“With Iran, the president is trying to chart a middle course between George Bush’s war and Barack Obama’s retreat. Whether that can succeed is an open question”

Posted on September 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Trump’s Third Way
Michael Doran
September 1, 2026

…His actions reveal a president steering between what he considers to be two wrecks. The first is George W. Bush’s regime-change war in Iraq. Trump called that war possibly the worst decision in presidential history and promised his voters never to repeat it. The second is Barack Obama’s Iran policy. After Iraq, Obama concluded, America’s only remaining course was to retreat, pay Tehran for quiet, and call it peace. Trump’s critics can imagine only these two headings, so each camp accuses him of steering toward the one it hates. But the president is attempting something harder: He is applying enough force to change the calculus of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps without tipping into the war of conquest toward which the dynamic of the conflict is pulling him. The bombing has proved insufficient, so he is tightening an economic siege in its place. Whether that middle course can succeed is the real question of the stalemate. Answering it begins with the military balance, which [Lindsey] Graham’s theory took for granted. READ MORE

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October 7: “Netanyahu said this week that officials had deliberately chosen not to wake him earlier despite warning signs during the night”

Posted on September 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

I24 NEWS
Netanyahu releases Oct. 7 timeline to shift the blame-but exposes a 3½-hour delay
Joe Brown
September 3, 2026

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office has published a detailed account of his movements and decisions on the morning of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in an apparent effort to reinforce his argument that Israel’s security establishment failed to warn him while there was still time to prepare communities along the Gaza border. The chronology portrays Netanyahu as acting decisively once informed: questioning the absence of prior intelligence, considering the elimination of Hamas’s leadership, ordering a full mobilization of reservists and demanding that the Gaza boundary be sealed. But the same timeline highlights a politically difficult gap. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu was first told at 6:29 a.m. that an attack was underway. The full situation assessment with Israel’s senior security leadership began at 9:55 am—three hours and 26 minutes later, as Israeli communities were being overrun and hostages taken into Gaza. The release comes amid a renewed battle over responsibility for Israel’s worst security failure. READ MORE

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33 Democrats join most GOP lawmakers in backing legislation which blocks federal funding from universities that boycott Israel

Posted on September 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
US House advances bill to withhold federal funds from universities boycotting Israel
Jacob Magid
September 4, 2026

The US House of Representatives on Thursday advanced legislation blocking federal funding from universities that boycott Israel, with 33 moderate Democrats joining almost every Republican in backing the measure. After passing by a margin of 237 to 169, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act still needs to be passed by the Senate before it can be signed into law…House Democratic leadership opposed the bill over what it said were free speech concerns, in addition to arguing that it doesn’t differentiate between Israel and settlements in the West Bank, which much of the international community deems illegal…Defending the bill, its Democratic cosponsor Representative Josh Gottheimer told lawmakers during a speech before the vote that it “simply says that if your university takes federal taxpayer dollars, it can’t discriminate against academic partnerships or investments with one country.” READ MORE

Roll call list includes the 33 Democrats who voted in favor, included Brad Schneider (IL), Jake Auchincloss (MA), Brad Sherman (CA), Henry Cuellar (TX), Haley Stevens (MI), Ritchie Torres (NY), Jared Moskowitz (FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)

ALGEMEINER Anti-Israel Insurgents Fall Flat in Massachusetts Democratic Primaries
A trio of hardline anti-Israel candidates lost in Massachusetts on Tuesday night, representing a blow to the broader movement against the Jewish state within the Democratic Party. Progressive candidates Jeromie Whalen, Tram Nguyen, and Craig Swallow were defeated by establishment Democrats in Tuesday night’s contests. In each race, the progressive insurgents attempted to weaponize Israel and alleged connections to the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) against their moderate opponents. Rep. Richard Neal, who represents the 1st District of Massachusetts, successfully beat back a challenge by left-wing opposition Jeromie Whalen, who attempted to cast Neal as part of an out-of-touch establishment elite beholden to corporate interests.

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“The ‘Achilles’ Shield’ agreement, a series of deals creating a counterweight to growing cooperation among Turkey, Egypt and other regional powers. Athens gains an answer to the threat posed by its archrival Erdogan, while Jerusalem gains major economic and diplomatic benefits”

Posted on September 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM
Facing a ‘Muslim NATO’: Israel’s biggest-ever defense deal reshapes the Mediterranean
Aharon Lapidot
August 30, 2026

Barring any last-minute surprises, Israel and Greece are set to sign a historic defense agreement Monday that amounts to nothing less than a geostrategic earthquake. The two countries will sign what is expected to be the largest Israeli defense export deal in the country’s history: the €3.1 billion ($3.6 billion) Achilles’ Shield project, approved in Greece about a month ago. Greece is moving away from its aging Russian and European systems and entrusting the defense of its skies, from Athens to the popular tourist islands of the Aegean Sea, to three advanced Israeli missile-defense systems. Anyone following today’s threat map understands that this is more than a military procurement deal. It represents a reassessment of the regional balance of power. The diplomatic and strategic significance of the agreement extends far beyond the Mediterranean. In recent years, a Sunni alliance has been taking shape among Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, seeking to set the tone in both the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin. READ MORE

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“In the days since Vance’s appearance at the RJC, frustration and concern has grown in Jewish and pro-Israel conservative circles about Vance not directly addressing Tucker Carlson”

Posted on September 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

THE HILL
Haley tells Vance to ‘choose a side’: Israel or Tucker Carlson
Mira Bhakta
September 1, 2026

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused Vice President Vance Tuesday of not taking a clear stance on Israel — slamming him for trying to “be both.” “Right is right. Wrong is wrong. In life, you must choose a side. You are either with the Tucker Carlson wing of the country or you are with the pro Israel wing of the country,” she wrote on social media. “You can’t be both.” Haley, a former GOP presidential candidate, continued her post with a quote from Nobel Prize-winning writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who said in his 1986 acceptance speech, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” Though Vance has remained loyal to pro-Israel Republicans, including President Trump, his stance on the country remains unclear due to his previous criticism. The vice president told podcaster Joe Rogan in July there are people within the Israeli government who are seeking to “manipulate” and “change” U.S. public opinion on the war in Iran. READ MORE

JNS Vance makes pitch to Jewish Republicans at closed-door Las Vegas gathering Vice President JD Vance spoke to Jewish Republicans in Las Vegas on Monday amid doubts from some pro-Israel conservatives about his feelings towards the Jewish state, his self-described “realist” foreign policy views and his relationship with Tucker Carlson…The discussion was closed to press, but a recording of Vance’s remarks was released by the Daily Wire shortly after he spoke. 

JEWISH INSIDER The elephant in the room for JD Vance Frustration has grown in pro-Israel conservative circles over Vance’s refusal to condemn Tucker Carlson by name, particularly after his RJC summit appearance

JEWISH INSIDER Vance defends friendship with Tucker Carlson despite ‘political disagreements’ Vice President JD Vance defended his friendship with antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson at a White House press briefing on Thursday, saying that he would not “play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them.” Vance made the comments after being asked to respond to the concerns raised by his continued association with the far-right commentator and accusations that he has been “avoiding addressing a lot of these issues,” as Carlson has increasingly used his show to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.

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Said differently: Democrat Jews should support the antisemitic, anti-Israel Democrat, not that right wing pro-Israel Republican

Posted on September 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Michigan AG Nessel tells Jewish Democrats to put ‘needs of world’ ahead of ‘our own survival’
Matthew Kessel
August 31, 2026

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, encouraged Jewish voters on Sunday to put aside concerns about their safety “in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity,” in a stark reference to the choices facing Jewish Democrats in the closely contested Senate election this November. “We have a moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival,” Nessel told attendees in her remarks at the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus’ annual “Summer Simcha” gathering, where she was honored, according to reports confirmed by Jewish Insider. READ MORE

JNS Jonathan Tobin: ‘Jewish values’ are not a suicide pact that empowers antisemites Under pressure to support El-Sayed, Michigan’s Jewish Attorney General betrayed her people by urging Jews to sacrifice their survival in favor of “the needs of the world.”

FREE PRESS Can Anyone Beat Abdul El-Sayed? The Democratic establishment tried and failed to stop him in Michigan’s Senate primary. Will Republicans fare any better?

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“Paramount blasted the actor’s usage of the words “genocide” and “apartheid” in connection with the business transaction as peddling in antisemitism”

Posted on September 1, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

VARIETY
Mark Ruffalo Defended by Joaquin Phoenix, Hannah Einbinder and More Than 180 Jewish Figures After Paramount Accuses Him of Using ‘Antisemitic Tropes’
Alex Ritman
September 1, 2026

More than 180 Jewish figures from the entertainment industry and beyond have signed a letter in support of Mark Ruffalo over what it asserts is a “smear campaign” against the actor. Among those supporting the letter — which claims that Ruffalo has been the subject of “spurious charges of antisemitism” — are Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer, Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn. The letter comes following a heated week in which Ruffalo has been at the center of a growing confrontation regarding the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. In a social media post on Aug. 21, the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood, but also accused the Ellison family of being complicit in the “genocide” against Palestinians, which he said “was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.” READ MORE

JNS Mark Ruffalo embroiled in antisemitism row with Paramount over Israel “We are, as always, troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute,” the film production company said as the feud went viral.

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“It is common for city zoning enforcement to address traffic, parking, and noise, but those were not factors in Grand’s case because Orthodox Jews do not drive on the Sabbath”

Posted on August 31, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL REVIEW
When Jewish Prayer at Home Becomes a Municipal Offense
Edward Blum & Rabbi Cary Kozberg
August 31, 2026

University Heights, Ohio, is a highly educated, affluent suburb of Cleveland with a significant population of Orthodox Jews. In January 2021, one of its residents, Daniel Grand, invited fellow Jews to come to his home for Sabbath prayer. For this action, the city sent him a cease-and-desist letter, which was followed by police cruisers patrolling his street to enforce the order. The pressure on Grand did not stop there. The mayor encouraged Grand’s neighbors to watch his house for signs that Jews were gathering inside. City officials demanded architectural drawings of his home, issued property citations, withheld his certificate of occupancy, and, at times, refused to collect his trash. A neighbor set up surveillance cameras aimed at his house. READ MORE

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Florek told JNS that he thinks that Sigcho-Lopez attributed the record release to AIPAC because “it’s an easy scapegoat to conjure up some bogeyman, who is responsible for your political ills.””

Posted on August 30, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Chicago alderman went ‘Jew-hunting’ when he blamed AIPAC for releasing divorce records, lawsuit alleges
Rebecca Szlechter
August 27, 2026

Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a Chicago alderman who represents parts of the neighborhood of Pilsen, went “Jew-hunting” when he said that AIPAC was at fault for releasing his divorce records. And in fact, the Jewish lawyer whom he blamed had no ties to the pro-Israel lobby, according to a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County...Sigcho-Lopez, who represents the city’s 25th ward, spent “incredible” amounts of the family’s money on prostitutes and pornography, his former wife alleges in records of the 2011 divorce proceedings, which JNS viewed…Sigcho-Lopez denies the allegations and has blamed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for releasing the records. READ MORE

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A year after his assassination, tolerance of political violence remains especially high among progressives

Posted on August 28, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

THE CODDLING MOVIE
Charlie Kirk and the Left’s Lionization of Political Violence
Ryan Self
September 2, 2026

Nearly a year has passed since the assasination of Charlie Kirk, so progressive provocateur Hasan Piker figured the time was right to sing a song that mocks the conservative activist’s death. Performing to a rapt audience and wearing his Chairman Mao-inspired jacket, the streamer led the crowd in gleefully laughing about Kirk’s death and his Christian faith. While many in the room joined Piker’s chorus of hate, a growing chorus celebrating violence has grown louder well outside Piker’s events. In June of last year, Luigi: The Musical opened to sold-out crowds. In the musical, Luigi Mangione, who assassinated the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, is turned into a folk hero. A man who killed a husband and father because of his occupation is treated to love ballads. These are just some examples among many of the rot that is taking place in our culture. Whether it’s the case of Charlie Kirk, multiple assassination attempts on Trump, or the reactions to October 7, for many political violence has become something to cheer rather than condemn. READ MORE

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