I CANNOT RESPECT TUCKER CARLSON'S BUDDY JD VANCE

JD Vance 'fears Iran war disaster' as 2028 odds crash

 

By Ross Ibbetson 

 

Daily Mail

Mar 13, 2026

 

 

 

Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Legislative Conference of the International Association of Fire Fighters, March 9, 2026, in Washington

 

JD Vance privately fears the war in Iran will be a catastrophe, with his 2028 presidential odds now in freefall.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have basked in the glory of Operation Epic Fury, which killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, while Vance has faded into the background.  

The conflict spiraled on Friday as the US death toll hit 13, Iran's security chief Ali Larijani defiantly took to the streets of Tehran, the Strait of Hormuz remained under siege and gas prices climbed to $3.60 a gallon. 

Vance is 'worried about success', a senior administration official confirmed just days after Donald Trump admitted on stage that the Vice President had been 'less enthusiastic' about the US-Israeli strikes than other cabinet members.

Vance 'just opposes' the war and remains 'skeptical', a senior official said, while a second told Politico he had offered 'a different point of view' but has since fallen in line. 'Once the decision has been made, he's fully on board,' the official said. 

Vance pushed for swift, decisive action to minimize casualties, sources said. 

He pressed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe at a meeting ahead of the strikes, questioning them on the risks and complexities.  

He is now walking a tightrope in public as daylight emerges between himself and Trump for the first time. 

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for a Women's History Month event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 12

Black smoke rises following an airstrike, as Iranians take part in the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran on March 13

 

Then-Senator Vance, an Iraq war veteran, backed Trump's second term in a 2023 op-ed, writing in the Wall Street Journal that 'he won't recklessly send Americans to fight wars overseas.'

Vance told Fox News on March 2 that Trump would not allow the US 'to get into a multiyear conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective.'

He said the war would not end until Trump 'accomplishes that all-important objective of ensuring that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon.' 

Trump's stated aims had initially been unclear, vindicating some of Vance's privately expressed concerns, as he called on Iranians to rise up and overthrow the regime. 

The administration has since defined four objectives: destroying Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, annihilating its navy, eliminating its nuclear ambitions, and severing its regional proxy networks. 

But Trump remains mercurial, sending global oil prices skyrocketing last week when he demanded Iran's 'unconditional surrender' and said that he must have a role in deciding Iran's new supreme leader. 

The US death toll rose to 13 on Thursday when a refueling aircraft carrying six crew crashed over Iraq, while more than 150 American troops have been wounded. 

Hours later, Iran's top national security official Larijani marched with crowds in Tehran demonstrating against Israel on the last day of Ramadan. He taunted Trump, claiming the President 'didn't realize' Iran is 'mature and determined'. 

 

Rubio received a louder applause, sources in the room told the WSJ

A KC-135 refuelling plane went down on Thursday in  'friendly airspace' and a second aircraft involved in the incident landed safely. Picture shows the second aircraft with damage to its tail

Four crew members have now been confirmed dead after the crash

A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refuels a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet over the middle east during Operation Epic Fury. The US death toll rose to 13 on Thursday when a refueling aircraft carrying six crew crashed over Iraq, while more than 150 American troops have been wounded

 

Iran launched fresh attacks on Dubai's International Finance Center as explosions rocked the city with thick smoke rising above its skyline.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil flows, remains under siege despite Hegseth telling a press briefing 'you don't need to worry about it.'

Gas prices have hit $3.60 per gallon on average, up from $2.90 before the war, according to AAA. 

Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk said 'the Vice President is a proud member of the President's national security team' and 'keeps his counsel to the President private.' 

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said 'efforts to drive a wedge between President Trump and Vice President Vance are totally misguided.'

Vance leads early polling to become the GOP's 2028 presidential nominee, an exclusive Daily Mail/JL Partners survey shows. 

Nineteen percent of respondents named Vance the most influential member of Trump's inner circle, with Rubio second on 12 percent. 

Vance, who enjoyed a 29-point lead over Rubio in July, now sits level with the Secretary of State, each given an 18 percent chance of winning the presidency in 2028 by prediction site Kalshi. 

 

Black smoke rises after an airstrike as Iranians take part in the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran on March 13

An Iranian security force officer stands guard next to a huge billboard of Iran's newly nominated supreme leader Ayatollah Mojataba Khamenei during Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran on March 13

An Iranian woman reacts as she takes part in the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran on March 13

 

California Governor Gavin Newsom trails by just one point as a potential Democratic Party challenger. 

Hegseth was asked about Vance at the press briefing Friday, telling reporters he is 'an incredible member [and] leader of this team as well, alongside the President and Secretary of State.'

He added, 'I can't say enough great stuff about this team, how it works together, how it provides options to the president. The vice president every single day is a key voice in that, an indispensable voice in that.'

THE NEW SUPREME LEADER SEEKS REVENGE

Mojtaba Khamenei vows to avenge father’s killing

Tehran’s vengeance “is not limited to the martyrdom of the great leader of the [Islamic] Revolution alone,” the newly minted supreme leader wrote. 

 

JNS

Mar 12, 2026

 

 

A banner depicting Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is displayed at Revolution Square in Tehran, March 11, 2026.

 

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday published his first written statement since assuming office on March 8, vowing to avenge “the blood of the martyrs,” including his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tehran’s revenge “is not limited to the martyrdom of the great leader of the [Islamic] Revolution alone,” the newly minted supreme leader wrote in his remarks, which were read on state TV and posted to X.

Khamenei, 56, told Iranians he “learned at the same time as you,” through a television broadcast, that the Assembly of Experts had decided to appoint him as his father’s successor on Sunday.

“To sit in the place where the two great leaders—the great Khomeini and the martyred Khamenei—once sat is a difficult task,” explained Mojtaba.

 

Martyred Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and his predecessor Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini with the logo of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

 

He emphasized that the “lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must certainly continue to be used.”

Khamenei in the statement expressed “sincere thanks” to the Axis of Resistance, which includes Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups across the Middle East and beyond.

“Cooperation between the components of the Axis of Resistance will shorten the path to overcoming the Zionist sedition,” he stated. “Brave and faithful Yemen has not ceased defending the oppressed people of Gaza; Hezbollah, despite all obstacles, has aided the Islamic Republic; and the Iraqi resistance has courageously pursued the same course.”

The regime is considering “opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable,” Khamenei warned, adding, “Activating them—should the state of war continue—will be undertaken in accordance with the relevant considerations.”

The younger Khamenei sustained leg wounds in the opening strikes of “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury” on the morning of Feb. 28, several Iranian and Israeli officials told The New York Times this week.

The report cited three Iranian and two Israeli officials as saying that Khamenei’s legs were hurt, but that the circumstances as well as the extent of the new supreme leader’s injuries remained unclear.

An Israeli official told Reuters that Khamenei was “lightly wounded.” The official cited Israeli intelligence assessments as saying that the injury could explain why the supreme leader has yet to appear in public.

A Tehran ceremony to pledge allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei on Tuesday reportedly featured a cardboard cutout of the new leader, with the state-run Tehran Times reporting that “pictures of both Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son were prominently displayed.”

WHEN THE US REFUSED TO LET JEWISH REFUGEES FROM THE NAZIS ENTER THE COUNTRY

A refuge on the equator: The Jewish story of Ecuador

In the 1930s, as Nazi persecution spread across Europe and countries slammed their doors shut to fleeing families, this Latin American nation became an unlikely sanctuary. 

 

By Michael Freund 

 

JNS

Mar 13, 2026

 

 

Quito, Ecuador

 

Sometimes, the most remarkable chapters of Jewish history unfold in the most unlikely places. One such place is Ecuador, a small country straddling the equator on South America’s Pacific coast that quietly played a role disproportionate to its size in offering refuge to Jews during one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century. 

At a time when nation after nation shut its doors to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, Ecuador, despite limited resources, became an unexpected haven. In doing so, it joined a small group of Latin American countries, including Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, that provided limited but vital refuge during the Holocaust era. 

Like much of Latin America, Ecuador’s earliest encounters with Jews date back to the colonial era. Following the expulsions from Spain and Portugal at the close of the 15th century, conversos—Iberian Jews forced to convert to Catholicism —made their way to the New World. Some settled in territories that would later become Ecuador, though the reach of the Spanish Inquisition ensured that any lingering Jewish identity remained hidden and precarious. 

For centuries thereafter, overt Jewish life in Ecuador was minimal. It was not until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that a small number of Jewish merchants and entrepreneurs began arriving, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become an organized community. 

In the 1920s, a handful of Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe arrived, often as merchants or peddlers, establishing small businesses in urban areas. By the late 1930s, Ecuador’s government began issuing visas more liberally to Jewish refugees, frequently requiring applicants to obtain visas nominally tied to agricultural work, though in practice most ultimately settled in cities and entered commerce or the professions. 

 

 Guayaquil, Ecuador

 

The equator at Mitad del Mundoin in Ecuador. (I straddled the equator there on August 9, 2002 with my right foot in the South and my left foot in the North - ed.)

 

The true turning point came in the 1930s as Nazi persecution spread across Europe. With country after country slamming its doors shut to desperate Jewish refugees, Ecuador became an unlikely sanctuary. 

Beginning in 1933, Jews from Germany, Austria and other parts of Central Europe began seeking refuge there. By the end of World War II, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 European Jews had found haven in Ecuador, and by the early 1950s, the community numbered around 4,000 people. 

Their journey to Ecuador was rarely easy. Immigration policies fluctuated, bureaucratic hurdles abounded and economic conditions in a developing nation were often uncertain. Yet compared with the near-total closure of much of the world, Ecuador still offered something invaluable: a chance to survive. 

Most of the newcomers settled in Quito, the country’s capital high in the Andes Mountains, and in the coastal port city of Guayaquil. There they began the difficult task of rebuilding their lives.

Gradually, the foundations of organized Jewish communal life took root. Synagogues were established, social organizations were formed, and Jewish schools began educating the next generation. Institutions such as the Comunidad Judía del Ecuador worked to help organize religious and communal life, ensuring that Jewish identity could endure even far from traditional centers of Jewish life. 

Among those who rebuilt their lives in Ecuador was the Hungarian-Jewish artist Olga Fisch, who arrived in Quito in 1939 after fleeing Nazi persecution. Fascinated by Ecuador’s indigenous culture, she later founded a gallery that helped introduce Ecuadorian folk art to international audiences. Like many Jewish refugees who found shelter in Ecuador, she rebuilt her life far from home while contributing meaningfully to the society that had given her refuge. 

Ecuador’s contribution to Jewish survival during the Holocaust era was not limited to providing refuge on its own soil. 

In one remarkable episode, an Ecuadorian diplomat demonstrated extraordinary moral courage in the face of Nazi barbarity. Manuel Antonio Muñoz Borrero, Ecuador’s consul in Stockholm during World War II, issued dozens of Ecuadorian passports and documents to try and protect Jews from deportation and death. 

Possession of such documents could transform a Jew from a target of deportation into a foreign national eligible for internment or prisoner exchange rather than immediate extermination. For his actions, Muñoz Borrero was recognized in 2011 by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations, the first Ecuadorian to receive that honor. 

In the decades following World War II, Ecuador’s Jewish community continued to develop and contribute to economic and cultural life. Jewish immigrants established businesses, entered professions such as medicine and engineering, and integrated into Ecuadorian society while maintaining their religious and cultural heritage. 

Yet like many Jewish communities in Latin America, Ecuador’s began to shrink in the latter half of the 20th century. Fiscal challenges, political instability and the attraction of larger Jewish centers prompted many to emigrate, particularly to Israel, the United States and Canada. 

These days, Ecuador’s Jewish population is estimated at between 600 and 800 people, mainly concentrated in Quito with a smaller presence in Guayaquil. Despite its modest size, the community maintains synagogues, educational institutions and communal organizations that preserve Jewish life in the country.

Ecuador’s relationship with the Jewish people is also reflected in its diplomatic ties with Israel. In November 1947, the Latin American country voted in favor of the U.N. partition plan that paved the way for the establishment of the Jewish state. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally established in 1950, and cooperation has since developed in fields ranging from agriculture to technology. 

In recent years, bilateral ties have deepened. In May 2025, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa made a historic visit to Israel—the first by an Ecuadorian president—where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and opened an innovation and trade office with diplomatic status in Jerusalem. Ecuador has also designated Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist organizations, aligning closely with Israeli security priorities. 

At the same time, renewed interest in Jewish heritage has emerged in Ecuador. Families tracing their ancestry have uncovered connections to converso roots dating back centuries, echoing a broader phenomenon across Latin America in which descendants of forced converts are rediscovering Jewish identity. 

Recent developments have also brought recognition to Ecuador’s wartime history. In 2018, the country posthumously restored the diplomatic credentials of Muñoz Borrero, which had been revoked in 1942 after he issued passports to help save Jews from Nazi persecution. 

Taken together, these threads form a remarkable tapestry. Ecuador may never have been home to a large Jewish population, but at a crucial moment in history, it offered refuge when it was desperately needed. 

When so much of the world turned its back on Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, Ecuador chose a different path. Thousands of lives were saved as a result, and the story of Ecuador’s Jews deserves to be remembered not as a footnote in Jewish history but as a testament to the enduring power of refuge, resilience and moral courage.

HIDALGO BOOTED FROM THE HOUSTON RODEO

Harris Co. Judge Lina Hidalgo's quest for video to support rodeo manhandling claim turns up empty

 

By Luke Jones  

 

KTRK

Mar 12, 2026 

 

 

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Only ABC13 was there when Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo arrived at NRG Stadium for the first time since being booted from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Tuesday night.

Hidalgo went to the stadium to review surveillance footage that she hoped would support her claim that she was manhandled by rodeo staff, which rodeo officials strongly deny.

An hour after arriving for the closed-door session, Hidalgo emerged from the stadium, but without the vindication she was seeking.

Just one camera showed the chute Hidalgo said she was standing in when the alleged altercation took place, and it was positioned at a distance.

"I mean, you can't really make things out because it's very dark and it's from a distance, so when you zoom in, it's just really grainy," said Hidalgo.

Other footage Eyewitness News reviewed but wasn't provided shows Hidalgo entering the chute, leaving with her guests, and then talking with multiple rodeo staffers and officials.

Hidalgo and her five guests were initially seated in the county suite on Tuesday, which the rodeo confirmed they were allowed to.

The rodeo said Hidalgo had previously requested and been granted almost $9,000 in floor access tickets for use over three nights, but that she was told she wouldn't be granted floor access on Tuesday.

Hidalgo confirmed a staffer had relayed the message, but said she decided to try her luck in case there were extra floor seats available when she got there.

However, when she tried to access the floor, which the rodeo said was reserved for $425 ticketholders, the rodeo said she was denied and told to return to the county suite before being asked to leave the rodeo altogether.

Hidalgo initially requested surveillance footage on Wednesday. She said it was delivered to her office on Thursday afternoon, but when she couldn't see the altercation she claims took place, she requested to view additional footage at NRG Stadium.

After reviewing the footage, Hidalgo expressed dismay that there were no cameras inside the chute and suggested the stadium install some.

"I hope they do that so we can make sure a situation like this doesn't happen again," she said.

It's unlikely to happen again -- at least not with Hidalgo. Earlier in the day, the rodeo's executive committee voted to strip her of her ex-officio director title, and Hidalgo said Wednesday she has no plans to attend future rodeo shows.

"I think at this point we've done all we can do, and I hope that we can move forward from this or I sure - I sure plan to," said Hidalgo. 

THROW THE BUMS OUT

By Bob Walsh

 

 

Islamist terrorists Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi are naturalized citizens.

 

Our Fearless Leader is apparently moving to get a new law that will allow the US to throw out naturalized citizens who participate in acts of terrorism.  If my memory serves right now it is possible to revoke the citizenship of naturalized citizens only if they engaged in fraud in order to get their citizenship.  

Another good idea from Trump.  Hard to say how much traction it will get but it SHOULD get a ton.

INTERESTING BUT SMALL MARKET

By Bob Walsh

 

Kindred Motorworks Makes EV VW Bus, Bronco, Camaro Classics

 

There is an interesting business in the foothills here in CA.  Kindred Motorworks is converting classic Ford Bronco, VW Micro Bus and 49-53 Chevy and GMC pickup trucks to competently designed and executed electric vehicles.  This is NOT a one-man shop but rather a small production shop.  The vehicles are put thru a full appearance, suspension, etc. rebuild and have a modern battery pack and electric drive system installed.  Cost is about $175,000.  They are not selling a TON of them, but they are selling.   

THE FIFTH DEPORTATION SHOULD BE TO A MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON FOR THE REST OF HIS WORTHLESS LIFE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Migrant who shoved Air Force vet onto subway tracks in NYC was previously deported FOUR times

 

By Jensen Bird 

 

Daily Mail

Mar 12, 2026

 

 

Richard Williams (left) is seen on the train platform just moments before the alleged assailant, Bairon Hernandez (right), pushed him onto the train tracks and fled the scene

 

An undocumented migrant who allegedly shoved an Air Force veteran onto subway tracks in New York City was deported four times before the near-fatal attack. 

Bairon Hernandez was arrested on Tuesday after he allegedly forced Richard Williams, 83, and John Rodriguez onto the tracks on Manhattan's Upper East Side. 

Williams was pulled from the tracks unresponsive and is 'not expected to wake up', his heartbroken daughter, Debbie Williams, told the New York Post. 

DHS reports obtained by the Daily Mail alleged that the Honduran native initially entered the US in 2008 and continued to return each time he was deported.

His most recent deportation was reportedly in 2020, though officials have not pinpointed when he returned to the country. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implored New York authorities not to release Hernandez from their custody amid his questionable immigration status.

'Bairon Posada-Hernandez is a serial criminal, and four-time deported illegal alien from Honduras who should never have been able to walk our streets and harm innocent Americans,' DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement issued Thursday.

Williams' daughter told the Post that she was 'pissed' after finding out about the perpetrator's immigration status. 

Suspected attacker Bairon Hernandez was arrested Tuesday after he fled the scene on Sunday

Victim and veteran Richard Williams is reportedly unresponsive and is not expected to wake up

 

'How the f*** did he get back here?' Debbie Williams said. 'I want him to go to the Venezuela prison, the worst place he could go to.' 

'I want him to suffer for the rest of his life. Prison justice would be appropriate.'

In his time in and out of the country, Hernandez has racked up at least 15 criminal charges. 

His alleged offenses included aggravated assault, drug possession, domestic violence and possession of a weapon. 

Hernandez has also been accused of assault and obstruction of police. 

This time around, he was charged with attempted murder, attempted assault, assault and reckless endangerment, police said. 

The scene unfolded on Sunday around 11.30am when Hernandez allegedly sent Rodriguez flying onto the tracks, per the New York Police Department (NYPD). 

 

Rodriguez (pictured), 30, was pushed onto the tracks just before Williams

 

Williams was also toppled onto the tracks and had to be helped off by Rodriguez. 

Bystanders guided them back onto the platform just before a train came speeding into the station. 

Hernandez fled the scene but was arrested early Tuesday morning at a shelter in Brooklyn after police received a tip, authorities said. 

Rodriguez suffered minor injuries as a result of the vicious and random attack.

But Williams' family said he might not make it.

'We're wishing for a miracle right now,' Debbie told the Daily Mail on Wednesday as her father remains on life support at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell.

 

Williams was shoved onto a subway track in New York City on Sunday morning at the Lexington Avenue-63rd St. station

Hernandez was arrested on Tuesday morning, several days after the alleged attack

 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been criticized for maintaining the city's status as a 'sanctuary city.' 

The jurisdiction limits local authorities' cooperation with immigration agents and protects undocumented immigrants from deportation. 

'We are praying for the victims and their families,' said DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. 

'DHS is calling upon New York sanctuary politicians to commit to this ICE detainer and not release this heinous criminal back into New York communities.' 

Hernandez was arraigned on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty, reported PIX11. He is being held on a bail of $100,000 cash or $300,000 bond. 

The Daily Mail contacted the NYPD for more information. 

THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT COMES TO MICHIGAN

Lebanese-born restaurant worker drove truck filled with explosives into synagogue and opened fire after his 'family were killed in airstrike'

 

By Melissa Koenig and Stephen M. Lepore 

 

Daily Mail

Mar 12, 2026

 

 

Smoke pours out of synagogue as truck burns after crashing into it

 

The man accused of plowing into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday morning recently lost relatives in an Israeli strike on Lebanon, according to CBS News.  

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, allegedly drove his truck filled with explosives and mortar shells into the Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, which also serves as a preschool, igniting a blaze.

Ghazali, a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon who worked at a restaurant in nearby Dearborn Heights, lost two of his brothers and two of their children in the strike 10 days ago, a source told CBS. One of his sisters-in-law was also hospitalized.

The attacks were part of a series of air strikes Israel has carried out against Lebanon during their joint operation against Iran, following Hezbollah strikes against Israel after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei.  

Mo Baydoun, the mayor of Dearborn Heights, said that Ghazali 'lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon.' 

The source said that Ghazali had been devastated by the loss of his brothers and their children and withdrew, stopping working and staying alone at home.

His ex-wife was alarmed when, shortly before the attack, he allegedly phoned her and asked her to take care of their children.  

The assailant then opened fire, and was killed by a security guard, with authorities saying they later found him inside the vehicle armed with a rifle.

 

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali is accused of smashing his vehicle into Temple Israel in Michigan

Police responded to the scene within five minutes of receiving a call about an active shooter 

The suspect was neutralized by a security guard at the scene

 

'He breached the building, drove down the hall, and he was engaged by security,' Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said of the armed attacker. 'We can't say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire.' 

Ghazali was born in Lebanon in 1985 and entered the United States through Detroit Metropolitan International Airport on May 10, 2011, after alien relative and fiancé petitions filed in December 2009 were approved in April 2010, according to the New York Post

He then applied for naturalization on October 20, 2015 and became a citizen on February 5, 2016, under the Obama administration, the outlet said. 

Federal authorities said at a news conference that they are probing it as a 'targeted act of violence' against the Jewish community.  

No students or staff were injured in the attack, but a security guard was taken to the hospital after being struck by the vehicle. He is expected to recover.

Thirty law enforcement officers were also rushed to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said at the news conference. 

'When all of our people collectively went in that building to search out the threat, to remove innocent, a lot of them took in significant amount of smoke inhalation, and they’re at the hospital being treated,' Bouchard said.

The synagogue 'became engulfed' in flames.

 

Parents carried their children away from the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday after a gunman drove a truck into the building

Families with children are escorted from the scene earlier today

 

Authorities said they then received a call about an active shooter at the synagogue at 12.19pm, and West Bloomfield police were at the scene within five minutes. 

Photos shared online showed a large police presence on the scene with smoke coming out of windows and a vent on the roof.

Scores of police vehicles from neighboring departments, a SWAT team, bomb technicians and bomb-sniffing dogs also responded to the scene.

The synagogue is a reform Jewish place of worship that was open at the time of the attack. It has one of the largest congregations in the country. 

One woman who spoke to WDIV, named Lisa, said that the preschool was in use at the time. 

She told the outlet: 'I'm scared to death for my friends, I've never seen anything like this. My first thought was the children.

'Parents and grandparents are coming and they're scared to death for their children. This is senseless, this is not okay.'

As she spoke, several adults could be seen embracing one another in tears. 

 

Members of the FBI at the site of the attack in West Bloomfield, Michigan

Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter

First responders work the scene after a shooter drove a truck into Temple Israel synagogue

 

Soon after the attack, a spokesman for Michigan State Police said: 'We are asking for community members to stay away from the area to allow for police response. Troopers are also increasing patrols at other places of worship in the district.' 

Sheriff Bouchard said law enforcement had been on high alert since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran nearly two weeks ago.

'We've been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening,' he said. 'So there was no lack of preparation.

The sheriff added: 'All Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out.'

The Jewish Federation of Detroit has advised all Jewish organizations in the area 'to go into lockout protocol - nobody in or out of your building.' 

FBI Detroit led an Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness (ASAPP) training for the clergy and staff of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield in late January, nearly two months before Thursday's attack. 

'The FBI course combines lessons learned from years of research and employs scenario-based exercises to help participants practice the decision-making process of the Run, Hide, Fight principles and take necessary actions for survival,' the agency wrote in a post on X.

'We appreciate them for having us. Our Division has partnered with many organizations in Michigan and is committed to protecting schools, workplaces, houses of worship, medical facilities, transportation centers, government facilities, other public gathering sites, and communities.'

Sheriff Bouchard has praised Temple Israel security for their response to the active shooter.

'I'm deeply proud of the response not only from the security that was on site but also of all the police officers and the firefighters that are here now,' she said.

'Training certainly helped to mitigate what happened here today.

'Everything that was supposed to happen, happened. Security did their job, and then the responders did theirs.'

TRUMP WANTS TO GET OUT OF DODGE, CAVES IN TO POLLING RESULTS AND SURGE IN GAS PRICES

US to give Israel one week to end the war

A senior regional political source told Israel Hayom that Iran's regime is unlikely to change and that the US has given Israel only a week to conclude the campaign. The source said regime change would require a ground invasion or renewed protests in Iran, which is not expected in the near term. 

 

by Bini Ashkenazi 

 

Israel Hayom

Mar 12, 2026 

  

 

 

A senior political source from the Middle East tells Israel Hayom that the US wants the military campaign against Iran to end, and has given Israel just one week to conclude it. The source also assessed that the regime in Tehran is unlikely to be replaced, because such a change would require either a ground invasion by troops or the renewal of large-scale protests inside Iran, something the source does not believe will happen in the near future.

According to the senior source, there is a major gap between how the war is viewed in the US and how it is seen in Israel. In Washington, the source said, officials are worried about the impact on oil prices, whereas Israel sees the war as an achievement and is celebrating it.

The source also addressed the issue of Lebanon and Hezbollah, saying that despite Israel's killing of Hezbollah's previous secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, the organization is still standing, as is Hamas.

According to the source, Israel is making a mistake by not fully pursuing diplomatic channels after the military achievements it has secured, adding that countries in the region could help advance such efforts, saying that the matter is sensitive.

Regarding Qatar, the source said Arab states now view it as a sister country. This marks a significant shift in the region's attitude toward Qatar, which had previously been seen as playing a "double game," not only in Israel's eyes but also among Arab countries. Now, after Qatar mediated the hostage deal together with Egypt, and after President Donald Trump gave it a central role in developments in the Gaza Strip, attitudes toward Doha have changed.

However, the source did not spare criticism of the Israeli government over developments in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank. According to him, some elements within the government have extremist tendencies and are exploiting the confrontation with Iran to create facts on the ground and push Palestinians out of their homes. The source said the government is missing an opportunity to calm the situation, including in the Gaza Strip, and to pursue diplomatic steps. 

HEZBOLLAH STEPS UP ITS ATTACKS ON ISRAEL

Escalation in the North: Hezbollah fires over 100 rockets at Israel

The barrage from Lebanon was part of an apparently coordinated attack with Iranian missiles on Israel.

 

Israel Today

Mar 12, 2026

 

 

A man surveys a damaged house in Moshav Hani'el in the Sharon area after rockets were fired at Israel overnight. March 12, 2026. 

 

On Wednesday evening, a significant escalation occurred on Israel’s northern front. According to Israeli media reports, Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel. Residents in numerous locations in Galilee, Haifa, and other cities in northern Israel had to seek shelter in protected areas.

The wave of attacks lasted several hours. In total, up to 150 rockets and drones are said to have been launched from Lebanon. Israel’s air defense intercepted a large portion of the projectiles, but debris from intercepted rockets fell in several locations, causing property damage.

Emergency services reported several people with minor injuries, mainly those who were on their way to shelters during the alerts. In some places, buildings were damaged.

Parallel to the massive barrage from Lebanon, rockets were also fired from Iran toward Israel. These triggered air raid sirens in various regions of the country, including central Israel and the Jerusalem area. Israeli security circles assume this was a coordinated wave of attacks aimed at putting Israel under pressure from multiple directions simultaneously.

According to the military, the Israeli Air Force responded that same evening with strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Among other things, launch sites, weapons depots, and other military infrastructure of the terrorist organization were attacked. The southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold, was once again targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

The Israeli Defense Forces stated that they would continue to act decisively against any threat to Israeli civilians. At the same time, interception operations by air defense systems are ongoing, while the army works to eliminate additional launch positions in Lebanon.

In Israeli security circles, the coordinated attack is seen as another attempt by Iran and its regional allies to pressure Israel from multiple fronts simultaneously. Observers warn that this could lead to further regional expansion of the conflict.

Israeli media also report that the army has deployed additional forces to the northern border. Military observers view this as a possible sign that Israel is preparing for further escalation on the Lebanese front.

THE MEDIA AND THE DEMOCRATS DOWNPLAY THE FACT THAT BOTH MAMDANI AND HIS WIFE ARE HAMAS SUPPORTERS

 The Mamdani victimhood narrative and the American future

The embrace of terror supporters by the mayor and his wife, coupled with the media’s efforts to confuse the public about an Islamist terror attack, is a tipping point in American society. 

 

By Jonathan S. Tobin 

 

JNS

Mar 11, 2026

 

 

 

Emir Balat is seen attempting to light an explosive device while Ibrahim Kayumi stands by. Mamdani refused to condemn the two Islamist terrorists.

 

Last week was a tumultuous one for New York City, its mayor and its Jewish population. Over the course of several days, the city was confronted with events that in any other era might have been considered not only deeply shocking but would have resulted in immediate and serious consequences. 

Reporting about the fact that Rama Duwaji, the wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, had liked social-media posts celebrating the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and denying the rape of Israeli women, was followed by the news that the city’s first couple had hosted two well-known terror supporters at their Gracie Mansion official residence. But before the public had a chance to absorb any of that, the mayor and most of his liberal-media cheering section sought to downplay and then confuse the public about the fact that Islamist terrorists, apparently inspired by ISIS, had attempted to bomb an anti-Mamdani demonstration. 

Taken as a whole, it painted a dismal picture of how the mayor and his supporters were not only doubling down on support for terrorism against Israelis and Jews, but also seeking to treat domestic Islamist terror as a minor issue. The fact that these events, like so much else about Mamdani, were generally treated as not that big of a deal says volumes about where Americans are as a society. And that, as much as anything else, is something that ought to be sounding alarm bells for Jews and everyone who cares about the consequences of cultural decline, as well as tolerance for antisemitism and violence. 

The mayor’s popularity

Mamdani’s ability to shrug off these incidents while being proclaimed by The New York Times as “one of America’s most popular politicians” is an indication not only of how left-wing media and the Democratic Party have his back. Like his election victory in November, it’s also a sign that American society may be at a tipping point when it comes to tolerance for antisemitism. And anyone who thinks that won’t have an impact on Jewish life and the country as a whole hasn’t been paying attention to what has been happening in recent years. 

At such a time, it’s essential to remember that when Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City last year, optimists told everyone not to be too upset about it. 

It’s true, they conceded, that the 34-year-old was a longtime opponent of the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state and a supporter of the discriminatory BDS movement. It’s true that he was a founding member of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Bowdoin College in Maine, a campus group that routinely traffics in Jew-hatred. And it’s true that his brief political career was rooted in activism targeting Israel and its Jewish supporters. He’s also backed left-wing economic and cultural doctrines associated with some of the worst horrors of the 20th century and the collapse of liberalism in the 21st. 

But as everyone was told, having a mayor with such repugnant views wouldn’t really affect Jewish life in New York, let alone impact what goes on in the rest of the United States or its foreign policy. The mayor would be too busy trying to run the country’s largest city to do any real harm to the Jews or anyone else. In fact, it was predicted, he would soon sink under the weight of the costly and misguided boondoggles that his long-discredited socialist policies would create. 

Some of that is true. 

The most hysterical predictions on social media of what his arrival at Gracie Mansion would entail were overwrought and inaccurate. New York in 2026 is not Berlin in 1939. Jews are not being rounded up; anything even remotely like that is not possible. Jewish life in all its complexity and vibrancy continues, and there’s no reason to believe that’s about to come to an end. It’s also true that—as has been the case throughout most of its 400 years of existence—New York is, in many ways, both good and bad, a very different place from the rest of America. What happens there doesn’t necessarily impact the nation as a whole. 

Still, as the Times asserts and polls confirm, Mamdani is viewed favorably by most New Yorkers. And if his conduct doesn’t change that—and there’s little reason to believe that it will—then that illustrates the shift in public opinion about Jews in the city with the largest demographics outside of Israel. 

Spinning terror support

Let’s acknowledge that there is nothing really new concerning the revelations of Duwaji or the couple’s decision to host Mahmoud Khalil, the organizer of the pro-Hamas demonstrations at Columbia University, or Abdullah Akhil, another cheerleader for the genocidal group, at their home for Ramadan. Mamdani has tried (with help from sympathetic left-wing journalists) to spin his opinions about the Middle East as support for the “Palestinian cause.” Their backing for the ideology behind Oct. 7 goes beyond his tolerance for the genocidal chants of “Globalize the intifada” and “From the river to the sea” heard on college campuses. Even a cursory look at his conduct and his statements demonstrates that his views are no different from those of his wife, both of whom cheered for and also denied the victimization of Jewish women and even the kidnapping of children. Whether his media fans admit or not, they are Hamas supporters. 

His unwillingness to condemn the social-media posts endorsed by his wife, even as he tried to say her opinions were not necessarily his own, spoke loudly about his stance. And by inviting in those who also cheered for the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, they also demonstrated that in Mamdani’s New York, such sentiments are not only considered within the bounds of acceptable opinion but are actually laudable. He’s now made it clear that the house that mayors of New York have lived in for the past 80 years is a place where such persons are not merely welcome but honored. 

Just as with his qualified encouragement of a siege of a Manhattan synagogue last fall, in which he sought to argue that Jewish support for Zionism “violates international law,” the new mayor has laid down a marker that has normalized Jew-hatred. 

Perhaps even more ominous, however, was the way the mayor and much of the media reacted to the terror attack that took place on March 7 outside of Gracie Mansion. On that day, two Muslim Americans from Pennsylvania threw bombs (fortunately, they didn’t explode) at demonstrators who had come to protest Mamdani. 

Two groups had gathered outside the Upper East Side landmark—one composed of right-wing demonstrators protesting an alleged “Muslim takeover” of New York, and another supporting Mamdani and the influx of Muslim immigrants. In a scene that can only be described as surreal, one of the terrorists came up behind a Mamdani supporter speaking through a bullhorn about the need to welcome everyone to the city and shouted Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”). He then hurled the explosive device with anti-personnel shrapnel over his shoulder. After another failed attempt to explode a device in the midst of the anti-Mamdani group and a brief scuffle with police, the assailant and his accomplice were arrested. 

Muslim victimhood narrative

What is key about this incident is the way that most media in New York and nationally, as well as the Mamdani administration, sought to blame the violence on the peaceful demonstrators, who were the terrorists’ intended victims. It’s true that the initial scene was confusing, but for days, leading media outlets and leading left-wing commentators, like CNN’s Ana Navarro and Abby Phillip, have continued to obfuscate the truth about which side the terrorists were on. 

The same was true of most New York City politicians, including Mamdani, who, as the Times diplomatically put it, “chose his words carefully” when speaking about what happened in an effort to deflect the blame for the crime on his critics, rather than those who shared his enthusiasm for the “cause” of attacking Jews and other opponents of political Islam.

This was disgraceful in and of itself. But it also showed the commitment of the mayor and much of the liberal media to a narrative of Muslim victimhood in which the real problem is “Islamophobia,” rather than the troubling support for Islamist hate and terror. Had the violent culprits been those extremists who had turned out to oppose Mamdani, no one can doubt that the condemnation of their conduct and their ideas from both the mayor and the liberal media would have been unqualified and vehement. Instead, the crime was depicted as mainly the result of the allegedly bad opinions and behavior of the victims.

So successful was this media campaign to spin the incident as an attack on Mamdani that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro actually called him to sympathize and ask if he was alright. Shapiro was the intended victim of a firebombing at his official Harrisburg residence last year during Passover. He has sought to push back against growing tolerance for antisemitism within the Democratic Party that he hopes to lead in 2028 and has criticized Mamdani for his stands. But even he is vulnerable to being influenced by a narrative in which Islamophobia is the real threat, rather than the Jew-hatred and rhetorical support for Islamist violence that Mamdani and others have promoted. 

That there is a direct connection between this and Mamdani’s attempts to depict the unspeakable orgy of murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction of Oct. 7 as primarily the fault of the Jewish victims. The mayor would, no doubt, prefer it if Muslims did not toss bombs, whether they explode or not, in the vicinity of his residence. Still, the effort to portray him as a victim of anti-Muslim intolerance, rather than as someone who gives his official seal of approval to those who applaud such actions when Jews are the victims, isn’t merely outrageous. It essentially normalizes and distorts the debate about anti-Jewish hate. 

A dystopian scenario

The main takeaway from this story must be a realization that the dystopian fantasies about the consequences of a Mamdani mayoralty are already starting to come true. Had his opponents in the 2025 election said that if he were elected, Islamist thugs would be tossing bombs aimed at their critics on the streets of New York, they would have been denounced as hysterics trying to foment anti-Muslim hate. Yet that is what has happened, and the response from much of the media has been to do everything they can to twist the discussion about it to one about the awfulness of the mayor’s political opponents. 

At the moment, there is little that New York’s Jews or anyone else can do about the mayor, who continues to enjoy the enthusiastic backing of his party and its leading media outlets like the Times. But they can draw conclusions from these incidents and act accordingly. 

At the very least, no self-respecting member of the Jewish community or anyone else with claims to a moral compass should accept an invitation from Mamdani as long as he hosts those who cheer for Jew-killers and condones his wife’s pro-Hamas stands. 

Jews—or at least those who are willing to be dubbed as “bad Jews” by leftist media because they oppose terrorist murderers either in the Middle East or the United States—should not serve in a Mamdani administration. And it should also be said that his political opponents, like President Donald Trump, should stop cozying up to Mamdani or treating him as if he were a normal politician on the other side of the aisle with whom one can agree to disagree. 

The normalization of Mamdani’s conduct may be inevitable in a political culture where antisemitism has become fashionable orthodoxy on the political left. The costs of that attitude will become increasingly apparent in a city and a national culture where tolerance of hate for Jews is regarded as either nothing out of the ordinary or an acceptable opinion. A city where people like Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji are not held accountable for supporting the atrocities of Oct. 7 and Jew-hatred in general is one in which, sooner or later, Islamist violence will not only occur but be tolerated, rationalized and excused in the same manner as Hamas’s crimes.