Not Just Its Neighbors, Israel Makes War on the Entire World

Each new week brings new calamities for people in the countries neighboring Israel, as its leaders try to bomb their way to the promised land of an ever-expanding Greater Israel.

In Gaza, Israel appears to be launching its “Generals’ Plan” to drive the most devastated and traumatized 2.2 million people in the world into the southern half of their open-air prison. Under this plan, Israel would hand the northern half over to greedy developers and settlers who, after decades of U.S. encouragement, have become a dominant force in Israeli politics and society. The redoubled slaughter of those who cannot move or refuse to move south has already begun.

In Lebanon, millions are fleeing for their lives and thousands are being blown to pieces in a repeat of the first phase of the genocide in Gaza. For Israel’s leaders, every person killed or forced to flee and every demolished building in a neighboring country opens the way for future Israeli settlements. The people of Iran, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia ask themselves which of them will be next.

Israel is not only attacking its neighbors. It is at war with the entire world. Israel is especially threatened when the governments of the world come together at the United Nations and in international courts to try to enforce the rule of international law, under which Israel is legally bound by the same rules that all countries have signed up to in the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions.

Israel is especially threatened when the governments of the world come together at the United Nations and in international courts to try to enforce the rule of international law

In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967 is illegal, and that it must withdraw its military forces and settlers from all those territories. In September, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution giving Israel one year to complete that withdrawal. If, as expected, Israel fails to comply, the UN Security Council or the General Assembly may take stronger measures, such as an international arms embargo, economic sanctions or even the use of force.

Now, amid the escalating violence of Israel’s latest bombing and invasion of Lebanon, Israel is attacking the UNIFIL UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, whose thankless job is to monitor and mitigate the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

On October 10 and 11, Israeli forces fired on three UNIFIL positions in Lebanon. At least five peacekeepers were injured. UNIFIL also accused Israeli soldiers of deliberately firing at and disabling the monitoring cameras at its headquarters, before two Israeli tanks later drove through and destroyed its gates. On October 15th, an Israeli tank fired at a UNIFIL watchtower in what it described as “direct and apparently deliberate fire on a UNIFIL position.” Deliberately targeting UN missions is a war crime.

This is far from the first time the soldiers of UNIFIL have come under attack by Israel. Since UNIFIL took up its positions in southern Lebanon in 1978, Israel has killed blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers from Ireland, Norway, Nepal, France, Finland, Austria and China.

Emboldened by its growing military and diplomatic alliance with the United States, Israel has only expanded its territorial ambitions.

The South Lebanon Army, Israel’s Christian militia proxy in Lebanon from 1984 to 2000, killed many more, and other Palestinian and Lebanese groups have also killed peacekeepers. Three hundred and thirty-seven UN peacekeepers from all over the world have given their lives trying to keep the peace in southern Lebanon, which is sovereign Lebanese territory and should not be subject to repeated invasions by Israel in the first place. UNIFIL has the worst death toll of any of the 52 peacekeeping missions conducted by the UN around the world since 1948.

Fifty countries currently contribute to the 10,000-strong UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, anchored by battalions from France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Nepal and Spain. All those governments have strongly and unanimously condemned Israel’s latest attacks, and insisted that "such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated."

Israel’s assault on UN agencies is not confined to attacking its peacekeepers in Lebanon. The even more vulnerable, unarmed, civilian agency, UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency), is under even more vicious assault by Israel in Gaza. In the past year alone, Israel has killed a horrifying number of UNRWA workers, about 230, as it has bombed and fired at UNRWA schools, warehouses, aid convoys and UN personnel.

UNRWA was created in 1949 by the UN General Assembly to provide relief to some 700,000 Palestinian refugees after the 1948 “Nakba,” or catastrophe. The Zionist militias that later became the Israeli army violently expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and homeland, ignoring the UN partition plan and seizing by force much of the land the UN plan had allocated to form a Palestinian state.

When the UN recognized all that Zionist-occupied territory as the new state of Israel in 1949, Israel’s most aggressive and racist leaders concluded that they could get away with making and remaking their own borders by force, and that the world would not lift a finger to stop them. Emboldened by its growing military and diplomatic alliance with the United States, Israel has only expanded its territorial ambitions.

Netanyahu now brazenly stands before the whole world and displays maps of a Greater Israel that includes all the land it illegally occupies, while Israelis openly talk of annexing parts of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The rest of the world is looking on in horror, and many world leaders are making sincere efforts to activate the collective mechanisms of the UN system.

Dismantling UNRWA has been a long-standing Israeli goal. In 2017, Netanyahu accused the agency of inciting anti-Israeli sentiment. He blamed UNRWA for "perpetuating the Palestinian refugee problem" instead of solving it and called for it to be eliminated.

After October 7, 2023, Israel accused 12 of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff of being involved in Hamas’s attack on Israel. UNRWA immediately suspended those workers, and many countries suspended their funding of UNRWA. Since a UN report found that Israeli authorities had not provided "any supporting evidence" to back up their allegations, every country that funds UNRWA has restored its funding, with the sole exception of the United States.

Israel’s assault on the refugee agency has only continued. There are now three anti-UNRWA bills in the Israeli Knesset: one to ban the organization from operating in Israel; another to strip UNRWA’s staff of legal protections afforded to UN workers under Israeli law; and a third that would brand the agency as a terrorist organization. In addition, Israeli members of parliament are proposing legislation to confiscate UNRWA’s headquarters in Jerusalem and use the land for new settlements.

UN Secretary General Guterres warned that, if these bills become law and UNRWA is unable to deliver aid to the people of Gaza, “it would be a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster.”

Israel’s relationship with the UN and the rest of the world is at a breaking point. When Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly in New York in September, he called the UN a “swamp of antisemitic bile.” But the UN is not an alien body from another planet. It is simply the nations of the world coming together to try to solve our most serious common problems, including the endless crisis that Israel is causing for its neighbors and, increasingly, for the whole world.

Now Israel wants to ban the secretary general of the UN from even entering the country. On October 1st, Israel invaded Lebanon, and Iran launched 180 missiles at Israel, in response to a whole series of Israeli attacks and assassinations. Secretary General Antonio Guterres put out a statement deploring the “broadening conflict in the Middle East,” but did not specifically mention Iran. Israel responded by declaring the UN Secretary General persona non grata in Israel, a new low in relations between Israel and UN officials.

Over the years, the U.S. has partnered with Israel in its attacks on the UN, using its veto in the Security Council 40 times to obstruct the world’s efforts to force Israel to comply with international law.

American obstruction offers no solution to this crisis. It can only fuel it, as the violence and chaos grows and spreads and the United States’ unconditional support for Israel gradually draws it into a more direct role in the conflict.

The rest of the world is looking on in horror, and many world leaders are making sincere efforts to activate the collective mechanisms of the UN system. These mechanisms were built, with American leadership, after the Second World War ended in 1945, so that the world would “never again” be consumed by world war and genocide.

A U.S. arms embargo against Israel and an end to U.S. obstruction in the UN Security Council could tip the political balance of power in favor of the world’s collective efforts to resolve the crisis.

Russia Weaponizes Energy to Wage Hybrid Warfare on Ukraine

In 2022, Russian propagandists spread fear across Europe, playing on the "fear of the cold" by pushing narratives like "Europe will freeze without Russian gas." Now, in 2024, we are still witnessing the devastating effects of this hybrid warfare, with energy playing a central role in Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Hybrid warfare is more than just conventional military aggression. It involves a strategic blend of economic, informational, and cyber tactics designed to disrupt societies and weaken the Kremlin's targets. Russia's hybrid warfare against Ukraine, particularly in the energy sector, illustrates this perfectly. By combining direct military assaults with cyberattacks, energy blockades, and unprecedented widespread disinformation campaigns, Russia aims not only to destroy Ukraine's physical infrastructure but also to erode confidence in its government, undermine international support, and exploit the world's dependence on fossil fuels.

Russia has weaponized energy exports as a critical element in its war on Ukraine. Today, Ukraine's energy infrastructure is under relentless attack, with over 50% damaged, often leaving millions of Ukrainians without reliable power. While missiles and drones visibly ravage Ukrainian cities, another, less visible battle rages in cyberspace and through the media, targeting the energy sector.

Renewable energy is the path to a safer, more just world in the battle against Russian aggression and climate change

In 2024 alone, the Kremlin-backed hacker group Sandworm launched numerous cyberattacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. These assaults, timed to coincide with Russian missile strikes, are part of a broader campaign to cripple Ukraine's ability to generate and distribute energy. A report from Ukraine's computer emergency response team (CERT-UA) confirmed that Sandworm infected energy, water, and heating suppliers in at least 10 regions of Ukraine this year. Cyberattacks like these are designed to paralyze Ukraine's recovery, create chaos, and force the government to divert critical resources away from the front lines.

In parallel, Russia's disinformation campaigns have relentlessly targeted Ukraine's energy independence. False narratives about new power projects, like the construction of additional reactors at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP), are intended to spread fear and uncertainty. Russian propagandists claim that the project will lead to a "nuclear disaster, comparable to Chernobyl" and that Ukraine is incapable of safely managing its nuclear energy sector. These lies are designed to erode public trust and cast doubt on the country's capacity to modernize its energy infrastructure.

Disinformation spreads through pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and foreign media outlets, suggesting that Ukraine is unprepared for the responsibilities of managing its energy sector. The goal is to sow doubt among Ukraine's international allies, reduce foreign investment in critical energy projects, and delay Ukraine's shift toward renewable energy.

Such disinformation campaigns do not stop at Ukraine's door. Russia has also employed similar tactics in Western nations, influencing public discourse and policy on energy. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice uncovered a large-scale Russian disinformation campaign designed to interfere in the U.S. presidential race. These operations use unsuspecting PR firms and social media channels to spread narratives beneficial to Russia, further demonstrating the global reach of Russia's hybrid warfare strategy.

The consequences of these campaigns are far-reaching. Disinformation can:

• Erode public trust: False narratives about energy projects create skepticism among citizens, making it harder for governments to implement necessary reforms or infrastructure projects.
• Deter international support: Potential investors and foreign governments may be discouraged from supporting Ukraine's energy sector if they believe that projects are mismanaged or dangerous.
• Complicate decision-making: Policymakers may feel pressure to alter or abandon important energy projects due to public sentiment influenced by disinformation. This can delay Ukraine's energy independence and leave it vulnerable to further attacks.
• Increase vulnerability: As confusion and distrust grow, Ukraine becomes more susceptible to external manipulation. Russia can exploit this environment to disrupt energy supply chains or infrastructure further. As public morale weakens and trust in the government diminishes, the country may become more susceptible to external pressures and manipulation, potentially leading to energy crises during critical periods.

To counter Russia's hybrid warfare, Ukraine and its allies must not only defend against missile strikes and cyberattacks but also combat the disinformation campaigns that erode public trust and international support. The best response to Russia's weaponization of energy is to weaken its dominance in the sector altogether.

Ukraine's shift toward cheaper renewable energy offers a clear path to energy security and independence. Renewables—wind, solar, and hydropower—are not only crucial for Ukraine's recovery and economic security but also harder to target, making them more resilient to future threats. Ukraine's shift to renewables is pivotal for its security, global energy stability, and the fight against climate change.

Ukraine's future—and indeed the future of global security—depends on breaking free from the grip of fossil fuels that fuel both war and disinformation. Russia's energy dominance has not only bankrolled its military but has also been a tool of manipulation, distorting public perception and sowing distrust. Ukraine can secure its independence by accelerating the transition to renewable energy while setting an example for the world. Global support for Ukraine's energy revolution is not just a step toward rebuilding the country—it is a decisive blow against the disinformation networks and economic strangleholds that empower petro-dictatorships.

Renewable energy is the path to a safer, more just world in the battle against Russian aggression and climate change. The time to act is now.

If JD Vance Is Wealthy, Why Did He Let His Own Mother Scrape by on Medicaid?

Assuming they haven’t been vacationing on Mars for the last decade or so, every American must be aware that it has been the relentless ambition of Republican politicians to repeal, roll back, or weaken the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare.

ACA is a major government safety-net project alongside Social Security and Medicare. As of February 2024, 20.8 million persons were enrolled in the program, the highest number at any one time, and since Obamacare’s passage, almost 50 million people have received coverage at some point. The health care program has literally been a lifesaver for countless Americans.

Up until the culmination of their repeal efforts in mid-2017 (at a time the GOP controlled both houses and the presidency), when the program only survived because Sen. John McCain left treatment for terminal cancer to vote “no,” Newsweek “found at least 70 Republican-led attempts to repeal, modify or otherwise curb the Affordable Care Act since its inception as law on March 23, 2010.”

GOP attempts to wreck the program, although more sporadic since, have continued. This year, House Republicans reported a budget that would have defunded ACA as well as Medicaid expansion while hiking Medicare premiums and prescription drug prices. They “balanced” these cuts with giveaways to Big Pharma and allowing insurers to sell “junk” policies with minimal-to-no coverage.

His ostentatious religiosity is largely phony and used as a vehicle for his ambition to rise in the Republican Party.

With that history in mind, picture the surreal moment in the vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance, when the latter said “Members of my family actually got private health insurance, at least, for the first time . . . under Donald Trump’s leadership.” Vance said that his family members switched from Medicaid to Obamacare between 2017 and 2021.

The Ohio senator has frequently tried to characterize Trump’s actions while president as having preserved or stabilized ACA, when in fact he did no such thing. Enrollments in the ACA exchange in Ohio, where Vance’s family lived, fell during Trump’s presidency, while the uninsured rate increased. Obamacare survived simply because congressional Republicans couldn’t quite muster the votes to kill it, but not for want of trying. Candidate Trump is still angling to get rid of it, although he only has “concepts of a plan” to replace it.

How does Vance get away with such lies? Undoubtedly for the same reason Republicans get away with all their lies. “All politicians lie” is the cynical American’s appraisal of the officials he or she elects, and this is of course true to the extent that all human beings lie, or at least shade the facts to place themselves in a favorable light. But Republicans have catapulted the lie to another category altogether.

They lie because they dare not reveal their actual agenda. They cannot very well tell the general public, “We intend to kick you off your health care and provide a huge payday to the drug companies who give us campaign donations.” Neither could they characterize Trump’s intended revenue policy as “We plan to get rid of income taxes for our rich contributors and use tariffs to shift the entire tax burden onto consumers in an extremely regressive fashion.”

Instead, they concoct a lie that foreign countries exporting to the United States will somehow pay the tariff that the U.S. government under Trump’s policy would levy on the product, rather than tell the truth that the consumer would pay it as the end user of the product. As a lie, it isn’t even plausible, but Republicans count on the fact that the general public doesn’t bother to fact check in real time.

As for the narrower Republican base (the only people Republican politicians take trouble to appeal to, aside from billionaires), they are confident they could tell them the moon is made of green cheese and they’d believe it. All the politicians have to do is season the concoction with a few choice culture wars clichés and the base will swallow it like a swarm of barracudas. They are either too uneducated, too intellectually incurious, or too ideologically rigid to apply “critical thinking skills” (a heuristic method which has not coincidentally been condemned by the Texas Republican Party).

The irony in this regard is that millions of Republican voters are covered by ACA, including in Ohio, where Vance’s family lives. Hence, the Ohio Republican has to perform his little rhetorical dance to anesthetize the base and puzzle the rest of us. That said, there is still little doubt that if Vance were to become part of a Trump administration presiding over a Republican-controlled House and Senate, the GOP would take another run at repealing Obamacare.

There is another sordid lie laid bare by Vance’s revelation about his family’s enrollment in ACA. The entire focus of Republicans’ culture wars obsessions over many decades has ostensibly been the family. The family is sacred; the basic, indivisible unit without which civilization collapses.

Big government is reviled for allegedly usurping the responsibility of the family to look out for one another’s needs; since the 1960s Republicans have shed crocodile tears over welfare programs because, supposedly, they cruelly destroyed the black family. Children are the rationale for heaving books out of libraries; families have a right to protect their children from becoming less ignorant and bigoted than their parents. Vance himself has mused that no-fault divorce should be abolished for the sake of keeping the precious family together, and his ranting about childless cat ladies shows a similar familial obsession.

As it turns out, it’s all another lie. Vance told us on national TV that his own mother, and presumably other family members, too (since he used the plural) were subsisting on Medicaid until they met the qualifications to enroll in ACA. But all that time, JD, the erstwhile hillbilly, had pulled himself up by the bootstraps of his buddy, Silicon Valley oligarch Peter Thiel, and made quite a handsome pile of money. It didn’t hurt that he married an attorney. His recent federal financial disclosure reveals assets between $4 million and $11 million.

Isn’t it the Christian thing to do to help those in need, especially as they are your own family, and even more so when they are bedeviled by addiction and other problems?

Why did someone a good deal wealthier than most of us abandon his own mother as a public charge on Medicaid? And even when she got off Medicaid, couldn’t he have bought her a health insurance policy, rather than relying on Obamacare? In his autohagiography, Vance made sure the reader got the message that his was a difficult, dysfunction-ridden family. But there is an answer to that.

Vance has also made sure everyone knows he is a pious Catholic of a very strict, antimodernist type, holding that theological precepts should guide secular government (his professed belief is responsible for his frankly idiotic opinions about cat ladies and childless people not deserving the same voting rights as people with children). This should of course make us wary of anyone holding such views getting his hands on executive power; these people have already wrecked the Supreme Court. It also suggests his ostentatious religiosity is largely phony and used as a vehicle for his ambition to rise in the Republican Party.

Isn’t it the Christian thing to do to help those in need, especially as they are your own family, and even more so when they are bedeviled by addiction and other problems? Jesus did not scorn the beggar and the lepers. And don’t the Ten Commandments (which Republican state governments want to make a mandatory part of the public school curriculum) tell us to “honor thy father and thy mother?”

Vance is a 24-karat fraud, the eternal rogue in the human poker deck. How appropriate that he is now the consort, as it were, of Donald Trump, the pathological liar. How fitting that he rose so quickly, after a mere two years, to the very top of the morally bankrupt party I left, more than a dozen years ago, in disgust.

Biden’s Numbers, 2024 Pre-Election Update

Our latest quarterly report on various statistical indicators comes less than three weeks before Election Day.

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Pence Hasn’t Endorsed Harris, Contrary to Edited Video on Social Media

Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he will not endorse former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, but Pence has also said he "could never" vote for Trump's opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. An edited video on social media misleadingly purports to show Pence endorsing Harris. He did not.

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Trump’s Spin on Tax Cuts Raising Revenues

Former President Donald Trump is proposing to lower the federal corporate tax rate to 15%, insisting that when he lowered it to 21% starting in 2018, revenues received by the government actually went up due to economic growth it spurred. Economists say that's not what happened.

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