Tag Archives: us midterms

West Bank

The actions of Israeli settlers in the West Bank must be truly horrific for Mike Huckabee, Trump’s ambassador in Israel, to call them “terrorists” and denounce their actions in Qusra as an “horrific act of terror.”

In the past, Ambassador Huckabee, has been the chief American cheerleader for Israeli settlement of the West Bank. In 2017, before his ambassadorial days, Huckabee said: “There is no West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria.” Later he added: “I think Israel has the title deeds to Judea and Samaria.”

After he was nominated ambassador in 2024, Huckabee was asked if Israeli annexation was possible in Trump’s second term. “Well, of course,” he replied.

It is quite possible for Huckabee to approve of West Bank annexation while disapproving of the tactics being used to achieve that end. But it is unusual.

Those tactics are indeed the tactics of terrorists. Settlers lay siege to a Palestinian home; cut off the water and electricity; pelt the property with stones and threaten to kill the occupants. When the terrified Palestinians flee for their lives, the settlers simply move in and occupy the home.

Their actions are illegal under international law. In fact the Israeli settlements are illegal and almost every country in the world has called for their withdrawal. The Israeli government, however, is committed to supporting the 600,000 West Bank settlers. In fact, some of the Cabinet are settlers themselves.

But the violence is growing. Some observers believe that the settlers are increasing the pressure on the Palestinians—and the Netanyahu government—because they fear that an anti-settlement government may emerge from the October general election and this is their last chance to establish facts on the ground.

The United Nations has reported that in recent months the number of attacks on Palestinians has grown to six a day.

The Israeli government has ordered the army into the West Bank, allegedly to try and reduce tensions and restore order. But Palestinians are reporting that, in some instances, the army appears to be helping the settlers. In one instance, the IDF ordered a besieged Palestinian family out of their home and then occupied it themselves.

What does Ambassador Huckabee have to say about that?

US water supplies

No one is dead—yet. They are, however, seriously worried that hackers have hacked into computers controlling the water supplies in at least a dozen American states. Even more worrying is that the FBI’s lead suspect is Iran.

In theory, control of the company computers could enable the hackers to poison water supplies. One thing the computers do is regulate the chemicals used to treat drinking water. So far, there has been no sign they have done so, but one Minnesota water authority reported some flooding and loss of water pressure.

America’s water supply industry is a hacker’s dream. It is comprised of tens of thousands of separate companies and water authorities—all hooked up to the internet. There is no federal law governing cybersecurity at these companies. The Environmental Protection Agency  tried to impose one in 2023 but was blocked in the courts.

Neither, does it seem, that any federal authority responsible for the cyber security of the country’s critical infrastructure. At the moment a fistful of Washington acronyms –led by the FBI—are involved in investigating the breach.

There is, however, a wider and potentially more dangerous issue at stake. NATO has explicitly said that a cyberattack constitutes an “armed attack” for Article 5 purposes. Article 5 says an attack on one member is an attack on all.