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Washington’s Gaza ‘master plan’: A mere PowerPoint presentation

February 13, 2026

Trump allies are selling Gaza reconstruction as a futuristic AI-powered utopia that not even the Israeli army believes will happen.

The Cradle, Robert Inlakesh

FEB 10, 2026

Photo Credit: The Cradle

“We have a master plan … There is no Plan B,” remarked Jared Kushner last month, during a Board of Peace (BoP) presentation about Gaza reconstruction at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos. What has become apparent is that no coherent Plan A exists either.

Although Kushner’s father-in-law, US President Donald Trump, was granted the legitimacy to build what he calls the BoP on the back of pledges to implement his “20-point peace plan” and Gaza ceasefire, the BoP’s charter is notably absent of any reference to Gaza.

Furthermore, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2803, which legally authorized the BoP and was explicitly about the Gaza ceasefire, was deliberately vague on how any concepts proposed in the resolution would be implemented. It deliberately avoided outlining any mechanisms or obligations for reconstruction. Instead, two parallel schemes emerged.

The first was the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust (GREAT Trust) – a 38-page document proposing to pay Palestinians $5,000 each to leave the territory. Crafted by Israeli figures previously involved in the discredited Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the plan, which envisions “AI-powered, smart cities,” was less a roadmap for peace than a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.

That same foundation, backed by US private military contractors (PMCs), had already drawn international condemnation for herding civilians into “aid zones” only to open fire. More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed in those operations.

PowerPoint colonialism

Later, in December, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) exposed that another proposal was put into circulation among US-allied nations in the Arab and Muslim world. The 32-page PowerPoint presentation, titled “Project Sunrise,” was set forth by Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Like the preceding proposal, the new vision outlined a similar AI-smart city model, but added even more elements, such as high-speed rail infrastructure. According to the PowerPoint slides, the total cost of this 10-year reconstruction endeavor would amount to $112.1 billion, for which the US would commit to footing 20 percent of the bill.

Back then, Steven Cook, a senior fellow for the Middle East Program at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, told WSJ that “they can make all the slides they want,” adding that “no one in Israel thinks they will move beyond the current situation and everyone is okay with that.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had even expressed his concerns over how realistic the plan will be, especially when it comes to potential foreign investment.

Then came Kushner’s presentation at Davos, which instantly made headlines and was presented as a brand new proposal called the “master plan.” According to Kushner, the project for a “new Gaza” would now only cost $25 billion.

However, upon further investigation, it is clear that what Kushner was presenting was simply “Project Sunrise,” which was evident as the PowerPoint he used was filled with the same exact slides from December. In other words, nothing particularly new was being placed on the table that had not already been released over a month prior.

“New Gaza” is a lab rat colony

Speaking to The Cradle, Akram, a Gaza resident from Al-Bureij, states that the situation on the ground does not reflect any of the positivity that appears in the media. “The Israelis won’t let us even have mobile homes or proper structures to live in, they still bomb us every day, and then we see AI images of Gaza becoming richer than Israeli cities?” he says, with bitter sarcasm. He added:

“Listen, do you really think they carried out genocide for two years and destroyed all our homes, only to build us a paradise, and that this will all happen if the resistance gives up its weapons? No. They are trying to tease us, like they always did, by saying, ‘if you give up your weapons, you will become Singapore.’ Nobody believes it.”

Shortly after Akram spoke to The Cradle, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to a special session of the Knesset, in which he made it clear that “the next stage is not reconstruction.” Instead, he asserted that disarmament would characterize Phase 2 of the ceasefire.

In his “master plan” presentation, Kushner claimed that the major task of clearing Gaza’s rubble would only take two to three years. Yet, according to UN figures, this task was estimated to take up to 15 years, with costs expected to exceed $650 million.

These figures are also dated, having been produced in July 2024, so they do not account for over a year of destruction. Israel has not stopped its round-the-clock demolition of Palestinian infrastructure since the so-called ceasefire took effect on 8 October 2025.

A humanitarian NGO official working in Gaza tells The Cradle that even the ceasefire’s Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC), ostensibly set up to enforce humanitarian standards, now functions as a system of “intimidation” that “violates basic morality.”

On 21 January, Drop Site News reported on leaked documents that revealed plans to create an “Israeli Panopticon” city, to be constructed in territory remaining under its control in southern Gaza’s Rafah. The Guardian then reported that the UAE is seeking to bankroll the project. The leaked blueprints described a “case study” city where residents would be monitored around the clock, like lab rats, and forced to submit biometrics to enter.

Rafah as the prototype prison

The UAE has been accused of backing the five ISIS-linked militant groups Israel created to fight Hamas, which it previously intended to rule over a similar style concentration camp city in Rafah. In fact, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had even ordered the construction of such a “community” during the 60-day ceasefire in early 2025. The Israelis have long intended to displace 600,000 Palestinians to such a gated facility.

The Emirati connection in this scheme goes beyond its recent offer to fund such a concentration camp city; it dates all the way back to January 2024, when it officially opened six water desalination plants along the Egyptian side of the Gaza border area, coincidentally capable of supplying 600,000 people with water.

Prior to the ceasefire and the collapse of the privatized aid scheme, the plot was to use the GHF PMCs in order to lure civilians into such a city area. Once they get there, the Palestinians who enter would be under the rule of Israel’s ISIS-linked proxy militias.

According to forensic architecture analysis, Israel is once again preparing land in order to implement such a project. Meanwhile, UG Solutions – the firm that hired the GHF’s PMCs – is again advertising job opportunities in the besieged territory.

Dispossession in disguise

Despite the dizzying array of slogans – BoP, GREAT, Sunrise, Panopticon – the outcome remains the same with no reconstruction, no sovereignty, and no end to occupation. The various schemes are less about peace and more about forcing Palestinians into containment zones policed by Tel Aviv and its regional clients.

From “Gaza Riviera” fantasies to proposals limiting reconstruction to areas under Israeli military control, what’s on offer amounts to PowerPoint projectionism. A revolving door of schemes and slogans has produced nothing substantive. Instead, the Israeli military continues its daily war of erasure on Gaza’s land, people, and future.

Even Kushner’s $25-billion fantasy is just that: a fantasy. In the three months since the UN resolution, all Washington has offered is AI-generated cityscapes and recycled decks. The only real plan on the table remains the one being implemented daily – the destruction of Gaza.

Tags:Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, politics, trump
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UK: High Court finds Palestine Action ban unlawful and should be ‘quashed’

February 13, 2026

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Judgment follows judicial review challenging ban brought by Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori

A protestor shouts through a megaphone outside The Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in London on 13 February 2026 (Ben Stansall/AFP)

By Areeb Ullah

MEE, 13 February 2026 10:09 GMT

England’s High Court has ruled that the UK government’s ban on Palestine Action is “unlawful” after a months long legal battle with the British government.

Justice Victoria Sharp has told the court that the proscription of Palestine Action “did result in a very significant interference with the right of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly”.

The ruling found that the decision to proscribe the group was discriminatory, however the ban remains in force until a further order by the court.

The judgement ruled that “a very small number of Palestine Action’s activities amounted to acts of terrorism” as defined by terror legislation.

Friday’s judgment follows a judicial review challenging the July 2025 ban brought by Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori.

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Ammori hailed the landmark ruling as a “monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history”.

Ammori added that the ban resulted in “unlawful” arrests of “nearly 3,000 people – among them priests, vicars, former magistrates and retired doctors” under terrorism laws for holding signs in support of the direct action group.

“It would be profoundly unjust for the government to try to delay or stop the High Court’s proposed order quashing this ban while the futures of these thousands of people hang in the balance,” she said.

Responding to the ruling, UK director of Human Rights Watch Yasmine Ahmed said it was a “shot in the arm for British democracy at a time when it is facing a barrage of attacks by this government to undermine our rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and speech”.

“Palestine Action is not a terrorist organisation and should never have been designated a terrorist organisation,” she said.

“Today’s verdict reinforces what many of us having been saying all along – that the government’s misuse of terrorism legislation was a brazen and gross abuse of power that served to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel and those profiting from its atrocities.”

The ban, introduced in July 2025, made membership of the group, public expressions of support for it, or the display of its symbols criminal offences punishable by up to 14 years in prison under Britain’s terrorism laws.

Since the ban on Palestine Action, hundreds of people protesting the proscription and Israel’s genocide in Gaza have been arrested and charged with terror charges.

The government outlawed the group days after activists, protesting the genocide in Gaza, broke into an air force base in southern England and targeted aircraft with paint and crowbars that Palestine Action alleged were used to support the war. The British government alleged that the incident caused an estimated £7m ($9.3m) of damage to two aircraft.

In written court submissions, the Home Office argued that actions “can constitute terrorism if they involve serious property damage even if it does not involve violence against any person or endanger life”.

“Proscribed organisations are deprived of the oxygen of publicity as well as financial support,” the government submissions noted.

Meanwhile, the Home Office’s lawyer Natasha Barnes argued the ban “has not prevented people from protesting in favour of the Palestinian people or against Israel’s action in Gaza”.

This is a developing story…

Tags:Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, politics, UK
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Germany’s veil of silence over Israel’s atrocities is now a blood-soaked shroud

February 12, 2026

Jurgen Mackert

MEE, 12 February 2026 08:16 GMT

Berlin’s sovereignty has been deeply compromised, and no talk of ‘collective guilt’ or ‘reason of state’ can explain this away

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz leave after a joint news conference in Jerusalem on 7 December 2025 (Ariel Schalit/AFP)

It couldn’t go fast enough for Germany.

Just one month after the announcement of a “ceasefire” in Gaza, with the whole world aware that its sole purpose was to enable Israel to continue its genocide, Germany once again spread a veil of silence over the process, launching a “normalisation offensive”.

Last November, after having met his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar in Tel Aviv, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul declared that his “confidence in the peace process as a whole has grown” and that “the situation has stabilised noticeably”.

A few days later, 160 “young leaders” from Germany were not above accepting an invitation from Israel to soak up Zionist propaganda.

And in early December, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a wanted war criminal, thus paying homage to a murderous regime that he continues to call a democracy, while assuring Berlin’s continued unconditional support for Israel’s crimes against humanity.

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German police followed suit, eager to “learn from Israel” – apparently fascinated by the weapons tested on Palestinians in Gaza, which they would soon have at their disposal.

And then 2026 began, with German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt travelling to Israel to sign a pact on “the development of a joint ‘Cyber Dome’ system, an artificial intelligence and cyber innovation centre, drone defence cooperation, and improved civilian warning systems”. Israel, Dobrindt said, was “a premium partner”.

All this “normalisation” – the veiling of genocide by the German government, young German “leaders” and the police wishing to “learn” from war criminals and a minister making pacts with them as “premium partners” – allows for little other conclusion than that the Zionist police and surveillance regime has become a role model for Germany.

Collective guilt narrative

Indeed, Germany’s transformation is already underway. After Berlin police prohibited Palestinians and their supporters from gathering in remembrance of the Nakba under dubious justifications, the courts – both the administrative court and the high administrative court – legally confirmed this massive infringement of civil rights.

Alongside the brutal actions of Berlin’s militarised riot police against pro-Palestinian demonstrators, strongly reminiscent of those carried out by Israeli security forces against Palestinians, this should deeply concern everyone living in Germany.

After Nazi rule, nothing was more important for West Germany than “normalising” relations with the newly formed state of Israel, which had just committed crimes against humanity in the Nakba.

Pretending that everything is ‘normal’ as Israel continues its daily slaughter of Palestinians comes at a high price: the ‘normalisers’ lose their own humanity

In a 1966 interview, former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, an enthusiastic supporter of Zionist settlement in Palestine who paid reparations to Israel, said: “We had done so much injustice to the Jews, committed such crimes against them that somehow these had to be expiated or repaired, if we were at all to regain our international standing … Furthermore, the power of the Jews even today, especially in America, should not be underestimated.”

Author Daniel Marwecki pointed out that this “illustrates the way in which the objective of German rehabilitation was closely intertwined with a central idea of modern antisemitism: that of Jewish power” – and Adenauer’s fear, as historian Tom Segev has shown, was exploited by the Zionists in these negotiations.

Marwecki also shows how the reparations had nothing to do with forgiveness on the part of Israel or German atonement. Instead, one has to conclude, Germany allowed its sovereignty to be compromised to facilitate its return to the international stage as quickly as possible, while instilling a collective sense of guilt in its own citizens, ensuring they would accept Germany’s future subservience to Israel.

When these politics of collective guilt became implausible for subsequent generations who had done nothing to feel guilty about, former Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2008 trotted out the narrative that Israel’s security was “part of Germany’s reason of state”.

Proclaimed as if by an absolutist monarch and repeated like a mantra by Germany’s loyal public and liberal media, any democratic debate on this subject was to be nipped in the bud – which is why today, any dissenting opinion on Germany’s support for Israel’s genocide can easily be criminalised.

International law discarded

Interestingly, other parts of the alleged reason of state, that might also from the experiences of Nazi rule, are never mentioned: defending the dignity of every individual, complying with international law, obeying the decisions of global courts, defending human rights by all means, and treating those who commit genocide as nothing less than war criminals.

As the old saying goes: If you dance with the devil, you don’t change the devil. The devil changes you

Nothing remains of such maxims today, as the Scholz and Merz administrations have willingly disregarded them in order to support the genocide being carried out by the regime whose “security” is so dear to Germany.

Not only has this enabled the destruction of Gaza and the killing of tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of Palestinians, but Germany has also significantly contributed to the destruction of the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and international law, which all stand in the way of neoliberal imperialism.

As nothing remains from these high maxims but the alleged obligation to protect Israel’s security, Germany is doing the “dirty work” for the Zionist regime by “normalising” a state that commits genocide in Gaza, ethnically cleanses the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, that systematically neglects Palestinian citizens of Israel and now introduces the death penalty for Palestinians only, intending to execute them not for what they allegedly have done but for what they are.

Berlin is further protecting a racist ideology that feeds the fascist delusions of the vast majority of Jewish Israelis, who welcome the extermination of the Palestinian people. It is also normalising a “moral” army of war criminals, sadistic torturers and rapists reduced to their lowest instincts.

Finally, Berlin normalises paramilitary militias and fascist hordes of Zionist settlers terrorising Palestinians in the West Bank and causing a second Nakba.

While Germany behaves as if all this were “normal”, Israel has become radicalised within a specifically settler-colonial dynamic; first, as Patrick Wolfe has made clear: “Settler colonialism is inherently eliminatory but not invariably genocidal.”

What is behind Germany’s complicity in Israel’s Gaza genocide?

World-leading genocide experts as well as Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian territories, leave no doubt that Israel today is such a genocidal regime.

Second, French-Tunisian writer Albert Memmi points out that “every colonial nation carries the seeds of fascist temptation in its bosom” – and this seed has undoubtedly taken root in Israel, as Holocaust survivors also explain.

Over time, the normalisation of Germany’s relations with Israel has developed into a normalisation of all Zionist crimes, no matter how repugnant. No talk of “collective guilt” or “reason of state” can explain this away; it is a product of deeply compromised sovereignty.

The veil of silence that Germany has cast over Israel’s atrocities for decades has become a blood-soaked shroud.

Pretending that everything is “normal” as Israel continues its daily slaughter and dehumanisation of Palestinians comes at a high price: the “normalisers” lose their own humanity.

As the old saying goes: If you dance with the devil, you don’t change the devil. The devil changes you.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Jurgen Mackert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He was a temporary Professor for the Structure of modern societies at the University of Erfurt, Germany and a visiting professor for Political Sociology at Humboldt University Berlin. His latest books include On Social Closure. Theorizing Exclusion, Exploitation, and Elimination (Oxford University Press 2024). Siedlerkolonialismus. Grundlagentexte und aktuelle Analysen (edited with Ilan Pappe; Nomos 2024).

Tags:Gaza, Germany, Israel, Palestine, politics, Zionism.
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Over 2,000 Britons served for Israel amid Gaza genocide

February 12, 2026

Exclusive: Declassified obtained data on the number of UK nationals in the IDF. We are publishing it for the first time

JOHN McEVOY and Alex Morris
11 February 2026

Israeli soldiers repair a tank near Gaza in April 2025, when thousands of British nationals were serving in the IDF, new data (left) reveals. (Photo: Jim Hollander / Alamy)

0:00 / 7:15

More than 2,000 Britons served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during the Gaza genocide, it can be revealed.

The information was obtained by Declassified via a Freedom of Information request issued to the IDF by lawyer Elad Man from the NGO Hatzlacha.

The data outlines the number of people with dual and multiple nationalities who were IDF service members as of March 2025.

It shows how 1,686 British-Israelis and a further 383 people with British, Israeli, and another nationality served in the IDF amid the annihilation of Gaza.

They were among over 50,000 IDF soldiers with Israeli and at least one other nationality.

The largest cohorts come from the US, Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany.

Prior to this, data was only available on the number of Britons without Israeli citizenship serving in the IDF, so-called lone soldiers, a figure that was as low as 54.

‘Authorities must investigate’

The revelation that far more UK passport holders served in the IDF will raise serious legal questions for the British authorities, which have thus far failed to prosecute any citizens returning home after fighting in Gaza.

Paul Heron, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), told Declassified: “There must be no impunity where credible evidence links British nationals to grave breaches of international law.

“The UK has clear duties to prevent genocide and avoid assisting unlawful military action.

“Where dual nationals have served in units implicated in atrocities, the authorities must investigate promptly and, where the evidence meets the threshold, pursue arrest and prosecution like any other serious crime”.

Declassified contributor Hamza Yusuf previously exposed how Britons were serving in some of Israel’s “craziest” combat units in Gaza where they viewed Palestinian fighters as “rats” and “animals”.

Among the Britons identified by Yusuf was Levi Simon, who was seen “rummaging through the underwear drawers of Palestinian women forced to flee their homes” in Gaza.

Another was master sergeant Sam Sank from London, who filmed himself fighting in Gaza between December 2023 and January 2024.

Sank had told The Times that “based on the number of his friends in the IDF, which includes a Scot in his own small unit, [he] believes there are hundreds, if not thousands, more Britons fighting in Israel.”

His estimates match with the data Hatzlacha has now obtained from Israeli authorities.

The UK Foreign Office declined to comment on the new data but confirmed that it does not collect information on the number of Britons in the IDF.

British fighters in Israel’s military: Is it legal?

‘No one is above the law’

The Metropolitan police’s war crimes unit was handed a complaint against ten Britons serving in the IDF last year.

Although their names were not made public, the 240-page dossier accused the British suspects of “targeted killing of civilians and aid workers, including by sniper fire, and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas”.

It was submitted by the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

“British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law”, said Michael Mansfield, one of the lawyers who issued the complaint.

Heron told Declassified: “In our report to the Metropolitan Police, we set out credible evidence that 10 British nationals served in the Israeli Defence Forces and were involved in war crimes and acts giving rise to genocide.”

He said our findings showed “the issue is far deeper than we could ever believe.”

The Metropolitan Police did not respond when Declassified asked last year whether the people referred by PILC would be investigated for potential involvement in war crimes.

Lone soldiers

In addition to dual nationals, over 50 “lone soldiers” from Britain – defined as IDF members without family in Israel to support them – have served for Israel amid the genocide.

That data was released last year in a report on “lone soldiers” published by the Knesset Research and Information Center within Israel’s parliament.

“Lone soldiers” also include immigrants who arrive in Israel alone and volunteers from abroad.

The Knesset report detailed how 54 Britons were among around 3,000 lone soldiers serving in the IDF in August 2024.

Thirty-three of those Britons joined through the Tzabar programme, which is an Israeli support system for young Jewish adults to “make Aliyah” (emigrate to Israel) and serve in the IDF.

In the past, the UK government itself has offered support to “lone soldiers” in Israel.

Chaim Schryer, originally from Manchester, served in Netzah Yehuda, an Israeli military unit which the US considered sanctioning in 2024 over evidence of gross human rights violations.

Schryer was invited onto a British Royal Navy ship in 2021 alongside other British ‘lone soldiers’ who joined the IDF without family in Israel to support them.

He was pictured walking onto the HMS Richmond wearing his Netzah Yehuda uniform, before being given a tour of the boat and meeting Britain’s defence attaché in Israel, Colonel Jim Priest.

Schryer is among at least three Britons identified by Declassified, using open-source data and facial recognition software, who served with Netzah Yehuda over recent years.

Chaim Schryer (right) boards HMS Richmond in 2021. (Photo: Royal Navy / X)

Legal concerns

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice handed down its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

The court advised that all UN member states – including the United Kingdom – were obligated to refrain from assisting Israel in maintaining its occupation.

In January 2024, the ICJ also put all member states on notice of the serious risk that genocide was being committed by Israel in Gaza.

“The duty to prevent genocide was triggered due to the actual or constructive knowledge of the immediate plausiblity that genocide was being or was about to be committed”, the UN commission of inquiry subsequently wrote.

To this end, the UK government’s failure to investigate or even monitor the activities of Britons serving in the IDF could be interpreted as tacit support for Israel’s military campaign.

Britain’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state might also mean that British nationals serving in the IDF could be in breach of the Foreign Enlistment Act.

This law, passed in 1870, makes it an offence for Britons “to fight for a foreign state at war with another state with which the UK is at peace”

A spokesperson for the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said: “No one in the UK wants to live next door to a potential war criminal.

“And yet, British people who fought in the IDF are allowed to return to this country and live freely amongst us, despite fighting for an army that is committing genocide.

“It is utterly inexcusable that the UK government is failing to take action to hold citizens accountable for potential violations of international and domestic law”.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John McEvoy is Chief Reporter for Declassified UK. John is an historian and filmmaker whose work focuses on British foreign policy and Latin America. His PhD was on Britain’s Secret Wars in Colombia between 1948 and 2009, and he is currently working on a documentary about Britain’s role in the rise of Augusto Pinochet.

Tags:Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, politics, UK
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Ehud Olmert accuses Israel of backing violent ethnic cleansing in the West Bank

February 11, 2026

Wafa News Agency, Feb 5, 2026

TEL AVIV, February 5, 2026 (WAFA) — Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said a “violent and criminal attempt at ethnic cleansing” is taking place in the occupied West Bank, accusing Israeli police, the army and the Shin Bet security service of involvement and support for attacks carried out by extremist settlers.

In an article published in the Israeli daily Haaretz, Olmert said that armed and violent settler groups are persecuting, injuring and killing Palestinians living in the area. He said the attacks include burning olive groves, homes and vehicles, breaking into houses, physically assaulting residents, harming livestock, dispersing sheep herds and attempting to steal them.

Olmert stated that “Jewish terrorists” are attacking Palestinians with hatred and violence for a single purpose: forcing them to flee their homes in order to prepare the area for Jewish settlement and advance a dream of annexing all the land.

He said the attacks are taking place in front of the closed eyes of police officers and soldiers, arguing that hundreds of violent youths would not have been able to carry out such acts had they not been equipped with weapons through the initiative and encouragement of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

According to Olmert, militias operating in the West Bank are acting with direct backing and assistance from Israeli government officials, adding that the Israeli police also serve as a source of encouragement for “Jewish terrorism.”

He further argued that the Shin Bet does not employ against Jewish extremists the same tools it uses effectively against Palestinians, and fails to act decisively to prevent attacks, identify rioters, or locate and arrest the leaders of these groups.

Olmert said the issue goes beyond the Israeli army’s failure to prevent unrest in the occupied territories, suggesting that in many cases soldiers cooperate with rioters or remain nearby, watching events unfold without intervention.

He called on the international community to take political measures to compel the Israeli government to activate mechanisms to stop what he described as crimes against humanity committed under its sponsorship, protection and support.

Olmert concluded by saying there may be no option other than expecting the International Criminal Court to become the inevitable address for investigation, exposure of those responsible, and steps that could ultimately lead to their arrest and prosecution.

M.N

Tags:Ehud Olmert, Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, politics, West Bank
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Epstein files: Western media must stop burying the Israel connection

February 11, 2026

Mohamad Elmasry

Middle East Eye, 9 February 2026 18:14 GMT

For all the obsessive coverage of the disgraced financier’s political dealings, mainstream outlets have skimmed past one of the biggest stories

Independent media reporting has highlighted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s past dealings with Jeffrey Epstein (Jack Guez/AFP)

Since the release late last month of millions more files in the Jeffrey Epstein saga, western media outlets have provided nonstop coverage. Yet despite an extensive focus on the disgraced financier’s relationships with powerful figures, his links to Israeli political and intelligence circles have been largely ignored, marking a conspicuous omission.

Searches across online news archives turn up thousands of recent stories on legitimate issues of public concern, highlighting victims of Epstein’s abuse and the alleged involvement of prominent persons and groups in that abuse.

The New York Times, PBS, NBC and CNN, among other notable outlets, have drawn from the files to publish exhaustive accounts of powerful men with ties to Epstein.

In addition to naming business, academic and sports figures, much reporting has focused on political figures, such as US President Donald Trump, former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, and the UK’s Prince Andrew and politician Peter Mandelson.

Media coverage has also emphasised Epstein’s relationships with foreign countries, with Reuters and the Washington Post running stories about his alleged ties to Russia. Other pieces have documented Epstein’s purported links to Norway and Slovakia.

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But despite Epstein’s ties to Israel having been known for months – an ongoing Drop Site News investigation suggests that Epstein worked closely with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and participated in initiatives connected to Israeli intelligence – there has been little mainstream coverage of this aspect.

Even as sites such as Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Mondoweiss and TRT World, among others, have devoted significant coverage to the Epstein-Israel connections, there appears to be a glaring gap in western mainstream media.

Strategic omission

There are, of course, exceptions, such as the CNN interview last November with Marjorie Taylor Greene, in which the then-US congresswoman broached Epstein’s alleged ties to Israel. But the response from CNN presenter Dana Bash was telling: she became visibly irritated, and swiftly pivoted to the topic of antisemitism.

Journalism studies scholarship routinely emphasises the importance of omission. The inclusion and exclusion of information are among the primary mechanisms through which members of the media create meaning.

So why does it seem that mainstream western media outlets are bending over backwards to avoid the Israeli elephant in the room? This dovetails with broader questions on why western media tends to sympathise with Israeli narratives.

In the current moment, the biggest danger for journalists is not getting a story wrong – it is appearing unwilling to tell it at all

Some outlets – or at least some powerful editors and producers – might have a direct interest in shielding Israel. It is also possible that news managers are afraid of the consequences of maligning Israel, or of being perceived to be “antisemitic”.

Scholars John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt famously described the power of pro-Israel lobbying groups, which have long exerted considerable sway over American politics and media, helping to generate favourable coverage. Reporting that is critical of Israel often triggers pressure campaigns from these groups.

In such an environment, omission functions as a type of risk management. News editors know that even the perception of unfairness towards Israel can trigger accusations of antisemitism.

Media institutions operate within the broader sociopolitical climate. Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, American and British universities have come under fire for actively suppressing pro-Palestine speech and student protests critical of Israel.

In 2024, an American university took the extraordinary step of firing a tenured professor over speech critical of Zionism, confirming how Israel-related criticism carries an unusually high professional risk – a reality that news outlets know well.

Pivotal moment

Western journalists have long had to be careful about covering Israel. In 2018, contributor Marc Lamont Hill was fired by CNN for speaking in favour of Palestinian liberation. But sensitivities were heightened after 7 October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israeli communities and Israel launched its genocide in Gaza.

Since the start of the violence, media figures have faced intense backlash, including firings, over speech critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Journalist Mehdi Hasan’s show on MSNBC was cancelled following his criticisms of Israel.

Direct pressure is often applied by media owners, who are increasingly vocal about the need to protect Israel as it faces unprecedented global disapproval. Businessmen Larry and David Ellison have strategically acquired media assets – including TikTok’s US operations and CBS News – in an apparent bid to influence narratives about Israel.

What were Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence? | Murtaza Hussain

Since the acquisitions, TikTok has aggressively censored pro-Palestinian content, and CBS has shifted to a more overt pro-Israel stance. Zvika Klein, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, recently praised CBS’s new editor, Bari Weiss, for “doing more for Israel than most of us”.

In the meantime, the Epstein files have created a public obsession, with every new detail generating a firestorm of interest, clicks, likes and shares. Serious independent news organisations and popular podcasts have reported extensively on Epstein’s ties to Israel, so the issue is unlikely to fade from the public conversation. Mainstream outlets may ultimately be forced to join in, if for no other reason than to maintain some semblance of credibility.

After all, news audiences will soon wonder – if they do not already – why journalists readily report on Epstein’s alleged ties to Slovakia and Norway, but ignore his connections to a key western ally entangled in major conflicts with far-reaching implications.

This is an important moment for western, and especially American, news organisations. Journalism derives its authority from its willingness to pursue uncomfortable facts that matter to the public. A growing number of observers in North America and Europe already believe that a double standard shapes how Israel is treated across western capitals.

Media outlets should avoid feeding this suspicion, especially now, when public trust in media is at an all-time low. In the current moment, the biggest danger for journalists is not getting a story wrong – it is appearing unwilling to tell it at all.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Mohamad Elmasry is Professor of Media Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Tags:epstein, Gaza, Israel, news, Palestine, politics
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Israeli minister calls West Bank measures ‘de facto sovereignty,’ says no future Palestinian state

February 10, 2026

Thursday, July 13, 2023, in .The latest battle over Western public lands and fossil fuels is simmering in the Rockies where a proposed multi-billion dollar, 88-mile railway would cut through Utah wilderness and streamline the movement of crude oil to Colorado and throughout the country. Initial approvals for the project by the U.S. Department of Transportation are raising questions about the Biden administration’s stated commitment to wean the country off fossil fuels and could become a campaign issue in next year’s election. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

By SAM METZ, AP News, February 10, 2026

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RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A top Israeli official said Tuesday that measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de facto sovereignty,” using language that mirrors critics’ warnings about the intent behind the moves.

The steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Israel’s Army Radio.

Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves announced Sunday an annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4 million Palestinians who seek it for a future state.

Cohen’s comments followed similar remarks by other members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

The moves — and Israeli officials’ own descriptions of them — put the country at odds with both regional allies and previous statements from U.S. President Donald Trump. Netanyahu has traveled to Washington to meet with him later this week.

Last year, Trump said he wouldn’t allow Israel to annex the West Bank. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that aimed to stop the war in Gaza also acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for statehood.

Widespread condemnation

The measures further erode the Palestinian Authority’s limited powers, and it’s unclear the extent to which it can oppose them.

In a statement on Tuesday, President Mahmoud Abbas’ cabinet “instructed all public and private Palestinian institutions not to engage with these Israeli measures and to strictly adhere to Palestinian laws and regulations in force.”

A group of eight Arab and Muslim-majority countries expressed their “absolute rejection” of the measures, calling them in a joint statement Monday illegal and warning they would “fuel violence and conflict in the region.”

What the measures mean

The measures, approved by Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet on Sunday, expand Israel’s enforcement authority over land use and planning in areas run by the Palestinian Authority, making it easier for Jewish settlers to force Palestinians to give up land.

Smotrich and Katz on Sunday said they would lift long-standing restrictions on land sales to Israeli Jews in the West Bank, shift some control over sensitive holy sites — including Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs — and declassify land registry records to ease property acquisitions.

They also revive a government committee empowered to make what officials described as “proactive” land purchases in the territory, a step intended to reserve land for future settlement expansion.

Taken together, the moves add an official stamp to Israel’s accelerating expansion and would override parts of decades-old agreements that split the West Bank between areas under Israeli control and areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy.

Israel has increasingly legalized settler outposts built on land Palestinians say documents show they have long owned, evicted Palestinian communities from areas declared state land, firing zones or nature reserves.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for an independent state along with the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians are not permitted to sell land privately to Israelis. Settlers can buy homes on land controlled by Israel’s government.

The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

“These decisions constitute a direct violation of the international agreements to which Israel is committed and are steps toward the annexation of Areas A and B,” anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now said on Sunday, referring to parts of the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority exercised some autonomy.

__ Natalie Melzer contributed reporting from Nahariya, Israel.

SAM METZ

Metz covers Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and points beyond for The Associated Press.

Tags:Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, politics, West Bank
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Israeli weapons ‘evaporate’ thousands of Palestinians in Gaza: Investigation

February 10, 2026

Civil defence teams in Gaza documented over 2,800 cases of Palestinians who were ‘vaporised’ by US-made bombs

A Palestinian mourns those killed by an Israeli strike, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, south Gaza, on 4 December 2025 (AFP/Bashar Taleb)

By Mera Aladam

Published date: 10 February 2026 15:34 GMT | Last update:1 hour 43 mins ago

Israel used internationally prohibited thermal and thermobaric weapons, leaving thousands of Palestinian bodies “evaporated” as a result, an investigation by Al Jazeera revealed.

Civil defence teams in Gaza documented over 2,800 cases of Palestinians who just vanished since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war, the Al Jazeera Arabic programme, The Rest of the Story, reported.

What is left of these bodies is only pieces of flesh, specks of blood or even ash.

Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has obliterated most of the Gaza Strip, reducing entire neighbourhoods, including schools, businesses and medical facilities, to rubble.

Israeli soldiers and combat engineers have laid explosives and triggered controlled demolitions inside countless homes, while armoured bulldozers have systematically levelled building after building.

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More than mere explosives, experts and testimonies have attributed the vaporisation of people to Israel’s use of US-supplied thermal and thermobaric weapons, referred to as vacuum or aerosol bombs, capable of generating temperatures exceeding 3,500 degrees Celsius (6,332 degrees Fahrenheit).

To put into perspective, the boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit).

The intense heat is often generated by tritonal, which is a mixture of TNT and aluminium powder used in American-made bombs.

Civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera that teams cross reference the known number of inhabitants in a house with the recovered bodies.

“If a family tells us there were five people inside, and we only recover three intact bodies, we treat the remaining two as ‘evaporated’ only after an exhaustive search yields nothing but biological traces – blood spray on walls or small fragments like scalps,” he explained.

The director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Munir al-Bursh, noted that it is “chemically inevitable” when a human body is exposed to high temperatures to “vaporise and turn to ash” as we are made up of 80 percent water.

The investigation identified several US-manufactured munitions used in Gaza, including the MK-84 “Hammer”, BLU-109 bunker buster, and GBU-39 small diameter bomb.

The BLU-109 bunker buster was reportedly used in an attack on al-Mawasi, an area Israel previously declared a “safe zone” for forcibly displaced Palestinians in September 2024, evaporating 22 Palestinians.

Meanwhile the GBU-39 is said to have been used in an attack on al-Tabin school in eastern Gaza City. Basal confirmed finding fragments of the weaponry at sites where bodies had vanished.

In late November, Hamas called on an international committee to investigate Israel’s use of certain weapons, alleging that bodies are being “vaporised” in Gaza.

“The horrific testimonies provided by citizens and doctors in northern Gaza following the air strikes and massacres carried out against innocent civilians, and the confirmation of cases of targeting with weapons and ammunition that lead to the vaporisation of bodies strongly point to the use of internationally banned weapons by the terrorist occupation army,” the Palestinian movement said.

So far, Israel has killed more than 72,037 people and destroyed nearly 90 percent of the territory’s infrastructure.

Tags:Gaza, Israel, Palestine
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Israel’s new West Bank measures ‘accelerate annexation and end Oslo Accords’

February 10, 2026

Analysts say Israeli changes have cornered Palestinian Authority and will pave way for ethnic cleansing

A large Star of David is mounted atop a building near a watchtower in a new Israeli settlement near Beita, close to Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, 9 February 2026 (Reuters/Ammar Awad)

By Lubna Masarwa in Jerusalem and Huthifa Fayyad

Published date: 9 February 2026 17:29 GMT | Last update:18 hours 4 mins ago

New Israeli measures in the occupied West Bank will cement de facto annexation and bring an end to the Oslo Accords, analysts say, dashing hopes for a Palestinian state.

Announced on Sunday, the sweeping changes expand Israel’s civil control in Areas A and B – where all major Palestinian cities and towns are located – which since the Oslo Accords of 1993 have officially been under Palestinian Authority (PA) jurisdiction.

The measures also make it easier for Jewish Israelis to privately own land in the West Bank, potentially accelerating settlement expansion.

This is achieved by scrapping a law preventing the sale of Palestinian-owned land to Jewish Israelis, easing sales regulations, and lifting the confidentiality of land registration records – a move that could facilitate forgery of land purchase documents, a tactic commonly used by settlers.

“The decision is among the most direct and dangerous steps taken [against Palestinians],” Jamal Juma, a Palestinian coordinator at the Stop the Wall campaign, told Middle East Eye.

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“In effect, it signals the end of everything introduced by the Oslo Accords and strips the Palestinian Authority of its powers.”

‘The new measures effectively reduce the PA to little more than a security agent for Israel’

– Jamal Juma, coordinator at Stop the Wall campaign

Under the new unilaterally imposed arrangements, building licensing and construction in the southern West Bank city of Hebron will also be transferred from Palestinian authorities to the Israeli military.

The transfer would allow Israeli changes in the Old City of Hebron, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, which violates the 1997 Hebron Protocol agreements between Israel and the PA.

Israeli ministers and settler groups hailed the changes.

Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right minister overseeing civilian affairs in the West Bank, vowed after the changes were announced to “continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state”.

Regavim, a pro-settler group, said the new measures “mark a clear break from the Oslo framework”.

The PA and nearly all Palestinian factions condemned the measures, calling them illegal steps aimed at deepening annexation and expanding settlements.

Eight Muslim-majority countries – Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates – denounced the changes, saying they aim to “impose unlawful Israeli sovereignty” in the West Bank.

De facto annexation

For years, Israel has sought to annex the occupied West Bank, with officials and ministers publicly expressing support for such a move.

In July, Israel’s parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling for the annexation of the territory.

While the proposal carries no legal weight and does not alter the official status of the West Bank, it is widely seen as a symbolic step designed to build momentum towards future unilateral action.

Trump, the West Bank and annexation: Israel in the driver’s seat

However, facing international pressure – especially from its ally, the United States – to avoid official annexation, the current Israeli government has taken several measures that make annexation a de facto reality.

In September, Smotrich unveiled a plan to annex 82 percent of the West Bank and incorporate it into Israel.

He said the plan was prepared by the Settlement Administration within the Ministry of Defence.

The principle behind the plan is to take control of “maximum land with minimum [Palestinian] population,” gradually dismantling the PA, which serves as the internationally recognised governing body in parts of the West Bank.

Juma, a long-time campaigner against settlement expansion, said Israel is advancing annexation on the ground through three parallel and mutually reinforcing tracks: settlement expansion, Palestinian displacement, and legal and administrative restructuring.

Under the current government, which took office in early 2023, settlement expansion has reached its highest level since the UN began tracking such data in 2017.

In 2025 alone, nearly 47,390 housing units were advanced, approved, or tendered, up from around 26,170 in 2024.

By comparison, an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually between 2017 and 2022.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the expansion as “relentless”.

Daniella Weiss, Israel’s ‘settler godmother’, has a hotline to Netanyahu – and plans for Gaza

Juma highlighted that settlement growth is supported by an “enormous” expansion of settler-only infrastructure across the West Bank, including roads, bridges and other projects linking settlements directly to Israel proper.

The West Bank is also experiencing the largest wave of forced displacement in years, driven by military assaults in the north and settler violence.

The changes to legal and administrative frameworks are only part of the broader Israeli policy to create a de facto reality of annexation, according to Juma.

“Settlement expansion, Palestinian displacement, and legal restructuring are advancing in parallel, accelerating the annexation of the West Bank,” he said.

“The latest measures take it further by targeting the future of the Palestinian Authority and governance in the territory.”

PA ‘cornered’

One of the most significant measures introduced on Sunday is the expansion of Israeli civil control into Areas A and B of the West Bank.

Under the stated aims of protecting ancient sites, preventing water-related offences, and addressing environmental hazards, Israeli authorities would now be able to manage civilian affairs directly in major Palestinian cities.

As Israel devours the West Bank, Abbas clings on to a sinking PA

David Hearst

Services such as waste management and sewage are set to be coordinated directly with the Israeli military in some cities, bypassing the PA.

“The new measures effectively reduce the PA to little more than a security agent for Israel, stripping it of virtually all administrative powers,” said Juma.

He warned that the Palestinian Authority now faces an existential crisis, although it remains unclear what steps it will take.

Following the announcement, Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy president of the PA, called on the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the UN Security Council to hold emergency sessions to “discuss and condemn” the Israeli decision and demand its reversal.

“These decisions have cornered the PA,” Juma said.

“It now has no real options: either it continues as a security agent for the occupation in every sense of the word, or it shifts towards a new Palestinian resistance plan to confront these measures.”

Hebron targeted

The new measures specifically target Hebron, introducing far-reaching changes to the city.

The city is home to approximately 200,000 Palestinians and 700 Israeli settlers.

For decades, it has been a focal point of Israeli settlement activity and is the only Palestinian city outside of East Jerusalem where settlers live within the urban centre.

Most West Bank settlers live in outlying areas, away from major Palestinian towns.

Hebron also contains the Ibrahimi Mosque, an ancient site revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews, and has long been the site of settler raids and takeover attempts.

Following a 1994 massacre at the mosque by an Israeli settler, the city was divided into two areas under the Hebron Protocol agreements: H1, controlled by Palestinians, covering roughly 80 percent of the city; and H2, controlled by the Israeli military, covering 20 percent.

‘For many years, the occupation ‘managed the conflict’ with Palestinians – but today they are moving toward resolving it through outright ethnic cleansing’

– Hisham Sharabati, researcher

The new measures transfer municipal powers in Hebron from the PA to Israeli authorities and place planning and service provision around the Ibrahimi Mosque under Israeli control, effectively dismantling the Hebron Protocol arrangements.

Hisham Sharabati, a Hebron-based researcher with the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC), told MEE that the latest move is part of a decades-long Israeli policy to ethnically cleanse the city.

“The new changes mean the settlement planning council would oversee public spaces, road construction, and services in Hebron,” he said.

“This will inevitably prioritise Israeli settlers over Palestinians, giving them legal control over areas that have long been Palestinian.”

Sharabati warned that around 35,000 Palestinians living in H2, who have long endured heavy military restrictions, are likely to be the first affected.

He also cautioned that similar measures could soon be extended to other Palestinian cities.

“There is a campaign targeting the entire Palestinian presence in the West Bank,” he said.

“This long-standing policy continues, but at an accelerated pace.

“For many years, the occupation ‘managed the conflict’ with Palestinians – but today they are moving toward resolving it through outright ethnic cleansing, paving the way for annexation.”

Tags:Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, politics, West Bank
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Mysterious ‘peace’ groups are sending Americans pro-Israel texts

February 9, 2026

The orgs don’t appear to exist, but they trace back to a former Trump aide’s PR firm and an Israeli gov’t contract

Nick Cleveland-Stout, Responsible Statecraft,

Feb 09, 2026

Jessica, a mother in Alabama, received a text on the evening of January 7.

“Hi, this is John with Friends for Peace. We’re gathering views on Israel today and would like to hear yours. Got a moment to chat? Stop2End.”

Jessica wondered if she would regret sharing her views — which she describes as America First and skeptical of the U.S. relationship with Israel — but John was reassuring and offered a “listening ear” to discuss the sensitive topic.

Over the next three days, Jessica and John exchanged messages about Israel. John promoted a pro-Israel narrative, trying to convince Jessica that the U.S.-Israel relationship is about “mutual benefit and shared interests.”

The only problem is that an organization called “Friends for Peace” does not appear to exist, and it’s unlikely that “John” is a real person. Rather than a peace organization, as the name might imply, the texting campaign appears to be led by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and his firm Clock Tower X, which is carrying out a $9 million contract with the government of Israel.

After Jessica told John that she gets a lot of her news from X, John responded saying she shouldn’t trust a lot of stories about Gaza. “There are networks of accounts pretending to be Gaza civilians and a lot of the content is fake. Always check your sources before believing anything. Learn more here,” he said. John then sent a YouTube video from an account called “Allies for Peace,” which claimed the narrative of suffering in Gaza was manufactured. “Bombs, starvation, collapsed buildings: all fabricated content…Don’t take every post at face value, check receipts, demand truth.”

Allies for Peace’s YouTube channel was created in late October by a firm called Clock Tower X, founded by Parscale.

And Jessica is not alone. Since November, an unspecified number of Americans have been receiving text messages from unknown numbers claiming to be from organizations called “Friends for Peace” and “Partners in Peace” asking their views on Israel, promoting Israel as a U.S. ally, and pushing links to websites and videos created by Clock Tower X.

Another source was sent a video called “Tunnels” by “Sara from Friends for Peace.” The video, which was also created by Parscale’s firm, features a clip of an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast with British commentator Douglas Murray. In the edited clip, Murray claims that “you go into a hospital [in Gaza] and you know there will be grenades or tunnel entrances building an infrastructure of terror.” Many of the comments on the video claim they were sent the link by the text message campaign. “I got this from a scam text too. Lmao” reads the top comment.

RS could not identify an organization called “Partners in Peace” or “Friends for Peace” that corresponded with the description. During one text conversation, the campaign admitted that they “use different names” for the organization.

Clock Tower X’s contract with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which increased from $6 million to $9 million in December, includes, “Delivery of monthly updated audience segmentation and sentiment analysis, including Gen Z and other key U.S. demographic groups,” which could correspond to the mass texting campaign. As part of the contract, Parscale’s firm is also integrating pro-Israel messaging into Salem Media Network, a conservative media conglomerate that hosts high-profile podcasts such as “The Right View with Lara Trump” and “The Dinesh D-Souza Podcast.”

Parscale is carrying out this work as part of “project 545” an Israeli campaign to “amplify Israel’s strategic communication and public diplomacy efforts.” Eran Shayovich, Parscale’s point of contact in Israel and the chief of staff at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on Linkedin about the success of the project last month. “A year and two months into a long war, when the image of the State of Israel was at one of its lowest points, and too many attempts to fight on the public diplomacy front had not been particularly successful,” he wrote. “In the past year, we began to fight back seriously.”

“Allies for Peace” uploaded its first video on YouTube — which states at the end that it was “distributed by Clock Tower X LLC on behalf of the state of Israel” — two weeks before the mass texting campaign began, further linking the effort to Parscale’s firm.

Parscale did not respond to a request for comment about his firm’s connections to the mass texting campaign.

responsiblestatecraft.org

Tags:Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, politics
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Posts Tagged ‘Gaza’

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Collective guilt narrative

International law discarded

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‘Authorities must investigate’

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Lone soldiers

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Strategic omission

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De facto annexation

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