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Breaking the Equation in the North: The Key Is Not Just Military, It’s Civil
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, March 11, 2026, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Photo: REUTERS/Raghed Waked
On February 28, the world witnessed the commencement of Operation “Roaring Lion,” a watershed moment in Middle Eastern security. This strategic collaboration between the Israel Defense Forces and US forces represents a direct challenge to the Iranian-led radical Shia axis, which has long held the region in a stranglehold.
As Hezbollah joins the fray, indiscriminately expanding its rocket fire toward central and southern Israel, we are once again forced to confront a fateful, recurring question: How do we prevent the next inevitable ceasefire from becoming nothing more than the starting line for Hezbollah’s next rearmament?
The failure of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement serves as a grim reminder that diplomatic promises without enforcement are a death sentence. That agreement was systematically violated by Hezbollah, while the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), predictably, either could not or would not assert the state’s sovereignty.
This vacuum of authority necessitated hundreds of Israeli surgical strikes to thwart the reconstruction of terror infrastructure in South Lebanon. To ensure that the residents of Northern Israel can finally raise their children in long-term security, we must stop repeating the same failed patterns while expecting a different result. We require a holistic approach, one that doesn’t just clip Hezbollah’s wings, but dismantles its very foundation.
True victory requires the IDF to continue deepening its strikes against Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, but with a specific political end state in mind: enabling Lebanese sovereignty. This objective is not merely about removing an immediate tactical threat; it is about creating a power vacuum that necessitates action from the Lebanese state.
For too long, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Lebanese government have remained weak and deterred, paralyzed by Hezbollah’s military dominance. However, following Operation “Northern Arrows” in late 2024 and the current pressures of 2026, we are witnessing the first genuine flickers of courage. Lebanese politicians and media figures are no longer whispering their dissent; they are acting on it.
A profound example of this shift is the recent detention of Ali Barrou, a prominent pro-Hezbollah journalist and mouthpiece for the organization’s propaganda, by state security forces. Even more significant is the extraordinary declaration by the Lebanese Foreign Minister, calling for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador from Beirut.
To the casual observer, these might seem like isolated diplomatic or legal maneuvers, but in the Lebanese context, they represent a tectonic shift in the internal balance of power. These actions signal that the paralyzing fear of Hezbollah is beginning to erode, and the state apparatus is finally attempting to reclaim its authority from its foreign-backed occupier.
Ending the organization’s military dominance is the essential fuel for this domestic defiance; without it, the Lebanese state will never find the spine to enforce its own laws, such as the constitutional ban on non-state actors holding weapons.
Yet, military pressure alone is insufficient because Hezbollah is not merely a militia; it is a “state within a state.” For decades, it has built a parallel civil society that is the secret to its endurance and the primary source of its grip on the Shia community.
Central to this is Al-Qard Al-Hasan, which functions as Hezbollah’s private, unregulated banking system. Because it operates outside the global banking network, it allows the organization to launder money and provide interest-free loans to its supporters, effectively bypassing international sanctions and “buying” the loyalty of the Shia street.
Similarly, the Jihad al-Bina construction wing serves as the organization’s shadow ministry of housing, rebuilding homes damaged in conflicts to ensure that supporters remain dependent on Hezbollah rather than the Lebanese government. These efforts are bolstered by welfare networks like Mu’asasat al-Shahid (The Martyr’s Foundation), which provides lifelong financial support to the families of fallen operatives.
By systematically targeting the financial and logistical pillars of these institutions, Israel can decouple the Shia population from Hezbollah’s influence. We are already seeing the cracks in this facade: the organization’s current inability to pay rent for displaced Shia supporters whose homes were destroyed has sparked unprecedented internal friction and public grumbling.
The opportunity to cut these lifelines has reached a critical, historical juncture. The geopolitical landscape of 2026 is vastly different from previous rounds of conflict. The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and the Maduro regime in Venezuela has shattered the “Narcoterror” routes that previously funneled billions of dollars into Hezbollah’s coffers via captagon and cocaine trafficking.
Combined with the domestic instability in Iran, which has forced Tehran to prioritize its own survival over its proxies, a rare window has opened to “dry up” Hezbollah’s resources. This shift is not a naive scenario; it is an attainable strategic goal.
If Israel does not succumb to international pressures for a premature ceasefire before these civil and military conditions are met, we can fundamentally change the regional equation. Only when Hezbollah loses its military assets and its ability to provide for the “Shia Street” can the Lebanese army be compelled to enforce true sovereignty. This is the only path toward a “New Lebanon” — a state that no longer poses an existential threat to its neighbors.
Only on that “clear day” can we begin to discuss diplomatic processes that lead to lasting peace rather than just a temporary pause in an endless war.
Lt. Col. (Res.) Eyal Dror served in the Israel Defense Forces for 31 years, specializing in civil-military coordination and humanitarian operations. He served as the Head of the Operations Branch for COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) and was the founding commander of “Operation Good Neighbor,” the IDF’s humanitarian mission to Syrian civilians. He is a resident of Kibbutz Dafna near the Lebanese border, and the author of Embracing the Enemy.
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Dan Bilzerian wants to ‘kill Israelis’ and thinks Judaism is ‘terrible.’ Now he’s running for Congress.
(JTA) — Dan Bilzerian, the mega-influencer who’s spread conspiracy theories about Jews and said he wants to “kill Israelis,” is running for Congress.
Bilzerian registered this week to run in the Republican primary against the Jewish far-right firebrand Rep. Randy Fine in Florida’s sixth district. Bilzerian initially gained fame for his Instagram photos alongside bikini-clad women but has since become a vocal critic of Israel and Jews — and has repeatedly called Fine a “fat Jew” in the lead-up to his campaign launch.
In a TMZ interview after Bilzerian announced his candidacy, the outlet’s Jewish founder, Harvey Levin, questioned the influencer on whether his use of the phrase “fat Jew” was antisemitic.
“[Fine] literally talks about how Muslims are lower than dogs, so, is that Islamophobic?” Bilzerian shot back. Fine drew bipartisan criticism for his comments earlier this year.
“Yes,” TMZ’s Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere responded. (Bilzerian added that Fine “tweets that, and he’s a senator,” though Fine is actually a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who was formerly a state senator.)
Bilzerian responded to a follow-up question by denying that he’s antisemitic — and questioning the term “antisemitism” altogether, saying it’s been “hijacked to only talk about Jews.”
“No, I’m not antisemitic. I think that that’s kind of a made-up term, I think the Palestinians are the real Semites,” Bilzerian said.
“Was Hitler antisemitic?” Levin asked.
Bilzerian did not say.
“Like I said, the term is focused solely on Jews, but actual Semites are the Arabs,” he answered. “And Palestinians are Semites as well. They actually have more DNA lineage to that region than any of the Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews that have taken it from them.”
The comments were nothing new for Bilzerian, who has 30 million followers on Instagram and 2 million on X. He regularly tweets opinions like “Jewish supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today,” questions the accuracy of the statistic that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust, and reposts clips of avowed antisemite Nick Fuentes.
But now, Bilzerian’s foray into electoral politics could serve as a test of the popularity of an emerging, anti-Israel faction within the Republican party headlined by figures like Tucker Carlson and Fuentes, who’ve espoused conspiracy theories about Jews.
Those figures’ opposition to the war in Iran have sped up their dissent from President Donald Trump. During the TMZ interview, Bilzerian said Fine should be tried for treason for putting “Israel before America,” and also criticized Trump for being “Israel first.” He has tweeted that Trump “needs to be impeached.”
(Ironically, Fine introduced a bill that would ban dual citizens from serving in Congress, and Bilzerian is a dual American-Armenian citizen.)
Bilzerian is not the only anti-Israel Republican challenger to Fine, a staunch Israel supporter who’s been backed by AIPAC and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“I appreciate @DanBilzerian‘s zeal to take @RepFine out of Congress. I’ve been working tirelessly for one year on the same goal,” wrote Aaron Baker, who’s been endorsed by the Anti-Zionist America PAC. “I would however also appreciate if Dan ran for FL-16 much closer to where he grew up. Make @AIPAC spend $ defending more seats. Divide and conquer.” FL-16’s current representative, Vern Buchanan, was endorsed by AIPAC in 2024.
But Bilzerian, with his 29.6 million followers on Instagram and 2.1 million on X, brings a larger national audience to the congressional primary.
“I’d never heard of this guy before, until a couple of days ago, but having watched your interview, it’s clear that he simply doesn’t like Jews. In America you’re allowed to do that,” Fine said on a TMZ appearance following Bilzerian’s. But, he continued, “I don’t think it’s going to work out to become a congressman, having that perspective.”
Bilzerian gained many of his followers when he was the “king of Instagram,” posting photos of himself surrounded by scantily clad women, sports cars and with large guns. In June 2015, Bilzerian said he would be running for president, though by December he’d gotten behind the candidacy of Trump.
Before that, he’d served four years in the U.S. Navy starting in 1999, and dropped out of the University of Florida to play professional poker. His father, Paul Bilzerian, is a businessman who, as a corporate takeover specialist, was sentenced to four years in prison for federal crimes including fraud and criminal conspiracy.
In the months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the ensuing war in Gaza, Bilzerian’s social media presence began taking its current shape of focusing predominantly on Israel and, eventually, Jews.
“Do you think the Israeli attacks on Gaza are justified or f–ked up?” Bilzerian asked his followers on Nov. 6, 2023. By 2024, the occasional surveys he took of his followers became pointedly focused on Jews.
“Who causes the majority of the worlds problems,” he asked, with users overwhelmingly voting for the multiple-choice option “16 million Jews.”
In January 2025, Bilzerian asked his followers whether Hitler was a “good person,” a “terrible person,” or if they didn’t know. A third of the 178,000 voters said Hitler was a “good person,” and another 23% said they didn’t know.
Bilzerian laid out his views on Jewish people in a 2024 interview with conservative commentator Patrick Bet-David, during which he said Jews “knew about 9/11” and “had JFK assassinated.”
Later that year, conservative media personality Piers Morgan asked Bilzerian how many Jews he believed died in the Holocaust.
“I don’t know, but I would bet my entire net worth that it was under 6 million,” Bilzerian said.
According to FEC filings, Bilzerian’s campaign treasurer is Patrick Krason. Krason was also the treasurer for the short-lived presidential campaign of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, another public figure who’s spread conspiracy theories about Jews.
Bilzerian has promoted the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, claiming that Jews control the media and are using that position to push an “anti-white agenda” and replace whites with non-white immigrants.
“It started with the jewish owned news stations telling us ‘white supremacy is the greatest threat to America,’” Bilzerian wrote last year. “Whites were replaced in movies & streaming networks. Then the Jewish exec run Blackrock forced DEI on all major corps.”
Bilzerian often cites passages from the Talmud to make claims about Jewish beliefs, such as that Jews approve of stealing and raping as long as the crimes are committed against non-Jews. Other figures like Candace Owens have similarly taken passages from the Talmud, but rabbis have criticized those figures for using quotes that are mistranslated and often taken out of context from the text, which includes centuries of rabbinic debates and is not a formal code of laws.
During a stream with the influencer Sneako, who has also spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, Bilzerian said he supports “exterminating Israel” and that he “would sign up tomorrow and go f—king put boots on the ground and go f—king kill Israelis.”
“Give me a rifle and send me the f–k over there,” he said, adding, “I truly believe that the majority of that country is evil.”
On Morgan’s show, Bilzerian said Judaism innately promotes “Jewish supremacy,” and pointed to the State of Israel as being the result of that ideology.
“Israel is a manifestation of that religion,” he said. “And I think that religion is terrible.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Dan Bilzerian wants to ‘kill Israelis’ and thinks Judaism is ‘terrible.’ Now he’s running for Congress. appeared first on The Forward.
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After AIPAC-backed primary loss, Tom Malinowski endorses rival who says Israel committed genocide
(JTA) — After Tom Malinowski narrowly lost a primary in which AIPAC spent $2.3 million against him, critics said AIPAC’s plan backfired as it had inadvertently boosted a candidate farther from its pro-Israel agenda.
Now, Malinowski has thrown his support behind that victor, the Bernie Sanders-backed progressive Analilia Mejia.
“A couple of months ago, Analilia and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination,” Malinowski said in a video posted on Thursday afternoon. “Together, we are here united as Democrats in common cause.”
The video, which featured a friendly Malinowski and Mejia seated next to each other, was released ahead of her special election next week, and emphasized the need for Democrats to “take back the House.” Neither politician mentioned Israel or AIPAC in the video, though both politicians slammed the lobbying group following their tight primary race.
After Mejia’s victory back in February, AIPAC brushed off criticism that its attack ads against Malinowski — who describes himself as “pro-Israel” but crossed the group’s red line of supporting conditions on military aid — inadvertently contributed to Mejia’s win. Mejia has been harsher in her criticism of Israel and, unlike Malinowski, refers to its war in Gaza as a “genocide.”
But Mejia, an AIPAC spokesperson said, was only nominated for a special election that would fill the seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill through the end of 2026.
“The real race for the full congressional term is in the June primary, and we’re going to take a close look at that,” said Patrick Dorton, spokesperson for AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project.
But if AIPAC had its sights set on supplanting Mejia come June, those plans may have been complicated by her newfound support from Malinowski, a popular politician in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning, Mejia was endorsed by J Street, the liberal pro-Israel group that supports a growing number of candidates who back conditions on military aid to Israel. J Street’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, blasted AIPAC in a Substack column following the February primary. He also wrote positively about Malinowski, but did not mention Mejia in the column.
“I look forward to working in partnership in our shared commitment against antisemitism, bigotry and hate,” Mejia wrote, accepting J Street’s endorsement.
On Tuesday, Mejia appeared at Temple Ner Tamid, a Reform synagogue in Bloomfield, New Jersey, for a conversation with its rabbi about issues of Jewish concern including Israel and synagogue security. (Joe Hathaway, the Republican nominee, joined the congregation for a conversation the night before.)
“I’m running for congress to give every person in NJ-11 a voice – that’s why I’m committed to listening to folks from every corner of our community,” Mejia wrote after the event.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post After AIPAC-backed primary loss, Tom Malinowski endorses rival who says Israel committed genocide appeared first on The Forward.
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US Intelligence Indicates China Preparing Weapons Shipment to Iran
The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. October 9, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
US intelligence indicates China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran within the next few weeks, CNN reported late on Friday, citing three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments.
The network said there are indications that Beijing is working to route the shipments through third countries to mask their origin.
The US State Department, the White House, the Chinese embassy in Washington and China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Beijing is preparing to transfer shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems known as MANPADs, CNN said, citing sources it did not name.
The US and Iran are set to hold high-level negotiations on Saturday in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, seeking ways to end their six-week-old war.