Tag: israel

Why Netanyahu says it’s time to cut US aid to Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a wide‑ranging interview with “The Economist,” published Friday, that he intends to completely end Israel’s reliance on U.S. security assistance within the next 10 years — and that “the move is already underway.”

In the interview, conducted during Netanyahu’s visit to Mar‑a‑Lago about two weeks ago, the prime minister publicly revealed for the first time that he will not seek a full renewal of the annual $3.8 billion security aid package set to expire in 2028. “I want to reduce military aid within the next 10 years,” he said, answering “yes” when asked if his intention was to zero out dependence. In discussions between Netanyahu and Trump at Mar‑a‑Lago, teams were agreed on to negotiate future aid.

Netanyahu explained that Israel has “matured” and developed impressive economic capabilities, with the economy expected to reach $1 trillion within the coming decade. “We want to be as independent as possible,” Netanyahu stressed, adding that he will continue “to fight for the loyalty and support of the American people” — but greater independence could also help in the battle against the “propaganda war” against Israel.

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How Marjorie Taylor Greene Went From QAnon Acolyte to MAGA Exile

Pundits have offered elaborate explanations for the evolving views of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican whose resignation from Congress takes effect today, but I don’t think you need a detailed theory to explain this woman’s journey from QAnon acolyte to MAGA exile. You just need to recognize one central fact about her: She actually believes things. Some of the things she’s believed are absurd, but that’s secondary. She has beliefs, and she’s willing—not always, but more often than the average D.C. pol—to put those beliefs ahead of other considerations.

You could already catch a hint of this during Greene’s original 2020 congressional campaign. Back then, she attracted national attention for her past interest in QAnon, a tapestry of conspiracy theories in which President Donald Trump was supposedly secretly working with special counsel Robert Mueller to defeat a cabal of elite satanic pedophiles who consume children’s blood. In those days, articles about Greene frequently linked her to another Q-friendly figure, the Colorado congressional candidate Lauren Boebert, who entered the House at the same time as Greene and eventually had a contentious falling out with her. (Greene was booted from the Freedom Caucus after she reportedly called Boebert a “little bitch.”) But even in 2020, anyone paying close attention could have seen an important difference between the two candidates. Greene had actually embraced the Q worldview (though she insisted that she had come to reject it). Boebert, asked about QAnon on the conspiracist show Steel Truth, had replied by saying she “hope[d] that this is real”—a statement delicately phrased to appeal to the Q-ish voting bloc without committing her to its worldview. Boebert was playing a cynical political game. Greene, for better or for worse, was a believer.

Not just a believer: a particular kind of believer. Most Americans don’t spend their lives soaking up the dogmas of the two big parties’ competing fan bases. To the extent that they pay attention to politics, they often adopt their views piecemeal, mixing opinions from the left and the right and, sometimes, from strange folks on the fringes. So you might be, say, an affluent woman in an Atlanta suburb, founder of a CrossFit gym, who rarely reads the op-ed pages of The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal but scrolls frequently through Facebook, absorbing rumors that the typical Times or Journal reader might regard as nuts. That was Greene, part normie and part weird—weird, in fact, because she was so normal.

The most infamous idea Greene expressed in her pre-congressional days came in 2018, when she wrote a Facebook post blaming that year’s California wildfires on space lasers controlled by the Rothschild banking family. The Rothschilds play a starring role in many antisemitic conspiracy theories, so when Greene’s post resurfaced in 2021, many people concluded the congresswoman was not merely loopy but an antisemite. Greene responded that she simply hadn’t known that the Rothschilds are Jewish. Maybe she really didn’t know, or maybe that was a lie. But if any congressperson could plausibly claim such naivete, it would be Greene. This wasn’t the Rothschild tale of someone who grew up surrounded by anti-Jewish folklore; it was the Rothschild tale of someone surrounded by folklore that had fallen out of its original context and floated like driftwood in a digital sea.

Sometimes someone with that sort of background comes to Washington, gets acclimated, and drops those early influences like a striver carefully eliminating every trace of his hometown’s accent. But Greene didn’t. She kept believing things, and that led to trouble with her party.

Even during Donald Trump’s first stint in the White House, you could see a simmering tension between two types of MAGA—the kind that was basically just pro-Trump, and a wilder, woolier bundle of Trump-era currents on the populist right. (One way to tell the difference: Check whether someone’s skepticism about the national security state disappears when the three-letter agencies pursue people not named Trump.) Greene was, along with Florida’s Matt Gaetz, the most notable Republican from the second group to have made it to Congress. Their views did not always track with the party line, particularly when it came to foreign policy. Greene once joined Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a self-described socialist from Michigan, in signing a letter asking the government to drop the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and she did it the very same week she joined a Republican push to censure Tlaib for some comments about Israel.

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Syria is Normalizing Ties With Israel, Here’s Why – Analysis

There is no longer any space in which reasonable people can argue that Syria’s current leadership has not become a US-aligned force that seeks further cooperation with the Israelis.

On January 6, 2026, a joint statement was published by the US State Department, affirming that the Israelis and Syrians had established a “joint fusion mechanism”. Despite being labeled an official normalization deal, this mechanism works as a soft normalization arrangement.

As the topic of Syrian normalization is often one that triggers a rather aggressive reaction from all sides, it is important to cut through the propaganda to establish what just happened.

As a product of a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials in Paris, with the participation of the United States, both Damascus and Tel Aviv have agreed to a quasi-normalization deal of sorts.

The joint statement that was published on the US State Department website makes the issue extremely clear: a “joint fusion mechanism”, or “dedicated communication cell”, has now been established. This mechanism includes facilitating Israeli-Syrian cooperation in the following arenas:

  • Intelligence sharing 
  • Diplomatic engagement 
  • Commercial opportunities 
  • Military de-escalation 

Some supporters of Syrian President, Ahmed al-Shara’a, have been adamant that what was reached and is being pursued is solely to do with security issues and the issue of southern Syria. Today’s joint statement thoroughly debunks any such claims.

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What Israel Has to Do with the US Overthrow of Venezuela’s Government

A US invasion reveals deeper strategic goals tied to Israel’s push to weaken Iran, reshape Latin America, and consolidate control over global energy resources.

The overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro may appear to be a development that, on the face of things, has nothing to do with Israel, especially as Caracas seems too far away from Tel Aviv and its orbit. Yet, this move has a lot more to do with securing Israeli interests than meets the eye.

Following the US invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of its sitting President, officials in the Trump administration couldn’t wait to express their joy for Israel in such a moment.

The fragrant violation of Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations Charter barely even registered much blowback on the international stage, although this should barely come as much of a surprise.

Within 24 hours of the operation to kidnap President Maduro, which resulted in the deaths of around 40 Venezuelans and 32 Cuban soldiers, US President Donald Trump had already let the cat out of the bag; he invaded to seize the oil. But then came a slew of other comments that obsessed over the fact that this attack on Caracas comes to the benefit of Israel.

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From Palestine to Minneapolis, ICE and Israel use the same violent playbook

On January 7, ICE agents shot Renee Good three times through her car window as she seemingly tried to drive away from them in Minneapolis. Then, they blocked ambulances from reaching her for fifteen minutes while she bled out in the driver’s seat with her partner beside her. Within hours, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was calling Good, the woman who had just been executed in broad daylight by a federal agent, a “domestic terrorist,” claiming the agent had acted in self-defense against a woman allegedly trying to run him over with her vehicle.

If this sounds familiar, it should, because it is the exact same play Israel deploys every single time they kill a Palestinian. Take, for example, on December 6, just a few weeks ago, when Israeli soldiers in Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, ordered 17-year-old Ahmad Rajabi to stop his car. He stopped and then they shot him dead anyway. They prevented emergency services from reaching Ahmad and shot at them as well. There are countless others just like Rajabi. 

ICE and the Israeli army are using the same playbook because they are born of the same system of state violence and white-supremacy – the same machinery of racialized control that has been refined in Palestine and imported to American cities through deliberate policy and corporate profit. As Noura Erakat penned, the ‘imperial boomerang has already made its way back.

Calling victims “terrorists” is how you make the dead responsible for their own deaths. Israel has spent decades making it so that every Palestinian killed at a checkpoint was “trying to ram soldiers,” every journalist shot while wearing a press vest was “operating with militants,” every child killed was somehow an imminent threat requiring lethal force. How else can you justify turning Gaza into a graveyard?

This is what occupation looks like everywhere it exists, in every context where armed agents operate with total impunity over populations denied meaningful legal protection or political power. And beyond the paramilitary forces swarming the streets, the same digital systems of occupation are also migrating back here.

Palantir runs ICE’s case management systems that track and monitor immigrants to enable fast-track deportations, and that same company provides AI-based targeting platforms for Israeli military airstrikes that decide which Palestinians to kill using data that includes private communications between Palestinian Americans and their relatives in Gaza. Israeli companies like Elbit and Paragon provide radar, surveillance, and spyware directly to ICE and Homeland Security. The Anti-Defamation League sponsors law enforcement exchange programs where American police travel to Israel to learn “best practices” in checkpoint management, crowd suppression, and in turning entire populations into security threats.

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Israel claims Hezbollah disarmament ‘far from sufficient’ as Beirut says phase one complete

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement on 8 January that Hezbollah’s disarmament is “far from being achieved,” in response to Lebanon’s announcement that it has completed the first phase of disarming the resistance group.

“The goal of disarming Hezbollah in southern Lebanon remains far from being achieved,” the statement said, attaching a video showing what it says are new Hezbollah military sites in the southern town of Beit Lif. 

The ministry said Israel “acknowledges the decision of the Lebanese government to address the disarmament of Hezbollah and some of the efforts the Lebanese Armed Forces [LAF] have made in this context,” but stressed that these efforts have been “limited.”

“Hezbollah is rearming faster than it is being disarmed,” the Foreign Ministry went on to say, while alleging cooperation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, and calling it “regrettable.”

“Israel expects LAF efforts to disarm Hezbollah to continue south of the Litani and throughout all other parts of Lebanon, in full accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” it concluded.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed what the Foreign Ministry said, calling Lebanon’s efforts “far from sufficient.”

The statement came after the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) announced completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River. 

“The army confirms that its plan to restrict weapons has entered an advanced stage, after the effective and tangible achievement of the objectives of the first phase on the ground. This phase focused on expanding the army’s operational presence, securing vital areas, and establishing operational control over territories that have come under its authority in the sector south of the Litani, with the exception of lands and sites that remain under Israeli occupation,” the LAF said. 

The statement added that “work in the sector is ongoing until the completion of the clearance of unexploded ordnance and tunnels, in addition to Requests for Action (RFAs), in order to consolidate control and prevent armed groups from rebuilding their capabilities in an irreversible manner.”

The developments coincide with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Lebanon. Araghchi has previously referred to the Hezbollah disarmament plan as a “doomed effort.”

A day earlier, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji claimed the Lebanese army was capable of confronting Hezbollah militarily if needed. 

Rajji is closely affiliated with the US-backed Lebanese Forces (LF) party, and regularly blames Hezbollah for Israeli airstrikes and occupation in Lebanon.

“If a democratically elected government moves to disarm an illegal armed organization, it is restoring the principles of the constitution and the Taif Accord, not waging a ‘civil war.’ In any event, the LAF is capable of confronting Hezbollah militarily, if necessary,” Rajji told the pro-Israel US think tank, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). 

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In Beijing, Netanyahu looks to ‘marry Israel’s technology with China’s capacity’

On the second day of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit here, Israel and China took further steps to strengthen economic and scientific relations.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong said Beijing and Jerusalem had agreed to upgrade bilateral relations, including by forming an “innovative comprehensive partnership” meant to “bring the ties and the cooperation between the two countries to new heights,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

“Innovation cooperation is a highlight of our bilateral relations,” Liu said at the conclusion of the third meeting of the China-Israel Committee on Innovation Cooperation, held at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House.

Liu said she had visited Israel twice and was “deeply impressed” by its culture of innovation.

“You’re a global leader in research and development,” she said.

Israeli and Chinese ministers and top officials signed 10 bilateral agreements in health, science, education, environmental protection and other areas.

“We want to marry our technology with China’s capacity,” Netanyahu said at the summit.

“We in Israel are eager to share with China our science and technology that can better the lives of all mankind, and the people of China,” he said.

Addressing dozens of Israeli and Chinese government officials, industry leaders, university presidents and private businesspeople, Netanyahu called on Beijing to accelerate the pace of negotiations over an Israel-China free trade agreement, which started exactly one year ago.

Netanyahu said that in today’s world everything is becoming technologized and that therefore all countries need to innovate. He hailed Israel’s startup scene, highlighting Intel’s recent acquisition for $15 billion of Jerusalem-based autonomous driving company Mobileye, adding that Israel is home to 500 additional companies “that do the same thing. A few years ago we had nothing.”

Israel and China both have old, rich histories and traditions, and are committed to improving themselves and advancing technological innovation, he said.

“We have deep roots, but we seek for the sky, for the future. And that means science and technology,” the prime minister added.

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US and Israel Prepping for a New Attack on Iran by Creating a Narrative of Government Chaos

Was it just a coincidence that as Donald Trump met last Monday with Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu to discuss a future attack against Iran that protests, some accompanied by violence, broke out in several cities in Iran? I am not a believer in coincidence. Following that meeting, the US news media — both print and electronic — was flooded with stories painting the protests as a mighty uprising of the Iranian people. A new revolution has begun… or so the Western public is being told.

One of the major purveyors of this narrative is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is an Iranian exile-based political opposition coalition founded in 1981 in Tehran (later relocated to Paris, France, with activities in Albania). It positions itself as a parliament-in-exile and the primary democratic alternative to the Islamic Republic regime. The NCRI advocates for overthrowing the current government and establishing a secular, democratic, pluralistic, and non-nuclear republic in Iran, emphasizing separation of religion and state, gender equality, human rights, and minority rights. And guess what? The NCRI is the creature of a group the US once labeled as a terrorist organization.

The NCRI as a tightly controlled front for the PMOI/MEK, with limited broad support inside Iran. The PMOI was formerly designated a terrorist organization by the US (delisted in 2012) and EU, partly due to past armed actions. The group has been accused of cult-like practices and authoritarian internal structure, though supporters reject these claims and emphasize its democratic platform.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), is an Iranian opposition group founded in 1965 with a long history of terrorism in Iran. It is the principal component of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which it describes as its political wing. The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has a documented history of violent activities, primarily from the 1970s to the early 2000s, which led to its designation as a terrorist organization by the United States (1997–2012), the European Union (until 2009), and others.

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Once Again, the New York Times Sells Israel’s Genocide in Gaza as Law Enforcement

This is another masterclass from the New York Times in how to sell genocide as law enforcement.

According to today’s headline, “new Israeli rules” mean “suspensions” of aid groups from Gaza – that is, the forced expulsion of 37 humanitarian organizations from Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel.

These aid groups organize most of the field hospitals currently operating in Gaza and set up after Israel destroyed the enclave’s proper hospitals. The groups also run emergency shelters, water and sanitation services, and treatment centers for children with acute malnutrition.

Israel’s “registration rules” are a death sentence for a homeless, destitute Palestinian population left vulnerable to starvation, floods, winter cold and disease by Israel’s two-year destruction of their homeland.

Who is to blame? Apparently groups like Doctors Without Borders, Medical Aid for Palestinians and CARE. Why? Because they are “resisting” Israel’s “rules” to “provide detailed information” on their staff in Gaza – information Israel has used time and again to kill those aid workers.

As Doctors Without Borders point out, “we support one in five hospital beds and one in three births” in Gaza. Israel, it added, was “cutting off life-saving medical assistance for hundreds of thousands of people”.

Another organization affected by the new “rules”, the Norwegian Refugee Council, noted that Israel had killed hundreds of aid workers in the past two years. “For us, it is a safety concern for our staff. And acknowledging who they are – it puts them at risk.”

The New York Times wants you to forget who is the criminal here.

It is Israel that’s illegally occupying Gaza and other Palestinian territories – and has been for decades.

It is Israel that has bombed Gaza into the Stone Age.

It is Israel that has ethnically cleansed Gaza’s people from their lands, driving them into ever smaller concentration camps on those ruins, surrounded by Israel’s “yellow line”.

It is Israel that has starved the people of Gaza for months on end by blocking all aid.

It is Israel that’s killed at least 600 aid workers, 1,700 medical staff and 250 journalists in Gaza over the past two years.

It is Israel that has eradicated all Gaza’s hospitals and health care facilities, leaving its maimed and starved population vulnerable to infection and disease.

And it is Israel now expelling aid organizations vital to keep this homeless, bombed, maimed, starved, orphaned, traumatized population alive.

Criminals don’t get to set the “rules” – because the rules they set will, by definition, serve their criminal agenda.

Israel has not hidden that agenda. It wants to eradicate Gaza and its population. It has destroyed the people of Gaza’s homes and the infrastructure they need to survive – from hospitals and schools to sanitation services. It has blocked aid and food, and is now driving out the emergency aid organizations that served as a sticking plaster to keep this population just barely alive.

Israel’s goal is to make life so desperate, so impossible, that the rest of the world will consent to the expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza on “humanitarian” grounds.

The New York Times, like the rest of the media, are using language to persuade you that none of this is happening.

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Palestine was the deadliest place to be a journalist in 2025: Media union

Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Middle East as a whole the most dangerous region for media professionals, according to a global journalist union.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the region accounted for 74 deaths last year – more than half of the 128 journalists and media workers killed – in a new report released on Wednesday.

The Middle East was followed by Africa with 18 deaths, Asia Pacific (15), the Americas (11) and Europe (10), according to the report. The vast majority of those killed were men, but the list included 10 women.

“128 journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic; it is a global crisis. These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.

Palestinian journalists were the biggest cohort of victims: 56 Palestinian media professionals were killed in 2025. Yemen followed, with 13 deaths, Ukraine, with eight, and Sudan, with six, according to the IFJ.

The Paris-based media union cited Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as the most “emblematic” of the 56 journalists murdered in Palestine last year covering Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on August 10 alongside several colleagues when Israeli forces struck a media tent outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.

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