“Former PM Naftali Bennett slams Tucker Carlson for claiming he was detained at Ben Gurion Airport, calling the commentator a “phony” who spouted lies and never even stepped foot in the country”

Posted on February 18, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ARUTZ SHEVA
Bennett: Tucker Carlson is a ‘phony’ spouting lies about Israel
February 19, 2026

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday ripped American commentator Tucker Carlson, after Carlson falsely claimed that he had been detained at Ben Gurion Airport upon his arrival in Israel. “Tucker Carlson is a chickens**t. The guy who’s been spouting lies about Israel for the past two years, landed today at Ben Gurion airport, took a quick picture in the logistics zone, tweeted it to pretend he’s actually IN Israel (so he can later claim that he’s a serious reporter who toured Israel), didn’t even step foot in country, then made up a story that he’s being supposedly harassed by our security (didn’t happen), whined about it, got back into the private jet and flew off,” Bennett wrote in a post on social media…Carlson claimed earlier that he and members of his team were detained at Ben Gurion Airport after conducting an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. READ MORE

JPOST Tucker Carlson visits Israel for sit-down with Huckabee: ‘He wouldn’t leave the airport’ The interview came after a public back-and-forth between Carlson and Ambassador Huckabee and was conducted inside the Ben-Gurion Airport complex, sources told The Jerusalem Post.

TIMES OF ISRAEL Israel, US envoy reject Tucker Carlson’s claim he was detained and interrogated at airport Conservative anti-Israel media personality Tucker Carlson claims that he was detained by Israeli security staff at Ben Gurion Airport after interviewing US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, which Israel — and Huckabee — firmly deny. “Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,” Carlson tells the Daily Mail. “It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country.” The Israel Airports Authority “firmly rejects” the claims.

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Emmanuel Macron speaks at tribute ceremony for Ilan Halimi

Posted on February 18, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
France Needs Jews in Order to Remain Itself
Emmanuel Macron
February 17, 2026

…Ilan Halimi had his whole life ahead of him. A loving family—his mother, Ruth, and his sisters. Friends, dreams. Dreams like those you have at 23, and the smile of someone who looks at others as a promise. Ilan Halimi was Jewish. And it is because he was Jewish that, for 20 years now, he has been missing from us all. It is because he was Jewish that he was subjected to an unspeakable ordeal, a 24-day calvary straight out of the darkest ages. Everything about the barbaric horror that unfolded 20 years ago inspires dread: Ilan’s abduction—conceived, premeditated, organized. His confinement in a cellar in Bagneux. The belief that, because he was Jewish, he must have had the means to pay unimaginable ransoms. The absurdity of antisemitic prejudice, the machinery of torture, the denial of his humanity. READ MORE

WIKI Murder of Ilan Halimi The murder of Ilan Halimi (Hebrew: אילן חלימי) was the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a young Frenchman of Moroccan Jewish ancestry in France in 2006. Halimi was kidnapped on 21 January 2006 by a group calling themselves the Gang of Barbarians. The kidnappers, believing that all Jews are rich, repeatedly contacted the victim’s modestly placed family demanding very large sums of money. Halimi was held captive and tortured for three weeks, and died of his injuries. The case drew national and international attention as an example of antisemitism in France.

DAILY CALLER ‘Pure Bullsh*t’: Macron Attacks Free Speech In Push For More Government Control French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized unrestricted free speech, calling it “pure bullshit,” as his government seeks to expand its power to regulate speech more broadly, both online and offline…In early February, French authorities raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X as part of a years-long criminal investigation into alleged algorithm manipulation and the spread of illegal content.

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Arbel Yehoud speaks about her suicide attempts, her decision not to reveal the horrors of captivity until partner Ariel Cunio was freed, his collapse after their reunion’

Posted on February 18, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

YNET NEWS
Freed hostage Arbel Yehoud breaks silence: ‘I tried to end it three times’
February 13, 2026

More than a year has passed since Arbel Yehoud was freed from captivity after 482 days in what she describes as the hell of Gaza. Four months have gone by since she was reunited with her partner, Ariel Cunio, who was held for 738 days. Yet even now, Arbel struggles to speak about the horrors she endured, leaving them, in her words, in a “closed suitcase.” “What I went through, I went through from beginning to end, almost every day in captivity,” she said, declining to elaborate…She said the shift for her came after former hostage Romi Gonen revealed the sexual harassment she endured in captivity, beginning on the fourth day. “I was repressing it well until then,” Arbel said. READ MORE

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“This isn’t mere coincidence; it’s a pattern of the UN lending legitimacy to one of the world’s most murderous regimes, even after they slaughtered tens of thousands of their own citizens”

Posted on February 16, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

UN WATCH
Walkout Urged: UN Human Rights Bodies to Host Two Iranian Regime Figures Back-to-Back
February 16, 2026

In back-to-back outrages that expose the depths of hypocrisy at the United Nations, the regime in Tehran is being given not one, but two prominent platforms at UN human rights bodies in Geneva—one week after the other. First, from February 16 to 20, 2026, the UN Human Rights Council’s Advisory Committee convenes its 34th session—with an Iranian regime official, Afsaneh Nadipour, taking her seat for the first time as a full member and contributing to discussions on “gender perspectives,” “democratic international order,” and “gender-based violence.” Then, one week later on February 24, 2026, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi—architect of the regime’s aggressive foreign policy and defender of its repressive apparatus—will take the floor to address the UN Human Rights Council itself, at the high-level opening of the 2026 session…UN Watch calls on democratic member states to walk out during both events — during Nadipour’s participation in the Advisory Committee sessions, and during Gharibabadi’s February 24 address — to send a clear message that the UN will not platform tyrants lecturing on human rights. READ MORE

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“A new generation of Diaspora Jews is refusing loyalty tests, rejecting defensiveness, and asserting their civil rights with unapologetic moral clarity”

Posted on February 16, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
The End of Jewish Apology Culture
Mitch Schneider
February 17, 2026

There’s a generation of Diaspora Jews who don’t explain themselves anymore. They don’t apologize before they speak. They don’t qualify their loyalty. They don’t flinch when someone tries to turn their civil rights into a foreign policy debate. They show up, they say what needs to be said, and when someone tries to knock them off balance, they don’t move. Recently, one of them walked into a hearing room in Washington, D.C. and showed the entire country what that looks like. What moral clarity sounds like when it’s not performed for cameras but spoken plainly, to power, by a 27-year-old who came prepared to talk about America and refused to talk about anything else. Before we get to what happened in that hearing room, you need to understand who this young man is. Because the story only makes sense when you know where he comes from. READ MORE

X Hear Shabbos Kestenbaum speak about Harvard University, antisemitism and the campus scene today.

COMBAT ANTISEMITISM Commissioner Removed From Religious Liberty Commission After Antisemitism Hearing Turns Controversial Former Miss California turned conservative activist Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the Religious Liberty Commission on Wednesday — two days after a contentious hearing in which she revived the deicide charge against Jews, challenged the premise that anti-Zionism constituted antisemitism, and defended disgraced political commentator Candace Owens. The Religious Liberty Commission was established by President Donald Trump in May 2025 to advise the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on religious liberty policies of the United States.

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Its official: Palestinian state will be another Islamic theocracy

Posted on February 15, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ALGEMEINER
PA’s Draft Constitution Enshrines Pay-for-Slay, Defines Palestine as Part of ‘Arab Homeland’
i24 News and Algemeiner Staff
February 15, 2026

A draft of a constitution for a future Palestinian state made public this week cemented in law the pay-for slay program, omitted any mention of the Jews’ historic ties to Jerusalem and appeared to endorse the idea that descendants of Palestinians displaced during the 1948 war have a so-called “right of return” to Israel. The fourth article designates Islam as the official religion and Islamic Sharia as the principal source of legislation. While Christianity is accorded a protected status, Judaism is not mentioned in the article nor anywhere else in the text. Neither are Jews. READ MORE

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“The black and Jewish communities found themselves swimming against parallel currents,” said host Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Posted on February 15, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
PBS to air four-part documentary series on blacks, Jews in America
February 3, 2026

PBS is set to air a new four-part documentary series written by “Finding Your Roots” host Henry Louis Gates Jr., which examines the relationship between black and Jewish Americans throughout U.S. history. Titled “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History,” the series premieres on Feb. 3 and is scheduled to run on consecutive Tuesdays through Feb. 24. PBS described the project, which airs during Black History Month, as tracing a relationship “defined by solidarity and strained by division,” shaped by the forces of racism and antisemitism, and by civic and cultural cooperation, particularly during the civil-rights era. READ MORE

View the PBS Trailer “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History”

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BDS in action: “Chasing good jobs out of New York because Mr. Mamdani and his friends hate Jews is probably not a very good economic development program”

Posted on February 15, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

THE JEWISH EDITION
US Drone Firm with Israel Sales Forced Out of Brooklyn Navy Yard After Mamdani Win
David Israel
February 15, 2026

Easy Aerial is an American technology company founded in the United States in 2014, with its headquarters located in Brooklyn. It serves a diverse range of clients, including the United States Air Force, federal agencies, and local law enforcement…One of Easy Aerial’s clients is Israel, where the company provides aerial surveillance systems for border monitoring…Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. spokesperson Claire Holmes said the decision not to renew Easy Aerial’s lease was “for business reasons related to operational and campus compliance matters.” She added, “Like any landlord, we evaluate renewals based on adherence to lease terms and campus policies.” But the timing of the decision speaks volumes: precisely six weeks after the Mamdani administration took office, and following sustained pressure from anti-Israel activist groups who are explicitly targeting companies with Israeli connections. READ MORE

JNS Cafe in Harlem, NY, ends dine-in service, citing anti-Israel harassment Jewish leaders and elected officials condemn backlash targeting Ethiopian-Israeli owner as the cafe shifts to a catering model.

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Iran, Hamas: “From Cato the Elder, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Machiavelli”

Posted on February 12, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

WASHINGTON TIMES
A few words of advice on Iran and Gaza
Clifford D. May
February 10, 2026

“Carthago delenda est!” In case your Latin is rusty, that means “Carthage must be destroyed!” Cato the Elder would repeat the demand in every speech he gave in the Roman Senate. This was between the Second and Third Punic Wars in the 150s BCE. In case your history is rusty, too, the Punic Wars were between Rome (you know where that is) and Carthage (which was on the coast of what is now Tunisia). The conflict spanned 118 years, from 264 to 146 BCE. Talk about your “endless wars”! As a matter of fact, I intend to – after subjecting you to just three more paragraphs of ancient history. READ MORE

GATESTONE Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas’s Secret Plan to Maintain Control of Gaza More than four months after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip went into effect, Hamas has still not laid down its weapons despite repeated warnings by US President Donald J. Trump. Hamas, in fact, not only continues to rule large parts of the Gaza Strip that are still under its control but also seems to be working hard to rearm, regroup and reassert its control over areas of the Gaza Strip from which the Israel Defense Forces have withdrawn. According to Israeli security sources: “Hamas recently strengthened its control over the Gaza Strip by stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to local residents, recruiting young men in mosques, collecting taxes, and kidnapping and torturing anyone who dares to speak out against the terror group.”

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IL 9th District Dem and pro-Israel candidate Laura Fine demonized by fellow Democrat Evanston mayor Biss for her AIPAC connections

Posted on February 11, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

EVANSTON ROUNDTABLE
Fine under fire for donation sources by Biss and others at candidate forum
Margo Milanowski
February 5th, 2026

At a Wednesday evening candidate forum held by the Central Street Neighbors Association of Evanston, State Sen. Laura Fine (9th District) came under fire from some other candidates regarding her campaign donation sources, including donations from previous donors to current president Donald Trump and reportedly from a fundraiser held by the head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). “It should be very troubling that the overwhelming majority of Laura Fine’s donations come from AIPAC supporters,” Mayor Daniel Biss said at the forum, held at Northminster Presbyterian Church. “She supports a blank check of military aid for Israel.”  READ MORE

POLITICO In IL-09, friendly forum turns fierce A political forum that began politely turned raucous Wednesday evening when Mayor Daniel Biss accused state Sen. Laura Fine of accepting dark money and donations from Trump supporters.

CHICAGO SUN TIMES What to know about the 9th Congressional District Democratic primary race An astounding 15 Democrats are vying for the seat left open by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s retirement.

JEWISH INSIDER Daniel Biss reversed position on aid to Israel after launching congressional campaign Sources said the Illinois Democrat had also sought AIPAC’s support before launching his campaign, and then turned against the pro-Israel group; Biss denies the allegation

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN Biss calls encampment-related congressional letter featuring trustee criticism a ‘baseless attack fueled by’ AIPAC Northwestern trustee Michael Sacks slammed Mayor Daniel Biss in text messages with former University President Michael Schill in April 2024 for refusing to send Evanston Police Department officers to make arrests and clear the pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow, according to a Wednesday letter to Biss from U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). 

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