“By and large, the lovers of terrorist chic agree with the terrorists. They loathe the U.S. and Israel, and believe that horrendous violence against both is eminently justified”

Posted on March 28, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
When Terrorism Becomes Fashion
Benjamin Kerstein
March 28, 2026

…The moral glamor of terrorism among certain classes — especially the privileged classes — may not be new, but it has gained immense momentum over the past 25 years. It began, perhaps, on 9/11, when millions of anti-American and antisemitic radicals the world over thrilled to the mass slaughter of thousands and the decimation of a symbol of the demonic capitalism and “imperialism” they so despised. Silently, Osama bin Laden became a hero to many and, if not that, at the very least a figure of sympathy and admiration: a bold warrior against the American/Israeli empire. However, terrorist chic exploded in full after the October 7th massacre, when thousands, if not millions, took to the streets across the U.S. and the West in general to celebrate the slaughter, accuse Israel of all manner of crimes before any military response had been undertaken, intimidate and attack Jews, and generally conduct themselves like demons. READ MORE

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“US first sought to seize the 650 Fifth Avenue skyscraper in 2008, after learning of the Iranian government-owned bank’s secret interest in the property”

Posted on March 28, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JPOST
Israeli victims of Iranian terrorism among those to be compensated after sale of NYC skyscraper
Danielle Greyman-Kennard
March 26, 2026

Victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism are finally set to be compensated to the tune of $318 million after the sale of a 36-story commercial and office tower in Manhattan, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced on Monday. The United States first made efforts to begin seizing the 650 Fifth Avenue skyscraper in 2008, after learning of the Iranian government-owned bank’s secret interest in the property. After more than 17 years of litigation, hundreds of victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism will finally be paid out, following a global settlement. Those being paid out include the American victims and family members harmed by Iran’s actions in Israel, including in the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, suicide bombings through the 1980s and 1990s, and the family of Rabbi Meir Kahane. READ MORE

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“Israel’s generals claimed to have the ability not only to disable Iran’s entire air defense network, but also to take out the regime’s top military leadership. One senior Israeli war planner said Trump and his advisers were disbelieving”

Posted on March 27, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
One American-Israeli Battle After Another
Eli Lake
April 2026

….Six days before Trump gave the order to commence combat operations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provided the president and his senior advisers with intelligence gold. He told them that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be meeting with his top military advisers on February 28. The CIA confirmed the intelligence with its own sources. Negotiations over disarming Iran were deadlocking in Geneva. So Trump seized the moment. The Iranian regime could be decapitated by hitting that February 28 meeting. And that is exactly what happened in the first strikes. Netanyahu’s tip, which led to the righteous undoing of the man who had ruled Iran since 1989, was just one element in a mosaic of information Israel provided to Trump that demonstrated just how thoroughly it had succeeded in penetrating Iran’s closed society (and the inner workings of its proxies in Lebanon and elsewhere). READ MORE

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Financial Times: VW considering producing defense components for Israel

Posted on March 27, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

DEUTSCHE WELLE
Is VW eyeing Iron Dome parts production at German plant?
Arthur Sullivan
March 25, 2026

Volkswagen (VW) is in talks with the Israeli defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems over a possible collaboration which would see production switch from cars to defense equipment at a key VW plant, according to a report in the Financial Times. The exclusive report in the newspaper, quoting people familiar with the plan, says the companies plan to convert Volkswagen’s struggling Osnabrück plant into a facility which makes components for the Israeli state-owned company’s Iron Dome air defense system. In response to queries from DW, a spokesperson for Volkswagen said “the production of weapons by Volkswagen AG remains ruled out for the future, and we do not engage in speculation regarding further plans for the Osnabrück site.” However, with the Osnabrück site scheduled to phase out its current production in 2027, the spokesperson said the company “continues to explore viable options” and is talking to various “market players.” READ MORE

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“Extreme threats, surprise direct talks and a barrage of clichés about Israel being thrown under the bus and an unstable leader: everything Israel went through with Hamas in Gaza is now repeating itself with Iran”

Posted on March 26, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Netanyahu cools talk of regime collapse in Iran
Amit Segal
March 26, 2026

It is tempting to try to assess what to expect from negotiations between the United States and Iran based on previous rounds between the two sides. But perhaps the better lesson comes from another corner of the Middle East: Gaza. There, as here, Trump used the exact same threat on the enemy (“to open the gates of hell on them”), and there too Israel suddenly discovered that he was conducting direct negotiations with them. For many, this was proof that Trump had thrown Israel under the bus, that he was unstable, and other worn-out clichés. But the truth was different: Netanyahu’s Israel and Trump’s United States had the same goals, returning the hostages and demilitarizing Hamas. The gap was over the means. Israel believed in military force as the sole solution; Trump believed negotiations could also work. The US president was right, to Israel’s surprise. He secured the return of all the hostages while the IDF still controlled most of the Strip, leaving demilitarization for later. READ MORE

GATESTONE Khaled Abu Toameh: Begging Hamas to Disarm – The Misguided Approach of Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Someone needs to inform [Trump negotiator] Mladenov that Hamas has already made a choice: to reject disarmament. Over the past few months, Hamas leaders have consistently dismissed demands to disarm and characterized disarmament as a “red line.” Hamas leaders have instead proposed long-term truces (5-10 years) rather than total decommissioning of arms. Another thing the “Board of Peace” and Mladenov do not seem to understand is that Hamas uses ceasefires with Israel to rebuild, regroup, and restock its arsenal and tunnel networks.  The tone of the latest US proposal to Hamas and Mladenov’s holiday greetings appears as if the Trump administration is pleading with Hamas to disarm. 

JINSA The Eroding Shield: Air Defenses Against Iran Although U.S. air defense systems have performed well, the defensive architecture shows signs of deterioration. Gulf nations and Israel both reportedly have warned that interceptor stocks are approaching critical levels. Meanwhile, fragmented national air defense inventories and Iranian damage to radars and sensors are degrading the regional air defense architecture’s ability to sustain effective operations. Air defense support from America’s allies from outside the Middle East have added marginal capability but are coming too slow to address the core shortfalls.

TIMES OF ISRAEL Zamir said to warn cabinet that IDF will ‘collapse in on itself’ amid manpower shortage Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly warned the “IDF is going to collapse in on itself” during a security cabinet meeting this week, as the army deals with mounting operational demands and a growing manpower shortage. “I am raising 10 red flags in front of you,” Zamir told ministers, according a Channel 13 news report on Thursday. “Right now, the IDF needs a conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service,” he was quoted as saying. “Before long, the IDF will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last.”

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“Despite hostility from the American left and right, Israel’s strategic position is better than ever”

Posted on March 26, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FREE PRESS
The Free Press
Israel Is Unpopular. And It’s Never Had More Friends.
Eli Lake
March 24, 2026

Israel’s public image is in the toilet. On the socialist left, the Jewish state is portrayed as a genocidal colony. On the populist right, Israel and its supporters in America are conniving courtiers who bullied President Donald Trump to launch a war against Iran on its behalf. The numbers back it up too. A Gallup poll released late last month found that more Americans sympathize with the Palestinians than the Israelis for the first time in the quarter century that Gallup has been asking the question. All of this might lead Zionists to despair for Israel’s future. In terms of soft power, Jerusalem is being pummeled by podcasts, protests, and social media. But that is only part of the picture. When it comes to hard power, the stuff of arms sales, diplomacy, and air space, Israel is on a generational run. READ MORE

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“Joe Kent is out the door at the ODNI after blasting President Trump’s Iran policy. Is his boss Tulsi Gabbard next?”

Posted on March 26, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Who’s the Boss?
Lee Smith
March 23, 2026

The podcasters and senior Trump administration officials who attached themselves like parasites to the president to draw power from him because they have no power of their own are losing in Iran. They’re losing because they have no influence over Trump or his MAGA base, which supports the campaign to stop the terror regime’s nuclear program, by anywhere from 82% to 95%. They’re losing because they lost the argument over Israel on the ground, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proving to be America’s greatest wartime ally since Winston Churchill held off the Nazis until Franklin Delano Roosevelt brought America into World War II. And since the anti-Trump resistance is losing like Iran is losing, also like the Islamic Republic, they’re emptying their arsenal in scattershot fashion in the hope that they’ll hit something to ward off total defeat for at least one more day. READ MORE

FREE PRESS Coleman Hughes: The Myth of the All-Powerful Israel Lobby The idea that the most powerful country the world has ever known is being puppeteered by a country the size of New Jersey—and by a group that collectively accounts for 0.2 percent of the world’s population—is an extraordinary claim. You would expect overwhelming evidence. In reality, there’s little to substantiate it. Criticize America’s foreign and domestic policy as much as you want—there’s plenty to criticize. But don’t blame it on Israel or its supporters. The centerpiece of this narrative is a historical claim: that Israel got the United States into the Iraq War. In reality, Israel’s prime minister came to the White House to caution President Bush against invading Iraq, warning that it would empower Iran, Israel’s real enemy. Bush listened politely, then ignored him and invaded anyway, because American presidents make their own choices, for good and for ill.

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“The $3.8 billion America sends to Israel annually isn’t aid. It’s one of the highest-return strategic investments in modern history”

Posted on March 26, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY MAG
The Media’s Attempt to Drive a Wedge Between the U.S. and Israel
Seth Mandel
March 20, 2026

…It’s certainly true that Israel’s “brand” has taken a hit among U.S. voters. The Trump administration’s apparent contribution to that is based on three major examples in the CNN story. The first is Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s inartful answer to a question that was then chopped up by his critics and presented as proof that Israel dragged America into the war. The administration quickly cleaned it up, but there wasn’t much of a mess to begin with because the Trump team was clearly calling the shots from the beginning and anyone following the war knew immediately to dismiss any ginned-up rumor to the contrary. The second is Joe Kent’s resignation letter. As I wrote this week, the former counterterrorism official’s letter was so conspiracy-ridden that it accused Israel of being responsible for ISIS in Syria. So I chuckled when I read this part of the CNN story…READ MORE

FUTURE OF JEWISH Most Americans don’t realize how much they need Israel. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced recently that Israel would achieve full independence from American military aid, the response in Washington should have been something closer to panic — not because Israel desperately needs America’s $3.8 billion annual check, but because America needs what that investment buys far more than Israel needs the money. Strip away the rhetoric about shared values and historical bonds, which matter but aren’t the point here, and you’re left with a cold strategic reality: American power throughout the Middle East depends almost entirely on having one absolutely reliable partner in a region where literally everyone else is either actively hostile to the United States or so unstable they might collapse and flip sides at any moment.

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According to a recent survey by the Jewish Federations of North America, millennial Jews — the demographic where Birthright had the greatest penetration — were the only age group to have a majority identify as “Zionist”

Posted on March 26, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
Birthright participants are more Orthodox, more right-wing and more familiar with Israel than before Oct. 7
Andrew Lapin
March 23, 2026

…More than half of last year’s participants, 54%, had already participated in some variety of Israel programming, up from 38% in 2023, according to Saxe’s report. (Birthright loosened its eligibility requirements in 2014 to allow students who had visited Israel in high school to go again.) About 1 in 5 participants were Orthodox, a more than threefold growth from summer 2023, the last trips before the start of the Gaza war. And 38% of participants attended Jewish day school, up from 23% two years prior. The survey also detected a rightward political shift among Birthright participants. Forty-two percent of 2025’s Birthright participants identified as conservative, and 34% as liberal, a dramatic shift from 2023, when 20% identified as conservative and 57% as liberal. Those who do participate in Birthright still report that it deepens their connection to Judaism, and there is mounting evidence that connection is long-lasting. READ MORE

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Psychiatrist Ken Levin: Adapted from his new book, “The Canary on the Couch: The Psychology of Jewish Self-Delusions in the Face of Rising Antisemitism”

Posted on March 26, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF ANTIZIONISM
By Kenneth Levin, “Varieties of Jewish Antizionism”
Andrew Pessin
March 22, 2026

[Kenneth] Levin’s essay analyzes contemporary Jewish antizionism as a recurring psychological and historical response to antisemitic pressure rather than a purely principled political stance. He identifies multiple forms, from overtly anti-Israel activism to institutional alignments that downplay threats to Israel while embracing movements hostile to it. Levin situates these patterns within a longer history of Jewish efforts to gain acceptance by internalizing external criticisms, from Enlightenment-era reforms to modern progressive politics. The essay’s central contribution is its argument that antizionism often reflects a maladaptive strategy of appeasement, misdiagnosing antisemitism as a reaction to Israel and thereby weakening both Jewish self-understanding and collective security. READ MORE

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