCore has established another cool partnership (see here for previous one) this time with Taiwan’s Compal. The integrated server and cooling solution aims to “revolutionize data center efficiency, reliability, and sustainability”. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zutacore-and-compal-transform-ai-data-center-cooling-at-yotta-2025-302548739.html

Mapping Israel’s semiconductor industry. Israel’s startup ecosystem is punching far above its weight in the global semiconductor race. With $5.5 billion raised collectively, 70 startups are positioning Israel as a key player in next-generation chips and AI models.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1yxvtznel
https://www.earthandbeyond.ventures/deeptech-explained-semiconductors

Better desalination membranes. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute, and at University of Texas Austin, have mapped the nano-properties of desalination membranes in their wet state – never achieved before. The information will help design membranes that will desalinate seawater more efficiently, using less energy.
https://phys.org/news/2025-08-desalination-characterizing-membranes-dry-states.html
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.5c01190

Scaling up green hydrogen production. (TY Nevet) Israel’s Technion is part of an international team that has determined how to scale up decoupled water electrolysis (DWE, see here previously) – a technique that produces green hydrogen without carbon emissions or expensive hardware.
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/green-hydrogen-industrial-scale-affordable-dwe/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44359-025-00061-1

Automating the greenhouse. (TY Atid EDI) Israel’s GrowDirector has developed a modular greenhouse automation system to reduce input costs, water, electricity, fertilizers, and labor. Farmers can track crop details, schedule planting, spraying, receive reminders, analyze and refine protocols to avoid repeating mistakes.
https://growdirector.com/

Seeing through the layers. Latest progress of Israeli archaeologists in the City of David, using muon particle detectors to map ancient sites underground without digging (see here previously). Jerusalem’s historic layers are revealed, from the Iron Age / First Temple period through the Roman era and into the Early Islamic period.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/breaking-ground-without-digging-in-first-archaeologists-x-ray-jerusalems-underground/

A better defense. (TY Atid EDI) Israel’s Ministry of Defense has bought dozens of EdgeUAV systems from Israel’s Axon Vision (see here previously) to detect nearby air threats (e.g. drones). The systems analyze and classify data collected by cameras mounted on armored combat vehicles or stationary installations.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-idf-using-axon-visions-ai-to-combat-drones-1001489208

Securing entrance to arenas. Barclays Center in New York has selected the advanced artificial intelligence software from Israel’s SeeTrue to detect prohibited items at visitor checkpoints. The system enables faster throughput, reducing long lines at entry points, while providing detection across a wide range of threats.
https://seetrue.ai/seetrue-to-deliver-faster-and-safer-entry-for-barclays-center-fans-with-ai-powered-security-screening/

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Optimistic economic indicators. The Israeli Shekel rose strongly on the news that Israel and Hamas have signed the first phase of the plan to end the war in Gaza. The Israeli stock market also rose with the TA-35, TA-90, and TA-125 closing at record highs. The construction index soared, and the risk level fell sharply.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hjagmxr6lx

Nobel Prize for Economics. Dutch-born, Israeli raised, US Professor Joel Mokyr has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics together with two other economists, for showing how useful knowledge, mechanical competence and institutions conducive to technological progress has led to sustained economic growth.
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-870390
https://www.jns.org/tel-aviv-university-economist-among-3-nobel-prize-laureates/

$0.5 billion for Israeli startups. Israel’s Glilot Capital Partners has raised $500 million to invest in Israeli cyber and AI software startups. The fresh capital was raised mainly from large financial institutions in the US and Europe. Glilot says it “we deeply believe in the Israeli ecosystem.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-glilot-partners-raises-500m-to-back-young-cyber-and-ai-software-startups/

Gas pipeline to Egypt. The partners that own the Leviathan reservoir off the Israeli coast have inked a $610 million deal with state-owned pipeline operator Israel Natural Gas Lines to build a 40-mile pipeline to export natural gas to Egypt. When complete in 2028 it will deliver 600 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/leviathan-partners-ink-610m-deal-for-new-pipeline-to-boost-gas-exports-to-egypt/

El Al in top 25. El Al earned a five-star APEX rating for the fifth consecutive year and, for the first time, entered the global top 25 airlines for in-flight passenger experience based on millions of traveler reviews. Fewer than 7% – around 40 airlines—earned a five-star rating. https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/r13p9rgsgl

Swiss & Delta are back. Swiss International Air Lines has resumed flights to Israel with a daily non-stop return service from Zurich to Tel Aviv Ben-Gurion International Airport. Delta Airlines resumed daily flights from JFK to Tel Aviv on 1st Sep. https://www.jns.org/swiss-air-resumes-flights-to-tel-aviv/
https://news.delta.com/delta-resumes-tel-aviv-service-jfk-sept-1

$1.2 billion aero engine parts deal. Israel’s Bet Shemesh Engines (see here previously) has won a $1.2 billion 15-year contract to supply critical jet engine components to one of the world’s leading aircraft engine makers. Only a few weeks ago Norway’s sovereign wealth fund divested its 2% stake in Bet Shemesh Engines.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-bet-shemesh-engines-inks-1-2b-deal-to-produce-parts-for-global-aviation-giant/

Botanical-enhanced functional soft drinks. Israel’s SolvEat (see here previously) has partnered with Israel’s Central Bottling Company subsidiary Gat Foods, to develop functional beverages infused with SolvEat patented natural herbal formulations. They will target metabolic support, blood sugar control, and more.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/solveat-and-cbc-join-to-create-botanical-enhanced-functional-soft-drinks-302550555.html

Using AI to sell industrial machinery. Israel’s Corbel aims to replace manual quoting and PDF-based workflows with AI-driven intelligence for the trillion-dollar manufacturing sector. Corbel is targeting one of manufacturing’s most persistent bottlenecks: outdated sales and quoting systems.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1axzfaplg https://corbelpay.com/

Exits, takeovers, and mergers to 19th Oct 25. Israel’s CropX has acquired Israeli Crop Supply Intelligence Company Acclym. US insurance giant Penn-America Group (part of Global Indemnity Group) is acquiring Israeli insurance agency Sayata. LevelBlue (formerly AT&T Cybersecurity) has acquired Israel’s Cybereason. Israel’s Pentera acquired Israel’s DevOcean for $30 million. Amazon’s Annapurna Labs has acquired the entire core engineering team of Israel’s NeuroBlade.

Startup investment – to 19th Oct 25: Deel raised $300 million (valuation $17.3 billion) Sensi.ai raised $45 million; Sola Security raised $35 million; Prisma Photonics raised $30 million; OneLayer raised $28 million; Omnix Medical raised $25 million; Second Nature raised $22 million; Siddhi Capital has invested $9-12 million in Israel’s Fresh Start foodtech incubator. Corbel raised $6.7 million; ARGU AI raised $2 million.

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT,

An Ethiopian Israeli restaurant in Harlem. Beejhy Barhany was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Israel. She has opened Tsion Cafe – a kosher, vegan cafe in Harlem, New York. She describes it as a place of Pan-African love and Black Israeli pride. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/at-this-harlem-chefs-table-the-rosh-hashana-menu-is-full-of-ethiopian-spices-180987378/
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720855/gursha-by-beejhy-barhany-with-elisa-ung/

US Ambassadors rock Jerusalem. (TY INN) US Ambassadors Mike Huckabee and Daniel Friedman wowed the crowd at the United Hatzalah Sukkot concert, playing “Sweet Home Yerushalayim”. Great new lyrics.
https://www.jns.org/huckabee-friedman-perform-sweet-home-yerushalayim-in-jerusalem/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh6Z6Hk3cAk

Acrobatic dolphins. Some 15 dolphins, including mothers and calves, gave an acrobatic display off the Israeli coast near Haifa. They performed for over an hour to a team of Haifa University marine scientists conducting an exploration project, 10 miles from the shore. It was the most exciting display ever seen by the scientists.
https://www.jns.org/dolphin-pod-puts-on-acrobatic-display-off-haifa-shore/

Golden gymnast. Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat won gold in the floor exercise at the Challenge Cup in Paris. With one Olympic gold and one silver, Dolgopyat is Israel’s most successful Olympian. He also holds a World Championship title. https://www.jns.org/this-week-in-israeli-sports-2/

First NHL goal by an Israeli. Israeli American hockey player Zeev Buium scored his first NHL goal on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets; Buium, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, is believed to be the first Israeli hockey player to ever score a goal in the US National Hockey League.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6709728/2025/10/12/wild-blue-jackets-zeev-buium-nhl-goal/
https://x.com/THEREALJEW613/status/1977206806108905773?s=08

Gold paralympic swimmer. (TY Yanky) Paralympic swimming champion Ami Dadaon (see here previously) claimed his first world title in the 50m breaststroke SB3 in Singapore, setting a new Israeli record of 48.17 seconds. In the 2024 World Championships in Paris, Ami won 4 gold medals.
https://www.ynetnews.com/sport/article/h1eltqajel

THE JEWISH STATE

Ancient Jewish synagogue unearthed in the Golan. Another historical Jewish link to the Land – in the Golan Heights recaptured by Israel in the 1967 Six-day War. Excavations at the Yahudiya Nature Reserve revealed lintels and basalt columns of a 1,500-year-old synagogue – the 26th discovered in the Golan.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/10/05/ancient-underground-synagogue-discovered-in-golan/

A home in Israel. Reminder – Marina Shear, wife of Newsletter subscriber Glen, can help any reader wishing to make Aliyah or purchase a property in Israel. She has teams of English-speaking lawyers, mortgage brokers, builders, property managers, inspectors and designers. Read her guide and see her website for more details.
https://marinashear.com/ https://marinashear.com/2025-guide/

Delayed passengers break into song. After a 4-hour delay on a Delta Airlines flight from New York to Tel Aviv, two musicians led passengers in singing “Adon HaSelichot” and then “Am Yisrael Chai”.
https://www.jns.org/hold-passengers-on-delayed-delta-flight-to-israel-break-into-song/

Exciting times in Jerusalem. During Sukkot, Jerusalem was full of hope for the release of the hostages. The schools were on vacation so families were enjoying holiday activities.
https://rjstreets.com/2025/10/12/exciting-times-in-jerusalem-on-chol-hamoed-sukkot/

50,000 Jews celebrate Sukkot in Hebron. 50% more worshippers than last year visited Judaism’s second-holiest site during the first days of Tabernacles. The Cave of the Patriarchs was bought by Abraham more than 3,000 years ago. and is the burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and matriarchs Sarah, Rabecca and Leah.
https://www.jns.org/nearly-50000-jews-celebrate-sukkot-in-hebron/

On Simchat Torah we dance. Israelis are determined to dance, even overcoming physical and spiritual barriers. And on the second anniversary of the Hamas invasion, the IDF danced at the Nova festival site.
https://worldisraelnews.com/wounded-idf-soldiers-joyfully-celebrate-simchat-torah-despite-injuries/
https://www.jns.org/how-an-oct-7-amputee-refuses-to-stop-dancing-this-simchat-torah/
https://www.jns.org/idf-soldiers-dance-with-torah-at-nova-festival-massacre-site/

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

‘No Kings Day’ Street Theater Meets Shutdown Politics: A March for Democracy or a Midterm Ad Buy? David Manney

By on October 19th, 2025

https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2025/10/18/no-kings-day-street-theater-meets-shutdown-politics-a-march-for-democracy-or-a-midterm-ad-buy-n4945017

Like a high school pep band after practicing all week, the crowd had the optics down cold: waving signs, rehearsed chants, and flags snapping in the wind.

“No Kings!” they shouted, filling city squares from Washington, D.C.,  to Chicago. On its face, it was a noble-sounding message, but the more you watched, the more it resembled a movie using the wrong genre tag — less a protest against tyranny and more a well-produced commercial for the Democratic Party.

With prices still high and a government shutdown stretching into a third week, the nation’s political theater troupe invaded the streets, with predictable corners providing glowing reviews. At the same time, the rest of the country wondered what it was really watching.

The Left’s Framing: A Patriotic Uprising

If you had the time and stomach to scan progressive outlets, from The Guardian to NBC News, “No Kings Day” was sold as a modern version of 1776. Writers on the left called it a peaceful stand for democracy, a people’s rejection of authoritarianism. Labor unions trucked supporters in, celebu-tards posted solidarity selfies, and public officials, from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, made cameo appearances during major rallies.

Boasting of thousands, organizers of local events declared “record-breaking” participation in Washington, D.C. It was a self-congratulatory tone, showing, they said, proof that America still had fight left in her.

Chants about liberty mingled with pop-up art shows, drum circles, and costume parades.

Organizers insisted it was democracy in motion, with families, veterans, clergy, and students linking arms in defense of the republic.

This is how the left told the story: peaceful, inclusive, righteous, and even necessary; a warning to would-be strongmen that Americans hadn’t forgotten their founding creed.

The Right’s Reaction: A Political Performance

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ANTI-SEMITISM, ISRAEL Comments turned off

Gaza, Israel, and Anti-Semitism Israel’s victory on the battlefield has sparked a new war of ideas—one in which the Cultural Left blames not just Israel, but Jews themselves, for refusing to lose. By Stephen Soukup

By on October 19th, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/18/gaza-israel-and-anti-semitism/

The other day, while the civilized world was celebrating the ceasefire brokered by President Trump, ending the current hostilities between Israel and its neighbors in Gaza, the folks at the New York Times were wondering what Israel could possibly do to “repair its ties to Americans.” According to the Times—and the smart set it represents—Israel’s “conduct” of the war has likely “cost it the support of an entire generation of U.S. voters.” Israel, you see, did its best to destroy its enemies—in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Iran, and in Yemen. It destroyed Hamas’s leadership and its ability to conduct operations. It ended Hezbollah’s four-decade reign of terror. It set the Iranian nuclear program back by years, if not decades. And it, by and large, made the Persian Gulf safe for trade and travel again. I won’t go so far as to say that it accomplished all of its goals and won a decisive victory. Some of the very smartest analysts of the Middle East I know and respect think that the deal Israel agreed to is problematic at best. Nevertheless, the war didn’t go the way much of the American Left would have liked, and so its media mouthpieces think it did ugly and horrific things.

Ironically, despite the fact that Israel’s “conduct” of the war was, by most honest accounts, as just and as conscientious as any such efforts could be, the New York Times isn’t necessarily wrong about Israel’s support in the United States. That support has suffered, and it is unlikely to be easily restored. For reasons that the Times and the rest of the American ruling class seem hellbent on pretending don’t exist, Israel may indeed have lost the support of an entire generation of Americans—if not more.

In a now-deleted exchange on Twitter/X, the British-American political commentator and Islamist apologist Mehdi Hasan gave the giveaway. Angry about the terms of the ceasefire and the fact that he will no longer be able to prattle on endlessly about genocide and other inanities, Hasan lashed out at the American journalist Eli Lake. In response to a tweet by Lake noting how quickly Gaza seemed to recover from its terrible ordeal, Hasan complained, “One of the ways in which the Gaza genocide is worse than a lot of the previous genocides—Rwanda, even the Holocaust—is that you didn’t have Hutus or Nazis mocking the genocide after it was over. They were shunned/deradicalized/prosecuted.”

This was quite a statement—even for Hasan, a noted, radical Israel-hater. Not only did he compare Gaza to the Holocaust and Eli Lake to the Nazis, but he also suggested that people like Lake should be prosecuted and shunned, even though Lake had nothing whatsoever to do with the war, its conduct, its conclusion, or the losses Hasan’s Islamist allies suffered.

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ISRAEL, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Bill Maher asks where ‘keffiyeh-wearing college kids’ went as Hamas is ‘shooting everybody’

By on October 19th, 2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/bill-maher-asks-where-keffiyeh-wearing-college-kids-went-as-hamas-is-shooting-everybody/ar-AA1OJ84g?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=59cdaef6a3ef4d0a90cd1bcfe155f5fd&ei=6

TV talk show host Bill Maher questioned the recent silence of campus protestors over Gaza during Friday night’s episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, pressing, “Where are the protesters?… Suddenly, the keffiyeh-wearing college kids are very quiet.”

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, appearing on the panel, responded: “Can’t be found. Yeah, can’t be found anywhere.” Maher added that Hamas is “shooting everybody,” calling out what he described as “the asymmetry of what goes on.” 

Criticizing pro-Palestinians who ignore Hamas’s atrocities

Maher has repeatedly criticized American activists he sees as excusing or overlooking Hamas abuses while focusing their ire on Israel. In May, he similarly challenged US liberals who expressed support for Hamas despite the group’s extremist ideology.

Friday’s remarks extended that critique to student protest movements that were highly visible last academic year.

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The ‘No Kings’ Protests Against Democracy Itself Trump’s decisive 2024 victory exposed the irony of the left’s “No Kings” protests—an anti-democracy tantrum against the most democratic act of all: an election. By Roger Kimball

By on October 19th, 2025

https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/19/the-no-kings-protests-against-democracy-itself/

On November 5, 2024, Donald Trump won the United States presidential election against Kamala Harris. It was a convincing win. Trump snagged victory in the Electoral College, where the contest is officially decided, 312 to 226. He needed only 270 to prevail. He also won the popular vote (a nice but unnecessary distinction), with 77,302,580 votes to 75,017,613, a margin of almost 2 million votes.

I mention these well-known facts to underscore the black comedy of the “No Kings” protests taking place across the country as I write. According to several sources, some 2500 separate protests are planned. Millions of people are expected to join in the fun. More than 200 left-wing groups, from the ACLU and Antifa to Indivisible, have helped organize the events. Prominent Democrats from Bernie Sanders to AOC to Gavin Newsom, and Chuck Schumer are panting to attend and proclaim their virtue and denounce the duly elected president of the United States. Really, as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson observed, the “No Kings” rallies ought to be called “Hate America” rallies.

I live in deep-blue Fairfield County, Connecticut. In nearby Westport, terminally disgruntled middle-to-late-aged citizens joined, but clumps of unattractive GenZeers—Geezers and Zeers—regularly congregate on a certain bridge to protest for or against whatever the central committee has handed down as this week’s issue: climate change, fossil fuels, Brett Kavanaugh, or Israel. Whatever it is, they are there with their signs, self-righteousness, and ire. I am pretty sure I recognized some old-timers today from their stints protesting against George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Naturally, the crowds were out in force today to disrupt traffic and inform the world that they disliked Donald Trump and all his works.

It was a large gathering. It was also depressingly pathetic. As one commentator observed, “Protests are meant to be the voices of the unheard. Yet these protests are the voices of those who never shut up.”

The ironies abound. The announced theme of this Soros-funded, Communist-Party-endorsed network of protests is “No Kings.” But Donald Trump is not a king. He is a democratically elected president. He obeys (and then appeals) every outrageous injunction issued by hubristic district court judges to stymie his agenda. But Trump is nonetheless excoriated by the media and professional leftists for acting in a tyrannical, king-like (they never say “regal”) way. Trump himself had fun with this absurdity. “I was very concerned that a king was trying to take my place,” he wrote, “but thanks to your tireless efforts, I am STILL YOUR PRESIDENT!” If Trump were really a king, as another commentator on X observed, the government would be open now. Trump would simply decree it.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Mamdani Poses With Unindicted WTC Bombing Co-Conspirator “If 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.” by Daniel Greenfield

By on October 19th, 2025

https://www.frontpagemag.com/mamdani-poses-with-unindicted-wtc-bombing-co-conspirator/

Siraj Wahhaj had previously donated to Zohran Mamdani’s campaign and posted a video endorsement. Even as a number of papers were preparing to run stories linking Mamdani to associates of Wahhaj, he sprung the trap by tweeting a photo of himself with the imam.

Mamdani’s pretty confident about his chances and the larger goal here is to normalize the worst possible elements of Islam. So what is Mamdani normalizing here?

Take a look at our Discover the Networks profile of Wahhaj.

Wahhaj urged U.S. Muslims to become politically active as a means of augmenting the influence of their faith: “As long as you remember that if you get involved in politics, you have to be very careful that your leader is for Allah. You don’t get involved in politics because it’s the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam.”

In a 1992 sermon, Wahhaj emphasized the importance of jihad to his Al-Taqwa mosque congregation: “I will never ever tell people, ‘don’t be violent, that is not the Islamic way.’ The violence has to be selected…. Islam is the only answer because it is only Islam that we do it for Allah…. [We are] commanded to do jihad….”

In an autumn 1992 address to an Islamic gathering in New Jersey, Wahhaj expressed his desire to have Muslims seize control of the United States and replace the country’s constitutional government with an Islamic caliphate. “If we were united and strong,” Wahhaj said, “we’d elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him…. [T]ake my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”

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Trump inherited a weaponized justice system The President’s vigorous effort to call to account those who waged lawfare against him is a necessary purgative Roger Kimball

By on October 18th, 2025

https://thespectator.com/topic/trump-inherited-weaponized-justice-system/

Has Donald Trump “weaponized” the justice system to go after his political enemies? The answer is no.

“What about former FBI director James Comey?” you ask. “What about New York Attorney General Letitia James?” Both went after Trump hammer and tongs. Now both have been indicted by the Trump Justice Department. Are those not textbook cases of “weaponization,” of “retribution,” of using the power of the system to punish people who have punished you?

Hold on. I write this in mid-October. By the time you read it, I suspect that the list of indictments will be much longer. Candidates for inclusion on this Ko-Ko-like “little list” include John Bolton, national security advisor during Trump’s first term; Jack Smith, the special counsel who managed to rack up 37 indictments against Trump in two criminal cases; and sundry other former intelligence officers and DoJ officials. The dragnet will be large; it will be relentless.

So haven’t I just admitted that Trump weaponized the justice system?

No. Trump didn’t weaponize the justice system. He inherited a weaponized justice system.

More on that shortly. First, here’s another little list. Peter Navarro, Steve Bannon, Mike Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Jeffrey Clark and George Papadopoulos.

That’s a very incomplete roster of Trump aides and supporters who were indicted, prosecuted, disbarred and/or jailed. The list does not include the more than 1,200 people convicted over the January 6 protest at the Capitol. Nor does it capture a contrast that Navarro describes in a post on X: “I was dragged through Reagan Airport in leg irons, mug shot, handcuffs, jail cell, the full circus. Meanwhile, Comey faces felonies up to 10 years for the worst political conspiracy in modern history, and he slips quietly through a side door.”

Responding to demands that Comey be subjected to the humiliation of a “perp walk,” Trump’s FBI Director Kash Patel said there would be “no drama.” But the FBI that Trump inherited specialized in such drama. Remember their guns-drawn, dawn raid to arrest his confidant Roger Stone? The tipped-off media were there in force to lap up and regurgitate the entertainment.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Europe Has Apparently Learned Nothing by Majid Rafizadeh

By on October 18th, 2025

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21995/iran-europe-learned-nothing

Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran’s rapacious ambitions.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), acting as the European Troika, declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran.

At the core of the E3’s plan lies the deeply flawed assumption that Iran can be wooed into restraint through incremental “incentives.” These generally consist of easing financial pressure, lifting trade restrictions, or delaying multilateral sanctions in exchange for ephemeral commitments.

Sadly, Europe appears to be pursuing the worst lessons of appeasement: the dangerous illusion is that you can temper a ravenous aggressor by conciliation, weakness and generosity. The aggressor immediately sees that the best route for him is to demand more. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing.

By treating the Iranian regime as a legitimate negotiating partner — and by discounting the moral and strategic gulf that separates it from liberal democracies — Europe is bankrolling the terrorism industry.

President Donald J. Trump’s current posture — doubling down on sanctions, refusing immediate diplomacy until leverage is secured — should jolt Europe out of its passivity.

The European Troika’s charade must stop. Anything less just prolongs the threat.

Once again, Europe seems to have slipped into a dangerous fantasy: that engaging in polite diplomatic parleys with promises of sugar plums will tame Iran’s rapacious ambitions.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), acting as the European Troika, declared their intention to revive the long-stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran. In a joint statement, they pledged to “reopen a path toward a comprehensive, lasting, and verifiable agreement.”

This is the same play we have seen before: bold headlines, carefully phrased commitments, and the faint hope that seduction can substitute for strength. Unfortunately, these gestures always carry a hidden cost. Once the diplomatic machinery is set in motion, we soon hear about sanctions relief, softening of UN mandates, and felicitous loopholes to reintegrate the Iranian regime into global markets. What begins as promise too often ends as reward for terrible behavior and a prelude to even more.

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Trump’s critics pine for old-school diplomacy. But Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff triumphed where Joe Biden’s national security professionals failed. By Niall Ferguson

By on October 18th, 2025

https://www.thefp.com/p/niall-ferguson-how-real-estateism-got-the-deal-done-in-gaza?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

t has been a tough week for the professional Donald Trump haters. Only the most unhinged of them could not share in the joy of the families of the surviving Israeli hostages as they were reunited on Monday. But there must always be liberal ghosts at any feast of which Trump is the host.

“Everyone should be glad that the hostages have been freed” and hope “that this peace process succeeds,” acknowledged the editor of The New Republic, Michael Tomasky. But? Well, “he’s still the Donald Trump who is destroying democracy and ruining lives here in America.”

“We may grimace in doing so,” wrote Kenneth Roth in The Guardian, “but Donald Trump deserves credit for finally ending the U.S. government’s funding and arming of the genocide, and arm-twisting Benjamin Netanyahu into accepting his 20-point plan for Gaza.”

This was more than Guardian columnist Owen Jones was prepared to concede. His commentary yesterday carefully avoided giving Trump any credit for the ceasefire and the return of the hostages, ranting instead that “Israel’s Western-facilitated genocide. . . . will boomerang back to the West from the killing fields of Gaza.”

At least Tomasky was prepared to entertain “the possibility that the Trump-Netanyahu worldview got it right this time.” The New Statesman went further. Freddie Hayward’s account of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal explicitly acknowledged the triumph of “the dealmakers.” But it bemoaned the new world order that this triumph signifies: “a world in which Trump rules like an emperor. . . . a world where leaders court the president’s favor to receive his patronage and avoid his wrath. Institutions such as the United Nations are ignored. Diplomacy is personal. Job titles matter less than getting things done. Raw power dominates international law. And protecting capital takes precedence over protecting human rights.”

The key roles played by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—respectively, Trump’s friend and son-in-law—were especially painful for Hayward to acknowledge. But he could not deny it: “Trump succeeded in ending the war in Gaza, where Biden and his expert class failed.”

It is excruciating for anyone on the left to admit any of this. For all these authors are in the grip of a pathetic nostalgia for a vanished age in which the United Nations mattered; job titles mattered; international law mattered; and human rights transcended mere economics. They appear not to have processed that “Biden and his expert class failed” precisely because all those things ceased to work many years ago.

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