The Leader of Israel's Opposition aka Netanyahu’s fiercest political rival: "At last, a just war"

What has unfolded over the past days is the rarest of things in 21st-century conflicts

writes the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, in The Economist from from the bomb shelter in his home:

a just war. One in which there is moral clarity between good and evil. America and Israel did not embark on this operation in the name of economic or geopolitical interests, but because the world is in danger.

 … If the Iranian regime succeeds in developing nuclear weapons, as it is trying to do, the world is in danger. If it continues to advance its ballistic-missile programme, Israel and every other country in the Middle East are in danger. If the ayatollahs remain in power in Tehran, the citizens of Iran are in danger.

The rule of the ayatollahs is not a “government” in the sense we ordinarily understand the term. It is a terrorist organisation that has hijacked a state. Anyone who has asked in the past 24 hours why Iran’s nuclear programme justifies going to war has been asking the wrong question. The right question is this: what would have happened if al-Qaeda had possessed nuclear weapons on September 11th 2001? Would it have used them against America and Israel? The answer is simple: of course it would have.

A former prime minister known as “Netanyahu’s fiercest political rival”, Yair Lapid continues:

on this military campaign, I stand behind the government and behind the operation in Iran.

Why? Because this is not political—it is existential. All of Israel stands united in the face of the Iranian threat, united behind our soldiers and our pilots, united in gratitude to President Donald Trump for the rare leadership and courage he has shown. On this issue there is no opposition and no coalition. In all my years in politics, I do not remember such consensus on any subject.

 

 … The cruelty with which the regime treated young Iranians who asked only for freedom and basic rights is not only heartbreaking; it is a lesson in the character of Iran’s thuggish leaders. The Iranian regime does not hesitate to kill tens of thousands of its own people. Why would it hesitate to kill Americans, Israelis or moderate Muslims in places like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain?

Regimes like this always make the same mistake. They fail to understand that democracy is not a weakness; it is a source of strength. Because they themselves understand only threats and brutality, they assume that if they continue to threaten, no one will dare confront them. Instead, they have awakened the greatest military power humanity has ever known.

 …  Yet the question of whether this regime of terror survives does not depend only on America and Israel. The elimination of the “Supreme Leader”, Ali Khamenei, is not only justified, as befits the murderous dictator that he was; it could also be the moment when the Iranian people find within themselves the strength to change their lives. Iranian youth showed extraordinary courage when they took to the streets in January. Now we must wait and see whether they will produce their own Nelson Mandela or Lech Walesa to lead them to freedom.

Related: • 47 Years Is Long Enough: 

Finally — Donald Trump Brings the Carter Era to a Close 

• "But Why Did the Iranian Air Defenses Fail to Activate?" 

"Inside Operation Epic Fury — How the U.S. & Israel Struck Iran

47 Years Is Long Enough: Finally — Donald Trump Brings the Carter Era to a Close

I have waited a half century for this.

When I was a teen-ager in the late 1970s and starting to get interested in politics and the world situation (not to mention girls), Khomeini's Iranian Revolution took place, followed by the American Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran and Jimmy Carter's disastrous attempt to free the diplomatic hostages. 

In the aftermath of the Desert One catastrophe, I remember the Soviets (and even the USA's Western European friends) more or less openly mocking Uncle Sam. (Also, not long after, there was a story of a handful of Russian diplomats being also taken hostage by the Iranians, and Moscow either sent a rescue team or simply made strong threats, which lead to their immediate release.) 

After he left the White House, the naïve Carter had the gall to declare that during his four years in the White House, no American soldier's life had been lost in combat. (Well, true enough, the burnt remains of the eight soldiers killed in the Desert One accident were not lost in combat — although they were displayed on TV by an Iranian — the country's PM? — cutting into them with a pocket knife.)

This was not the America I had been taught about by movies, history, and legend. (Mamnun babat Instalink, Sarah.)

I was angry and, frankly, mortified by the humiliation and, as 

Mark Noonan

 put it, I have never forgotten. Never. (Thanks to Ed Driscoll for this Instapundit post, which has much more and which should be read from head to toe.) With 

Randy Barnett

 adding that 

We’re endlessly told to remember and rectify grievances from decades and even centuries in the past. Well all right. 

As I wrote on January 3, 2020, and on January 3 this year (2026) — which happens te be my birthday — I have rarely gotten better birthday gifts throughout my life as I have received from Donald Trump when American missiles smoked Qassim Suleimani on that date in 2020 and when the U.S. armed forces arrested Nicolas Maduro in 2026. 

We’re endlessly told to remember and rectify grievances from
decades and even centuries in the past. Well all right. https://t.co/oREkFfkehx

— Randy Barnett (@RandyEBarnett) February 28, 2026

As usual, Donald Trump made a brilliant speech when he announced the attack, reminding us all of nearly a half century of frustration and aggravation. 

Related: "But Why Did the Iranian Air Defenses Fail to Activate?" 

"Inside Operation Epic Fury — How the U.S. & Israel Struck Iran

Also linked by Ed Driscoll, JENNIFER RUST calls Feb. 28, 2026 The Day Trump Paid the Mullahs Back — while giving Persians a chance.

For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries. Among the regime's very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for 444 days. In 1983, Iran's proxies carried out the marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel.

 … It's been mass terror, and we're not going to put up with it any longer.

From Lebanon to Yemen and Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts. 

 … This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration and there is no military on earth even close to its power, strength or sophistication. 

 … Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.

For many years, you have asked for America's help. But you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. 

"But Why Did the Iranian Air Defenses Fail to Activate?" Inside Operation Epic Fury — How the U.S. & Israel Struck Iran

The Alberta 51 Project presents a stunning 5-minute video on how Operation Epic Fury was carried out, and tells the strategy, tactics and stealthy preparations behind what Israel calls Operation Roaring Lion (the lion being the symbol of Iran under the Shar).

It might look like the makers of the Inside Operation Epic Fury video (How the U.S. & Israel Struck Iran), the Alberta 51 Project, belong to some kind of strategy entity but they are actually "dedicated to supporting education to Albertans on why we should become the 51 state." 

In fact, the video and others are a repost of TikTok entries that harken from that platform's @geo.emoji and NewsToday (@newstoday_usa) outlets.  (Mamnun babat Instalink, Sarah.)

pic.twitter.com/vKudraW5tC

— Alberta 51 Project (@Ab51_Project) March 1, 2026

See also: The US Strategy to Hit Iran Explained? Air & Sea Plan Explained

@newstoday_usa #fyp #iran #us #humour ♬ original sound - NewsToday

And now — for some celebratory music:

🚨 EPIC! Massive amounts of Iranians spotted dancing to YMCA holding up "THANK YOU, TRUMP" signs in Washington DC

Incredible things are happening right now.

A liberal's mind BREAKS just looking at this!

Trump has just stunned the world 🇺🇸🇮🇷pic.twitter.com/2lPSnT2s2x

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 1, 2026

Scandalous News from Norway: What If All the Planet's Welfare Systems — Supposedly Proof of the Left's Superiority Over Capitalist America — Prove to Be Little More Than So Many Scams?

Talk about torpedoes circling back…

I have often said that the dream of the world's leftists is to make a world where all citizens are de facto welfare recipients (an update from the serfs and the peasants that they used to be during feudalism and in prior eras). This, far from incidentally, in turn explains why there is so much anti-Americanism in the world, since statists in the United States as well as in the rest of the world are enraged that Americans made a rich and successful country with the minimum involvement of politicians and bureaucrats, and not only that but indeed made it the richest and the most successful country on the planet.

As California and other states seem to be heading in the direction of fraud-soaked Minnesota (the home for many Scandinavian immigrants in the 19th century), it appears that the nation's welfare systems throughout the American nation might be little more than a scam.

But for the statists, American and foreign alike — whether they turn out to be true believers or hypocritical conspirators — the international situation is far worse than that.

In view of the fact that the global left's major talking point — that leftists like the Democrats and all the Socialist-leaning Europeans — are far more tolerant and compassionate than the egotistical brutes in the capitalistic United States (or, at least, then the neanderthals of America's Republican Party), it would be highly problematic if the welfare systems throughout the rest of the West — and the rest of the world — proved to be a scam as well.

That is what might be happening in the region — Scandinavia — whose countries are often lauded as the very top model of a healthy government and a healthy nation. Certainly, Norway's reputation for honesty and humility, for good governance, and for “least corrupt in the world” rankings has been taking broadside after broadside in the wake of the Epstein Scandal.

And if Norway turns out to be so filled with (for want of a better word) corruption, can Sweden and Denmark be far behind?

Indeed, none other than one of neighboring Denmark's top two newspapers, Politiken, has twisted Shakespeare's Hamlet line and has been wondering aloud if there is something rotten in the kingdom of Norway.

As the World Economic Forum's Børge Brande becomes the latest Norwegian VIP to go down in flames, the New York Times weighs in with a tidbit of rare good news, wholly thanks to the Winter Olympics: According to Lynsey Chutel and Louise Krüger, Norway’s Record Olympic Medal Haul Is a Welcome Distraction From Scandal:

Days before the Winter Olympics, the country was riveted by scandals that raised questions whether Norwegians abroad had betrayed their national values. U.S. Justice Department files revealed how chummy Norway’s future queen, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. At the same time, her adult son stood trial for rape. The embarrassment extended beyond royalty when police charged former prime minister and past Nobel committee chair, Thorbjorn Jagland, with “gross corruption” over his relationship with Mr. Epstein.

Other prominent Norwegian diplomats who have served in international organizations also face scrutiny for their relationship with Mr. Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The revelations fueled outrage in Norway, where elites, including the royal family, are prized for humility. 

 … But for some, these victories have prompted as much soul-searching as celebration.

“Norwegians are simple, sober people, and we see this in the athletes,” said Daniel Roed-Johansen, a columnist who writes about sport and society for one of Norway’s largest newspapers. 

 … Just as the revelations in the Epstein files showed cracks in Norway’s high-trust society, a recent cheating scandal on Norway’s ski jumping team showed that national sport is also vulnerable to corruption, Mr. Roed-Johansen said.

Into this morass steps 

Rebecca Mistereggen

 with a stunning article that is far more telling than that in the the New York Times. It is entitled The Habitus of Norway’s Elite: Lies, Corruption, and the Absence of Consequences.

The skeletons keep tumbling out of the closet.

The Epstein case’s slimy grip on the Norwegian elite is only a fraction of how they’ve been screwing over ordinary Norwegians for years.

[One of the most recent examples] is Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide apologizing for “mistakes in handling” his own conflict of interest when his son was picked as an intern at the Paris embassy just before Christmas.

Translation: He assumed he would get away with it. Just as former Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s thought she could get away with her husband profiting from stock trades influenced by political decisions she made while in office. The “consequence” at the time? She was denied assistance from the Prime Minister’s Office when she asked whether they could effectively babysit her husband’s stock trading if she was ever re-elected. After all, she claimed she had no idea what the man she shares a bed with was doing. Apparently that is not a prime minister’s responsibility.

 … They seem to believe they can simply ride out such matters, while ordinary citizens would face serious consequences for similar conduct.

But that is hardly surprising. They have been getting away with this for years.

Over the past decade alone, Norwegian politics has been marked by a steady stream of scandals involving financial misconduct, conflicts of interest, commuter housing abuses, travel expense irregularities, plagiarism in master’s theses, stock trading, inappropriate relationships, and abuse of power. Numerous ministers have resigned

 … The problem is that they often reappear in positions of influence.

It’s not just Erna’s husband cashing in on his wife’s policies. Anniken Huitfeldt, now Norway’s diplomat in Washington D.C., a job she was handed without applying, which is controversial in itself, was supposedly clueless about her husband’s massive stock trading while she held the post as foreign minister.

Then there are the “favours for friends”, what most people would call corruption, along with résumé embellishments and other irregularities.

 … [The many cases mentioned], emerging from what appears to be an endless closet of skeletons, demonstrate a basic truth: power corrupts. Politicians should not serve more than two terms, neither in ministerial roles nor within the bureaucracy.

A System Designed to Protect Itself

Norwegians don’t elect their prime minister or cabinet ministers directly. Governments can appoint ministers whom voters never supported.

Politicians cannot be prosecuted for lying to the public. That provision was removed in 2005.

… When you add up the changes, raising the threshold for forming new political parties, limiting voters’ ability to alter candidate lists, repealing Section 105, transferring sovereignty to the EU despite two referendums rejecting membership, the result is a democracy made significantly less democratic.

An untouchable elite has emerged. One that believes it can apologise on television, express how “deeply sorry” they are, and then “take responsibility by remaining in office.” Jens Stoltenberg did precisely that after the July 22, 2011 terror attacks, accepting “overall responsibility” yet choosing to stay on in order to “implement reforms.” Since then, Norway has endured further attacks. After the Oslo shooting, the security service admitted it lacked oversight of how many Islamist extremists operate in Norway. Yet it priorities “anti-state attitudes”, that is, citizens critical of those in power, as a threat to democracy.

Which democracy?

A democracy does not survive on self-congratulation and false rankings as “least corrupt in the world.” It survives on real checks and balances, real consequences for abuse of power, and respect for voters’ mandates.

When apologies replace accountability, and accountability means remaining in office, the states is not governed by the people. It is an elite managing itself, investigating itself, disciplining itself by temporarily stepping aside, only to return a year or two later.

Criticism of the state does not threaten democracy. The total absence of consequences for those who govern does.

When skeletons emerge year after year without real repercussions, we’re past 

forgetfulness. It is a systemic pattern and problem.

… Yet the response is familiar: Apologies, “we are reviewing the matter,” expressions of regret, and proposals for parliamentary commissions appointed by the very institutions under scrutiny.

It leaves a bitter taste.

That is not justice. It is a controlled, self-contained process in which the same networks rotate back into influence, immunity is preserved, and responsibility is diluted until no one is truly held accountable.

 … it is merely another chapter in the story of an elite that consistently evades responsibility while ordinary citizens pay the price.

How can one claim to live in a democracy when voters are asked to choose between deception and fraud?

Related: • Denmark may have free universities and a national health system, but what is its free education and health care actually worth? 

• We’ve all been guilty of projecting some kind of utopian fantasy on the Nordic countries 

• Contrasting "the American dream" with "the European daydream" 

• Note to Americans Who Believe Europeans' Health Care System Is the Way to Go 

• You really can’t have a Scandinavian-style welfare state without a broad high tax burden 

• Sustaining a benevolent nanny state is proving to be challenging even for the notably generous Danes 

• The Happiest Nation on Earth: “Way too many Danes think ‘What’s in it for me?’ instead of considering what’s best for Denmark” 

• 36-Year-Old Dane on Welfare Since She Was 16: the "Danish model of government is close to a religion" 

• Europe's Superior Health Care System: Wasting an entire day at the hospital 

• Worse Than Albania — Waiting in Sweden's national health care queues can take over a year

• Scandinavia’s quality of life didn’t SPRING FROM leftist policies; It SURVIVED them 

• The Nobel Prize is really Obama's payback for disciplining the unruly United States and taming it to be a member of the European family of nations 

• 52% of the Norwegian population receives government financial aid; A health care worker in Norway is "not hired as a guard dog but trained to see suffering" 

• But Apart From That Pesky Little Detail, Europe's Health Care System Is Unquestionably a Model for America to Follow 

• Charity: Some Statistics You Rarely Hear About… 

• The land of humblebrag and its drunk, depressed, lazy, tumor-ridden, pig-bonking bureaucrats 

• Epstein Scandal: No Matter How Clever You Think Trump Is, You Do Not Appreciate His Brilliance Enough

A Grizzly! Congress's Wittiest Senator Lays Bare an Awesome Description of Donald Trump, Echoing 50-Year-Old Sean Connery Epic Movie's Striking Prescience

Fifty years ago, an epic adventure film starring Sean Connery proved to be strikingly prescient about Donald Trump — and, indeed, descriptive of "the American character" (two clips below).

Contrary to being the king of the African jungle, as in The Lion King parody, the president of the United States was described by the Senate's most witty member as the incarnation of a regal beast in North America's own wilderness. 

Interviewed by Fox News (Sen John Kennedy says 'grizzly' Trump secured trade wins despite SCOTUS tariff blow by Madison Colombo), the Lousiana Senator had many things to say, on various subjects and about various people, the most interesting (by far) being as follows:

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., offered an optimistic perspective on the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling, arguing the "grizzly" in the Oval Office should view it as a win.

 … "He believes in being a bear. And he thinks if you’re [going to] be a bear, be a grizzly," Kennedy said of Trump’s aggressive trade strategy.

"Be a grizzly" is far from fantasy. It has a long history. Although reviled as an unfair caricature, the common Indian sound, Ugh, ugh, turns out to be true enough and indeed is actually the Native Americans imitating the grunt of the animal they respected, they venerated, and they… feared the most — the king, so to speak, of the North American wilderness.

It is given a new spirit in the film The Wind and the Lion, just over 50 years old, by none other than Theodore Roosevelt (played by Brian Keith and co-starring Sean Connery, their two characters — the Scottish 007 playing another historical figure, Raisuli the Sultan to the Berbers — incarnating the metaphors in the movie's title). 

Watch the clip above or check out IMDB's quotation page to see if, half a century ago, John Milius didn't accurately describe the American character through the words of Theodore Roosevelt (Brian Keith), and that of nobody better than Donald John Trump.

Theodore Roosevelt: The American grizzly is a symbol of the American character: strength, intelligence, ferocity. Maybe a little blind and reckless at times... but courageous beyond all doubt. And one other trait that goes with all previous.

2nd Reporter: And that, Mr. President?

Theodore Roosevelt: Loneliness. The American grizzly lives out his life alone. Indomitable, unconquered — but always alone. He has no real allies, only enemies, but none of them as great as he.

2nd Reporter: And you feel this might be an American trait?

Theodore Roosevelt: Certainly. The world will never love us. They respect us - they might even grow to fear us. But they will never love us, for we have too much audacity! And, we're a bit blind and reckless at times too.

2nd Reporter: Are you perhaps referring to the situation in Morocco and the Panama Canal[?]

Theodore Roosevelt: If you say so... The American grizzly embodies the spirit of America. He should be our symbol! Not that ridiculous eagle — he's nothing more than a dandified vulture.

When the bear is being prepared for exhibition in the Smithosnian, the man who inspired the teddy bear affirms that "The American grizzly must always be portrayed in a fighting stance!." 

I remember going to watch this movie with my mother as a kid — and coming out awe-struck. I had finally seen a movie displaying true virility and realistic battle scenes (see clip below). Along with The Man Who Would Be King (also co-starring Sean Connery and also with John Huston, not as a secondary character but as director) the same year, I had finally seen two true motion pictures.

While we're at it, below is another quote from the film — isn't it pure Trump?! —  along with a a scene from "1904" that reflect TR's words above — perfectly — and that indeed foreshadows somehow the January 3 capture of Nicolas Maduro (the last couple of lines are pure gold): 

• Theodore Roosevelt: What do I want? I want respect! Respect for human life and respect for American property! And I'm going to send the Atlantic Squadron to Morocco to get that respect.
• John Hay: That's illegal.
• Theodore Roosevelt: Why spoil the beauty of the thing with legality?

Al-Durah Hoax — "But what courage would it take today for a politician, a journalist, even a historian, simply to ask the question: is this MSM report serving a leftist narrative possibly a fake?"

Comparing the Al-Durah hoax to another hoax (the Dreyfus affair) of more than a century ago — in l'Affaire Al-Durah: mais où est passé le colonel Picquart? — Eric Verrax asks:

But what courage would it take today for a politician, a journalist, even a historian, simply to ask the question: is this report on the child's death possibly a "fake"? Who in the media world would have the audacity to alienate their self-righteous circles just to ask the question? And since we would then be dealing with "the most anti-Semitic fake of our generation," to use the words of the Causeur report, doesn't that cast a harsh light on the bias of public broadcasting?

Mais quel courage faudrait-il aujourd’hui à un politique, à un journaliste, à un historien même de simplement poser la question : ce reportage sur la mort de l’enfant est-il possiblement un « fake » ? Qui dans la galaxie médiatique aurait le front de s’aliéner son environnement bien-pensant pour a minima poser la question ? Et puisqu’alors, nous aurions affaire au « fake le plus antisémite de notre génération » pour reprendre les termes du dossier de Causeur, cela ne jette-t-il pas un regard cru sur la partialité du service public ?

 

Indeed, there was certainly no courage at the heart of the France 2 television station, as Philippe Karsenty recounts while a guest on Frontières (8:00-34:34) in relation with the special issue on the Al-Durah hoax that the monthly Causeur published last week.  Recall that Philippe Karsenty was central in debunking the hoax two decades ago, for which he was "rewarded" with numerous lawsuits at the hands of the France 2 television station — nine years' worth, altogether — which is recounted in the issue of Causeur by Gilles-William Goldnadel & Aude Weill-Raynal.

Answering the questions of Louise Morice, Philippe Karsenty not only reexamines the affair that caused widespread hatred of the Jewish state and of Jews themselves a quarter of a century ago, but comments also on the Epstein scandal, such as the fact that Jeffrey Epstein was a guest of champagne socialist Jack Lang in Paris as recently as 2018. (Speaking of which, see also No Matter How Clever You Think Trump Is, You Do Not Appreciate His Brilliance Enough.)

Last Fall, No Pasarán published an in-depth post on the al Durrah affair which had its start on September 30, 2000 and which the blog has covered over the decades: 25 Years Ago — Fate of 12-Year-Old Palestinian Led to 911 Attack and the Invention of the Word Pallywood, along with a quote by Philippe Karsenty, who was instrumental in helping to debunk the hoax ("If we ignore how images propagate and mutate, we hand the moral high ground to those who traffic in outrage") 

Beyond that article, Causeur (Conversationalist) also featured Elisabeth Lévy presenting the dossier under the title L’heure des pro-pal and Editor Jeremy Stubbs charging that the France 2 television station broadcast antisemitic disinformation, asking Who Killed the Truth? (Affaire Al-Durah, 25 ans après: qui a tué la vérité?). All of the above is related with more detail in the post on Causeur's special issue on the Al-Durah hoax.

Subsequently, Philippe Karsenty was also interviewed by Boulevard Voltaire, by ActuJ, and by the Qualita Studio.

 

Municipales 2026 : Évreux, quand l'insécurité devient la norme !

Frontières

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Streamed live on Feb 9, 2026 REPLAY | La Matinale de Frontières

Au programme de notre matinale du lundi 9 février 2026 : À 8h : Philippe Karsenty, porte-parole du comité Trump France, nous rejoindra pour revenir sur l’affaire Al-Durah, à l’occasion de son grand entretien publié dans Causeur. À 8h30 : François Bousquet, rédacteur en chef de la Revue Éléments et directeur de la Nouvelle Librairie, sera en plateau pour présenter son enquête choc parue dans le JDD : « Fatwa bancaire : pourquoi la droite est systématiquement visée ». À 9h : Jean Messiha, tête de liste Reconquête pour les municipales à Évreux, viendra échanger sur sa campagne et les enjeux locaux. À 9h30, nos journalistes Lino Bauer et Jordan Florentin seront sur le plateau avec nous pour revenir sur les prises à partie dont ils ont été victimes alors qu’ils ne faisaient qu’exercer leur métier. 👉 Notre nouveau magazine "Censure : la tentation totalitaire", disponible sur : https://www.frontieresmedia.fr/produi...