03 World

Manchester’s Jewish community feels let down by Britain after deadly synagogue attack– japantoday.com
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Hundreds of mourners gathered in wind and rain Friday for a vigil that combined grief and defiance in the remembrance of two men who were killed when a knife-wielding assailant attacked their synagogue in the English city of Manchester.

Standing behind the police cordon that still surrounds the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the city’s Crumpsall neighborhood, the mourners said they felt forgotten by a society that has allowed antisemitism in the U.K. to grow unchallenged over the last two years.

Politicians and other leaders have failed to reject anti-Jewish speech or protect Jews from hate crimes, they said.

“We are Jews, but we are English. We have lived in Manchester for 150 years. We belong here,” Simon Burton, who works in sales, told The Associated Press. “We feel that, as a community, we are not always listened to. We feel let down.”

Poland accuses Russia of attack plot involving explosives smuggled in corn tins– www.euronews.com
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Prosecutors in Poland are investigating an alleged Russia plot that involved smuggling food cans labelled as corn packed with explosives into the country, according to Polish media.

An article published in Gazeta Wyborcza on Thursday cited sources at the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office and the Internal Security Agency (ABW) confirming the development.

A Ukrainian suspect linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU), who has only been identified as Władysław D, allegedly transported the cans to Poland after digging them up at a cemetery in neighbouring Lithuania.

The young man left them near the city of Łódź in central Poland, according to Gazeta Wyborcza.

A military expert told the Polish paper that the quantities of explosives believed to have been involved could have caused severe damage to a car and life-threatening injuries to people nearby.

US strikes vessel off Venezuelan coast killing four, Hegseth says– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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The U.S. military carried out another strike targeting a purported Venezuelan drug smuggling boat on Friday morning off the country’s coast, killing four people, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.

“Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation,” he said. “The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics 00 headed to America to poison our people.”

The secretary added that U.S. intelligence confirmed “without a doubt” that the vessel “was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route,” though he did not provide details of that evidence.

Trump no longer distancing himself from Project 2025 as he uses shutdown to further pursue its goals– japantoday.com
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President Donald Trump is openly embracing the conservative blueprint he desperately tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign, as one of its architects works to use the government shutdown to accelerate his goals of slashing the size of the federal workforce and punishing Democratic states.

In a post on his Truth Social site Thursday morning, Trump announced he would be meeting with his budget chief, “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”

The comments represented a dramatic about-face for Trump, who spent much of last year denouncing Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation’s massive proposed overhaul of the federal government, which was drafted by many of his longtime allies and current and former administration officials.

Both of Trump’s Democratic rivals, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, made the far-right wish list a centerpiece of their campaigns, and a giant replica of the book featured prominently onstage at the Democratic National Convention.

Visiting Harvard Law Prof Arrested After Allegedly Firing Pellet Gun Outside Synagogue– legalinsurrection.com
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The professor claimed he was hunting rats. Does anyone believe this?

The New York Post reports:

Harvard Law professor placed on leave after firing pellet gun near Boston area synagogue

A visiting professor at Harvard Law School has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly firing a pellet rifle outside a Brookline synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, 43, was arrested Wednesday night after police said he fired two shots near Temple Beth Zion on Beacon Street in what he later claimed was “hunting rats,” Brookline.News reported.

Investigators do not believe that Gouvea was targeting the synagogue, but he was charged in Brookline District Court with illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and malicious damage of personal property, according to court records.

After Embracing Mass Migration, Europe’s Collapse Was Inevitable– thefederalist.com
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There are significant consequences that come with importing masses of foreign nationals from cultures incompatible with Western Civilization. Yet, Europeans seem content with learning this lesson the hard way.

On Thursday, the United Kingdom experienced a tragic terror attack when 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie allegedly rammed his truck into a crowd at a Manchester synagogue before getting out and stabbing Jewish congregants. Al-Shamie is of Syrian descent and became a British citizen in 2006 after entering the country as a young child, according to Fox News.

The attack — which occurred on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur — left two people dead and three injured. As later acknowledged by Manchester Police, however, at least one death and one injury were caused by gunfire from law enforcement.

U.K. authorities have “arrested three other people in connection with the attack: two men in their 30s and one woman in her 60s,” according to the Washington Examiner.

How U.S.-Gulf AI Deals Project Power– warontherocks.com
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The great-power contest is not unfolding on battlefields or carrier decks, but inside data halls cooled by air conditioning, far from America’s shores. Rows of servers and racks of graphics processing units now carry as much strategic weight as military bases once did. Each deal for cloud access or advanced chips is a form of statecraft, binding partners into one camp’s technology ecosystem while locking out the other.

The United States is using AI infrastructure — data centers, cloud controls, and compute access — as a tool of power projection in the Arabian Gulf. By tying investment and capacity to governance safeguards, Washington can align regional partners with its security preferences, crowd out Chinese platforms, and set the rules for how AI is built and deployed. But the leverage is fragile. Without resilience and enforceable compliance, these arrangements risk becoming single points of failure or, worse, conduits for adversaries.

To make this new form of statecraft durable, U.S. policymakers should establish standard deal architectures with Gulf partners that combine hard technical safeguards, strict governance requirements, and built-in contingency plans. That means binding model weights to secure enclaves, tracking accelerators and workloads, embedding snapback clauses for violations, and pairing technical assurances with human rights standards. Done right, this approach can turn American-backed AI infrastructure into a lasting source of influence — quiet, scalable, and harder to dislodge than a forward operating base.

Boom! FBI Shuts Down Maduro’s International Money Laundry – RedState– redstate.com
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Venezuelan El Presidente and de facto dictator Nicolás Maduro has had his hands full with all the Venezuelan drug-carrying speedboats suddenly being converted to flying spare parts and their crews being turned into low-grade fish food, courtesy of the United States War Department. But now he is having a bad case of the smuggler’s blues, as the American FBI has taken down a huge money-laundering operation tied to the dictator through his kids.

El Presidente is no doubt feeling maladjusted over all this.

 The FBI says two men have been indicted in connection with an alleged money-laundering scheme tied to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s children.

The indictments come after a years-long investigation that dates back to 2019 when the FBI’s Miami Field Office launched the probe based on indications that Arick Komarczyk opened U.S. bank accounts for Maduro’s children and their U.S.-based associates. Suspicious Activity Reports allegedly showed that Komarczyk received wire transfers from individuals and businesses in Venezuela, according to the FBI.

An undercover operation in 2022 revealed that Komarczyk and his associate, Irazmar Carbajal, agreed to move $100,000 of what the FBI believed to be sanctioned money belonging to members of Venezuela’s government. The FBI said the men moved about $25,000 into the U.S.

The bureau noted that when confronted about the situation, Kormarczyk was not alarmed, rather he called it “sexy business.”

  1. A Feminist Approach to AI in Sub-Saharan Africa • Stimson Center– www.stimson.org
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    Across Africa, AI is being harnessed to achieve positive impacts for marginalized communities. However, while AI can be used for good, some fear it could further marginalize and harm those it is intended to empower. Despite emphasis from both public and private sectors on equality and equity, uncertainty around policy-enabling environments, skills, and resources still presents a bottleneck for building inclusive AI. Though there are promising femtech solutions aimed at addressing specific gender concerns, the question of addressing needs and wants from a feminist approach in AI lingers.

    Gender is often still an afterthought when it comes to policy implementation and practice, but there are many initiatives, charters, and agreements in Africa that support equality and aim to eliminate violence against women, combat the disproportionate effect of poverty on women, and support women’s participation in the political and economic spheres. For example, Agenda 2063 promotes gender equality and an engaged, empowered youth. The African Union strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) 2018-2028 also aims to strengthen women’s agency in Africa and ensure that women’s voices are amplified and their concerns are fully addressed. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa similarly requires member states to tackle “all forms of discrimination against women through appropriate legislative measures.”

    In Africa, there is a strong normative framework on gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights, and correspondingly, there are some civil or governmental initiatives that support women in national digital transformation policies. In Rwanda, for example, women have become increasingly influential in building national plans for artificial intelligence, and in Kenya, women have impacted the national plan for data uses. However, Africa is still facing challenges in integrating AI and policy. The Oxford AI Worldwide Readiness Index exemplifies the gap between the United States, ranked as first, and Mauritius, considered the African flagship country in AI policy, ranked 69th. There are only four African countries – Mauritius, South Africa, Rwanda, and Egypt – whose scores were higher than the global average of 47.59.

    Policy efforts across the continent are increasing but still limited. In mid-2021, Egypt launched its national AI strategy, christened “Artificial Intelligence for Development and Prosperity,” making clear the country’s ambitious goals for development and economic growth. Senegal followed suit in 2023 with a strategy of its own, also focused on economic development. On April 20, 2023, Rwanda released its “National AI Policy for Responsible AI Adoption,” which emphasizes AI for sustainable development. In 2024, Kenya published its draft national AI strategy with goals including social inclusion, ethics, and equity in AI.

     

‘Can’t find any’: Trump says ‘no boats’ left after US strikes near Venezuela; calls it ‘act of kindness’– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US military strikes on small boats near Venezuela have been so effective that “there are no boats” left in the area. He warned that traffickers will now be “forced to go by land.“Speaking to Navy personnel at the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, Trump praised the operations, which Washington says aim to stop drug shipments to the United States. “We’re stopping drugs at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” he said.

‘Ready For War’: Maduro’s PUBLIC DECLARATION After U.S. Military Attack On Venezuela Boat

He added: “We’re so good at it that there are no boats. In fact, even fishing boats – nobody wants to go into the water anymore. Sorry to tell you that. We just can’t find any.” Trump warned that the crackdown may extend to land routes if traffickers are forced to shift. “They’re not coming in by sea any more, so now we’ll have to start looking at the land, because they’ll be forced to go by land. And let me tell you right now, that’s not going to work out well for them either,” he said.Last month, the US military launched an extensive attack. The US navy carried out an airstrike in early September in the southern Caribbean on a boat from Venezuela, killing all 11 people on board. Trump released a video of the strike.US officials say at least 21 people have been killed in the strikes so far. The White House claims that at least four boats have been destroyed, preventing drugs from reaching the United States. Video released by the Pentagon showed an open speedboat suddenly engulfed in smoke and flames.Trump also mentioned another strike “last night,” although the last publicly announced Pentagon operation was on Friday, when four unidentified people described as “narco-terrorists” were killed on a small boat off Venezuela.

Rubio says release of hostages from Gaza is “most emergent and immediate phase” of Trump peace plan– www.cbsnews.com
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the release of hostages from Gaza is the “most emergent and immediate phase” of the peace plan that President Trump outlined last week, which negotiators are set to discuss this week in Cairo.

“Let’s discuss through the mediators the logistics and the mechanics behind how that happens, and that has to happen very quickly. That cannot drag on,” Rubio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

On Friday, Hamas agreed to parts of the peace proposal, including the release of all the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he has sent a delegation to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” outlining a goal to limit the negotiations to “a time frame of a few days.”

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, are expected to represent the U.S. at talks in Egypt on Monday. Rubio said conversations are underway ahead of Monday’s meeting in Egypt, and he outlined that the talks should center on the logistics behind the release of the hostages.

Serbian antigovernment protests escalate in third night of clashes ...

Serbian antigovernment protests escalate in third night of clashes ...

Thousands march in Serbia in persistent resistance to autocratic leader Vucic– abcnews.go.com
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BELGRADE, Serbia — Thousands joined protest marches in several Serbian towns on Wednesday reflecting persistent resistance to autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic’s rule despite a government crackdown.

Crowds gathered to mark 11 months since a concrete canopy collapsed in a northern Serbian city that killed 16 people and triggered a major anti-government movement.

Protesters believe that the crash at the renovated train station in Novi Sad resulted from graft-fueled negligence in construction projects. The building’s renovation was part of a wider railway overhaul with Chinese companies.

File:Charlie Kirk by Gage Skidmore 3

File:Charlie Kirk by Gage Skidmore 3

Charlie Kirk’s Full Message to Netanyahu Revealed– slaynews.com
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In a striking development, the complete text of a letter from the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has surfaced.

The discovery offers fresh insight into Kirk’s intricate perspective on Israel.

The letter, released by the New York Post, reflects Kirk’s profound respect for Israel while pressing for a significant shift in its public communication approach, amid a heated dispute over his views following his tragic death on Sept. 10 in Utah.

Read Charlie Kirk’s Letter To Benjamin Netanyahu in Full

FROM THE DESK OF CHARLIE KIRK

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, One of my greatest joys as a Christian is advocating for Israel and forming alliances with Jews in the fight to protect Judeo-Christian civilization. Most recently, I am proud to have taken over Ambassador Huckabee’s show on TBN where we continually support Israel and the Jewish people. As Muhammadism spreads into Western societies, it’s critical that Jews and Christians stay united in the effort to contain and roll back radical Islam and Sharia law. I regret to report that anti-Israel and antisemitic trends are at record levels on social media. These negative sentiments then flow downstream into college campuses and even seep into the conservative MAGA community.

My team and I have spent months analyzing these trends and debating ideas that could help you and your country push back against these disturbing developments. Anti-Israel sentiment can undermine American support for Israel. The purpose of this letter is to lay out our concerns and outline potential remedies. Everything written here is from a place of deep love for Israel and the Jewish people. I think it’s important to be brutally honest with those you love. In my opinion, Israel is losing the information war and needs a “communications intervention.”

I started to compose this letter to you on Easter. I should have been focused on my family, but I was getting bombarded with messages about the Israeli army making it difficult for Christians to access church in Jerusalem on Easter. At the time, I did not see any official statements pushing back on this narrative. It was frustrating because pro-Israel surrogates like me should not be in charge of fact-checking every piece of anti-Israel misinformation that pours into social media. It wasn’t just Easter. On my recent campus tours, half the questions I get are about Israel and they’re all negative.

I often spend half my time on these campus tours defending Jews and Israel which I’m proud to do because I love Israel and love the Jewish faith. I spent endless hours with Dennis Prager over the years studying the Torah. Sometimes, it feels like I’m defending Israel in public more than your own government.

My experience on college campuses matches a recent Harvard Harris poll which reported 48% of 18—24 year old Americans support Hamas over Israel. Even in young MAGA circles, Israel is losing support. We are getting huge crowds of 4,000—5,000 students on some of my college tours. My campus visits are becoming like a rock concert atmosphere filled with conservative patriots. Yet, on these campus visits, I’m constantly confronted with:

“Israel is an apartheid state.”

“Why does Israel conduct ethnic cleansing?”

“Why is America subsidizing Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people?”

“Is American aid helping to subsidize Israel’s free health care?”

“Israel and the Jews are running U.S. foreign policy.”

“Israel and Jews are responsible for 9/11.”

“Defending Israel is not in our U.S. national interest.”

“Why is Israel trying to drag us into a war in the Middle East?”

Above are just a sampling of the negative Israel/Jewish comments and questions I confront on college campuses. I’m accused of being a paid apologist for Israel when I defend her; however, if I don’t defend Israel strongly enough, I’m accused of being antisemitic. I know you’ve got a seven-front war and my kvetching pales in comparison. But I’m trying to convey to you that Israel is losing support even in conservative circles. This should be a five-alarm fire.

I’m often asked, “Why is Israel killing so many innocent civilians in Gaza?” I know Israel goes to great lengths by dropping flyers and even calling civilians to clear out of areas about to be bombed. I know Israel posts maps showing which areas should be evacuated. I know that Hamas uses civilians as human shields. But 90% of the younger generations get their news from social media and podcasts and there is very little pushback or fact-checking by the Israeli government and/or pro-Israel supporters in the media (especially social media).

I strongly suggest Israel NOT always depend on “subcontracting” their information war efforts to surrogates in America. Mr. Prime Minister, I urge you to REVAMP your information warfare strategy from top to bottom. Sometimes, the impression is given that Israel thinks everyone hates them so why care about winning over hearts and minds? If there’s any truth to this impression, I urge you to consider that social media and podcasts are where you fight for the hearts and minds of the younger generation. Obviously, all this negative Israel propaganda on social media easily translates into pro-Hamas “Free Palestine” sentiment on many college campuses.

Here are some unsolicited recommendations my team and I suggest if you’re open-minded to a communications reset:

1) For starters, you need a rapid response media team. President Trump does this very effectively on social media with his own account and his White House Rapid Response 47 team. The President has strong fighters like Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt who battle the press every day. Honestly, I don’t even know if you have a press secretary. You are an eloquent defender of Israel, but you need a team of information warriors out there pushing back every day. There’s also hundreds of millions of dollars raised by private pro-Israel groups. Some of this money should be directed into creating pro-Israel ORIGINAL homegrown content. Next, promote this content on Israel-operated social media channels and websites. Use some of these funds to start the Israel Truth Network (ITN).

2) I strongly recommend putting together a team of pro-Israel experts who can fact-check misinformation in real time from Israel. Israel needs to take the lead in this effort—no more dependence on subcontractors. Israel never asks for American troops because Israel does its own fighting. I suggest the same approach for the information war. You lead and people like me will follow and provide supplemental support. If you’re open to revamping your communications strategy, my team and I are happy to assist.

3) You need something perhaps like an “Israel Truth Network” (ITN) which can include social media channels and a one-stop source of information website where, for example, all the negative Israel questions I get can be thoroughly debunked. I would love to refer students to such a website. This website could also be a conduit to groups like Hillel and Jewish educators like Dennis Prager. There can be links to books, podcasts, media personalities, and pro-Israel thought leaders. The website can be a place where Judeo-Christian leaders and groups can share information and form closer alliances in the fight against Islamic fundamentalism. ITN social media can post pro-Israel pro Judeo-Christian video clips, breaking news and articles. ITN could potentially be a news aggregation site for all news pertaining to Israel and Judeo-Christian efforts to preserve Western civilization.

4) Have you considered inviting some of the released hostages to go on a speaking tour in the U. S.? This could be very effective messaging. These hostages can talk about how Gazan civilians not once offered any empathy or compassion. President Trump referenced this lack of humanity when some released hostages visited the Oval Office. This was effective messaging. When impactful messaging clicks, keep it going. Also, these hostages and all your spokespersons should be arguing it’s Hamas that is committing genocide on their own people by using civilians as human shields and storing weapons in schools, hospitals, etc. That information drips out in the regular media but is almost nonexistent on social media.

5) Maybe interview regular Israelis on the streets asking them what they love about their country. Interview Jews, Israeli Arabs, Druze, orthodox, secular, etc. Ask Israelis what they wish the world knew about Israel. Ask them to respond to examples of misinformation on social media. This could be an entire social media PR campaign called, “Dude, you got us wrong!” Interview Israelis from all walks of life.

Let Israelis explain in their own words how Israel is a pluralistic society, a free country with elected leaders unlike the surrounding authoritarian Arab nations. Why not show how your hospitals take care of wounded terrorists? Why not show clips of Israel dropping flyers from airplanes warning Gazan civilians to get out of harm’s way? It would have been nice to see an Israeli plane with a Star of David arrive in the U.S. full of supplies after a hurricane. Has Israel offered any assistance to the U.S., insofar as technology to protect our border or with the missile defense shield President Trump has discussed? These are examples of effective messaging showing Israel as a close ally of America. Consumers of social media are aware of the billions in supplies we send to Israel, but they’re less aware of what America gets in return. You and your team need to make the argument on social media that Israel is a great friend of America and is vital to U.S. national security. Israel needs to better portray itself as a member of “Team Humanity.” Israel needs to establish a baseline of her identity. To run an effective messaging campaign, you need a clearly defined message. This message should be homegrown from Israel. In other words, create original content from Israel. Videos and visuals feed social media. Keep these edited clips short—under one minute—and post the best ones on the Israel Truth Network (ITN). Don’t rely on non-Israeli social media influencers to create all these clips. Create them yourselves and influencers (surrogates) like me can promote this ORIGINAL work and refer people to your social media and websites. Be proactive—take the lead. Bottom line is Israel needs to learn to fish (i.e., create your own content) and be more self-reliant when it comes to your communications strategy.

6) Iran: Israel could do a better job explaining the Iranian threat. Among the many conservatives who support Israel, there is a concern that America could become entangled in a quagmire in Iran. My generation grew up with disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq. We were promised there were WMDs in Iraq which proved to be a lie. Our generation was also lied to by the governments of Israel and the U.S. that COVID vaccines were safe and effective. Israeli intelligence missed the boat on October 7, but we’re asked to trust Israeli intelligence 100% that Iran is on the cusp of obtaining nuclear weapons. Young conservatives are very skeptical of government proclamations. We don’t fully trust intelligence assessments. Right now it seems like Israel is primarily relying on Americans to make the case for attacking Iranian nuclear sites. These arguments get a lot of blowback in MAGA circles. Other than you, Mr. Prime Minister, I see very few Israelis making their case in the media, social media or podcasts. Many agree with you (myself included) that Iran should not get nuclear weapons. At the same time, I share the concern that America will get sucked into another endless war costing thousands of American lives. Where are the Israelis who are arguing their case to win over public opinion? Israel should be making its case 24/7 on social media including long form (English-speaking) podcasts and social media channels and website(s) such as a Rapid Response Team and ITN.

7) A paradigm shift is needed in how Israel presents itself to the world, especially on social media. Perhaps the best way to convey my thoughts here is to think of Israel as a political candidate (in this case a younger woman who grew up on social media). Who is this candidate and what does she stand for? Right now there’s essentially a massive negative ad campaign spreading on social media. These negative ads are defining this candidate. Political campaigns face these challenges all the time. Many of the PR challenges Israel faces should be looked at through the prism of a political campaign. Like any campaign, the first task is to define the candidate.

Right now there is not a “one-stop shopping” resource where younger people can learn about this candidate. Every candidate has a website and social media. It would be political malpractice to omit these tools. Sorry for the brutal honesty, but Israel’s approach to social media is “PR malpractice.” Your “candidate” should list all the toughest questions she gets on the campaign trail with detailed expert responses (add footnotes) on her ITN website and use social media to explain her platform on a daily basis. These responses become part of Miss Israel’s “platform” where her positions and values are explained. Like any political campaign, you need surrogates who can articulately promote this candidate’s platform and identity. Right now Israel’s identity is being fabricated by those who hate her by a barrage of misinformation in the media—especially social media. Fake news becomes real news if there’s not effective pushback. When a candidate is hit with negative campaign ads, the effective response is for the candidate to PERSONALLY respond to these attack ads. A candidate doesn’t just rely on surrogates to get the truth out. One of Israel’s biggest most fundamental problems is typically your pushback is in a 3rd person voice. I do the “3rd person” voice all the time as I attempt to defend the candidate, Israel. But I don’t live in Israel so I’m more like an attorney defending a client. Israel, the client, also needs to defend itself. I wish I had a “1st person” source of information I could reference where students and Israel skeptics could learn more about this client called Israel. You need a one-stop shopping resource where Israel’s platform and beliefs can be spelled out. You need more Israeli surrogates speaking out on behalf of their candidate. At the moment, you have some wonderful non-Israeli surrogates speaking on behalf of a candidate that has not defined herself—especially when it comes to social media. I know it’s common to think that social media, especially TikTok, is a waste of time. I thought similar a year ago. But TikTok algorithms have changed. I have increased my followers on TikTok from approx. 1 million to 6.6 million in the last year. We get BILLIONS (with a “B”) views on TikTok. My campus tour last Fall and this Spring have received approx. 5 BILLION impressions. Elon Musk is a good friend to Israel so X offers a great opportunity to make inroads on social media. Israel should not sit back and allow its enemies to define her. A recent Pew Research poll showed 53% of Americans now have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 42% three years ago. U.S. support for Israel is precarious right now. A new media strategy is urgently needed. I understand social media as well as anyone in the world. From my vantage point, Israel has retreated from social media without a fight. How are you going to win over younger generations if you’re starting out in retreat on social media? Younger generations use their TV’s for Netflix—not the evening news. Narratives for younger and even middle-aged people are fought now on social media. Mr. Prime Minister, stop this retreat—get in the information war fight! The front lines of this information war are on social media. Other than a few guerrilla warfare operations, there’s very little Israel created content. I saw that Israel has increased its Hasbara budget by 20x times which is great news. There’s also hundreds of millions of dollars raised by private pro-Israel groups. Some of this money should be directed into creating pro Israel ORIGINAL home grown content. Next, promote this content on Israel operated social media channels and websites. Use some of these funds to start the Israel Truth Network (ITN).

To sum up, you should perhaps consider reshaping your Hasbara Department into more of a political campaign headquarters with campaign narrative experts. Hasbara could be the mothership hosting ITN where the messaging campaign can be created and then distributed to all the pro-Israel groups and thought leaders.

Majority of staff in these efforts should be in their 20’s and 30’s. The older generation alone is not going to win the information war on social media. You need to fill the ranks with young people who grew up with cellphones and social media—not pay phones and TV news. Once the candidate is defined with a platform backfilled with extensive details, then allow the political operatives to take that platform out into social media with an out-of-the-box approach like some of the earlier suggestions. I’ve seen your IDF spokesman defend Israel standing at a dimly lit podium. This looks like a scene out of the 1970s—like some old Walter Cronkite clips of the TV news. You need to tear down your old ways of communicating and start over from scratch. Create a communications and social media platform that is wired to fight back with the same fierceness and determination as the IDF.

Israel has many Americans and some well-known foreigners who defend Israel which is great. But these are “3rd person” voices. Mr. Prime Minister, you are an eloquent defender of Israel but you don’t post very often on social media. Many of your clips are in Hebrew only. Why don’t you do more press conferences in Israel in English? Take on some of the tough questions I get bombarded with on college campuses. Where are all the Israeli surrogates? I can’t remember the last time I saw an Israeli spokesperson on one of the…

American TikTok deal doesn’t address the platform’s potential for manipulation, only who profits– phys.org
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On Sept. 25, the Donald Trump administration in the United States again extended the TikTok ban-or-divest law, possibly for the last time. The latest extension to the law, which was passed in 2024 by the Joe Biden administration, includes a deal to transfer TikTok to American owners as a condition required to avoid a ban.

This raises the question on the validity of the warnings about the app as a tool of Chinese influence and whether American ownership will help.

Canada should be watching closely, because anxieties about foreign manipulation and social media exist north of the border, too. These range from bans on TikTok and concerns about Beijing-linked surveillance to efforts like Bill C-18 aimed at safeguarding domestic news sources.

What happens in the Canadian information environment has always been shaped by the U.S., a dependence that is even more precarious now that American politics has turned hostile to Canada.

Trump says he’s open to talks with Kim Jong Un ‘without any preconditions’– www.foxnews.com
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President Donald Trump is open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without any preconditions,” a White House official said, as South Korea’s unification minister warned Pyongyang’s missiles could reach the U.S. mainland.

“President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula. U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, without any preconditions.”

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young used blunt language in Berlin this week, telling reporters, “North Korea has become one of the three countries capable of attacking the U.S. mainland,” according to the Yonhap News Agency. “What needs to be acknowledged should be acknowledged rationally.”

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Chung’s claim.

Situation ‘Critical’ As Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Runs On Emergency Generators– www.rferl.org
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Power lines supplying the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine have been cut off for over a week. That means that the plant, which is not currently generating its own power, is relying on diesel generators to keep its nuclear reactors cool. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that the plant was not designed to operate in emergency mode, while Russian officials say they are doing everything necessary to ensure the plant’s safety.

World awaits Hamas response as isolated terrorists run out of options– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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Hamas has a matter of days to decide whether it will agree to President Donald Trump‘s latest effort to end the war in Gaza, a plan that has some support from several Arab nations that want to see the conflict end permanently.

Trump revealed the content of his 20-point peace plan on Monday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Trump said on Wednesday that his administration stands by his demand that Hamas respond to the peace plan in 3-4 days.

The change in circumstances for Hamas has been rapid. Just last month, multiple countries lined up to recognize an independent Palestinian state in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly, and diplomats walked out of Netanyahu’s speech.