On this day last year, the International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, under the UN legal definition of the term.
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Israel → declare → term
Israel has not stopped killing since.
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Israel → stop → ?
May the cosmic energy from August’s solar and lunar eclipses fuel our curiosity and empathy, help us heal and let go of our old wounds, and welcome us to a new day.
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us → fuel → day
Prem here, with all the news you need.
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you → need → news
To start ‘First Draft,’ here’s someone, and his ferocity, we may soon be rid of if his voters finally decide enough is enough.
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enough → start → Draft
Benjamin Netanyahu was just on Israeli television, openly bragging about how he tricked those stubborn and misinformed Americans into finally attacking Iran.
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he → brag → Iran
Below, I’ll take you back to something else Netanyahu did, two years ago, inside Capitol Hill, on my first day at Zeteo.
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Netanyahu → take → Zeteo
Plus, Chief Justice John Roberts said Donald Trump’s ludicrous White House ballroom project was “likely unlawful” but really just argued about standing to sue – and crocodiles – with five other conservatives who had him outnumbered, thereby freeing Trump to erect his emiratic carbuncle where the East Wing once stood.
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Wing → say → carbuncle
Come along, then, as we digest another insane day under Trump, but also another day on which ‘First Draft’ is published without a paywall, so new readers can see what Zeteo brings to the table each weekday morning: reporting and opinion on all the news you need, on the political subjects that matter.
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that → come → subjects
Let’s get to it.
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’s → let → it
Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For… Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu has spent decades pushing U.S. presidents to attack Iran.
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Netanyahu → ask → Iran
He asked four presidents point-blank to do so.
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He → ask → presidents
Three refused, over and over.
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Three → refuse → ?
With Donald Trump, Netanyahu’s luck finally changed.
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luck → change → Trump
Now, as the Israeli prime minister scrambles to hold onto his job in election season, he is going around Israel bragging about how exactly he convinced the world’s most powerful military to bend to his will.
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he → scramble → will
On Sunday, Netanyahu sat for an interview with the genocide-inciting Israeli TV network, Channel 14.
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Netanyahu → sit → network
There, he appealed to Israeli voters about why they ought to continue supporting him.
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they → appeal → him
“I’ve been against Iran for almost 40 years,” Netanyahu said, adding that “it took a long time to bring the United States to its senses.”
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it → say → senses
He was able to do it, Netanyahu said, because he had “close to 1,000 hours on American television with the ability to influence the United States – with the intimate knowledge of all its leaders, both those who support us and those who don’t support us – the ability to navigate this field, through it.”
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who → do → it
In English, Netanyahu lavishes praise on U.S. leaders.
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Netanyahu → lavish → leaders
In Hebrew, he boasts of how he manipulated them.
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he → boast → them
That’s not all of it, though.
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That → ’ → it
Some of you may not remember, but the following is forever seared in my memory.
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following → remember → memory
On my first day at Zeteo, two years ago, Netanyahu came to Washington.
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Netanyahu → come → Washington
While he delivered a speech that had members of both parties applauding with a level of zeal they don’t show even for a U.S. president, the Israeli prime minister also attacked Americans protesting his visit outside.
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minister → deliver → visit
I want to underline this: A foreign leader, whose entire project benefits from billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars each year, came to U.S. soil, and slandered U.S. citizens – and U.S. representatives clapped like seals in response
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project → want → response
There is a straight line between that moment – and the U.S. continuing to unconditionally fund Israel ever since, despite it killing tens of thousands of Palestinians and several Americans – and today, when Netanyahu feels so comfortable bragging about how he asserted his will over the U.S.
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he → be → U.S.
Think what an indictment this is.
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this → think → ?
Netanyahu explicitly cites how the U.S. media has served as a compliant springboard, a vessel for his influence operation on, if not the populace, at least the consultants and members of Congress who engage with cable news more than their actual constituents.
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who → cite → constituents
And as for the American leadership class: You have unconditionally given this man more than $20 billion, at a conservative estimate, in the past three years.
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You → give → years
Even as he and his soldiers and his terrorist settlers have killed and brutalized and bullied a double-digit number of Americans, you have given him more and more.
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you → kill → more
And anytime someone has gained enough momentum to criticize that dynamic with enough gusto to resonate with the people you’re supposed to represent, you either willingly or reluctantly scramble to defame them.
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you → gain → them
And as for the rest of us, the collective “we”: Do we have an ounce of self-respect?
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we → have → respect
As the polls have shown, definitively, American public sentiment towards Israel has plummeted.
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sentiment → show → Israel
Despite mainstream media’s insistence, it’s not even a question of divides over Israel in the Democratic Party – it’s nearly unanimous opposition.
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it → ’ → Party
Even in the Republican Party – home to the Christian Zionists and the Trump-First MAGA movement – opinion on Israel has become split, with no sure sign of it firming up again.
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it → become → sign
Still, one may hope that the level of condescension, power concentration, and weaponization expressed by the U.S. political class in order to shield its undying support for Israel will prompt something beyond earth-shaking public opinion.
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level → hope → opinion
Yes, pro-Israel politicians are beginning to pay the price, particularly in the Democratic primaries.
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politicians → begin → primaries
And yes, tens of thousands of Americans, particularly young people, have put themselves on the line and protested against the parasitic U.S.-Israeli relationship and in support of human rights for Palestinians – and subsequently, of course, been viciously targeted by the ruling party, and smeared by some members of the “opposition” party and their mainstream media allies.
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thousands → put → party
There comes a point when every dam breaks.
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dam → come → ?
…and 77 more, not listed.
