ISRAEL AND TRUMP SCAMS

Saturday 1 August 2026

ISRAEL

Trump announced an agreement for Hamas to disarm and Israel to pull out of Gaza. Now, there is disagreement on both sides about what was actually agreed to.

Article: Ayyoub, Abeer (8/1/26) “Latest Gaza Peace plan runs up against reality. Wall Street Journal.

Hamas is demanding that Israel withdraw from Gaza before it disarms.

Article: NPR Staff (7/31/36) “Trump announces deal…” NPR.

TRUMP: SCAMS

The Justice Department is going to dismiss a criminal case against a former Olympian for deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting pool. A court filing showed that the damage was the result of a botched installation by the contractor partically in a “rush to complete the project.” (Note: Quote from report).

Article: Tucker, Eric (7/31/26) Justice Department moves to drop case…” AP News.

TRUMP: MISMANAGEMENT

Trump, of course, blamed the hacking of water utilities in Minnesota on Gov. Tim Walz. U.S. and industry officials, however, suspect that Iran is behind an expanding campaign of digital disruption that is spreading to at least seven other states. Walz responded by pointing out that “this is what modern warfare looks like.”

Note: Successful hacking of essential infrastructure is a nightmare. Instead of spending time trying to figure out who to blame (besides himself) Trump should be trying to protect us from this and future hacks which are guaranteed to occur.

Article: Sakelladariadis, John (7/31/26) “Trump blames Minnesota…” Politico.

The breach in Minnesota happened days after U.S. officials publicly warned that Iran-backed hackers were targeting the nation’s critical infrastructure amid the escalating military conflict with Iran.

Article: Arkin, Daniel, et. al. (7/31/26) “Hackers target…” NBC News.

TRUMP: MISMANAGEMENT

ISRAEL

Use of the Iron Dome air defense system, paid for by the United States, is bound by an agreement with Israel which gives Israel final say over the system’s use. (Note: Netanyahu vetoed its transfer to Ukraine.)

Rather than seeing this as a mistake, or an unnecessary agreement, Republicans are now looking to expand that relationship to encompass a “range of technological areas, including bioweapons, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and directed energy systems.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen pointed out that: “It compromises our sovereignty and hurts our national security by limiting our options.” In an interview, Van Hollen noted: “The missile systems we wanted to transfer to Ukraine were stationed in the southwest U.S and paid for by U.S. taxpayers, but Israel vetoed it.”

Marco Rubio supports the idea of a closer partnership with Israel.

(Note: This is part of the defense budget now before Congress. The agreement is an insane blending of the security services of Israel and the United States. It is receiving almost no coverage in the legacy media.)

Leading proponents of the measure include Republicans Mike Rogers (Alabama), Sen. Ted Budd (North Carolina), and Ronny Jackson (Texas) (Note: The ambien handing-out doctor who used to be Trump’s personal physician).

The measure is viewed by Republicans as a way of continuing U.S. support of Israel even if Congress chooses to discontinue the $3.8 billion in aid the U.S. sends to Israel every year.

Earlier in the year, over 100 Democrats voted to end all U.S. aid to Israel.

Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned during the Biden administration in protest over the war in Gaza, noted that this bill would undermine distancing of Israel from the U.S. By promoting defense production in the United States and creating jobs, it makes it harder for Congress to vote against appropriations. In addition, Paul said, “Israel could also retain leverage over the U.S. because Israeli technologies would be integrated into future U.S. weapons systems.”

Van Hollen said that he worries that Israel could block third party transfers to even more types of U.S. weapons.

(Note: This provision is part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is likely to be voted on around the time of the midterms.)

Article: Hudson, John (7/31/26) “House push to integrate defense industries of Israel, U.S. draws scrutiny.” The Washington Post.

OTHER ARTICLES

Gurley, Lauren Kaori (7/31/26) “Airports, nursing homes and schools brace for disruption without Haitian workers.” The Washington Post.

LIFE AND NEWS NOTES