Update:  Iran’s IRGC reportedly assumes command of Hezbollah as threat of US strike grows

Peloni:  Under the reign of the Mullahs, Iran has acted like a plague spreading terror and mayhem across the entire Middle East, but perhaps nowhere were its effects so damaging and so permanent as in Lebanon where a majority Christian nation with an accepted Shia minority community was ethnically cleansed into a Shia majority nation with an oppressed Christian minority community.  While people speak of the the threat of ethnic cleansing of Christians in Africa which is taking place today, and of ethnic cleansing of Christians by Israel which stands as an outright blood libel, they all easily ignore the transformation which came to persist in Lebanon as the Iranian controlled Hezbollah dominated, terrorized and transformed that nation.  So long as the Mullahs remain in Iran, their despotic and menacing influence will remain in Lebanon, threatening and reducing the Christian community there, as is the practice of their Jihadi ethos.

Lebanon majority areas: 1980s vs 2020s. Image created via AI

Islamic Republic disappointed over Hezbollah’s failure to participate in 12-day war last year

All Israel News Staff | Published: February 19, 2026

Iran is pressuring Hezbollah to enter into any future conflict with Israel, according to a Ynet News report.

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Peloni: Rabbi Pesach Wolicki highlights Jared Kushner’s presentation at the Board of Peace which can only be described as being completely unrelated to any factual representation of Gaza today.  Wolicki discusses the six polls which have been conducted in Gaza since October 7, 2023 and the unabashed support demonstrated by the Gazans in these polls for both Hamas and its terrorist allies in the region.  The first step to deradicalizing the people in Gaza is to conquer them, to defeat their leaders, to subjugate them under an occupying force which will eliminate and outlaw the very ideology which is still governing over them as Kushner continues to present articulate utopian descriptions of the financial windfalls which do not impress the radicals in Gaza.  At a minimum, the Hamas leadership must be tried for war crimes with sentences appropriate for the horrors which they coordinated and conducted so as to demonstrate the intolerance for the barbaric behavior which was carried out not only by Hamas but by thousands of the citizenry of Gaza.  Instead, the Board of Peace has plans for no defeat of Hamas, no trials for even the leadership, and instead is trying to decide how many arms should be left in the hands of these terrorists and in what position of power and authority the terrorists should be allowed to play in Kushner’s vision for Gaza.  The lack of responsibility forming around this multi-billion dollar makeover for Gaza speaks ill of both the internationalists financing it and the ‘Peace Envoys’ who have crossed every Red Line established in what was the already dangerous proposal of their now ignored 20 Point Plan.

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Peloni:  It is important to note in Conrad Black’s article below, the division of the land between the two competing factions which he describes was in fact carried out by the British, even as they lacked the specific authority to do so, at the Cairo Conference of 1921 when they created the Emirate of Transjordan for exactly this purpose with the Jordan River as the border between the two territories.  Additionally, the reason the Emirate of Transjordan, later to become the state of Transjordan as recognized in 1946, was named ‘Transjordan’ was specifically in reference to the boundary of that nation being the Jordan River, ie trans Jordan referenced the region on the far side of the Jordan river, as opposed to cis Jordan region (the near side of the Jordan River) which was appropriated for the Jewish homeland.  This division was adopted by the League of Nations as the Two State Solution which has since been attempted over and over again under the same sense of duplicity and historical revisionism which led the state of Transjordan reinventing its name as Jordan in 1950 to try to erase the fact that its border had been set at the Jordan River.

The argument that Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state is unspeakable nonsense

By Conrad Black| National Post | Feb 22, 2026

Israeli athletes at the Opening Ceremonies for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Screengrab via X. 

There were two events in Canada last week which may, viewed optimistically, constitute a turning point in the shameful and distressing flirtation that this country is having with antisemitism. There is widespread anecdotal evidence of discrimination against Jewish applicants for many categories of work and entry to exclusive professional occupations, including doctors and teachers. Antisemitic incidents are far more numerous than the police can make any pretense to respond to and include unprecedented levels of violence, car theft, and petty harassment such as ripping Mezuzahs off door-frames. The two incidents included the turnout of over 350,000 people, mainly Muslims, in Toronto to demand regime change in Iran.

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Peloni:  At some point, Trump, conservatives, and the MAGA leadership/base will come to accept the truth that Tucker Carlson has moved from promoting what was Trump’s vision for America to promoting what was Obama’s vision for America.  While many on the American Right refuse to do anything but support and endorse Carlson’s shift, including Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon and others, the reality is that their lack of due diligence is promoting the very failed nation policies which they opposed when Obama and Biden were president.  The consequence of such obsequious inspection of Carlson’s agenda by Trump and others is leading America on the same ill guided path drawn by Obama and Biden like a heard of sea lions marching over the side of a cliff.  Trump’s attempt to deal with this matter surreptitiously has failed, most notably because he relied upon Carlson’s cooperation which was a mistake.  Hopefully he has come to recognize that he needs to deal with this matter more directly, and as expeditiously as possible.

My Contacts With Tucker Carlson About Anti-Semitism on His Show

A few weeks ago, a mutual friend asked me if I’d be willing to speak to Tucker Carlson off the record. I agreed and Tucker called me three weeks ago to talk. I continued texting with him for eight days after that.…

— Yoram Hazony (@yhazony) February 21, 2026

Text:

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Peloni:  Libels, half truths, and misdirections…

Note the final paragraph  of the TOI article which includes the suggestion that some of Carlson’s statement were reminiscent of the far left in the US, which should be have come at the beginning of the column as it is the focus of Carlson to do what the far left can not, ie legitimize Jew Hatred in the eyes of Trump’s base, split Trump’s party and defeat Trump in the coming midterms while providing protective rhetoric to both Qatar and Iran.

Debate requires honest reporting and substantiated factual bases of what is discussed, which is why this debate with an cloaked Obama-lyte commentator should not have taken place, and why US conservatives should not continue providing Carlson a prominent position on the Right. Instead, they should recognize their opposition when they see it.  Failing to do so only advances the demise of the America First agenda as the Iranian menace is left in place to become an even more radical and far more dangerous threat to America and the West than North Korea will ever be

In program including interview with Huckabee, right-wing commentator launches litany of unsubstantiated claims echoing antisemitic tropes, falsely says Herzog visited Epstein island

By Luke Tress and ToI Staff | TOI | Feb 21, 2026

Screengrab via Youtube

In a program released Friday following his brief visit to Israel, right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson claimed the Israeli government targeted his family, called the Jewish state “probably the most violent country on earth” and falsely said President Isaac Herzog had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous island, apparently citing a fake AI-generated image that had circulated online.

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Peloni:  The possibility of any US strike to be used to push the Mullahs to agree to Trump’s terms rather than  is a serious mistake would be a waste of good amunition which should instead be tarteted at bringing this Iranian regime to an end.

By Hugh Fitzgerald | Feb 21, 2026

Donald Trump speaking at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikipedia

Those hoping for a massive attack on Iran to destroy what remains of its nuclear program, to devastate its store of 1,500-2,000 ballistic missiles, and to get Iran to agree to stop giving support to its proxies, the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, may well be disappointed. Though every other day President Donald Trump changes his mind as to what he may, or may not, do in Iran, at the moment, his aides have let it be understood that he is now planning a limited strike that would leave the supreme leader’s regime in place, but sufficiently chastened so that he will be more willing to accept American demands for a complete end to Iran’s nuclear program. More on Trump’s latest plan can be found here: “Trump says ‘considering’ limited strike on Iran to coax it into accepting deal on his terms,” Times of Israel, February 20, 2026:

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By Arlene Bridges Samuels | CBN | Feb 19, 2026

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

The world’s population now exceeds eight billion and continues to grow. In the Middle East alone, seventeen Arab nations account for more than 515 million people. By contrast, Israel has just reached a population of about ten million, including a Jewish majority of slightly more than seven million.

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By Pamela Geller | February 21, 2026

Iranian protests January 2026. Screengrab via Youtube

Tehran’s university students have poured out of their campuses and into the streets for the first time since the massacre — and what they are chanting marks a seismic shift. Long regarded as the most left-leaning demographic in Iran, students are no longer rallying around vague slogans like “death to the dictator.” Instead, massive crowds are openly denouncing leftism and chanting “Javid Shah,” signaling a dramatic ideological turn. This is not symbolic nuance — it is a profound evolution.

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The Iranian supreme leader faces his biggest threat yet after more than three decades in power

Lee Keath & Rosie Slater | The Independent | Tuesday 13 January 2026

Ali Khamenei. Photo by Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0, Wikipedia

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has spent more than three decades consolidating power by crushing internal threats.

But his leadership faces its most significant challenge yet as widespread protests against his leadership continue to grow across the country, with millions of Iranians taking to the streets to demand regime change.

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Peloni:  Why is Trump’s America First policy standing in line behind China?

by Gordon G. Chang  •  Gatestone Institute  •  February 20, 2026

The U.S. Department of Commerce has decided to allow American data centers to buy Chinese equipment, thereby permitting Beijing to steal as much as it wants and perhaps remotely control or take down these critical facilities. Commerce has also decided not to impose a ban on the U.S. operations of Chinese state-owned China Telecom.  Photo by NANSZEIQ HAZEIW 500 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia

• The U.S. Department of Commerce has decided to allow American data centers to buy Chinese equipment, thereby permitting Beijing to steal as much as it wants and perhaps remotely control or take down these critical facilities. Moreover, Commerce recently has not implemented a number of other obviously needed restrictions on Chinese technology and Chinese companies.

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Mudar Zahran

Map showcasing the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan) in 1923. Photo by Shuaaa2 – Own work, CC BY 4.0, Wikipedia

The Simple Truth: Jordan did not gain independence in 1946. It officially and legally remained part of the British Mandate for Palestine until the morning the Mandate ended on 15 May 1948. All Mandate laws and international conventions applied to it as part of the British Mandate for Palestine until the British departure, not as the regime claims that a “kingdom was established” in 1946.

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Peloni:  Trump emonstrating that there more than one way to get a job done.

Harold Hutchison Media Reporter | Daily Caller | February 20, 2026

Pres. Trump gives press conference following announcement of SCOTUS ruling against his use of IEEPA. Screengrab via Youtube. 

President Donald Trump announced Friday he was using different legal authorities to continue tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

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Peloni:  Ben Shapiro warns against missing the opportunity to literally make the world a safer place to live.

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Peloni:  FM Sa’ar gives a great speech at the UN

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Peloni:  I worried about this possibility when the Saudi’s came to Washington and did an about face on their objections regarding any attack on Iran.  Saudi Arabia know how to obtain what they want, and once again, it appears that they have come to bring Washington to support Saudi interests rather than the reverse – a long accepted practice between Riyadh and Washington over the years.  This time, however, marks an altogether new level of concern as the Trump administration has dropped the requirements for guardrails preventing nuclear enrichment and the SNAP inspections to ensure compliance.

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Peloni:  Coordination between state security services to lock down citizens is a frightening and emerging feature of totalitarianism, but the quashing of dissent is not exclusively a feature of regimes such as China and Iran.  We are all of us old enough to recall when stolen elections were deemed to be a feature of such regimes as Iran, but the practice of employing electoral selection rather than political elections failed to remain outside the realm of Western democracies, did it…

Inside the Infrastructure That Silenced a Nation

Aynaz Anni Cyrus | Feb 18, 2026

Photo by Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash

Iran’s protest suppression is no longer a purely domestic operation. It is now reinforced by Chinese technology, security doctrine, and training infrastructure.

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Jonathan Feldstein

Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking with attendees at the 2021 AmericaFest in Phoenix AZ. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Marjorie Taylor Greene, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikipedia

It’s said that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes truth. Sadly, that was displayed recently by someone with whom I was once friendly and who hosted me multiple times on his radio program, enthusiastic about my work building bridges between Jews and Christians in support of Israel.

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Peloni:  Deradicalization is an important step in dealing with the threat from Gaza, but let us be clear that only Israel has the interest in implementing a program which will silence the radicals in the Arab street.  While the UAE has made remarkable strides towards doing so within their own borders, is it reasonable to believe that they would do the same in Gaza when the UAE was among those who called on Israel not to invade Gaza at the beginning of the war and for Israel not to neutralize Hamas at the end of the war?  The radicals in Gaza are an Israeli problem and it requires an Israeli solution.

Peloni:  Dr. David Wurmser discusses Trump’s Board of Peace.