The true story of Israel's daring hostage rescue



Last year, I set out to tell a story that much of the media seemed determined to distort.

On June 8, 2024, Israeli special forces launched a daylight raid into the heart of Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Four hostages, Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, were being held in civilian homes. The operation unfolded under heavy fire. Intelligence had to be near-perfect. One wrong move would mean death for everyone involved.

I documented the firsthand accounts of IDF soldiers on the ground, the grieving parents of a fallen hero, and the elite special operators who carried out one of the most daring hostage rescues in modern history — Operation Arnon.

Any sovereign nation subjected to such a vicious assault bears both a political and moral responsibility to bring its citizens home.

The mission succeeded. The four civilians, kidnapped on October 7, 2023, returned home alive. But not without cost. Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora was mortally wounded. The operation, originally known as Seeds of Summer, was renamed in his honor.

The heroes of Operation Arnon were buried under headlines focused solely on casualty counts or international criticism. While the world debates the operation’s justification, the firsthand accounts in my documentary "Operation Arnon" reveal its compelling operational necessity.

Operation Arnon was a proportionate and justified response to the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas and other allied terrorist organizations.

Any sovereign nation subjected to such a vicious assault bears both a political and moral responsibility to bring its citizens home. This “no man left behind” ethos is present in any nation that places value on the lives of its civilians and military personnel. Every life matters. Everyone comes home.

The recent combat search and rescue operation for the United States F-15E pilots epitomizes this dogma. On April 3, 2026, two U.S. pilots ejected from their damaged aircraft, landing into Iranian territory. U.S. joint forces immediately executed a CSAR, deploying over 150 aircraft, hundreds of U.S. troops and special operators, including Delta Force and Dev Gru, and CIA operatives.

The United States actions demonstrated the same unyielding commitment to the ethos that fueled Operation Arnon, an ironclad conviction that no sovereign nation can abandon its people to terrorists.

Yet Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for Human Rights, preferred to denounce the operation’s success, questioning its grounds for “distinction, proportionality, and precaution,” drawn from the conclusion that hundreds of civilians had been haphazardly slain as a result of the operation.

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The numbers of civilian deaths were reported by Gaza’s Ministry of Health, run by the Hamas government. The second “civilian” house has been confirmed to be owned by the Al-Jamal family, whose son, Abdullah Al-Jamal, was a Hamas operative and was complicit with the hostages being held in his house.

Article 34 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits hostage-taking in armed conflicts. Article 51 of the U.N. Charter affirms the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member state. This right, subject to necessity and proportionality, has been invoked in precedents such as the 1976 Israeli Operation Entebbe and supports targeted rescue operations.

Despite a long history of being held to a double standard by much of the international community, Israel continues to demonstrate what it means to value life. The U.N. General Assembly routinely passes more resolutions condemning Israel than against the rest of the world combined, including regimes like Syria, Iran, North Korea, and China.

In contrast, other nations conducting counterterrorism or rescue operations, such as U.S. and French strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, or broader military campaigns in urban areas, often face far less sustained international condemnation.

The heroic actions of every soldier who took part in Operation Arnon embody the enduring belief that freedom and human dignity are worth fighting for, even at the highest cost. That commitment remains a powerful reminder to the world that some principles are not negotiable.

Why doesn’t money make you happy?



It’s known as the Easterlin paradox.

Though rising wealth at early stages in the lives of individuals and countries fosters greater happiness, perpetually rising wealth does not make individuals or countries perpetually happier. At some point, economics Professor Richard Easterlin of the University of Pennsylvania and USC discovered, more wealth engenders less happiness.

Private capital mindfully allocated can both do well and do good.

This paradox may be best illustrated with U.S. data. Total U.S. household wealth exceeded $182 trillion at the end of 2025, up 466% from an inflation-adjusted $39 trillion in 1980. Yet in 1980, 82% of Americans described themselves as satisfied versus only 44% of Americans today — a decline of nearly half. Similarly, in 1980, only 20% of Americans described themselves as lonely. Today, it’s 40%.

Paradoxically, more American wealth has made Americans less happy and fostered an epidemic of loneliness. Why is this, and what can be done about it?

According to the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, happiness and life satisfaction are only partly material in nature. Work and basic housing, health care, and material attributes are important, of course — but no more so than family relationships and friendships, community engagement, and religious affiliations.

These factors are best promoted through nurturing homes, quality education, and supportive work environments. Character formation is essential for personal meaning and purpose.

Harvard scholars clearly derived much of their insight from Aristotle. In his “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle observed that multiple civic virtues were essential for eudaimonia (his term for flourishing or happiness). These include temperance, magnanimity, courage, generosity, modesty, proper ambition, sincerity, and justice.

Inculcating these virtues throughout society requires commonality of purpose, excellent education, strong families, and enlightened leadership.

One way wealthier people could foster greater happiness — their own and that of others — is to use a portion of their wealth to promote greater human flourishing.. The best way to do this is to invest in companies and funds that authentically support and multiply greater inclusivity, wholesome products and services, and higher civic virtue.

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IsoLab/Getty Images

In short, private capital mindfully allocated can both do well and do good — that is to say, earn reasonable risk-adjusted returns while simultaneously resolving humanity’s material, educational, environmental, social, and inclusivity challenges.

Fortunately, a lot could be accomplished with relatively little. My research shows that all of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals could be achieved in under a decade if ultra-high-net-worth investors allocated no more than 1.6% of their total investable assets a year to verified impact investment strategies; the other 98.4% could continue to be spent or invested however they wish.

Replacing material-driven misery with abundant happiness is an idea whose time has come. If wealthy investors spent a little more effort understanding what their investments could do as opposed to only what financial returns they make, they would help co-create a world of optimal wealth, purpose, and fulfillment. And instead of being a partial cause of their growing discontent, successful investing could become an integral part of the cure.

Material abundance can directly foster rather than undermine human flourishing.

Editor's note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

Trump pulls US out of 'racist' UN forum pushing 'global reparations agendas'



President Trump has made several moves this week that will have globalists, climate activists, and other international grifters up in arms.

On Wednesday, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum removing the United States from over 60 international organizations as part of a longer-term plan to put American interests first.

'America will no longer lend its credibility to racist organizations.'

In an executive order signed in February 2025, President Trump ordered the secretary of state to review the United States' membership in many international groups to determine whether cooperation with those groups is in American interests.

The memorandum said that the president had since reviewed the secretary's report and "determined that it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support" for 66 organizations and has officially withdrawn the U.S. from them.

These organizations include 35 "non-United Nations Organizations" and 31 United Nations organizations.

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Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Some of the U.N. organizations that the United States removed itself from are the U.N. Economic and Social Council, the International Law Commission, the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, the U.N. Democracy Fund, the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and the U.N. University.

Also included in that list is the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, an organization that United States officials have called "racist."

“America will no longer lend its credibility to racist organizations,” State Department principal spokesman Tommy Pigott told the New York Post.

“Radical activists who embrace DEI ideology and seek to compel the United States to adopt policies mandating race-based wealth redistribution, in organizations such as the U.N. Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, will no longer be entertained,” he added.

According to an article on the United Nations' website, the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent seeks "slavery reparations" and fashions itself as a forum to "shape ... global reparations agendas."

According to the Post, Trump administration officials have alleged that the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, a subsidiary of the United Nations Human Rights Office, runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment and Equal Protection clause with its focus on "victim-based social policies."

Notably missing from the list is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, even though Trump's February executive order called for an investigation into it. Specifically, the executive order said, "The review will include an evaluation of how and if UNESCO supports United States interests. In particular, the review will include an analysis of any anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organization."

Trump and the Treasury Department also ordered the United States' "immediate" withdrawal from the Green Climate Fund on Thursday.

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'He's not that smart': Homan lampoons Chicago mayor for pleading with UN to intervene against ICE



Brandon Johnson, Chicago's Democratic mayor whose disapproval rating is over 60%, joined Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and other American leftists in complaining to foreign bureaucrats on Friday about the Trump administration's faithful enforcement of federal immigration law.

After detailing some of the ways that his "sanctuary city" has worked to undermine federal law enforcement initiatives, Johnson stressed to members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, "We cannot do this alone."

The 'United Nations is not going to tell President Trump what to do.'

"That is why I call on this council to hold the federal government of the United States to the same standards of accountability you apply elsewhere in the world," said Johnson, whose city has seen at least 368 homicides already this year. "No country should be above international law. Human rights are universal or they are meaningless."

When asked about Johnson's request that foreigners meddle in American politics, White House border czar Tom Homan told "The Big Weekend Show" that it "just proves he's not that smart."

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Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

"Asking the United Nations to, you know, interfere with ICE enforcing U.S. law is like asking an arsonist how to stop a fire," said Homan. "The [International Organization for Migration], part of the U.N., helped fund the mass migration during the Biden administration's four years, spending millions upon millions of dollars helping that ... international migration coming to the United States."

Homan underscored that the "United Nations is not going to tell President Trump what to do. President Trump was put into office on the promise of making this country safe again, on the promise of having the historic deportation operation — that's exactly what America's getting."

'We live with the consequences of that moral failure every day.'

The border czar noted that in addition to making Americans safer by giving the boot to criminal noncitizens and securing the border, the Trump administration's clear messaging to would-be invaders that they're not welcome has also saved the lives of thousands of migrants who might have joined the multitudes who previously died trying to reach America.

In their campaign to protect the people of Chicago from the illegal aliens Johnson is apparently keen to harbor, ICE has caught numerous dangerous criminal noncitizens.

For instance, two days before Johnson's appeal to the U.N., ICE officers captured Alan Eduardo Garcia, an illegal alien from Mexico whose rap sheet includes arrests and convictions for felony strangulation, domestic battery, disorderly conduct, battery causing bodily injury, aggravated battery against a handicapped or pregnant woman, and unlawful use of a firearm, the agency claimed.

Among the other apparently dangerous foreigners ICE has captured in recent weeks was an illegal alien from Somalia who has convictions for multiple domestic assaults, rape, and multiple DUIs; a convicted murderer from Mexico; and multiple members of the terrorist gang Tren de Aragua.

Johnson suggested that the Trump administration's refusal to let the U.N. police its actions amounts to a "moral failure," adding that "we live with the consequences of that moral failure every day."

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United Nations Finally Recognizes Homeschooling — By Demanding Government Ruin It

Homeschooling embodies the basic American principles of self-governance, freedom, and the presumption that families know what is best for their children.

‘Green Antoinettes’ live large, preach small



Politicians, celebrities, and billionaires who lecture ordinary people about their carbon footprints live by another set of rules. They travel by private jet, dine in excess, and retreat to mansions powered by the very energy sources they want banned. It’s a spectacle of hypocrisy so pervasive, the media barely blinks.

Even scientists who scold the public about emissions fly thousands of miles to United Nations climate conferences — racking up the same greenhouse gases they claim will destroy the planet. This is two-tiered climate morality: Those with power indulge, while everyone else is told to sacrifice. Preaching austerity from a private jet has become the “let them eat cake” of our age.

Hypocrisy that pays

The real question isn’t whether the hypocrisy exists but why it’s so tolerated. The answer, in part, is that too many people have found ways to profit from it — through subsidies, grants, and the ever-expanding green grift.

Families pay more and travel less, while the jet-setters congratulate themselves for ‘saving the planet.’

According to data from Yard, celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Leonardo DiCaprio emitted between 3,000 and 4,400 tons of carbon dioxide in 2022 from private jet travel alone — hundreds or even thousands of times the annual emissions of an average citizen.

For perspective: Bangladesh emits about 0.71 tons of carbon dioxide per person annually. Ghana emits 0.74, Ethiopia 0.13, and Kenya 0.4. A single year of indulgence by an American climate icon outweighs the lifetime footprint of entire villages in the developing world.

The climate elite

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who condemns “climate deniers” as morally deficient, has a carbon footprint equivalent to nearly 280 average Americans or more than 2,200 Indians. DiCaprio built his global brand on climate activism — then took a private jet from Europe to New York to collect an environmental award.

If the hypocrisy of celebrities is glaring, the behavior of politicians is worse.

Records show that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign spent over $221,000 on private jets in just one quarter — even as the Vermont socialist voted for laws that punish fossil fuel use and floated the idea of criminal charges for energy executives.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Fighting Oligarchy tour, meant to challenge wealth and privilege, relied on carbon-intensive travel of its own. The Bronx Democrat later scaled back her private jet use after criticism — by switching to first-class flights instead.

The priesthood of carbon

At United Nations climate conferences, the hypocrisy reaches liturgical heights. The gatherings are usually held in luxury destinations like Dubai, Glasgow, or Sharm El Sheikh. Each transcontinental flight emits roughly 2 tons of carbon dioxide per traveler — the annual output of a citizen in many poorer nations.

Yet these same scientists and bureaucrats push for energy restrictions in developing countries, demanding that millions forgo affordable electricity to meet arbitrary “net-zero” targets. Their supposed moral authority rests not on sacrifice but on self-congratulation.

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Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images

A reckoning awaits

The hypocrisy would be merely irritating if the consequences weren’t so destructive. The push for “net-zero emissions” — a fantasy that defies both physics and economics — is driving up the cost of gasoline, electricity, and food while shrinking personal freedom. Families pay more and travel less, while the jet-setters congratulate themselves for “saving the planet.”

They’re not leading an energy transition. They’re entrenching a new aristocracy — one in which elites keep their privileges while the working class bears the pain in the name of the “greater good.”

The rise of Donald Trump and other skeptics has interrupted this march toward a green oligarchy, but the climate faithful persist. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s alliance with the Vatican to “terminate” global warming is only the latest display of moral vanity.

Eventually, voters will see through this 21st-century version of aristocratic corruption. The public may not wield guillotines, but the electoral version will do just fine. Off with their subsidies!

The UN once defended the oppressed. Now it defends the powerful.



I should be dead. Buried in an unmarked grave in Romania. But God had other plans.

As a young attorney living under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s brutal communist regime in the 1980s, I spent my life searching for truth in a regime of lies. I found it in the Bible — forbidden in my country. I answered the divine call to defend fellow Christians facing persecution in an ungodly land.

If the United Nations is to mean anything again, it must rediscover the courage that once gave refuge to dissidents like me.

For that “crime,” I was kidnapped, interrogated, beaten, and tortured. I spent months under house arrest and came within seconds of execution when a government assassin pointed a gun at me. I survived and fled to the United States as a political refugee.

The UN once stood for something

In his recent address to the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly, President Donald Trump said the organization “has tremendous potential — but it’s not even close to living up to that potential.” He’s right.

When the United Nations was founded in 1945, its mission was noble: to promote peace, security, and human rights worldwide. It was meant to be a platform for honest dialogue, a beacon for humanitarian action, and a voice for the voiceless.

It once lived up to that promise. During the Cold War, the U.N. amplified the voices of dissidents behind the Iron Curtain and gave cover to lawyers like me defending Christians in communist courts. Its support for human rights cases in Romania helped expose Ceaușescu’s tyranny to the world.

That international pressure saved my life and countless others.

Bureaucracy replaced moral courage

Today’s U.N. bears little resemblance to that courageous institution. It has become paralyzed by bureaucracy and corrupted by politics. Instead of defending the oppressed, it often defends the powerful — or looks away altogether.

In Nigeria, Syria, and Yemen, millions suffer while the U.N. Security Council stalls over procedural votes. Permanent members protect their allies, veto resolutions, and block humanitarian intervention. Political calculations routinely outweigh moral imperatives.

When the institution created to prevent genocide can’t even condemn it, the crisis isn’t merely diplomatic — it’s spiritual.

Reform begins with courage

President Trump has proposed bold changes to restore the U.N.’s relevance. He called for adding permanent Security Council members — emerging powers such as India, Brazil, Japan, and Germany — to reflect modern realities and make the council more decisive.

He urged the U.N. to prioritize global security and counterterrorism while aligning its agenda with the legitimate interests of free nations. First lady Melania Trump, addressing the same assembly, launched Fostering the Future Together, a coalition promoting education, innovation, and children’s welfare.

These initiatives could help revive the U.N.’s moral voice and refocus it on its founding purpose: defending the oppressed and restraining the oppressors.

RELATED: Trump strongly defends Christianity at UN: ‘The most persecuted religion on the planet today’

Photo by seechung via Getty Images

Faith and courage still matter

My own survival came down to faith. When Ceaușescu sent an assassin to kill me, he pulled a gun and said, “You have ignored all of our warnings. I am here to kill you.”

In that moment of terror, I prayed: “Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.” Peace replaced panic. I began sharing the gospel.

That armed killer, confronted with God’s word, lowered his weapon, turned, and walked away. Today, he is a pastor — serving the same faith he once tried to destroy.

The lesson is simple: Hearts can change. Institutions can too. But it takes conviction.

If the United Nations is to mean anything again, it must rediscover the courage that once gave refuge to dissidents like me. It must speak for the enslaved, the persecuted, and the forgotten — not for dictators and bureaucrats.

God spared my life so I could keep fighting for truth. The U.N. was part of that story once. It can be again — if it remembers why it was born.

Press Stunned by Trump’s Brutally Honest Reaction to James Comey Question
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Press Stunned by Trump’s Brutally Honest Reaction to James Comey Question

Trump trolls UN over faulty escalator while allies point to possible sabotage



President Donald Trump taunted the United Nations about a faulty escalator and broken teleprompter, but some of his allies suspect there was intentional sabotage.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump were on an escalator at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday when it came to an abrupt stop. Subsequently, Trump's teleprompter also malfunctioned during his address, leading him to make light of the mishaps.

'There better be accountability.'

"These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter," Trump said. "Thank you very much."

Although the president trolled the general assembly in true Trump fashion, others in his inner circle were not as lighthearted about the equipment problems.

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Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A report from the Sunday Times said that "UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators" in anticipation of Trump's appearance and "tell him they ran out of money." This excerpt has led many to speculate that U.N. staff may have intentionally sabotaged the escalator, causing a serious security risk for the president.

"If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

Leavitt later announced that the United States Secret Service launched an investigation to determine whether the malfunction was intentional.

"If we find that these were U.N. staffers who were purposefully trying to trip up — literally trip up — the president and the first lady of the United States, there better be accountability for those people, and I will personally see to it," Leavitt said.

RELATED: Trump strongly defends Christianity at UN: 'The most persecuted religion on the planet today'

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

While some of Trump's allies are convinced that the escalator was sabotaged, U.N. officials point to a more innocuous explanation. In response to the speculation, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the escalator stopped "after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator.

"The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function," Dujarric said in a statement.

"The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing."

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Trump Is Right: The United Nations Doesn’t Help Countries, It Destroys Them

'I saved millions of lives and realized the United Nations wasn't there for us....what is the purpose of the United Nations?' - Donald Trump