“The arrests of the Jews, who reportedly include several rabbis, appear to be part of a crackdown in which more than 700 people have been taken in since June 13, when Israel initiated its attacks on Iran”

Posted on July 9, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
24 Iranian Jews remain in prison as government launches internal crackdown
Larry Cohler-Esses
June 30, 2025

Twenty-four members of the Jewish community in Tehran and Shiraz remain in prison as of Sunday after being arrested along with hundreds of others in a sweeping government crackdown in Iran that began as fighting ended with Israel. The arrests took in 35 Jews originally, according to a report put out Saturday by HRANA, the Human Rights Activist News Agency, an affiliate of the Human Rights in Iran NGO. Mass arrests began early in the morning of June 23, according to the report. Eleven Jews have been released since the original arrests, according to a former senior Iranian communal leader, who would speak only on condition of anonymity due to concerns for his contacts in Iran. READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Top Iranian cleric issues Fatwa against Trump & Netanyahu In a significant escalation of rhetoric following the recent 12-day conflict between Israel, Iran, and the United States, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran’s most senior Shia clerics, has issued a fatwa declaring U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “enemies of God” and “mohareb”—those who wage war against Allah. Shirazi called for Trump and Netanyahu to be subject to “execution or crucifixion” and that any Muslim who helps either of them to face a similar fate or “amputation of the right hand and left foot or exile.”

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Secretary of State Rubio: The UN special rapporteur’s “campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated”

Posted on July 8, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Trump admin sanctions Albanese for spewing ‘unabashed antisemitism,’ supporting terrorism
Mike Wagenheim
July 9, 2025

The U.S. State Department announced that it is sanctioning Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian territories, under an executive order that states those who engage “directly” with an effort by the International Criminal Court to arrest or probe a “protected person” without the consent of the person’s country are subject to having their property and assets blocked. “The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a special rapporteur,” Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, said on Wednesday. “Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West.” READ MORE

UN WATCH Francesca Albanese freaks out when Hillel Neuer asks “Who funded you?” Pro-Hamas UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese appeared before the United Nations to tell terrible lies about Israel. Condemned for Holocaust distortion and antisemitism last year by France, Germany, Canada & the U.S., she now says “one people was enriched” by “erasing” Palestinians. Terrorist regimes embraced her. Then UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer took the floor.

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Kamala Harris aide urged her to more vocally call out the far-left elements of her party to win the election

Posted on July 8, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Harris overlooked advice to more strongly tout support for Israel, according to new book
Gabby Deutch
July 8, 2025

In the closing weeks of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run last year, her campaign solicited guidance on how to win over the moderate and persuadable Republican voters she would need to defeat Donald Trump.  One of the chief ways she could do that, according to a memo from political strategist Maria Comella, would be to tout her support for Israel — and make clear she disagreed with people in the Democratic Party who compared Israel to Hamas. “It is wrong to draw moral equivalency between a terrorist organization in Hamas and the State of Israel. No terrorist organization should be celebrated. Our support for Israel and her right to self defense should not be questioned,” Comella wrote in one of four memos she sent to the Harris campaign in the fall. READ MORE

FUTURE OF JEWISH We need to talk about black antisemitism A couple months ago, on a sunny afternoon, I was weaving my way through crowds in Times Square, late for a rehearsal, moving at a New Yorker’s pace. Suddenly, my way was blocked by a tall young man. Our eyes met; his were wild with a visible rage. Then: Bam! He punched me square in the face, the bridge of my glasses cutting a bloody gash into my forehead. As I reeled from this sudden assault, he lunged at me as if to take another shot,but pulled the punch, and instead screamed, “Kike!” in my face, then vanished into the crowd. I mopped up the blood as three teenagers, who’d witnessed the attack, laughed at my distress.

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Former FIDF employees, lay leaders tell eJP that the board chair has effectively taken over the organization since the Oct. 7 attacks, creating a ‘poisonous’ work environment

Posted on July 7, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
Friends of the IDF in crisis after internal report alleges financial abuse and toxic culture
Asaf Elia-Shalev
July 8, 2025

An American charity that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars by promising to meet the emergency needs of Israeli soldiers after the war in Gaza broke out is now facing internal turmoil over allegations of financial mismanagement, cronyism, and a toxic workplace culture.  The crisis at Friends of the Israel Defense Forces centers on the group’s chairman, Morey Levovitz, who is accused of consolidating power, awarding contracts to associates without oversight, and authorizing lavish spending that some insiders say betrays donors’ trust. The accusations were made public last week in an article published by Ynet, a major Israeli news outlet, which cited a report from an internal investigation commissioned by the group’s board earlier this year. READ MORE

EJEWISH PHILANTHROPY As FIDF reels from leaked memo detailing abuses, sources say group’s leaders engaging in deceptive fundraising practices, wasteful spending The report also found that Levovitz has demanded reimbursement for his travel expenses to Israel, which often include business and first-class seats, amounting to more than $53,000 — in contrast to previous chairs who paid for their own travel and accommodations, in addition to making six-figure donations to the organization, which Levovitz has also reportedly not made…All of the sources — coming from three different regions of the United States and Israel, most of whom had been involved with FIDF for many years, some for more than 20  — described a severe deterioration in the work environment at the organization in recent years, using terms like “cutthroat,” “poisonous,” “bullying” and “mafia-like.” 

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Heard in Jerusalem: “Hasbara” has become something resembling a dirty word

Posted on July 7, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM STRATEGIC TRIBUNE
In Israel, A Public Diplomacy Pivot
Ilan Berman
July 7, 2025

…Belatedly, Israeli authorities have concluded that an overhaul of their messaging is in order. Officials in Jerusalem now increasingly refer to waging a “war of knowledge” while hasbara has become something resembling a dirty word in official parlance. More concretely, and significantly, the country has begun allocating real resources to this endeavor. In March, the Israeli government for the first time passed a budget that earmarked some $150 million for public diplomacy. In comparative terms, Israel’s $150 million does not represent a significant investment. Qatar’s popular al-Jazeera channel, for instance, boasts an annual budget of $1 billion, while the Islamic Republic of Iran officially allocated at least $600 million between 2024 and 2025 for propaganda activities. Still, for Israel, which has never fielded a public diplomacy budget of any note, it represents a major evolution. READ MORE

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This is the Briton we should be talking about – not the sozzled, moneyed brats of Glastonbury who got a sick thrill from chanting ‘Death, death to the IDF’, but this fresh-faced warrior against Islamofascism

Posted on July 5, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

QUAERENS BLOG
Forget the bigots of Glastonbury – it’s the heroic IDF soldier, Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, we should be talking about.
Brendan O’Neill
July 1, 2025

The name we should remember from this weekend is not Bob Vylan. Or Pascal Robinson-Foster, to give the Israelophobic punk who caused such a stink at Glastonbury his real name. No, it’s Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld. For as Bob Vylan was whipping the smug mob of Glasto into a frenzy of violent loathing for the IDF, this young IDF soldier, himself a Brit, was laying down his life for the Jewish people. He was killed in Gaza on Sunday as he did battle with that army of anti-Semites, Hamas. Now that’s anti-fascism. Natan – as he was known – was 20 years old. He was born in London and moved to Israel 11 years ago. He was a sergeant in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion of the IDF. He was killed by an explosive device in northern Gaza. His sister’s boyfriend, also an IDF soldier, died in combat during Hamas’s pogrom of 7 October 2023. Natan’s father paid tribute to him this morning. He was fighting ‘for his parents, his family, his people’, he said. ‘I feel he has a place in history.’ READ MORE

JEWISH CHRONICLE Hen Mazzig:Glastonbury’s death cult: When ‘progressive’ Britain turns its back on Jews The IDF is not just another army; it is the world’s only Jewish state-security force, the fragile buffer between Jews and the abyss of history. Strip us of that, and you strip us of the most basic safeguard against a return to powerlessness, against the ever-present threat of another Holocaust. We are not paranoid, the world has turned a blind eye to our genocide in living memory, and remind us today they would do it again. This is not an abstract fear. On October 7 2023, Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds at the Nova music festival in Israel while simultaneously targeting Jewish families in their homes.

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Mossad initiated a targeted disinformation effort days before the Iran strike. Using falsified communications through Iranian channels, they triggered what appeared to be an emergency meeting.

Posted on July 5, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
Israeli secret services ‘used fake phone call’ to lure Iran’s air force elite to their deaths
June 17, 2025

Israel secret services used a fake phone call to trick the top commanders of Iran’s air force into gathering at a single location before taking them out in a targeted strike, an Israeli Channel 12 commentator has said. In a statement confirmed to the JC by Israeli sources, Amit Segal told the Call Me Back podcast on Monday: “What Israel did was create a fake phone call for 20 members of the air force senior staff an calling them to a specific bunker in Tehran.” This meant there was no one to give the order to fire the initial salvo of 1,000 ballistic missiles as Iran had previously threatened to do, he added. READ MORE

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Horovitz: Iran was a decision and a few weeks away from nuclear weapons. But unlike Gaza 2023, Israel had been watching

Posted on July 4, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel was facing destruction at the hands of Iran. This is how close it came, and how it saved itself
David Horovitz
June 30, 2025

The Iranian regime was increasingly convinced in recent months that it would soon be able to destroy Israel. The “Destruction of Israel” clock in Tehran’s Palestine Square was not an exercise in bravado. It was a public countdown to what the ayatollahs believed was Israel’s imminent demise, at their hands. Along with dismay that Yahya Sinwar had failed to consult and coordinate with them before invading southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the regime drew encouragement from the success of that massacre, its apparent confirmation of Israel’s vulnerability, and the ongoing instability it had caused. Israel’s elimination, the regime delightedly, and rationally, assessed, was truly at hand. READ MORE

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The two leaders’ third summit in six months makes history. It will tout the crushing blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions – and offer a glimpse into what could unfold next

Posted on July 2, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
How the Netanyahu-Trump partnership is reshaping the Middle East
Ariel Kahana
July 2, 2025

In an unprecedented diplomatic milestone, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet United States President Donald Trump for the third time in six months. Such frequency is historic and unlikely to be repeated. The two leaders will likely celebrate their triumph over Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a feat Trump described on Tuesday as a “celebration.” This operation, led by Israel, may have averted a third world war by dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Israel’s action demonstrated its strategic value to American interests in the Middle East and beyond. No nation, including China or Russia, expressed regret over the blows dealt to the Islamic Republic. This strengthened American deterrence, justifying the celebratory tone Netanyahu and Trump are expected to adopt. However, the meetings will focus not only on past achievements but also on shaping the region’s future. Regarding Iran, the leaders will likely coordinate enforcement policies to prevent the revival of its nuclear program. READ MORE

MOSAIC American Intervention in Israel’s Internal Affairs Is Never Good Yesterday, President Trump called for an end to Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing trial in an Israeli court for charges of corruption. Amit Segal, who has been critical of the case’s prosecution, doesn’t think this is necessarily a good thing. Donald Trump isn’t the first president inappropriately to insert himself into domestic Israeli politics. Under President Biden, the White House sanctioned right-wing Israelis. At the same time, during debates over judicial reform, anti-government activists in Israel explicitly called on the [American] president to thwart the legislation being pushed by Netanyahu’s coalition.

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“Allowing Qatar to be part of an Arab consortium that would replace Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip is essentially placing the alpha-fox in charge of the henhouse”

Posted on July 2, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Qatar Must Not Be Allowed to Play Any Role in Gaza
Khaled Abu Toameh
July 3, 2025

…Qatar’s longtime financial and political support for Hamas is one of the reasons the terror group managed to stay in power and carry out countless terrorist attacks against Israel over the past two decades…Qatar’s foreign ministry released a statement on October 7, 2023, holding “Israel alone responsible” for Hamas’s massacres. The ministry ignored Hamas’s war crimes and accused Israel of violating international law….Qatar has never abandoned its goal of promoting the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates, including Hamas. Anyone who watches Al-Jazeera (in Arabic) can see that the Gulf state and its media outlets are fully mobilized in favor of Islamist Jihadis engaged in terrorism against Israel and the West. Qatar will doubtless once again use humanitarian aid as a tool to ensure Hamas’s continued rule over the Gaza Strip. This patronage will pave the way for more October 7-style massacres. Qatar cannot be allowed to play any role in the administration of the Gaza Strip. READ MORE

MIDDLE EAST FORUM Attack Iran’s Shadow World and Dismantle Its Proxies The dust is still settling after the twelve-day joint Israeli-American air campaign ripped open bunkers, erased Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command nodes, and shattered the illusion of Iran’s invincibility. Fordow lies in ruins. The nuclear weapons program—degraded, if not destroyed. Tehran reels from the precision and audacity of allied strikes that not only hit hard but exposed the regime’s vulnerability to modern warfare. While some Western commentators now pivot to calls for restraint, diplomacy, and a new round of negotiations, they fail to grasp one immutable fact: The war never ended. The kinetic phase paused. The conflict itself has transitioned. If Washington and Jerusalem want this victory to endure, they must pivot with equal speed. They must demand that Iran terminate all support to its proxies. 

NEW YORK POST With Iran set back, Trump can now pursue peace in the Middle East Donald Trump has stumbled into a position of extraordinary power in the Middle East. Through a combination of Israeli military audacity and his willingness to take risks, Trump has humiliated Iran, proven his ability to rein in Israel, and positioned himself as the only actor who can now impose a postwar settlement. He has leverage over everyone, and he should use it now. 

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