IRAN’s NOT GOING BACK, New Demands Are Clear /Professor Seyed Marandi
Daniel Davis / Deep Dive – August 19, 2026
Israel is sponsoring ads on Ted Cruz’s podcast. Is that legal?
By Connor Echols and Nick Cleveland-Stout | Responsible Statecraft | August 22, 2026
The Israeli government is running advertisements on a popular podcast hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), raising questions about whether the staunchly pro-Israel lawmaker is indirectly receiving campaign funding from a foreign country.
Radio and podcast giant iHeartMedia has syndicated Cruz’s show, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” since 2022. Because of lobbying-related restrictions, the company cannot legally pay the senator for ad revenue. But, it turns out, that’s not the only way to ensure the money benefits Cruz.
Under an unusual licensing deal, iHeartMedia agreed to donate revenue “associated with (the show’s) advertising sales” to the Truth and Courage PAC, a super PAC dedicated to “ensuring that Ted Cruz is re-elected to the United States Senate.” The company has given at least $1,738,000 of “digital revenue” to the Truth and Courage PAC since 2023, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The agreement has drawn significant scrutiny from watchdog groups, some of which filed a complaint against Cruz with the FEC alleging he “brazenly violated” laws that bar candidates from receiving corporate donations. Though the senator admitted to having met with representatives from the company to discuss the acquisition of the show, the agency ruled in his favor, finding that there was “no available information to indicate that Cruz solicited, directed, received, transferred, or spent the funds iHeart paid to the PAC.”
“Cruz’s role was limited to hosting the Podcast and he does not appear to have been involved with the decision for iHeart to pay the PAC, meaning that he did not direct or solicit any funds,” the commission found.
The Israeli government-funded ad revenue appears to operate in a similar gray area. The advertisements, which are part of the $7 million “I am Israel” campaign launched in June, are geared toward encouraging Christians to visit the country and see biblical sites for themselves.
“Israel isn’t a destination; it’s a revelation, where every site you’ve studied, every scripture you’ve memorized, every sermon that ever moved you suddenly has an address, a landscape, a heartbeat,” Ben Ferguson, Cruz’s co-host, says in one ad. “This is the trip that changes not just how you see the Holy Land, but how you see everything.”
Ferguson then urges listeners to “start planning your trip today” and tells them to follow “Visit Israel” accounts on social media. The ads do not disclose that Visit Israel is a public-facing entity of the Israeli ministry of tourism.
The campaign appears to exploit a loophole in election financing laws. Candidates and PACs are banned from receiving any funding “directly or indirectly” from foreign nationals, according to the FEC. But Cruz would only run afoul of campaign finance laws if Israel explicitly earmarked its contribution to go to the PAC, said Craig Holman, a leading expert on campaign finance laws and an ethics lobbyist at Public Citizen.
“Assuming there is no formal agreement, then the money is considered iHeartRadio funds, with which it can do as it pleases,” Holman said.
Holman blamed court decisions like Citizens United for opening the path to Cruz’s “surreptitious financial arrangement” with iHeartMedia.
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“The courts have fabricated a myth that outside groups are ‘independent’ of candidates and therefore fall outside the campaign finance limits and disclosure laws,” Holman told RS. “So, wealthy interests and even foreign governments launder money to outside groups with the explicit intent of the outside group spending that money to support a specific candidate. Israel is exploiting this court-created loophole.”
Neither Cruz nor iHeartMedia responded to requests for comment about whether the Truth and Courage PAC has received or will receive money from the “I am Israel” campaign. RS also reached out to a representative of the PAC, who did not respond.
iHeartRadio’s last publicly disclosed donation to the PAC was in May. The PAC does not share detailed information about the ad revenue it receives from iHeartMedia, and it does not have to reveal any further donations until the end of the third fiscal quarter in September.
The “I am Israel” campaign is part of the Israeli government’s efforts to reinvigorate the country’s tourism industry after years of war. In May 2019, 105,700 American tourists visited Israel. In May of this year, that number was only 22,600.
At the campaign’s June launch event in New York, which was hosted by the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon encouraged attendees to help boost these numbers. “We have accomplished so much in the last 3 years. We have defeated our enemies,” said Danon. “Now it’s your turn… Now you have to start again, bring the groups to Israel.”
The ads on Verdict target Christians in particular. The Israeli government has invested significantly in efforts to bolster support for Israel among Christians, including greenlighting a proposal to target churchgoers with pro-Israel ads during services and funding a Bible study program taught by IDF soldiers and West Bank settlers, as RS has previously reported. The Israeli government also secretly funneled $245,000 to Eagles’ Wings, a Christian Zionist organization based in New York, to lobby over 100 congressional offices for more military aid to Israel.
These initiatives reflect Israel’s concerns that it is losing influence among American evangelicals. While they have long been one of the most influential pro-Israel constituencies in the U.S., that support is now slipping; a 2025 poll found that only 24% of evangelicals under 35 years old support the Israelis over the Palestinians.
The Israeli ministry of tourism hinted at this dwindling support in a procurement document for the campaign. The goal of the June launch event was to broadcast “a message of ‘business as usual,’” according to the document, signed by Michael Yitzhakov, chief of staff of the Israeli ministry of tourism. The Israeli government agreed to pay the Jerusalem Post around $195,000 for the event.
Cruz is among Israel’s most zealous allies in Congress. “There is no military on the face of the planet, including the U.S. military, that goes to the lengths that the Israeli military goes to avoid civilian casualties,” he said in November 2023. Just last week, Cruz lauded Israeli companies for “betting big on Texas, investing $3.2 billion and creating more than 4,200 jobs across our state.”
Cruz is an adherent to Christian Zionism, a theological belief that Christians have a religious obligation to support the modern state of Israel. “I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed,” he told podcast host Tucker Carlson last year. “And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side.”
Over the years, Cruz has received significant financial support from pro-Israel donors, including Israeli-American billionaire Miriam Adelson, who gave $1 million to the Truth and Courage PAC in 2024. And, as he told Carlson last year, the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC “raises a lot of money for me.”
Connor Echols is the managing editor of Responsible Statecraft. He was previously the managing editor of the NonZero Newsletter.
BBC cancelled interview on Israel’s killing of Hind Rajab
By Muhammad Shehada – August 19, 2026
Disappointed the BBC cancelled my interview on Israel’s killing of Hind Rajab.
2 producers eagerly reached out. They confirmed the time & one called to prepare a brief for the anchor.
She asked me whether Israel’s announcement is positive, I explained in detail it was a cover up.
The IDF is blaming the killing of Hind, her uncle, aunt & 4 cousins on the family itself for trying to flee by car & on the ambulance sent to rescue her for “failures in the co-ordination of the movement.”
None of this is remotely true! The Red Cross immediately informed the IDF about 5-year-old Hind who was hiding in that motionless car, & they requested permission from Israel to allow an ambulance to rescue them.
After multiple long hours, Israel granted greenlight to the ambulance & provided them with a designated route on a GPS to drive on.
As soon as the ambulance reached Hind’s car, the IDF ambushed & bombed them immediately with an American made anti-tank missile then opened fire on Hind’s car. The car was hit with 355 bullets.
Israel then kept that area under lockdown for 12 days, & prevented anyone from approaching.
Hind’s mom went daily to the Ahli baptist hospital hoping to find her daughter, until her lifeless body was brought in along with the charred remains of the ambulance men.
Israel then claimed after an “initial investigation” that its troops were NEVER in that area to begin with. They maintained that claim for 2 years despite ample recordings & satellite images debunking this lie.
The only reason Israel is now making this new announcement of a deeper investigation is to shield its soldiers & generals from the International Criminal Court by invoking the principle of “complementarity;” that the ICC cannot investigate a state that is already investigating itself in good faith.
I told the BBC producer Israel today also quietly shut down the investigation into the triple tap killing of American, Canadian, British, Australian & Polish citizens in the WCK massacre. Israel blamed the massacre on the aid workers themselves for “deviating from the predesignated route” & for hiring an armed security guard “without informing the IDF” (both claims where debunked by WCK themselves, who had coordinates their every step with the IDF).
I told the producer the Israeli commander responsible for this massacre, Nochi Mendel, is a fanatical settler who had signed a petition calling for starving Gaza & that he was celebrated by settler leaders & supported by Israeli government leaders after what he did.
Mendel even received a box of chocolate from the settler council’s leader & a letter of support for what he did.
Mendel was initially dismissed by the IDF & blamed for the massacre, but was quickly & quietly reinstated & promoted in the Defence Ministry as the head of the settlements and national infrastructure unit.
It’s abundantly clear Israel is NOT serious about prosecuting any of the atrocities committed in Gaza. Since the genocide began, only two soldiers were punished by the IDF; one for microwaving a living frog & another for cooking sausages in the army kitchen on Shabbat.
The producer asked me: What about the 150 cases the IDF said are pending review?
I answered: it’s just a number designed to give the appearance of seriousness, but it’s essentially meaningless.
If it took the IDF two whole years to admit the simplest of facts that the entire world had already known, which is that their troops were the ones who fired on Hind Rajab’s car, how do you expect them to do with the remaining cases that are not as high profile?
Five minutes after the call, the producer wrote me that they decided to cancel the interview & will not even host anyone else to comment on the issue, & instead they’ll play archival footage!
Muhammad Shehada is a Political Analyst, Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and is a contributing writer at Zeteo, 972mag, Haaretz, LRB, Al-Jazeera, Newsweek, and The New Arab.
All Anti-Iranian US Sanctions Failed – Iran’s Foreign Minister
Sputnik – 21.08.2026
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that US sanctions against Iran had repeatedly failed, recalling threats made by former US President Barack Obama.
Araghchi commented on Obama’s October 2012 social media post in which the former president cited then-US Vice President Joe Biden’s promise to impose “the most crippling sanctions in the history of sanctions” against Iran.
“14 years ago: ‘Most crippling sanctions in history.’ Failed. 8 years ago: ‘Maximum pressure.’ Failed. 5 months ago: ‘Unconditional surrender.’ Failed. Today: ‘Most crushing economic operation ever.’ Bound to fail. We have seen this movie before. Same bull. Different bullies,” Araghchi wrote on X.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that Tehran had not taken the opportunity to reach a deal with Washington, and that the United States was therefore launching a large-scale economic operation against the Islamic Republic.
Araghchi called the operation a distraction from the United States’ own crisis that would lead to an even greater defeat for Washington.
Israeli Occupation Kills Father of Palestinian Martyr in Jenin, Intensifies West Bank Oppressive Raids
Al-Manar | August 21, 2026
At least two Palestinians were martyred and another was injured, with many others being arrested in the West Bank, as Israeli occupation forces stepped up attacks overnight and into Friday morning.
In Jenin, Fathi Khazem, father of slain Palestinians Raad and Abdulrahman Khazem, was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) during a raid on his home in the center of the city.
Khazem, widely known as Abu Raad, a retired colonel in the Palestinian National Security Forces and the father of two Palestinians killed by Israel in 2022, had been pursued by Israeli forces for years.
Local sources cited by Quds News Network said Israeli forces stormed Khazem’s home near Jenin’s main roundabout and opened fire on him, killing him.
Israeli forces subsequently withheld his body and transferred it to an undisclosed location, according to the reports.
Residents also reported that an Israeli special forces unit entered the house and shot Khazem directly.
A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was also shot with live ammunition in the chest and back near the Arab American University in Jenin during Israeli gunfire accompanying the raid. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian young man has been martyred after being shot by Israeli settlers in Khirbet Hamroush, northeast of Hebron (Al-Khalil) south of the occupied West Bank, a medical source has told Al Jazeera Arabic.
More arrests were made by occupation forces in the towns near Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus, Tubas, Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho, Palestinian media reported.
Qusra Seige
Elsewhere in Qusra, south of Nablus, IOF and settlers continued their siege of three Palestinian homes in the town for the 13th consecutive day on Friday, amid attempts to impose new facts on the ground and seize control of the area under Israeli military protection.
Qusra Village Council head Abdul Azim Wadi confirmed that the IOF and groups of settlers continue to surround three homes in the Ras al-Ain area, preventing residents from entering or leaving while declaring the area a “closed military zone.”
Wadi said Israeli forces seized one of the homes and converted it into a military post while tightening restrictions on the besieged families, who are facing severe shortages of food and some medicines because essential supplies are being prevented from reaching them.
He said IOF on Thursday evening damaged and destroyed furniture and other belongings inside the seized home, which belongs to Palestinian resident Yousef Abdulsalam.
Palestinian sources said Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the property to provide medical assistance to an injured person. It later emerged that Khazem was the person targeted in the operation.
Israel Lies again about Hind Rajab Killing in a Public Relations Whitewash Maneuver
By Robert Inlakesh – The Palestine Chronicle – August 20, 2026
Historically speaking, Israel has never once charged a single Israeli soldier for killing a Palestinian in Gaza throughout any of its large-scale assaults on the territory that began to ramp up in 2008.
The Israeli military made headlines again this Wednesday, after they admitted for the first time to having fired upon the vehicle in which 5-year-old Hind Rajab was ruthlessly murdered in January of 2024. However, this “admission” is being presented dishonestly and is a clear Public Relations maneuver manufactured by Israel to whitewash their actions.
Hind Rajab’s murder at the hands of the Israeli army is one of the most high-profile war crimes committed throughout the Gaza Genocide, so much so that it was turned into an award-winning docudrama film, ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’. The audio recordings of the young girl, released by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), who were desperately attempting to put international pressure on Israel to permit their workers to rescue her, went viral and captured the emotions of millions around the world.
Israel understands this well and has therefore chosen to strategically place the event under a criminal investigation, in order to portray a sense of accountability.
It was one of five incidents that the ‘IDF General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism’ claims to have investigated, three of which it chose not to pursue further and absolved its forces of any wrongdoing in:
– The killing of the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian aid workers in April of 2024 while they were operating in Deir al-Balah. The victims were Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish, and dual American-Canadian citizens, who were targeted in three clearly marked vehicles. Some of the survivors attempted to flee in other vehicles and were subjected to double-tap strikes.
– The February 2024 tank strike on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) shelter that was located in Khan Younis, killing two of its employees and injuring others. Despite the location being known to be an MSF site, the Israelis simply claimed ignorance; they never presented any evidence that they struck a military target.
– The November 2023 strike on a clearly marked MSF convoy in Gaza City that killed two other employees. It was a convoy that was attempting to evacuate 137 civilians and had coordinated with the Israeli military, even halting at a crowded checkpoint for hours in order to receive the go-ahead from Israel.
Another incident that Israel claims it is opening a criminal probe into is the massacre of 15 Palestinian paramedics and first responders in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah. On March 23, 2025, when contact was initially lost with the emergency workers, Gaza’s media office believed the group had been kidnapped and appealed to the international community. Israel refused to acknowledge the incident had even occurred at the time.
Then by the end of the month, after the Israeli military had withdrawn from the area, an unmarked grave was discovered, where the bodies of the 15 paramedics, emergency workers and ambulance drivers were found. Reports indicated that the group was executed at close range, one by one, before the Israelis had buried them and their ambulances in order to discard the evidence.
Israel’s initial defense in late March was that a series of unmarked vehicles had headed towards them with their lights off and in the absence of emergency signals, prompting their forces to defensively open fire. This account was later contradicted by video evidence that emerged in April showing the opposite, prompting the IDF to change its narrative and claim it had mistaken the emergency lights for a threat.
By late April of 2025, the Israeli military concluded, as a result of an internal probe, that the incident could be attributed to “professional failures” and “operational misunderstandings”. Later, the Israelis would again shift their narrative by claiming, without any evidence, that six of those killed had ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group.
Now it is going with a separate narrative, based on its latest so-called investigation, that the “firing conducted during the incident raises a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.” Its forces were shown by independent investigations, including one conducted by Forensic Architecture, to have fired at least 900 bullets and carried out close-range executions.
Silencing the Voice of Hind Rajab
Media outlets from across the spectrum have reported that Israel is now launching an internal criminal investigation into the killing of Hind Rajab and admits to firing upon the vehicle in which she was killed, along with six of her family members. However, Israel’s internal investigation just drew another conclusion that seeks to whitewash the entire event, protecting its soldiers rather than taking accountability for its actions.
“The findings of the examination indicate that IDF troops fired at a vehicle that was approaching them,” is what the Israeli military now claims as a result of its latest investigation. “Following review of the findings and due to apparent failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.”
Keep in mind that this is precisely the same excuse given to run cover for the executions carried out against 15 first responders and paramedics in the Rafah massacre; they are now stating they will be subject to a criminal investigation. It is an excuse that assumes that Israeli forces simply acted in self-defense and fired towards what they interpreted as a threat.
Also, two vehicles were struck in the incident, not one. Two PRCS paramedics were slain following a double-tap strike on their ambulance.
Numerous independent forensic and satellite investigations were conducted into the specifics of the incident, including one by the Washington Post and another by Forensic Architecture [in collaboration with EarShot and Fault Lines], which demonstrated Israeli forces fired 335 bullets into the Kia Picanto in which Hind Rajab and six of her family members were killed.
Evidence also shows that it was impossible for the vehicle to have traveled south as the Israeli military claimed it should have, following their instructions to locals that day, as the streets heading south from their location had all been blocked. The investigations also concluded that the car was fired upon from a short enough range for Israeli soldiers to see the innocent civilians sheltering inside it.
Israel’s shots also penetrated the vehicle from its right side. Even if the Israelis continue to claim the car was heading towards them – presumably somehow being driven by a terrified 5-year-old girl – the vehicle was clearly not shot from the front, meaning that it was conclusively not a threat.
That said, the Red Crescent workers based in occupied Ramallah spent around three hours on the phone with little Hind, desperately attempting to get Israeli permission to rescue her. By this point, it had become an international incident.
For 12-days, beginning on January 29 of 2024, Hind Rajab’s status was officially considered to be “missing” and presumed dead, until February 10, when her little body was recovered from the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, riddled with bullets.
When Israel was finally forced to address the issue, it claimed that its forces were not even stationed in the area and that there were no operations taking place at the time. It even launched an internal probe, which produced the same excuse with different wording.
This narrative more or less held for around two and a half years, as Israeli officials and the military periodically made small alterations to their claims, despite the evidence that emerged to debunk them. Israel even attempted to blame Palestinian fighters for the killings, another tactic they have used countless times to explain away their war crimes.
Historically speaking, Israel has never once charged a single Israeli soldier for killing a Palestinian in Gaza throughout any of its large-scale assaults on the territory that began to ramp up in 2008.
The harshest sentence ever dealt to an Israeli soldier for their conduct inside Gaza was to a member of the Givati Brigade in 2009, during what Tel Aviv called “Operation Cast Lead”, landing the combatant a total of 7.5 months in prison. This was not for killing, raping or torturing Palestinians; it was for stealing a credit card.
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.
Israel’s war minister threatens Turkey as Apache squadron moves north
Press TV – August 20, 2026
Israel has issued a veiled threat against Turkey following airstrikes on a Syrian military airbase near the Turkish border, with war minister Israel Katz warning President Tayyip Erdogan against “dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria.”
The Israeli air force has completed the transfer of its Apache helicopter squadron from southern Israeli occupied territories to the Ramat David airbase in the north—the first such move in 25 years.
Israeli military officials have acknowledged that the reorganization was prompted in part by the perceived threat from Turkey.
The strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria, about 70 km from the Turkish border, come amid mounting tension over Ankara’s role in rebuilding military capabilities of the current regime in Syria.
Israel has accused Syria of allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the base, a charge both Turkish and Syrian officials have denied.
But beyond the immediate dispute, regional analysts and Turkish officials see a broader strategic realignment where Israel now views Turkey as the primary obstacle to its expanding plans in Syria.
Israeli officials have increasingly described Turkey in terms once reserved for Iran. Regime voices in Tel Aviv have referred to Ankara as the “new Iran.”
“Turkey may become the next target,” warned one Turkish expert, cited in Japanese media.
The warning echoes a view gaining traction among international observers that Israel’s strategy in Syria has evolved to containing Turkey’s growing military and political footprint in the country.
At the heart of the dispute lies a fundamental disagreement over what kind of Syrian state should emerge from years of conflict.
“Israel sees the fragmentation of its neighbors as a security strategy,” one analysis noted.
Turkish officials have made clear that any Israeli advance toward their interests in Syria would cross a red line.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Israel’s interest in Syrian territory “has not disappeared” but has been temporarily set aside while Tel Aviv focuses on other priorities.
“When the time comes, they will act,” he warned. “This is a vital interest and security zone for us. We must be prepared for any situation.”
Earlier this year, Ankara and Tel Aviv held rare “technical talks” in Azerbaijan to establish deconfliction mechanisms and prevent accidental clashes in Syria.
Israeli officials made clear during those talks that any Turkish military deployment in Syria, particularly around Palmyra, would be unacceptable.
Analysts and regional observers have linked Israel’s actions in Syria to broader colonial ambitions, noting that Israeli officials have openly declared forces will remain in southern Syria “forever.”
“What Israel wants, with US support, is a submissive Syria, stripped of national identity and armed forces, under Israeli occupation—just like the Golan Heights,” wrote Abdulbari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm, in a commentary on the Abu al-Duhur strikes.
Greece, Cyprus, and Israel signed a military cooperation agreement in late 2025, forming what Turkish media has dubbed an “anti-Turkish alliance.”
Syria, according to observers, is just one front in Israel’s broader plan to expand its colonial ambitions across the region.
Tel Aviv sees both Iran and Turkey as the most serious hurdles to its “Greater Israel” aspirations—a vision that envisions Israeli dominance stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates.
After dragging the US into a large-scale war which it could not afford to wage alone against Iran, observers say Israel is now positioning itself for a potential confrontation with Turkey.
Turkey denies military presence at Syrian base bombed by ‘Israel’
Al Mayadeen | August 20, 2026
Turkey’s Defense Ministry denied on Thursday that any Turkish military delegation was present at Syria’s Abu al-Duhur air base before or during Israeli attacks on the facility earlier this week, while vowing to continue “resolutely” supporting Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We state that there was no Turkish military delegation at the Abu al-Duhur airbase before or during the attack carried out by Israel against that base in Syria,” a Turkish defense ministry official told journalists, per AFP.
The ministry warned against allowing a “perception” to take hold that Israeli military aggression against neighboring countries is “routine and acceptable,” and called it essential for the international community to adopt “more concrete and effective measures” against Israeli actions it said threaten regional peace and stability.
Ankara reiterated that its efforts to protect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to help build a “stable and secure structure” in the country, would continue. The ministry also affirmed that Turkey will continue supporting Syria’s efforts to develop its own military capability and infrastructure.
Katz, Netanyahu threaten Turkey
Earlier today, Israeli War Minister Israel Katz warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, writing in Turkish on X that Erdogan “is dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria” and that “Israel” will not “allow any actor to threaten its security”.
Katz added that “it would be better” for Erdogan to continue his “reality-detached, fantastical statements” against “Israel” in the Turkish parliament than to “attempt to test Israel’s resolve on self-defense”.
The statement followed remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night, who said “Israel” will not “tolerate a Turkish military presence in Syria that threatens Israel”.
Netanyahu claimed the Israeli regime had delivered its warning “crystal clear” but that Turkey “didn’t hear it loud enough, so we made sure they understood it better”, an apparent reference to an Israeli attack a day earlier on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase.
Attack on Abu al-Duhur airbase
Netanyahu’s office claimed late on Tuesday that Syria was “on the verge of breaching” a security understanding with “Israel” by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo, accusing Damascus of ignoring repeated Israeli warnings.
The claim came after Israeli aggression hit Abu al-Duhur airbase in eastern Idlib, the first strike on that base since Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry called the strike “unjustified aggression” and a “dangerous escalation.”
Turkey’s Communications Directorate rejected Netanyahu’s claims, calling them “frivolous allegations” intended to “legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Ankara said the accusations stem from Netanyahu’s push to pursue “expansionist and destabilizing policies” in the region ahead of elections.
Can the US Outsmart Iran? /Lt Col Daniel Davis & Brian McGlinchey
Daniel Davis / Deep Dive – August 19, 2026
UKRAINE: Under Siege From Every Front /Lt Col Daniel Davis
Daniel Davis / Deep Dive – August 19, 2026
Jewish State Senator Jeremy Moss Faces Backlash over Hot Mic Comments
José Niño Unfiltered | August 19, 2026
The political landscape for Democrats in Michigan has shifted beneath their feet as the party grapples with a rapidly growing anti-Zionist wing. Amid this tension, Jewish Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, who recently secured the Democratic primary for the 11th Congressional District, found his career suddenly stalled by a leaked audio recording. In the audio clip which spread like wildfire across digital platforms in July 2026, Moss appeared to admit that his primary motivation as a legislator is to serve a foreign power. According to the recording, Moss stated, “The entire purpose of my career is to make sure America continues to support Israel, I don’t think it’s wrong for Israel to use America as a pawn, America is not our homeland, we have been victims of antisemitism here.” These words, which suggest a priority for Israel over his own constituents, ignited a firestorm of controversy and provided a flashpoint for voters increasingly tired of the influence exerted by foreign interests in American governance.
Jeremy Allen Moss, born in Detroit on June 23, 1986, has been a lifelong resident of Southfield, Michigan, and currently serves as state senator for the 7th District. A graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a second major in political science, Moss was elected to the Southfield City Council in November 2011 at age 25, becoming the youngest person ever elected to that body. He is notable for being both the first homosexual person elected to the Michigan Senate and its current President Pro Tempore. His career in the state legislature began in 2014 when he won election to the Michigan House of Representatives for the 35th district, where he served as Democratic Caucus Whip before moving to the state Senate in 2019. As he prepares to move into the U.S. House of Representatives following his August 2026 primary victory in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, he remains a key figure in suburban Detroit’s Democratic machine, representing an area with a high concentration of Jewish voters.
His legislative record is marked by a focus on progressive social issues, including sponsoring the expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to extend additional privileges to LGBT individuals. However, his tenure in the state Senate has been equally defined by his vocal defense of Israel and his aggressive posture against those who question the nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He has consistently served as an institutional voice for the Jewish community, frequently speaking out on behalf of what he calls “the liberal Israel-supporting community” and serving as the legislative spearhead of the Black and Jewish Unity Caucus—the legislative arm of a coalition between the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC) and the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit. He has simultaneously worked within civic groups including the Martin Luther King Task Force, on which he serves as an advisory board member, and the Greater Southfield/Farmington chapter of the NAACP.
Moss has long occupied the front lines of the internal Democratic conflict over the Middle East. During the November 2023 dispute regarding Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” Moss was among the most vocal critics. “This is not how Jews view the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’” he wrote on X. “Hamas uses it as a rallying cry. And they don’t simply want to displace Jews in Israel. They want Jews dead.”
Later, during the campus protests of spring 2024, he asserted on the Senate floor that “’Zionist’ is now being weaponized as a slur.” He further attempted to codify these views into law during 2025 by co-sponsoring antisemitism legislation that incorporates the IHRA definition of antisemitism. For Moss, the protection of the state of Israel and the maintenance of its perceived security are inseparable from his domestic agenda.
The intensity of these battles reached a fever pitch on March 12, 2026, when Ayman Mohamed Ghazali, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born American citizen, drove a Ford F-150 through the front doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township and opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle before being killed by security guards. The FBI called it a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” Moss immediately went public with his response, telling CNN: “We stand on guard all the time for somebody to penetrate a house of worship or a school or another Jewish institution with an act of terror. And so we’re a community that’s kind of used to learning and praying in a fortress. It’s no way to live, but it’s the reality.” By July 2026, Moss championed a $23 million state appropriation for security measures at Jewish institutions across Michigan. “The sad reality is that this is an ongoing need,” he said.
However, his campaign for Congress took a jarring turn with the appearance of the hot mic audio in July 2026. While primary opponents Aisha Farooqi and Don Ufford publicized it to highlight Moss’s alleged ties to AIPAC-linked donors and foreign lobbies, Moss dismissed it as “manipulated and unsourced.” Despite the controversy, Moss emerged victorious in the primary, signaling that his established donor network and institutional support from the organized Jewish community remain potent forces even as the party’s base drifts from his position.
The skepticism toward Moss’s stance exists within a party where rank-and-file members are rapidly shedding support for Israel. This domestic dissatisfaction is mirrored by overwhelming opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. A Gallup poll conducted July 7-21, 2025 found that only 12 percent of Democrats approved of U.S. military action against Iran, while a Quinnipiac poll conducted March 6-8, 2026, days after Operation Epic Fury began, found that 89 percent of Democrats opposed the current U.S. military action against Iran, with only 7 percent in support.
Congressional votes have similarly reflected this anti-war consensus: 92 percent of Democrats polled said Trump should have sought congressional approval before striking Iran, and the vast majority of House Democrats supported War Powers resolutions to rein in the administration’s authority to continue the conflict. The party is effectively moving toward a stance of restraint, leaving figures like Moss, who remain committed to serving the Zionist endeavor, increasingly isolated from the prevailing ideological currents of their own coalition.
The divide between the American public and its political class is widening, and Moss represents the tail end of an era that is rapidly coming to a close. As support for Israel erodes across the American political spectrum, the institutional power wielded by figures like Moss faces an existential test. History is a cyclical beast, and once again, the Jewish community finds itself acting as an isolated minority in a nation that no longer shares its political priorities.
David Miller on his victory over Zionism, Pax Judaica, and Jewish Supremacy
If Americans Knew | August 17, 2026
David Miller is a British sociologist whose research and publications focus on Islamophobia and propaganda. Miller was Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol, where he was dismissed by the university because it was deemed he had not met the standards of behavior expected from staff. The dismissal related to allegations from students that Miller engaged in antisemitism during one of his lectures.
Miller was ultimately cleared of any unlawful behavior. In 2026, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the 2024 Employment Tribunal finding that Miller’s anti-Zionist beliefs constituted a protected philosophical belief under section 10 of the Equality Act 2010.
In this interview Miller discusses his victory over Zionism, Pax Judaica, and Jewish Supremacy. Miller describes how the United States and its powerful armed forces have become a proxy for the Jewish state’s imperial interests.
For the entire interview, visit: 
• David Miller CRUSHES Zionists in Court
US-led Board of Peace considers ‘wholesale’ Hamas disarmament deal to satisfy Israel: Report
The Cradle | August 18, 2026
US President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace is “weighing” a “new” Hamas disarmament proposal after Tel Aviv rejected Washington’s latest one, sources told the Times of Israel on 18 August.
“The Board of Peace is considering abandoning its phased framework for Hamas’s disarmament” due to the “Israeli pushback,” an informed source told the Israeli outlet.
“Instead of having Hamas hand over its weapons in phases, with Israel conducting corresponding withdrawals … another option being weighed by the Board of Peace would see Hamas hand over all weapons throughout Gaza, and only then would Israel have to pull back its troops to the Gaza border,” the report went on to say.
The new proposal being reported on is, essentially, what Israel has been demanding – a full surrender by the resistance prior to any discussion on withdrawal of occupation forces.
“The shift could be enough to get Israel on board, it risks losing the support of Hamas,” the Times of Israel wrote.
An Israeli official claimed to the outlet that there remains a dispute between Tel Aviv and Washington over the initial disarmament plan.
The source says the US has not yet dropped the original plan but is considering a “wholesale approach” to appease Israel.
“In this different approach, the entire area currently under Hamas’s control would be decommissioned of weapons all at once, rather than sector by sector.”
The report follows a Monday meeting between Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Board of Peace director Nickolay Mladenov was also present.
Another Hebrew report released by Israel’s Channel 12 said Kushner reportedly opposes Netanyahu on his plans to continue strikes and assassinations in Gaza.
“There was no agreement between Netanyahu and Kushner on the continuation of the assassination operations,” a source told Channel 12. “Netanyahu made clear that he will continue the assassinations, while Kushner expressed his opposition to them.”
Kushner had also met with Hamas officials in Egypt prior to his meeting with Netanyahu on Monday. The new reports coincide with continued Israeli attacks across Gaza.
Hamas said when Washington announced the new “disarmament deal” that it would hand over its weapons to the US-endorsed Palestinian committee of technocrats tasked with governing Gaza – but “only” if Israel adheres to its commitments. Israel continues to bar this committee from entering the strip.
Tel Aviv has openly refused the new deal – which Trump referred to as “historic” – claiming both Hamas and Israel were on board.
Hamas insists that any full disarmament depends on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. According to several reports, intensive talks on the wording of the new disarmament deal took place between Hamas officials and mediators.
The reports say the weapons will be “stored” but not handed over to Israel or destroyed.
Israel has not stopped attacks, violations, and genocide since the 2025 US plan was launched. It has also illegally occupied 70 percent of the strip.
Since the start of Trump’s so-called peace plan, over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded by Israel in Gaza.
Thousands of buildings have been demolished via detonation.
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From the Archives
A short history of British torture
ICC | December 2005
When the House of Commons was debating how much to increase the time limit for detention without trial the question of torture came up. Officially this was limited to the nice considerations of whether it was all right to send people to places where torture is used and whether Britain can use information collected by the use of torture in other countries. This discussion gave an impression of democratic Britain as the home of civilised behaviour where the very idea of torture is repugnant to our legislators – unlike, say, the US with its secret CIA jails… In reality, the British state has a long history of using and developing a whole range of torture techniques. … continue
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