“The Israeli government has spent more than $1 billion in direct expenditures on public diplomacy since the Hamas–led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, a dramatic escalation in such spending. This represents Israel’s new reliance on influence operations in the United States, funded directly by the country’s government and subject to American laws on foreign influence.“

“Now, the ceasefire he negotiated with Tehran has collapsed and Trump risks dragging the U.S. into yet another forever war — in Iran.”

“If the plans that are currently being elaborated for Gaza go forward, genocide may come to be seen by some nations as the legitimate and lucrative extension of politics by other means.”

“Congress has once again defied the will of the American people and moved us one step closer to fusing our military industrial complex with Israel’s. Even worse, they’re not even willing to have an honest, public debate about the issue. They just keep pushing this dangerous proposal forward behind closed doors. And, the reason they’re doing this is painfully obvious: they know the American people don’t want it, but they’re too scared to stand up to the Israel lobby.“

Every Democrat and most Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee say they support a “two-state solution.” At the same time, “ending Israeli control over Palestinians in the territories occupied since 1967 is not on the table,” Norman Solomon wrote last week. “For politicians it has become a box to check,” while at this point “the two-state scenario is far-fetched to the point of delusion if not evasion.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and is scheduled to meet with President Trump on Tuesday.

Calls for an international boycott of Christopher Nolan’s recently released version of “The Odyssey” are based on his decision to shoot a segment of the film in the occupied nation of Western Sahara. 

Earthjustice and a coalition of environmental organizations are challenging the approval of a new PFAS fluid, Chemours’ Opteon 2P50, that would be used in data centers.

Trita Parsi writes: “Tehran believes Washington brokered the Lebanese-Israeli agreement — which contradicts the U.S.-Iran MOU by conditioning Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon on Hezbollah’s disarmament — to enable Israel to retain key positions that would weaken Hezbollah’s ability to support Iran in the next war. … What is clear is that the outlook of Iranian strategists has hardened markedly in recent weeks as they have become increasingly convinced that Trump intends to restart the war.”

In a piece for The American Prospect, David Dayen reports that a group of states sued to block the $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. These states argue that the merger, approved last month by the federal government, will lead to lower revenues for theater owners and cable distributors and higher prices for moviegoers and cable subscribers. The combined company would consolidate Hollywood into four major studios controlling 85 percent of wide-release films. The company would have a 27 percent market share of box office revenue and a 27 percent market share of basic cable. “One out of…