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Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:18AM (#47035250)
Surrounded by enemies of their own creation. It’s a beautiful cycle of aggression and self-victimization; a true ouroboros.

On the intelligence front, Mossad does a wonderful job performing extra-judicial killings using the dirtiest tricks you could think of. They’re also very good partners: almost every counter-intelligence outfit sings their praises.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by idop on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:40AM (#47035569)
> Surrounded by enemies of their own creation.

Step 1: Get 6 million of you systematically eradicated in Europe and hundreds of thousands more booted from their homes in the Middle East for "reasons".

Step 2: Build yourself a country so no one can throw you out again.

Step 3: Get attacked by the countries who threw you out for "reasons".

Step 4: Get accused of "aggression".

People's continued downplay and revisionism of Jewish and Israeli history is truly something to behold.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:52AM (#47035751)
Step 1: A Holocaust perpetrated by Germany, not Palestine.

Step 2: Build a country out of Lego- I mean, gradually settle an existing, populated area of the Levant - Palestine - and then have daddy Britain and later big daddy USA forcibly carve out a chunk of the land without input from the natives. And no, it was not a UN partition plan because most of the world was still colonized at the time.

Step 3: Take advantage of the obvious discontent with this move by the natives and activate Plan Dalet to take even more of the land. After all, the land granted by the partition plan is not enough.

Step 4: War starts with neighboring countries, partly to disrupt the ethnic cleansing campaign against a mostly defenseless population, but also to satisfy their own expansionist aims (esp. Transjordan).

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by idop on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:06AM (#47035938)
Step 1: Lie.

The people who fled Europe or forced out of the Middle East purchased empty lands, dried marshes, planted forests, installed infrastructure, sown fields, built cities and created a democracy to govern themselves. Incidentally, some purchased lands had squatters from Syria, Jordan, Arabia, etc., who lived on lands they did not own. Bye bye and boo hoo.

Seven different armies invaded Israel on its day of foundation. Seven armies got wrecked. Entire countries with billions of people keep crying about it, going so far as making the destruction of Israel an official goal, in some countries even actual laws! No conspiracy theories, no "Plan Dalet" and other bullshit your Hamas friends told you about, their real, actual goals stated right in your face.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:12AM (#47036029)
I mean, Israeli historians corroborated Plan Dalet, but sure, let’s call it a conspiracy. I am going to stop responding here.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:51AM (#47048096)
Are you saying that the Jews didn’t buy land in the Ottoman Empire and the early British mandate times?

I know that the pro-Palestinian side attempts to erase any link of Jewish people to the area, but there are documents that are not even 100 years old.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Pay08 on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @02:20AM (#47044632)
This is frankly, completely ahistorical. The British famously backed the Palestinians in the 1948 war (only barely, they mostly didn't care, but still did back them) and didn't like the idea of Israel so much so that they withdrew from the UN committee over it. Palestinians famously collaborated with Hitler as well. The USA only started being allied with Israel in the late 60s.

> And no, it was not a UN partition plan because most of the world was still colonized at the time.

And I can't even begin to fathom what this means.

As you noted in an another comment, Plan Dalet was corroborated by Israeli historians. Which is false. It was corroborated by one Israeli historian, who retracted his findings after finding out his source for the writings of Ben-Gurion were edited posthumously.

And "war starts" is a very nice and PG way to phrase "attempted to genocide Jews".

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @07:15AM (#47046680)
Yes, it is completely ahistorical - if you buy in to the blessed Zionist narrative, that is.

> The British famously backed the Palestinians

No, the British backed the Jordanians, not the Palestinians. Jordan had its own goals as I alluded to elsewhere. I would recommend reading a bit further on the subtleties and limits to that backing, as well as the strategic reasons for said backing. But I wasn’t talking about the war at all here.

They withdrew because they did not know how to balance the two sides. It was a hot potato, so they threw into the lap of the US.

> And I can't even begin to fathom what this means.

How many seats were there at the UNGA at the time? And how many of those seats belonged to countries who could make sovereign decisions without fear of repercussion from the newly emerged world powers? Keep in mind that WWII ended less than two years ago at this point.

> As you noted in an another comment, Plan Dalet was corroborated by Israeli historians. Which is false.

So there was no ethnic cleansing at all? I suppose 700k or so Palestinians just oopsied their way out of their homes and villages.

> And "war starts" is a very nice and PG way to phrase "attempted to genocide Jews".

Oh boy, not this again..

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Pay08 on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @07:30AM (#47046773)
I find it interesting that all of your arguments rely on emotion, not fact.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:49AM (#47048077)
> No, the British backed the Jordanians, not the Palestinians.

What is the difference between Jordanians and Palestinians given that the line that separates them is drown by the Brits?

> So there was no ethnic cleansing at all? I suppose 700k or so Palestinians just oopsied their way out of their homes and villages.

So they all left because Israel kicked them all out? What about the interviews and news articles from the time where Arabs themselves said that Jordan Army asked them to leave for the duration of the fights?

And you are the one talking about narratives?

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:46AM (#47048048)
> War starts with neighboring countries, partly to disrupt the ethnic cleansing campaign against a mostly defenseless population

Did you made this all up?

There is zero evidence that the war started because the Jews were ethnically cleansing “defenseless population”. It is enough to go to the library and read newspapers from the time where Arabs openly stated that they do no accept Jewish state for the sake of it being Jewish.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by hparadiz on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:48AM (#47035681)
How dare the Israelis not let themselves get genocided. The audacity.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:56AM (#47035795)
At what point in its history was Israel ever in actual danger of being “genocided”?

This rhetoric circles back to the self-victimization complex btw.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by idop on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:07AM (#47035952)
Every day since its first day as a state. There are several countries with billions of people whose stated, official objective is the destruction of Israel. Iran has giant countdown clocks and advertisements for the destruction of Israel. They have laws against peace with Israel. The Houthis literally have "Death to Israel" (and America) on their flag.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by hparadiz on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:11AM (#47036017)
Internet arguments are entirely irrelevant.

This women is in a trench just for fun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War#...

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by markus_zhang on Monday February 16, 2026 @11:05AM (#47036726)
Apparently at the beginning and throughout the Cold War, IMO. Not to say that I want to blame on just one side, though.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @11:15AM (#47036858)
No, Israel has never been seriously threatened with elimination. Even in 1948, they were militarily superior and more organized than all of their neighbors. They in fact proved this in 1967.

But they sure love to claim that they were at the cusp of elimination at various points - again, the self-victimization complex in action :)

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by markus_zhang on Monday February 16, 2026 @12:44PM (#47037895)
> Even in 1948, they were militarily superior and more organized than all of their neighbors.

Yeah I think that's why they were not wiped out, not that their neighbours were super good heart. They were and still are less competent.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @12:48PM (#47037938)
The point is that they were never in danger of being wiped out.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:51AM (#47048105)
How do you know?
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by hearsathought on Monday February 16, 2026 @01:49PM (#47038651)
> Step 1: Get 6 million of you systematically eradicated in Europe and hundreds of thousands more booted from their homes in the Middle East for "reasons".

Exactly 6 million? You counted? It's remarkable how the 6 million number has been parroted for decades prior to ww2 and after ww2. It's not 5,900,000? Or 6,000,200? Precisely 6 million?

> Step 2: Build yourself a country so no one can throw you out again.

And yet most "jews" choose to live outside of israel. Funny that.

> Step 3: Get attacked by the countries who threw you out for "reasons".

If you aren't welcomed by anyone, maybe it's time for introspection? No?

> Step 4: Get accused of "aggression".

Attacking everyone around and committing acts of genocide while playing the victim.

> People's continued downplay and revisionism of Jewish and Israeli history is truly something to behold.

The eternal victim. It's getting exhausting and boring. Maybe it's time to build another holocaust museum or the media to parade around another holocaust "survivor".

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by amritananda on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @01:06AM (#47044234)
Zionism existed since the late 19th century. It cannot be considered solely a response to the Holocaust. It was an outgrowth of the many nationalist movements that were occurring in Europe at the time, and even as far back as the 1920s the consensus was that the establishment of a Jewish state required a Jewish majority. This is clearly evident in the writings of people like Jabrotinsky and Herzl himself. I don't think any native population would take kindly to what exactly this implied.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Pay08 on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @02:32AM (#47044691)
You're a little off on the history. Zionism as a political movement (as opposed to the cultural idea which has existed for 3000 or so years) dates back to the late 18th century, as one of the responses to both antisemitism and the emerging nationalist ideas in Europe. The deciding philosophy in this case is the idea that antisemitism cannot be fought, that it is a universal constant of sorts. This was originally a fringe left-wing idea, with the response being to stop being Jews (the Reform branch was borne out of this and is the reason many Jews, including me, still dislike it, even if it is a bit unfair). After the Holocaust, however, this idea transformed from a left-wing one to a right-wing one, where the solution became to take up arms and defend ourselves from those who would wish to kill us. I don't know about Jabrotinsky but your claim on Herzl is very hotly debated[0]. Not that I imagine many Arabs can read German. The claim also heavily erases Jewish presence in the Levant.

[0] https://tikvah.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hazony-Did-Her...

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by gzread on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @07:25AM (#47046750)
I think you need to dive into more detail of what "build yourself a country" entails.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by markus_zhang on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:49AM (#47035697)
I don't disagree with you, but this is the reality already and I don't see how they can get out of it. I wouldn't hope for any long-term peace between IL and surrounding country without IL holding a very big stick which the US gives to them.

I think actually they are in a bit of panic mode because the US might want to get out from the ME and focus on China. They want a guarantee that Iran won't be able to come on its foot again in at least 10 years. That's all my guess, though.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by dgxyz on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:05AM (#47035926)
I think also everyone needs to understand that Israel are a wedge in the operations of rival Islamic terrorist factions. If they went poof and ceased to exist suddenly then it'd switch straight to Darfur mode out there. It wouldn't suddenly be kumbaya and holding hands.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by baud147258 on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:43AM (#47036417)
> I don't disagree with you, but this is the reality already and I don't see how they can get out of it.

Maybe by starting to behave as if the Palestinian population that live on the territory they control have equal rights? Like stopping West Bank colonization projects?

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by halflife on Monday February 16, 2026 @12:42PM (#47037867)
2006 Gaza was left to their own independent rule. Shortly after that Hamas killed the PLO, assumed control, and started fire rockets into Israel. And you’re saying that we need to try that again with the West Bank?
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @12:52PM (#47037974)
That’s not what happened. You (unintentionally I am sure) glossed over the elections being overruled by the US and Israel, the attempted coup by Fatah in Gaza, and the subsequent blockade.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by halflife on Monday February 16, 2026 @01:46PM (#47038609)
The blockade started after the rockets. And how can US and Israel overrule elections in Gaza? Fatah wanted a coup because they lost to Hamas. That’s why there’s no election in the West Bank.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @02:25PM (#47039141)
Read up on the election here, tired of responding in this thread: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Palestinian_legislative_e...

On rocket attacks, Hamas was sticking relatively well to the ceasefire (again, talking about Hamas, not other groups). The blockade was tightened by Israel post-takeover, which then lead to a resumption of rocket attacks.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:54AM (#47048144)
> Hamas was sticking relatively well to the ceasefire

By launching rockets? Are you serious?

How can you argue in good faith that launching unguided rockets indiscriminately over civilian population centers as “sticking to the ceasefire”?

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by blks on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @08:47AM (#47047438)
This is not an argument for illegal occupation and expansion into West Bank. Israel should follow international law and agreements they themselves signed.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:52AM (#47048119)
Palestinians too. Unfortunately, they are not sticking to their side of the bargain as well.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by yes_really on Monday February 16, 2026 @01:36PM (#47038470)
Oh yeah, I'm sure stopping the "West Bank colonization projects" will make Iran be peaceful.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by baud147258 on Monday February 16, 2026 @03:51PM (#47040163)
At least that'd improve the chance of having peaceful neighbours, instead of ones who'll listen to any envoy from Iran saying that bombing Israel is the best solution for living in peace.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by yes_really on Monday February 16, 2026 @05:35PM (#47041287)
It really wouldn't make a difference. A country that is already so radicalized that it thinks bombing Israel is the best solution for living in peace would not change its mind for the Palestinians.

I think this article explains it well: https://www.richardhanania.com/p/how-trump-proved-foreign-po...

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:56AM (#47048161)
Question: why do Palestinians do not take a unilateral step of declaring “no more armed resistance”? If basks can, why Palestinians can’t?
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @10:06AM (#47035940)
So the solution is for Israel to get an even bigger “stick” than nuclear weapons? How about a just solution for the Palestinians instead?
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by markus_zhang on Monday February 16, 2026 @11:04AM (#47036706)
Who is going to do that? Obviously not in anyone's interests. That is, anyone who can push the situation towards that direction.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @11:11AM (#47036795)
You’re either missing my point or deflecting. Let me expand one last time.

Israel claims to be threatened by its neighbors. Israel claims to want peace with countries in the region. Neighboring countries have repeatedly stated that a precondition to normalization is a just solution for Palestinians. But Israel does not want a just solution.

In other words, the problem is entirely self-inflicted. Israel wants peace, but without making any concessions on the issue of Palestine. So instead it pursues a system of “peace through violence” - just like it does in the West Bank and Gaza.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by throw2845893 on Monday February 16, 2026 @11:33AM (#47037045)
This is bullshit. Between 1948 and 1967 the entire West Bank and Gaza were under control of neighbouring Arab countries. They could’ve set up a Palestinian state within “the 1967 borders”, but nobody did. Instead they went to war to try and take the rest.

Besides, Israel has since made peace with Egypt and Jordan.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @11:50AM (#47037253)
Okay, and? Do you think the fact that neighbors having their own expansionist ambitions is somehow a “gotcha”? And given the whole Greater Israel plan, do you seriously think that Israel would have even allowed this to happen?

Now, back to the present day. Palestinians live under a system of occupation and blockade and recently genocide. This is not a just situation. It is also not sustainable without continued repression and use of force. There is no way that Israel will be welcomed into the wider ME under this regime.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @10:01AM (#47048212)
> And given the whole Greater Israel plan

What is this “plan”?

> Palestinians live under a system of occupation and blockade

What did the Palestinians do to not end up in this situation?

> genocide

War is not genocide. And remarks by some of the politicians are not a proof of genocide as well.

> There is no way that Israel will be welcomed into the wider ME under this regime.

Israel just need to be stronger to survive as they did in the first 20-30 years of their statehood.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by halflife on Monday February 16, 2026 @12:43PM (#47037890)
There peace with Jordan and Egypt. 2 countries that were at war with Israel, Egypt got Sinai back, Jordan did not want the West Bank back.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @12:58PM (#47038033)
What do you mean by “back”? The West Bank was never legitimately part of Jordan - they forcibly annexed it in 1948.

As for the peace treaties:

Jordan simply did not have the ability to fight Israel any longer, or to deal with Palestinian factions operating in its territory.

Egypt wanted its land back after failing to reclaim it in 1973.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:58AM (#47048184)
> What do you mean by “back”?

> Egypt wanted its land back after failing to reclaim it in 1973.

It seems you are aware that peace deal with Egypt is what got Sinai back to Egypt.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @10:16AM (#47048387)
Regarding this comment specifically, if you took the time to read the next sentence, you would have understood that “back” is referring to Jordan.

I have read your other comments. I am not going to engage further, for two reasons:

1. You’re a bit late to the party, and I primarily respond to engage with readers.

2. You’re clearly coming in with a closed mind.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by reliabilityguy on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @10:44AM (#47048739)
What a wonderful way to not discuss the facts and claims made by you on their merits.

Also, I am not sure how you can imply that you are unbiased.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by bpt3 on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:34AM (#47035499)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War

Start here, and then work your way both forwards and backwards if you have any interest in learning.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:38AM (#47035541)
Wow thanks for the pointer, I had no idea! Eye opening stuff!
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by bpt3 on Monday February 16, 2026 @01:02PM (#47038084)
You apparently need it, given your illogical and inaccurate statements in this thread, but I won't hold my breath while waiting for you to accept that.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @01:12PM (#47038208)
Feel free to respond where you disagree for the benefit of those reading the thread.

Btw, linking to a wiki page does not reflect any knowledge on your part. By not engaging with your own words, it is fair to default to assuming that you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by bpt3 on Monday February 16, 2026 @01:37PM (#47038489)
Others have already done so since my initial comment and your response was either "nah" or to disengage, so I'm not going to waste my time arguing with someone who is clearly personally invested in a very specific narrative.
Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by Cyph0n on Monday February 16, 2026 @02:41PM (#47039316)
Oh, I was never interested in arguing with you at all given how you decided to start off this conversation.

I was just pointing out that you can always respond and demonstrate your brilliance to readers of the thread.

Re:The Israeli spyware firm that accidentally just exposed i... by hparadiz on Monday February 16, 2026 @09:29AM (#47035433)
Ah yes hackernews. Where I get to read blood libels and Soviet propaganda.