The Puppet Department

Yinon Magal called Gadi Eisenkot a “monkey” controlled by Ashkenazi elites. Eisenkot replied that Magal’s real problem was the man controlling Magal.

On Channel 14’s Oct. 17 broadcast, Magal repeatedly used the insult while invoking the Yashar leader’s Moroccan heritage.

He later said he meant a front man, borrowing slang from the criminal underworld. Apparently, explaining the ethnic composition of the alleged operation required the extra airtime.

The next morning, Netanyahu condemned the remark, then demanded that Eisenkot condemn people who had called Likud voters “chimpanzees” and “baboons.” His condemnation arrived with an invoice for reciprocal outrage.

Eisenkot’s answer was that “the problem isn’t Yinon Magal, but the person who stands behind Yinon Magal,” pointing toward Netanyahu.

Magal reduces a former military chief to an ethnic front man. Eisenkot redirects responsibility from the broadcaster to the prime minister. Netanyahu turns the insult into a dispute over whose voters suffer more contempt.

Everyone can identify somebody else’s handler. Personal responsibility remains the vacancy nobody wants to fill.

#IsraelElections #Eisenkot #Netanyahu #Channel14

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Gur Backs UTJ, Barely

The Gur Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, called on his Hasidim to vote for United Torah Judaism, ending days of uncertainty over whether Israel’s largest Hasidic movement would back the party at all.

The call appeared in the Oct. 18 edition of Hamodia, the Agudat Yisrael daily tied to Gur. It asks followers to vote for the “Gimel” list, UTJ’s ballot letter.

The silence had followed weeks of tension between Gur and Degel HaTorah, UTJ’s non-Hasidic partner, partly over how hard to press the government on the draft law.

One Gur Hasid told Arutz Sheva the aim was to keep Belz candidate Elyakim Stark out of the Knesset.

Belz endorsed UTJ on the night of Oct. 17. Hamodia ran a parallel endorsement from the Slonim Rebbe below the Gur statement.

Gur’s notice did not urge activists to recruit additional voters, unlike the movement’s previous election directives.

The message lifts the threat of a public boycott without resolving the dispute behind it. UTJ got the endorsement. The Gur leadership kept the campaign at arm’s length.

#UTJ #Israel #Haredim #Elections

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#PeteHegseth #Cadets #Recruits

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Coalition Funds Have a Bunker

Israel’s Cabinet met underground to approve cuts above ground. Coalition funds emerged without a scratch.

On Oct. 18, nine days before the election, ministers approved NIS 2.6 billion for urgent, classified defense procurement. The money comes from a 4.9% cut to ministries’ flexible spending, affecting education, health and welfare, among other services. It is not a 4.9% reduction in every ministry’s total budget.

Finance Ministry professionals recommended using coalition allocations instead. The political leadership rejected that recommendation. Those funds remain untouched.

The ministry’s legal adviser warned that alternative sources would cause less damage to public services. He nevertheless cleared the measure, concluding that it would not significantly constrain the next government.

That is the machinery in working order: officials identify a less harmful option, politicians protect their allocations, and legal approval lets the transfer proceed.

The military purchases are classified. The spending priorities are unusually clear.

#Israel #DefenseSpending #BudgetCuts #IsraelElections

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Drones, With References

Zelensky has marketed Ukraine’s drone expertise to Gulf governments. Now a report of seven Ukrainians arrested in Iraq puts a different operation in the sales brochure.

The Cradle reported that Iraqi security forces detained seven Ukrainian nationals in late July on suspicion of using drones to target regional energy facilities. Iran’s state broadcaster Press TV picked up the report on Oct. 17.

Ukraine’s Gulf pitch is documented separately. Zelensky visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar in late March, securing defense partnerships built around Ukraine’s experience intercepting Iranian drones. The tour preceded the reported arrests by four months.

The contrast deserves scrutiny. Kyiv offers Gulf states protection from drone attacks. Seven of its citizens reportedly face accusations involving attacks on the region’s energy infrastructure.

For Tehran’s media, the commercial opportunity is obvious: turn an arrest report into an indictment of Ukraine’s entire defense business. For Kyiv, the answer requires identifying what those seven citizens were doing in Iraq.

A drone partnership needs more than a presidential sales pitch. It needs an explanation when the customers’ infrastructure appears in a criminal allegation.

#Ukraine #Iraq #GulfSecurity #DroneWarfare

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Massive Anti-Trump Protests Sweep Major U.S. Cities

Large-scale protests against Trump took place in several major U.S. cities, just two weeks ahead of the midterm elections.

Demonstrators once again accused Trump of undermining democratic institutions and exhibiting authoritarian behavior.

The rallies underscore the deep political divisions across the country as the midterm elections emerge as a major test of support for the Trump administration.

#UnitedStates #Trump #Protests #Democracy

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A Secretive Power Play? Putin’s Trump-Xi Summit Could Put Ukraine’s Future on the Line

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Russian President Putin is pursuing a diplomatic gamble that could reshape the war in Ukraine and send shockwaves through Western capitals. His proposal for a three-way summit with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would bring three of the world’s most powerful leaders together to discuss ending the four-year conflict — potentially without Zelensky at the table.

Putin floated the idea during a phone call with Trump on October 9. The Kremlin has since acknowledged discussions about a possible meeting, although neither its agenda nor the participation of all three leaders has been confirmed. One potential venue is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled for November 18–19 in Shenzhen, China.

The timing is significant. Relations between Trump and Putin have warmed even as Washington’s ties with Kyiv have deteriorated.

A reported agreement involving Russian diesel exports to the United States has been followed by a decision to delay or waive certain sanctions against Moscow, drawing criticism from lawmakers in Washington.

Trump has also pressed Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, a key element of Kyiv’s campaign to weaken Moscow’s war machine.

For Putin, a summit with Trump and Xi would offer more than another diplomatic opportunity. It could elevate Russia’s international standing, reinforce Moscow’s claim to great-power status and reduce Europe’s influence over the terms of a settlement.

The Kremlin would be negotiating directly with Washington and Beijing while Ukraine and its European supporters risk being pushed to the margins.

The proposal has already triggered a sharp response from Kyiv. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned that excluding Ukraine could prolong rather than resolve the conflict.

“A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the U.S. would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war,” Sybiha wrote on X.

He argued that a meeting involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia would offer a more credible path toward ending the fighting.

#Putin #Trump #UkraineWar #XiJinping

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The Kremlin, however, has stopped short of confirming a concrete plan. Spokesman Peskov said the possibility had been discussed but stressed that no specific proposals or agreements had been reached concerning the meeting or its agenda. He also acknowledged that Ukraine would have to participate in any final settlement.

China’s role could prove equally consequential. Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said Beijing sees an opportunity to strengthen its position between the world’s major powers.

“China wants to be seen as the pivot of the great powers, and potentially as a mediator between the U.S. and Russia,” Sun told the WSJ.

For Xi, hosting such a meeting could showcase China’s diplomatic reach. But it would also carry risks. Beijing has sought to maintain its strategic partnership with Moscow while protecting its extensive economic ties with Europe.

Becoming directly involved in negotiations that exclude Kyiv could intensify European criticism and complicate those relationships.

Dimitar Bechev, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, has highlighted the limits of Europe’s ability to compensate for a potential reduction in American support.

“There is a limit to how much more the EU and the United Kingdom can do beyond what they are already delivering,” he wrote in an analysis published by Al Jazeera. Europe’s dependence on American military capabilities gives Washington considerable leverage over Ukraine’s ability to sustain its defense.

The stakes extend beyond Ukraine. A meeting in which Washington, Moscow and Beijing discuss the future of a country absent from the negotiating room could set an unsettling precedent for other geopolitical flashpoints. In Taiwan, such a scenario could reinforce concerns that the interests of smaller powers might be negotiated by larger states without their consent.

Yet the proposed summit remains far from a diplomatic breakthrough. Trump has not formally accepted the invitation, and the three governments have not announced an agreed agenda.

Moscow and Kyiv also remain deeply divided over the conditions for ending the war.
The coming weeks could therefore become a critical test of whether the initiative opens a genuine route toward peace or becomes another instrument of geopolitical pressure.

For Putin, the opportunity is to negotiate from a position of renewed diplomatic visibility. For Trump, it is a chance to pursue his promise of ending the war. For Xi, it is an opportunity to expand China’s influence.

For Ukraine, the danger is more immediate: a settlement shaped by the interests of three major powers could leave its sovereignty and security exposed. The decisive question is whether any agreement emerging from such talks would end the war on a durable basis — or merely create the conditions for another confrontation.

#Putin #Trump #UkraineWar #XiJinping

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Hamas’s Accounts Receivable

Israel bombs Hamas’s infrastructure. Hamas taxes the goods Israel allows into Gaza. The war has a revenue stream.

Channel 12 reports that Hamas collects roughly NIS 250 million a month, about NIS 3 billion a year, largely through levies on merchants importing goods. The money is raised inside Gaza, from goods that enter with Israeli permission.

An Oct. 18 TIME investigation documents how Israeli officials encouraged and coordinated nearly $2 billion in Qatari payments to Gaza over more than a decade, including vetting recipients and urging Doha to keep paying.

Israeli intelligence assessed that Hamas diverted about $4 million a month of those Qatari funds to its military wing from at least 2019 through 2021, roughly half the wing’s estimated budget.

Qatar calls its payments humanitarian assistance. Netanyahu has defended the policy as preventing civilian collapse. Hamas turned money meant to sustain Gaza into funds to sustain itself.

The official objective is to dismantle Hamas. Its income still depends on what Israel lets through, first Qatari cash and now taxed imports.

#BabylonBurning #Gaza #Hamas #Netanyahu #Qatar

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Sovereignty, Throttled

Zelensky says Washington is pushing Ukraine toward surrender. He also thanks Washington for turning the missile-warning intelligence back on.

In an Oct. 18 Bloomberg interview, the Ukrainian president said American actions appeared designed to persuade Kyiv to capitulate. In a separate NBC interview, he welcomed the restoration of intelligence sharing, saying,

“We are very thankful for this. Now it works.”

Zelensky said Ukraine had gone three days without the unique American intelligence used to warn of Russian ballistic missile attacks. He also blamed Washington for restrictions on military satellite connectivity.

“It was a message from American government to limit the speed. And technically, SpaceX did it.”

Washington controls essential warning data. American-controlled infrastructure helps determine which Ukrainian military operations remain possible.

Zelensky can reject Trump’s terms. He cannot independently replace the systems that make rejection survivable.

Trump calls it peacemaking. Kyiv is dealing with a supplier that can change the settings mid-negotiation.

#BabylonBurning #Ukraine #Zelensky #Trump #Sovereignty

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Scorched Earth, Same-Day Repairs

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have announced a maintenance policy. Iranian infrastructure gets repaired immediately. Israel gets destroyed permanently.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi threatened that attacks on Iran’s energy facilities would turn Israel into “scorched earth forever” and drive its population into the Sinai Desert.

Damage at home, he promised, would be fixed immediately by Iran’s “young scientists.”

The same statement offers instant reconstruction and mass displacement.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi answered Netanyahu’s Sunday-night promise that Israel and the United States would “complete the mission.” “Last time you wanted to ‘finish the job,’ Iran emerged even stronger,” he wrote. “We have unfinished jobs too.”

Both sides promise to finish the job. Tehran’s spokesmen add a warranty covering damage to their own facilities and a threat covering everyone living in Israel.

#Iran #Israel #IRGC #Netanyahu

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Russia, Iran’s Friend With Benefits

Trump likes Russia’s restraint toward Iran. Moscow likes being Tehran’s strategic partner. Neither description requires Russia to fight.

President Donald Trump wrote that Russia was doing “very little, if anything” to help Iran compared with what it could do. “I want to keep it that way,” he added, defending his decision to hold off on sanctions against Moscow.

The next day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, called Iran’s cause just, and offered diplomatic help. Russian solidarity takes the form of a negotiating role.

Moscow has competition for that role. Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, is expected in Tehran on Tuesday to revive mediation, and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, citing sources familiar with the talks, reported that a breakthrough could be announced this week.

The arrangement suits Moscow. Trump rewards it for limiting its help to Iran, while Tehran receives public assurances of Russian support.

Russia gets a sanctions reprieve and a seat at the table. Its Iranian partner gets the speech.

#Iran #Russia #Trump #Diplomacy

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Olive Branch, Police Edition

Masked settlers attacked an olive harvest. Israeli police named the subsequent arrest operation “Olive Leaf.” Even the crackdown borrows from the crop.

On Oct. 19, police detained 10 suspects after weekend attacks on Palestinians, European diplomats and Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine. The operation also targeted suspected illegal construction and violations of closed military zones. Police have not specified each detainee’s alleged role.

Levine suffered broken vertebrae and a broken rib. She needed surgery on a severely injured finger. She had been wearing a vest marked “PRESS.”

U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee welcomed the arrests as a “very positive development.” They followed international pressure over the attacks on an American journalist and European representatives.

Palestinian reports described fresh attacks on olive pickers, including arson near Turmus Ayya. Arrests and further violence were making the same day’s news.

The next test is whether Palestinian farmers get protection when no foreign diplomat or American photographer is there to turn their attackers into an international problem.

#WestBank #SettlerViolence #OliveHarvest #Accountability

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Canada: Alberta Rejects Path Toward Independence

The Canadian province of Alberta held a referendum on October 19 amid growing separatist pressure that has raised concerns about the country’s national unity.

Contrary to what the vote’s title might suggest, voters were not deciding directly whether Alberta should become independent. Instead, they were asked to choose between remaining part of Canada and launching a legal process that could lead to a future binding referendum on separation.

According to preliminary results, approximately 76% of voters chose to remain within Canada, while 24% supported initiating the separation process.

The outcome represents a setback for the independence movement, which has spent years criticizing the federal government’s policies and calling for greater autonomy for the resource-rich, oil-producing province.

Despite the result, separatist demands could continue to fuel tensions between Edmonton and Ottawa.

#Canada #Alberta #Independence #Referendum

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Washington Hits the Brakes on Patriot Missiles as Ukraine Faces a Critical Air Defense Shortage

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The Trump administration is delaying approval for the transfer of Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, raising fresh concerns in Kyiv as Russian attacks continue to threaten the country’s cities and critical infrastructure.

The hold-up comes amid a deepening rift between Trump and Zelensky, adding another layer of uncertainty to Washington’s commitment to Ukraine’s defense.

According to Steve Miller, Trump's most trusted adviser, the weapons in question include interceptor missiles held by countries friendly to Ukraine. Although these governments are prepared to provide the ammunition to Kyiv, they need authorization from Washington because the missiles are U.S.-made and subject to restrictions governing their transfer to third parties.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not formally rejected the proposed transfers, but he has yet to complete the necessary approval procedures, U.S. officials and other people familiar with the matter told the newspaper. The distinction is significant: the deliveries have been delayed, but the administration has not officially ruled them out.

For Ukraine, however, time is running short. A Ukrainian official told the Post that the country’s stockpile of Patriot interceptors had fallen to just a handful of missiles. The shortage comes as Russian forces continue launching ballistic missiles and drones against Ukrainian territory, with energy facilities, power stations and other essential infrastructure among the targets.

Patriot systems are particularly important because they can intercept some of the advanced ballistic missiles used by Russia. Without sufficient interceptor supplies, Ukraine’s ability to protect major cities and strategic facilities could be further strained just as the country prepares for the winter months, when damage to heating and electricity infrastructure can have severe consequences for civilians.

Kyiv and its European partners have been searching for additional missiles from existing stockpiles. European countries have sought to contribute available ammunition, but Washington’s authorization remains a crucial obstacle when the weapons are transferred between governments.

#Ukraine #PatriotMissiles #Trump #AirDefenseSource

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The delay therefore raises questions about how quickly European allies can turn their commitments into equipment available to Ukrainian forces.

The dispute is unfolding against a backdrop of increasingly strained relations between Trump and Zelensky. The American president has repeatedly criticized his Ukrainian counterpart and recently suggested that someone else should negotiate on Kyiv’s behalf.

Zelensky, meanwhile, has urged Western partners to maintain their support and warned that delays in air defense deliveries leave Ukrainian lives at risk.The two governments have also clashed over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Kyiv considers strikes on energy infrastructure a means of weakening Moscow’s ability to finance its war effort. The Trump administration, however, has expressed concern about the economic consequences of such operations, particularly as global energy prices remain under pressure. The wider international situation is adding to the strain on American weapons supplies.

The U.S. military’s involvement in the conflict involving Iran has placed additional demands on stocks of Patriot interceptors, which are also needed by American forces and other partners. Production cannot necessarily keep pace with the competing demands, making decisions about the allocation of available missiles increasingly consequential.

Washington has rejected suggestions that it has fundamentally changed its policies on intelligence sharing and assistance to Ukraine. A White House official told the Post that the administration continued to play a constructive role in efforts to bring the war to an end.

Pentagon officials have likewise said that existing policies on intelligence sharing and the provision of capabilities through NATO allies remain unchanged. Nevertheless, the delay highlights a growing contradiction between diplomatic efforts to end the war and Ukraine’s immediate need to defend itself against continued Russian attacks.

For Kyiv, negotiations cannot replace the air defense systems required to protect civilians and critical infrastructure in the meantime. The immediate question is whether Washington will authorize the transfers before Ukraine’s already limited stocks become even more depleted.

For European governments, the episode is another reminder that supplying American-made weapons can depend on decisions taken in Washington, even when the equipment is already available abroad. As the diplomatic confrontation continues, the fate of the Patriot missiles has become more than a technical question of arms transfers.

Is it a test of coordination between the United States, Ukraine and its European allies to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian strikes? We'll see...

#Ukraine #PatriotMissiles #Trump #AirDefenseSource

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Tehran’s Disconnect Button

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have found another way to defend the country. They threaten the neighbors’ internet.

On Oct. 19, IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi pointed to “seven major cables” beneath the Strait of Hormuz and announced that “new targets will be unveiled.” He claimed the world’s internet and commercial data depended on them.

Cutting the cables would disrupt regional communications, banking, and cloud services. How far the damage spread would depend on how many cables were hit and what alternative routes remained, rather than on a single Iranian switch marked WORLD INTERNET.

On Iranian state television, hardline analyst Mostafa Khoshcheshm added a threat for Europe. He said Tehran could abandon its declared missile-range limit and pursue ranges up to 6,000 kilometers if European countries entered the conflict.

The Guards threaten civilian infrastructure, the television analyst threatens longer-range strikes, and both aim to spread the bill beyond the battlefield.

#Iran #Hormuz #IRGC #DigitalInfrastructure

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The Airstrike That Couldn’t Miss

First, Telegram channels predicted an attack on Iran. By morning, some called the night’s aircraft movements a mock attack.

Arabic-language reports described aircraft over Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Pro-Iranian Iraqi channels identified them as American and Israeli.

Iranian channels circulated “Code 100” alerts, then claimed Washington and Israel had rehearsed strikes to condition Iranian defenses before a real assault. Either way, the prediction holds.

The “Code 100” label predates the night’s alarm. Reports of it circulated in September, and Iranian state outlets have never publicly confirmed the designation.

Recycling the label gives a fresh warning the appearance of an established military protocol.

Iraqis reportedly complained that the aircraft disturbed their sleep.

#Iran #Iraq #InformationWar #MiddleEast

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Nothing to Declare but an Exemption

Forty-two Chabad students returned from New York to find Military Police waiting at Ben Gurion Airport. Haredi politicians called it election interference. The army called it enforcing the draft law.

Twenty-seven agreed to enlist, received suspended sentences, and went home pending induction. Thirteen refused and were sent to military prison. Two others, who had evaded service for more than 540 days, were also imprisoned.

Netanyahu called the arrests “unacceptable,” saying they undermined efforts to arrange ultra-Orthodox enlistment without coercion. The operation nevertheless produced 27 commitments to serve.

The men had received enlistment orders before leaving for America, according to Kan. They reportedly moved through the airport together, hoping their numbers would deter arrests. Military Police brought a bus.

A week before the election, the prime minister and his own army disagree over whether getting men to report for service counts as success.

#Israel #Conscription #Haredim #IsraelElections

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