“Memo to Trump: No one in the region wants the regime to survive…Turkey is essentially proposing that Iran and Turkey switch places, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the steward of all the mullahs’ ill-gotten gains”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
Is Iran Attending Its Own Funeral?
Seth Mandel
February 3, 2026

Mideast summit this Friday looks like it will play host to a group of countries that claim to want to save Iran from U.S. strikes—but in reality want to bury the Islamic Republic alive. For Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which both plan to be represented at the meetup in Istanbul, it’s pretty straightforward. The Saudis are rivals for Iran’s influence and power projection around the Gulf, and Egypt stands to benefit from a loosening of Iranian proxies’ troublemaking in the Red Sea shipping lanes and its sponsorship of Hamas. The reason for Turkey and Qatar’s bad-faith participation in the summit becomes clear when you see the kind of proposed “solutions” coming out of Ankara. Haaretz reports: “Turkey might propose, among other things, that the enriched uranium in Iran — including around 440 kilograms (970 pounds) that are enriched to 60 percent — be transferred to Turkey, with a promise that it would never be returned to Iran.” READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM Turkey’s nuclear path is a risk Israel cannot ignore Ankara is using nuclear technology strictly for civilian purposes, but the infrastructure it is building could, under certain conditions, later help pave the way toward military applications. As long as the current president remains in power, efforts to edge closer to a nuclear weapons capability are unlikely to stop. The question is how long it would take, and how Israel should respond.

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Somaliland recognition “simultaneously provides Israel a strategic foothold opposite Yemen, greater proximity to the ongoing threat posed by the Houthis, a deeper stake in Red Sea security, and the potential to become a much bigger player in African politics”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
What Israel Sees In Somaliland
Ilan Berman
February 3, 2026

Although it has been pushed off the front pages by the Trump Administration’s dramatic early January ouster of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro and the current unrest roiling Iran, another recent geopolitical development deserves sustained attention. In late December, Israel unexpectedly announced that it was unilaterally recognizing the sovereignty of the East African territory of Somaliland. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar made clear that the move was the culmination of months of quiet, intensive diplomacy between Jerusalem and Hargeisa, leading to “mutual recognition and full diplomatic relations…The Trump Administration defended Israel’s right to choose its diplomatic partners while simultaneously stressing that America’s own policy remains unchanged. Still, many now think that the Trump Administration should follow Israel’s diplomatic lead in recognizing Somaliland—and that it soon might (Indeed, Israel’s recognition seems to have already touched off a potential domino effect, with countries like Morocco, the UAE, Kenya, Ethiopia and India also reportedly considering doing the same.) READ MORE

JEWISH INSIDER Riyadh and Ankara jointly condemn Jerusalem’s recognition of Somaliland, call for Israeli withdrawal from Syria The two countries outlined their alignment on several regional issues, including rejecting Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Syria, as well as a two-state solution.

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“US State Department reportedly filed evidence to Congress that the programme, which provides funding to the families of convicted terrorists, continued under a different name”

Posted on February 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH CHRONICLE
PA paid out $200m in pay-for-slay despite pledge to end scheme, US claims
Jacob Jaffa
January 30, 2026

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been accused of paying out $200 million to the families of terrorists in 2025, despite pledging it would stop doing so. According to the US State Department, the payments were still disbursed even after PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced the end of the so-called “pay-for-slay” programme. The scheme, officially named the PA Martyrs Fund, has been running since the late 1960s and sees the authority provide financial support for the families of Palestinians convicted of terror offences in Israel. READ MORE

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“Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream who often reminds audiences that he “was born a Jew,” continues his crusade against the Jewish state”

Posted on February 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
A Scoop of Anti-Israel Ice Cream
Mitch Schneider
February 1, 2026

…What is unbelievable and remarkably frustrating is that Ben & Jerry’s sells ice cream, directly or via its parent company, Unilever, in countries with records that make Israel look saintly by any serious human-rights metric. These include China (mass detention of Uyghurs, forced labor, total censorship); Saudi Arabia (no free speech, no religious freedom, women historically treated as legal minors, dissidents murdered); Russia (political assassinations, invasion of sovereign neighbors, criminalization of dissent); and Iran (theocratic repression, executions, women beaten or killed for dress violations). In none of these cases did Ben & Jerry’s suddenly discover a conscience, issue a press release, or declare that their “values” were incompatible with selling ice cream there. So when Ben & Jerry’s singled out Israel, it wasn’t ethics. It was selective moral theater. READ MORE

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One of Q.AI’s financial backers, GV said that the deal marked Apple’s “second-largest acquisition in its history”

Posted on February 1, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

REUTERS
Apple acquires Israeli audio AI startup Q.ai
Stephen Nellis
January 29, 2026

Apple on Thursday said it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple did not disclose terms of the deal for Q.ai, which was backed by venture capital firms Matter Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Exor and GV, formerly known as Google Ventures. The deal valued the startup at about $1.6 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. Apple did not say how it will use Q.ai’s technology but said the startup has worked on new applications of machine learning to help devices understand whispered speech and to enhance audio in challenging environments. READ MORE

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“Suicidal empathy unfortunately does not work. As the term predicts, it ends up killing its host”

Posted on January 31, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
‘Suicidal Empathy’: Is the West Committing Suicide-by-Compassion?
Drieu Godefridi
January 30, 2026

The theory of “suicidal empathy,” taken up and developed by Canadian Professor Gad Saad in his book Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, describes a psychological and societal condition in which excessive or misguided compassion leads Western societies — particularly, it seems, “progressive” ones — to adopt self-destructive attitudes and policies that will ultimately “succeed” in destroying them. The process, however well-intentioned, is a form of civilizational suicide. According to Saad’s thesis, empathy becomes misdirected into a type of benevolent altruism that prioritizes the perceived feelings and needs of “marginalized” or external groups at the expense of the survival, security, and interests of one’s own group and its values. The outcome is the weakening, and ultimately the destruction, of the very civilization that expressed this emotion. READ MORE

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“Foreign ministers of all 27 European Union member states have unanimously agreed to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, a move expected to escalate tensions with Tehran and lead to sweeping sanctions”

Posted on January 29, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
EU designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization
Nissan Shtrauchler
January 29, 2026

The European Union announced on Thursday that it will formally designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, after the foreign ministers of all 27 member states reached a unanimous decision. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the move was intended to send an unequivocal message to Tehran, warning that repression would not go unanswered. “Repression cannot go unanswered,” Kallas said in a statement. “EU Foreign Ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation.”…The move now places Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on a par with terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and aligns with similar designations already in place in the US, Canada and Australia. READ MORE

UNWATCH Hillel Neuer: History Is Watching: Iran, the UN, and Global Inaction Doctors in Iran estimate 20,000 protesters killed; and 330,000 injured. These are numbers that defy comprehension. These are crimes against humanity. So today’s session is welcome. But let’s be honest: it is too little, and too late. The Iranian people have a right to know: Why, for over three weeks, did this Council say nothing ? We ask the 87 UN rights experts, the world’s “early warning mechanism.” For over two weeks, why were you silent? Only on January 13th was there a statement. And out of 87, only five of you signed it. Day after day, we pleaded for action. Five days into the repression, after killings of protesters, I asked Agnes Callamard, the former UN Rapporteur who now heads Amnesty International: Why are you silent?

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Erasing the Jews: Vance, BBC and others forget what Holocaust Remembrance Day is about

Posted on January 29, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
Vance omits mention of Jews from Holocaust Remembrance Day statement, incensing Jewish critics on both sides of the aisle
Andrew Lapin
January 27, 2026

Vice President JD Vance made a statement [via Tweet] marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day that failed to mention either Jews or Nazis, igniting further Jewish criticism of the vice president from both sides of the aisle…Tablet, the Jewish digital magazine that promotes conservative ideas but has drawn a line of skepticism around the vice president, swiftly criticized Vance’s comments. “Thank you Mr. Vice President for this unique commemoration of the Holocaust that manages to avoid mentioning Jews or condemning Nazis,” the site’s Twitter account posted. READ MORE

EXPRESS BBC issues grovelling apology as it fails to mention Jews in Holocaust coverage 3 times The BBC has issued an apology after it omitted the word Jews from its coverage of Holocaust Memorial Day on three separate programmes. The word Jews was not used by BBC presenters yesterday, which marked the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with at least three hosts saying six million “people” died in the genocide. BBC Radio 4, BBC Breakfast and BBC World News failed to use the word Jews during their reports.

NEW YORK POST Deborah Lipstadt and Noa Tishby: Hatred of Israel is the new antisemitism The focal point for those who wish to carry out an organized, systematic slaughter of Jews today is therefore the dismantlement of Israel “by all means necessary.” The outcome of that would be a genocide of Israel’s Jews – though among its advocates there may be variations on whether that would be the primary aim, or just a necessary evil. Large sections of our societies have been groomed to support that goal and trained to view Israel as a unique source of evil in the world that must be destroyed if a better future is to be born.

JEWISH INSIDER Saudi pivot could have implications on antisemitism globally, Lipstadt contends Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the former U.S. envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that she’s concerned by the increased pace of antisemitic rhetoric coming from Saudi Arabia, and warned that an extended change of course by Riyadh could have implications on the spread of antisemitism globally.

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“Judging Israel’s wartime behavior through epithets, TikTok clips, and faulty balance sheets poses a direct danger to American lives”

Posted on January 29, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET
The Genocide Slur Is Not Just for Jews
John Spencer
January 27, 2026

The casual use of the word genocide to target Israel is not only a slur—it is also dangerous to Americans. That’s because, if this ahistorical, amoral, and largely evidence-free way of judging war is allowed to take hold in public discourse and, worse, harden into international legal practice, it will not remain confined to one conflict or one ally. It will be turned on the United States and every other military that may have to fight and win in cities. Israel is not the endpoint of the debate over the rules of war in the age of TikTok. It is the test case. If the rules are rewritten here, American soldiers will inherit them in the next urban war…There has been no genocide in Gaza. Israel has not intentionally targeted civilians. Its intent has been to return hostages, dismantle Hamas as a military and governing organization following the Oct. 7 mass casualty attack, and do so while sustaining civilian life under extraordinarily difficult combat conditions. Intent matters. Context matters. Law matters. READ MORE

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Jared’s vision: “A slick Western fantasy promises prosperity and peace while ignoring the culture of violence and corruption that destroyed Gaza in the first place”

Posted on January 29, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
The New Gaza™ (A Virtual Paradise Lacking Only the 72 Virgins)
Jonathan Sacerdoti
January 24, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump’s strangely artificial Board of Peace event in Davos on Thursday looked like a Hollywood rendering of an international summit. Everything was too slick, faintly uncanny. Like an AI-generated image, it was photo-real yet failed the most basic human glance test. Too perfect. No wabi-sabi. The first tell was visual: the set, complete with a crisp new institutional logo — a globe on a shield, flanked by olive branches. It carried the unmistakable whiff of Grok or ChatGPT, but the strangeness went deeper than design. The speeches themselves were weirdly messianic and utopian. READ MORE

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