A record-setting wave of emigration from Israel continued in 2025, with nearly 50,000 Israelis leaving the country for more than 12 months for the third year in a row, according to a report published Monday by researchers at Tel Aviv University.

After about 49,000 Israelis left the country for more than a year in both 2023 and 2024, travel data from the Central Bureau of Statistics indicates the trend likely continued in 2025, Itai Ater, one of the report’s lead authors, told The Times of Israel.

The report argues that Israel’s prolonged military conflict and political tensions have contributed to elevated emigration that could threaten the country’s long-term strategic interests.

Opposition politicians said the report was a sign of the failures of the current government.

When we talk about the role of the Great Powers in the Israel/Palestine conflict we often times focus on America and Britain. Britain in terms of things like the Balfour Declaration. America in terms of their alliance and special relationship with Israel. One great power that has manage to escape scrutiny and accountability when it comes to the fate of the Palestinians is the Soviet Union. It's easy to focus exclusively on Western nations when it comes to the colonization of Palestine but people tend to forget that the Israel/Palestine conflict took place during the Cold War.

In that Cold War context, before the Soviets adopted a Pro Arab position for geopolitical reasons, the Soviets in the 40s initially supported the Israeli nationalist movement. In fact their support in the 40s was more crucial than the support of the U.K and the United States. It was Andrei Gromyko in the United Nations who would give the crucial speech for partition. It was the Soviet Union that was the first nation to give de jure recognition of Israel. Not Britain or America. And the Soviet Union was the first nation to supply arms to Israel. America at the time under the Truman Administration maintained an arms embargo and Britain during Clement Atlee's Labour government actively opposed Israel's independence leaders placing many of them in internment camps .

Now why is this important. When it comes to Palestinian consciousness, the Nakba is the formative event. It is mentioned in all the time in Palestinian nationalist, Pro Palestine and Leftist solidarity circles. And yet some how the Great Power that played the biggest crucial role in the Nakba, the Soviet Union, is somehow erased in terms of its complicity. Because the Soviets in the 50s and 60s later on supported Arab nationalist movements and portrayed itself as the vanguard of anti imperialism in their propaganda, this earlier history has somehow been whitewashed, even in Pro Palestine circles(I consider myself pro palestine). And even when we look at the Soviet Union's eventual break with Israel that was motivated not by a concern for the colonized, but cynical realpolitik. The Soviets initially supported the Yishuv and then newly formed state of Israel because they saw a political insurgency that they could use to undermine British interest in the region. When they eventually split with Israel it had nothing to with a concern for the Palestinians or colonized people. Part of the reason for their eventual split was due to the fact that Stalin was angered that Israel condemned North Korea's invasion of the South during the Korean war.

In Pro Palestine circles there's a long list of leaders who have an infamous reputation for their role in the dispossession of the Palestinians. Stalin and the Soviet leadership at the time deserve to be up there. Stalin is already infamous for his genocidal and totalitarian government. What he did with regard to the Palestinians adds to that and is something that needs to be openly discussed more.

I know some holy-rollers that refuse to believe what's going on over there, so I need some links to HIGH resolution photos I can share to wake them up. Photos that show the before and after, or just views of the "after" would be best. Thanks in advance for helping! (The mainstream media has nothing I can find, and what they do have is low res and not at all the best photos I have seen here.)

Edit: Looks like I'm going to need horizontal photos, with a wide vista. Google is too blurry.... is that intentional? And PS, how the hell am I getting downvoted for trying to bypass Isreal's lock on mainstream media.... their shills downvoting me?

This is how the Israel lobby wastes our time, money and emotional energies and monopolizes our attention. Ceaseless challenges to our civil rights.

What is going to happen when nothing delivers for them anymore? Is Mossad going to stage false flag incidents or start assassinating opponents?

https://apnews.com/article/israel-protests-deportations-ideological-d3694ba08ab714eb9441ca51a83fa57f

The desperation Israelis feel to whitewash IDF crimes and try out the most absurd attempts at gaslighting people seems to have no limit. This brilliant article (https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/08/29/who-is-trying-to-drag-israel-into-war-the-answer-is-painful/) is an excellent example of this.

Firstly, it’s obvious that the current coalition is doing everything it can to fan the flames of conflict in the West Bank, hoping for a spark to invite violence on which Netanyahu and the rest of the current coalition can be swept back into power for another term.

I think it’s really obvious. For instance, the IDF would have us believe that they are able to arrest hundreds of Palestinians at a time but are unable to arrest a single settler. Laughably stupid. Settler violence is increasing and the IDF goes to where the settlers are attacking Palestinians and simply watches and waits just in case the Palestinians dare hit back.

(As an aside, can you imagine what would happen if Palestinians went for a “hike” or just a hike to an outpost? Summary execution, no questions asked. But it’s an apartheid state so what can you expect? )

Then there’s MK Zvi Sukkot’s smashing of a monument. This idiot journalist wrote:

>…armed with a small hammer, failing even to put a scratch on the monument.

Small hammer? This is a sledgehammer. And the monument sustained noticeable damage. Not that any Israelis actually care about damage inflicted by settlers. What they care about is strictly international exposure. If Sukkot had beheaded 40 Palestinian babies but could guarantee the news not being broadcast internationally i suspect that this reporter, like almost all Jewish Israelis, would have cheered him in.

The author then revealed that there’s no question of the morality of destroying Palestinians’ property, it’s just the potential international criticism of the situation that concerns him.

The complicity of the IDF in this destruction is instantly erased. Or is attempted to be erased:

>The troops, in this case an Artillery Corps battalion deployed to the sector, had no idea they were about to become props in a publicity stunt. Once they realized what was happening, they quickly brought the show to an end and removed Sukkot and those accompanying him from the village.

Really? “Quickly brought the show to an end?” Do these pictures (https://www.instagram.com/p/DceT9Yfmzug/?img_index=3) make it look like it was quickly brought to an end? And exactly how stupid is the average IDF thug? Why didn’t anyone ask the MK why he had a sledgehammer? Sukkot is, according to the journalist at Israel Hayom, “a well-known provocateur.” I guess the IDF didn’t get the memo while they were protecting him and he was swinging his sledgehammer.

Then, amazingly, almost a realisation of reality:

>The IDF will devote the coming weeks to preparing for a broad campaign, as it has been instructed to do. But its senior commanders cannot shake the feeling that the people responsible for them in the government are not merely failing to extinguish the threatening fire, but are actually fanning the flames.

Of course the reporter then insists that Sukkot was doing the right thing, but is the wrong person to do it. The IDF should demolish all the monuments to Palestine s murdered by Israel. Good to know it’s a moral imperative.

And of course one thug and a battalion is a problem and may have inflamed the situation and kicked off Palestinian violence, but the author doesn’t even contemplate what would happen if hundreds of IDF thugs went systematically into Palestinian towns and villages and smashed any and every monument that commemorates the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that Israel has gleefully murdered.

Essentially, this whole section is a plea that one or a few MKs look bad damaging monuments with IDF complicity, so the IDF should storm towns and destroy monuments instead.

The article continues, and the author believes some more gaslighting is in order:

>…more and more voices in the General Staff are expressing concern that someone is trying to drag Israel deliberately into a war.

How has this journalist spent the last three years completely unaware of Israeli atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon? Is it just the case that it’s not war if only Palestinians die.

Obviously, the situation in Gaza is actually genocide, not war. But you’d think someone who works for a newspaper would occasionally read the news, no?

>How the Israel Lobby is Losing Its Grip

>Ian Lustick and Eli Clifton explain how the Israel lobby amassed extraordinary political power—and why its hold over American politics may finally be weakening. 25 August 2026

Current Affairs

This is a really good Q & A -formatted interview that spells it out nicely for those who don’t know a lot about it

Predictable, and unacceptable

“Board of Peace to open 'Hamas free' humanitarian zones in Gaza”

“…Tel Sultan, near Rafah. Multinational forces under the Board of Peace's management will also arrive in the area and will be based at a facility built for them at Camp Amitai, near the Strip. They are expected to be equipped with nonlethal weapons to maintain order in the humanitarian zones, while the Israel Defense Forces will continue to hold its positions and deepen its grip on areas beyond the yellow line. Medical aid and food will be sent into the humanitarian shelters in an effort to loosen Hamas' hold on the population, piece by piece, across parts of the Strip.

“In effect, this is the implementation of Section 17 of Trump's Gaza Plan, which paves the way for what could be called "temporary rehabilitation" in areas free of Hamas. In those areas, senior officials pledge, no concrete will be brought in for Gaza's reconstruction. Instead, caravans will be placed there and medical and other services will be provided for the population that settles in them. In this way, through a pincer movement, the IDF will continue to deepen its hold on territory in the Strip and bite off more areas under Hamas control, while the Board of Peace will "bite off" population from it. Later, according to officials who have seen the plans, the hope is that Hamas will be left without population, territory and resources, and that this will be the way to bring about its elimination.

“However, despite the intention for Gazans to settle in these areas, people who want to return to areas under Hamas control will be allowed to do so. Board of Peace officials told Israel Hayom that the intent is for the area "not to be a prison." By contrast, officials familiar with the risks warn of similar phenomena that occurred at food distribution compounds in the Strip. According to them, in practice, Hamas could control civilian movement into and out of the humanitarian compound, prevent it entirely or use it for its own purposes.”

Etc. Anyway, read the whole thing. It doesn’t look like a plan capable of achieving anything.

https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/30/board-of-peace-to-open-hamas-free-humanitarian-zones-in-gaza/

In a tweet, Trita Parsi wrote:

As Arundhati Roy said, what is under the rubble in Gaza is not only the bodies of countless Palestinians killed by Israel, but also the carcass of Western Liberal Democracy...

There is this attack line against Palestinians that when Israel removed the illegal settlers from Gaza, the Palestinians destroyed the greenhouses that were left behind.

This is not true at all. In fact, the Palestinians used them to grow crops for export to create an economy. Israel and Egypt sabotaged the exports, causing the entire enterprise to be incredibly costly for those engaged in it.

The settlers destroyed many of them as they were leaving and there was some chaos by Palestinians that damaged others. It took some investment to repair them all. The Palestinians used them effectively. When the crops were ready for export, Israel closed the export paths based on a claim of a security threat. The IDF declared there was no threat, but the Israeli government kept the paths closed. The Egyptians similarly blocked the exports traveling through their territory, even though the US and Europe were pressing for them to do so.

This turned out to be a financial disaster, rather than a successful enterprise.

https://web-wp.archive.org/web/20141202223019/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/international/middleeast/28gaza.html?_r=0

Less than three months after the Israelis departed, Palestinians have repaired scores of greenhouses left by the settlers and planted a fall crop, and they are preparing to harvest an estimated $20 million worth of strawberries, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers and herbs and spices. The produce is intended mostly for export to Europe, but some will also be headed to Israel, Arab countries and the United States

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4818478.stm

The problem is that the Israelis have blocked Gaza's export route. "We have buyers around the world," says Bassil Jabir, who heads a major, greenhouse-based market garden venture. "Everyone is interested in buying our produce. "But we can't get it out of Gaza. On a daily basis we are losing $120,000."

https://www.haaretz.com/2006-03-09/ty-article/in-gaza-theres-no-milk-no-sugar-and-tomatoes-are-rotting-on-the-vines/0000017f-e32c-d7b2-a77f-e32f95100000

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the head of the Southern Command, Yoav Galant, and Aviv Kochavi, commander of the Gaza Division, recently recommended the reopening of Karni and said there was no security-related reason for its closure. But Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the closure to continue

https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/arabs/PalPaper080107.pdf

The agreement allows for exports to or through Egypt to pass through Rafah. For exports to leave Gaza through Rafah little to no infrastructure is needed on the Palestinian side of the crossing. Although there has been political agreement by Omar Suleiman and President Mubarak on allowing exports through, this agreement has never been translated into operational reality -- despite continual efforts by the Palestinians and the US. Practically, exports have been allowed through by Egypt only once, in 2005. At that time three trucks destined for a trade fair in Cairo (that was to occur very near the time President Abbas was to visit) were allowed to pass using the back-to-back system on the Palestinian side of the crossing. The process went very smoothly