Israel
June 9, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Israeli Air Force attacked the USS Liberty to devastating effect on day four of the six-day war in 1967. Michael Oren covers the attack in meticulous detail at pages 262-271 along with the related footnotes at pages 388-390 in Six Days of War (2002). He calls this section of the book Anatomy of an Accident. It was an utterly tragic friendly fire incident that is not uncommon in war.
»
June 9, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Jesse Watters to the contrary notwithstanding, Israel is not “spying on the United States.” It is not “freelancing in Lebanon.” It is defending itself from attacks by Hezbollah that have depopulated large swaths of northern Israel. The Hezbollah attacks, by the way, violated the purported “ceasefire” negotiated by President Trump. What does Vice President Vance have to say about that? In what has become a characateristically “disappointing” performance, Vance sees
»
June 9, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Thane Rosenbaum brings a detachment and sense of humor to his Jewish Journal/JNS column “When hippies hate.” I am more inclined to hate ’em right back, so I admire both Rosenbaum’s detachment and his sense of humor: There was a time, long ago, back in the drug-addled days of Woodstock, when tie-dyed shirts were formal wear, and hair was both a Broadway musical and a countercultural trademark. During those days,
»
June 9, 2026 — Scott Johnson
In the early days of Israel’s war on Hamas after 10/7, we frequently relied on the assessments of IDF Lieutenant Colonel (reserve) Jonathan Conricus to understand the state of play. Conricus was the IDF spokesman then. He is now a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Via X, this is his current assessment of the new status quo — he calls it “the interim score” — following this
»
June 8, 2026 — Scott Johnson
As I wrote earlier this morning, I knew it was almost noon in Israel and Amit Segal would be filng his daily dispatch presently. It has now arrived. I see it does not contrast with my own observations, but his are harsher. I thought some readers might appreciate his perspective from Israel. This is a long excerpt of the column he headlines “Israel vs. Iran: Round 3”: * * *
»
June 8, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I thought it was difficult to understand the status quo with Iran. Last week I posted General Keane’s assessment here. Suffice it to say that he was dubious about the prospects of a peaceful resolution. John posted Condoleezza Rice’s assessment here. She noticed that Iran’s exertion of control over the Strait of Hormuz constituted a dangling thread. Leaning on Khaled Abu Toameh and Victor Davis Hanson, I posted my own
»
May 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I wrote about Douglas Murray’s appearance at the Temple of Aaron earlier this week in “From Saint Paul to San Diego.” This year’s annual temple fundraiser honored retiring executive director Ken Agranoff after 39 years of service to the congregation. Ken interviewed Murray on the raised temple pulpit for about an hour, when Murray exited stage left. At the outset of his remarks Murray refers to two of the speakers
»
May 16, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Eurovision is the annual European song contest that is somewhat like American Idol, only bigger. The music is generally Euro-pop, which, for what it is worth, I tend to like. Nationalism plays a role, as contestants enter on behalf of a country. Twenty-five countries participated this year. The event is broadcast live across Europe to an enormous audience, and scoring is based on a blend of judges’ scores and popular
»
May 16, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has laundered Hamas propaganda and damaged the Jewish state with his absurd rape dog column. Kristof is sticking with his story, as is the Times. May they both rot in Gehenna. A wealth of intelligent commentary has followed up on Kristof’s column. Eli Lake’s Free Press column is a good one and there are several others. We have reached the stage where
»
May 14, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Washington Free Beacon’s Jon Levine reviews the history of those wily Israelis’ use of animals to faciliatate their depredations against the Muslim Middle East. He begins with their use of Flipper’s oceangoing relatives. How wily can you get? A list of animals Israel has been accused of "weaponizing" against Palestinians over the years Thread 🧵🧵 pic.twitter.com/vLXXWoufUm — Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) May 13, 2026 In a thread that can be
»
May 13, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Twitchy post “Kristof screws the pooch” takes up the matter of Nicholas Kristof and the alleged Israeli rape dogs at the heart of Kristof’s long New York Times column. Kristof purported to report a scandal shaming Israeli authorities. The scandal appears to be of the backfiring kind. Twitchy’s justmindy compiles a few X posts that dispute Kristof’s support for the underlying thesis of the dog rape aspect of his
»
May 12, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Eil Lake assesses the New York Times column by Nicohlas Kristof that I discussed in “The Times strikes again.” Lake’s Free Press column runs under the headline “Nick Kristof’s ‘Dog Torture’ Claim About Israel Doesn’t Pass Muster.” In my own comments on Kristof’s column, I expresssed the desire to see a sidebar to Kristof’s column in which some enterprising reporter or columnist would explore the training of the alleged Israeli
»
May 12, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Nicholas Kristof writes a column for the opinion page of the New York Times. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Kristof has just unveiled a new libel against Israel in “The silence that meets the rape of Palestinians.” You have to read it to disbelieve it. Among other things, Kristof cites “Palestinian prisoners and human rights monitors” who report “police dogs being coached to rape prisoners.” The Times has
»
May 8, 2026 — Scott Johnson
We took a look at the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times photojournalist Saher Alghorra in “The Pulitzers strike again.” The Washington Free Beacon now follows up with a review of Alghorra’s social media posts to establish that, if not a formal member of Hamas, he supports the lying party line in every jot and tittle: “New York Times Pulitzer-Winning Photographer Calls Hamas and Jihadist Militants ‘Martyrs’ and ‘Resistance,’
»
April 28, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The Washington Free Beacon’s Ira Stoll treats Wendy Sherman’s deep thoughts on Iran in his biting column “Obama-Biden Iran Negotiator Says Trump Doesn’t Have Enough Experts, Bemoans ‘Genocide.’” Sherman of course served as the Obama administration State Departmet official who led the negotiations with Iran resulting in the 2015 giveaway known as the JCPOA. Sherman thought her background in social work perfectly prepared her for the job. The JCPOA that
»
April 24, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Matt Continetti was the founding editor of the Washington Free Beacon and is the author, most recently, of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism (2022). In his capacity as a columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s Free Expression newsletter, Matt contemplates the transformation of the Democratic Party into an anti-Israel coalition. Matt writes: * * * * * The Senate’s anti-Israel roll call included every type of Democrat
»
April 23, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Vivek Ramaswamy is running as a Republican candidate for governor of Ohio. He was the featured speaker at a TPUSA event hosted at the Ohio State University’s Mershon Auditorium this past Tuesday evening. The argumentative NPR News story on his appearance makes him sound like an impressive candidate to me. Among other subjects, he fielded a scripted question on American support of Israel. The question harks back to his 2024
»
