liel leibovitz✓

@liel

Editor at Large at @tabletmag, senior fellow at @HudsonInstitute, columnist at @firstthingsmag, works full time for HaShem.

  • Still point of turning world.
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  1. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    There's an excellent way out of Israel's political quagmire. It requires Bibi to reach out and form a coalition with Mansour Abbas. No, really.
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  2. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    Here's the painful thing to realize about Israel's elections: These are the first elections since October 7. You'd expect that a tragedy on this scale would change everything. That it would give rise to new insights, new visions, new candidates. It did no such thing. Instead, yesterday's elections felt like they could've been held in 2022, or 2019, or 2014. Same bloviation about "change." Same childlike hope that if only we plucked the right bumbling general, we'd be able to convince enough Israelis that he can unseat Bibi. Same Bibi, too, masterfully shadow-boxing against his foes and eking out a victory just when everyone thought he was done. But no real change. Imagine the possibilities here. Imagine a candidate starting a conversation about the PA, say, and why it's madness for the IDF to continue and pretend like this festering nest of terrorists is a potential partner for peace. Or imagine a candidate -- maybe even Bibi himself -- stating that the Bible tells us precisely what to do with the non-Jewish minority in our midst, instructing us that those who don't wish to fight us or leave should be embraced as equals. Imagine a right-wing prime minister saying we're secure enough in our rights as sovereigns to offer any Israeli Arab who wishes to accept this sovereignty in full and without reservations a spot in the governing coalition. These are just examples of forging some daring path forward and revitalizing a political system that feels truly sclerotic. Instead, we're likely headed for days, weeks, or months of petty trading, pettier accusations, and no real thrust forward. What a pity.
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  3. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    We now go live to Jerusalem as Jews are trying to form a coalition:
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  4. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    Reminder number 3,452,146 that "pro-Palestine" equals anti-America. Look at Rome. Paris. Milan. Brussels: these animals are here to take over. "Palestine" is code word for burning down the West. Let's fight back against these animals.
    MAGA WARRIOR @MAGA_warrio
    BREAKING 🚨Pro-Palestinian supporters set the American flag on fire in Chicago. If they hate America so much, what are they doing there?!
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  5. MAGA WARRIOR✓@MAGA_warrio
    BREAKING 🚨Pro-Palestinian supporters set the American flag on fire in Chicago. If they hate America so much, what are they doing there?!
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  6. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    I've seen the future, brother, it is murder.
    Breaking911 @Breaking911
    WATCH: Migrant Uber Eats delivery workers in France are using multiple phones to reject low-paying orders, forcing the app’s algorithm to raise delivery offers to €15 or more.
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  7. Breaking911✓@Breaking911
    WATCH: Migrant Uber Eats delivery workers in France are using multiple phones to reject low-paying orders, forcing the app’s algorithm to raise delivery offers to €15 or more.
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  8. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    No sweat. Banning carriage horses should totally take care of the problem.
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  9. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    There is truly absolutely nothing like sitting down with @marissastreit, and no greater honor than being with my friends on @prageru. Pour yourself a stiff drink and watch our conversation: it's not for the weak of will or faint of heart.
    Marissa Streit @marissastreit
    Are America and Israel fighting parallel battles to preserve their existential and moral foundations? Israeli writer and commentator @liel Leibovitz joins this NEW episode of Real Talk to discuss the political and spiritual divisions shaping both nations. From Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's controversial judicial reforms to the aftermath of October 7 and the future of Zionism, Leibovitz explains why Israel is confronting a fundamental question about its identity: Should it be a secular state for Jews or a Jewish state rooted in biblical principles? He also explores how the Hebrew Bible influenced America's Founding Fathers, why both nations must renew their commitment to their moral foundations, and what happens when societies lose sight of the values that unite them. New Release:
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  10. Marissa Streit✓@marissastreit
    Are America and Israel fighting parallel battles to preserve their existential and moral foundations? Israeli writer and commentator @liel Leibovitz joins this NEW episode of Real Talk to discuss the political and spiritual divisions shaping both nations. From Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's controversial judicial reforms to the aftermath of October 7 and the future of Zionism, Leibovitz explains why Israel is confronting a fundamental question about its identity: Should it be a secular state for Jews or a Jewish state rooted in biblical principles? He also explores how the Hebrew Bible influenced America's Founding Fathers, why both nations must renew their commitment to their moral foundations, and what happens when societies lose sight of the values that unite them. New Release:
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  11. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    The IDF finally committed a real crime against humanity: It let @bradlander go.
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  12. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    Yet another proof that losing is the most addictive substance on earth. These losers caved on the Iran Deal, and they haven’t stopped losing since.
    Josh Kraushaar @JoshKraushaar
    SCOOP @jewishinsider via @marcrod97: "AIPAC to end candidate endorsements, PAC contributions to allies"
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  13. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    My friend @davereaboi wrote a book that is meticulously researched, beautifully written, and essential. It's not just about Jeffrey Epstein. It's about the "elimination of America’s capacity to reason about its own national interests." Buy it now.
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  14. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    liel leibovitz
    RT @Jesse_Leg: We went from “questioning Abdul El-Sayed’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood is racist” to “actually, the Muslim Brotherhood is quite moderate by Egyptian standards, and Republicans are far worse anyway” remarkably quickly.
    Shadi Hamid @shadihamid
    I've been reticent to jump into the moral panic about @AbdulElSayed's supposed ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. But I'll say a few things that should be obvious but apparently aren't, as someone who studied the Brotherhood for years and wrote several books about them. First of all, so what if Abdul's mom was involved with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s? What does that have to do with Abdul? You shouldn't be judged for something your parents did or didn't do before you were even born. That's plainly guilt by association. As for the Egyptian Brotherhood itself, it hasn't been involved in political violence since the 1940s/50s and even those incidents can't really be described as terrorism, since they didn't target innocent civilians for political gain. In the decades since, the Brotherhood has repeatedly renounced violence and committed themselves to pursuing their aims through the democratic process. It's little accident that Al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, wrote an entire book condemning the Brotherhood as lackeys and disbelievers, precisely because they had agreed to abide by the rules of the democratic game. Of course, it's totally fine to dislike the Brotherhood and what they stand for. They advocate for the application of Islamic law in politics and for a larger role for Islam in public life more broadly. In short, they're illiberal and we as Americans probably wouldn't want to live under their rule. But I don't see how one could describe them as an "extremist" organization. Their views on Islam — as ample polling makes clear — are fairly mainstream by Egyptian standards. I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to judge the Brotherhood according to liberal, American standards. Before the Trump administration, successive U.S. administrations engaged directly with Muslim Brotherhood officials and maintained open lines of communication with their leaders, which made sense. They were the largest mass movement and opposition group in Egypt and it would have been foolish to ignore them from the standpoint of U.S. national interests. Even if you hate the Brotherhood, it should also be possible to hold the view that their members and supporters shouldn't be repressed or killed and should have the right to participate in politics and contest democratic elections. Democracy, at its core, is about the right to make the wrong choice. In many ways, MAGA as a movement is more radical than the Brotherhood was in Egypt both before and during the Arab Spring. At the very least, MAGA — like the Brotherhood — is illiberal. And the Republican Party under Trump has a dubious relationship with democracy. After all, a significant number of Republicans, including Trump himself, didn't respect democratic outcomes in 2020 and sought to overturn a legitimate election. The GOP's attempt to demonize the Brotherhood and paint with the guilt-by-association brush is just another way to vilify peaceful law-abiding American Muslims by portraying them as having foreign ties and dual loyalties. It should be rejected as such. The idea that Abdul is some secret Muslim Brotherhood member is absurd on its face. I wish the Republican Party would make up its mind about people like Abdul and Zohran, both of whom take the Democratic Party's line on LGBTQ rights and even trans athletes participation in women's sports. Sure, their faith is important to them and it influences them — but Republicans should welcome the fact that there are prominent Muslim politicians who are normalizing talking about one's faith in public life, especially after criticizing the Democratic Party for being inhospitable to people of faith.
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  15. Shadi Hamid✓@shadihamid
    I've been reticent to jump into the moral panic about @AbdulElSayed's supposed ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. But I'll say a few things that should be obvious but apparently aren't, as someone who studied the Brotherhood for years and wrote several books about them. First of all, so what if Abdul's mom was involved with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s? What does that have to do with Abdul? You shouldn't be judged for something your parents did or didn't do before you were even born. That's plainly guilt by association. As for the Egyptian Brotherhood itself, it hasn't been involved in political violence since the 1940s/50s and even those incidents can't really be described as terrorism, since they didn't target innocent civilians for political gain. In the decades since, the Brotherhood has repeatedly renounced violence and committed themselves to pursuing their aims through the democratic process. It's little accident that Al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, wrote an entire book condemning the Brotherhood as lackeys and disbelievers, precisely because they had agreed to abide by the rules of the democratic game. Of course, it's totally fine to dislike the Brotherhood and what they stand for. They advocate for the application of Islamic law in politics and for a larger role for Islam in public life more broadly. In short, they're illiberal and we as Americans probably wouldn't want to live under their rule. But I don't see how one could describe them as an "extremist" organization. Their views on Islam — as ample polling makes clear — are fairly mainstream by Egyptian standards. I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to judge the Brotherhood according to liberal, American standards. Before the Trump administration, successive U.S. administrations engaged directly with Muslim Brotherhood officials and maintained open lines of communication with their leaders, which made sense. They were the largest mass movement and opposition group in Egypt and it would have been foolish to ignore them from the standpoint of U.S. national interests. Even if you hate the Brotherhood, it should also be possible to hold the view that their members and supporters shouldn't be repressed or killed and should have the right to participate in politics and contest democratic elections. Democracy, at its core, is about the right to make the wrong choice. In many ways, MAGA as a movement is more radical than the Brotherhood was in Egypt both before and during the Arab Spring. At the very least, MAGA — like the Brotherhood — is illiberal. And the Republican Party under Trump has a dubious relationship with democracy. After all, a significant number of Republicans, including Trump himself, didn't respect democratic outcomes in 2020 and sought to overturn a legitimate election. The GOP's attempt to demonize the Brotherhood and paint with the guilt-by-association brush is just another way to vilify peaceful law-abiding American Muslims by portraying them as having foreign ties and dual loyalties. It should be rejected as such. The idea that Abdul is some secret Muslim Brotherhood member is absurd on its face. I wish the Republican Party would make up its mind about people like Abdul and Zohran, both of whom take the Democratic Party's line on LGBTQ rights and even trans athletes participation in women's sports. Sure, their faith is important to them and it influences them — but Republicans should welcome the fact that there are prominent Muslim politicians who are normalizing talking about one's faith in public life, especially after criticizing the Democratic Party for being inhospitable to people of faith.
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  16. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    👇👇👇
    James Kirchick @jkirchick
    The Mehdi Hasan Test for immigration to the United States: People with the views and associations of Mehdi Hasan should be barred from American citizenship. My latest in @Commentary
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  17. James Kirchick✓@jkirchick
    The Mehdi Hasan Test for immigration to the United States: People with the views and associations of Mehdi Hasan should be barred from American citizenship. My latest in @Commentary
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  18. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    I know this graph features the usual disclaimer -- "not a statement about what you should do in tradeoff cases" etc. -- but it's such a stark reminder of the techno-Leninist streak of EA and why it's such an odious cult. It's like the most pretentious dudes you knew in high school got together, smoked some bad weed, read four pages if Nietzsche, and then used their coding skills to run models that "prove" their retarded ideas. As if we needed another bad religion.
    Jordan Schachtel @JordanSchachtel
    A few years ago, Effective Altruists decided to place "moral weights" on human lives. They say that humans are worth about two pigs or three chickens. These are the kind of models that will guide the distribution of funds through Anthropic's "public good" operation.
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  19. Jordan Schachtel✓@JordanSchachtel
    A few years ago, Effective Altruists decided to place "moral weights" on human lives. They say that humans are worth about two pigs or three chickens. These are the kind of models that will guide the distribution of funds through Anthropic's "public good" operation.
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    751691.1K97.2K
  20. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    Fight for France. Pray for it. Rush to its defense. If only because we can't have a nuclear arsenal fall into the hands of a coalition of Muslim Jihadis and vile Commies.
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  21. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    liel leibovitz
    RT @rahamimX: She's taking her conversion to Judaism seriously.
    California Post @californiapost
    Sydney Sweeney goes undercover in a dark brown wig: 'I didn't even recognize her'
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  22. California Post@californiapost
    Sydney Sweeney goes undercover in a dark brown wig: 'I didn't even recognize her'
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  23. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    Want to feel better and be smarter? Here's a simple two-step plan: 1. Subscribe to @tabletmag 2. RSVP for our subscriber-only special advanced screening of @paginghezbollah, the year's most explosive documentary, with a Q&A with director @JustinFolk
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  24. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    All jokes aside, this is actually the playbook for so much of what's wrong with America. Mutually accrediting mediocrities empowering each other to assert their middling opinions because they received some certification from some no-longer-relevant institution. From "Dr." Jill Biden to this bozo, it's preening, self-important retardation all the way down, devouring actual excellence and emptying everything of wonder and purpose.
    Douglass Mackey @douglassmackey
    “You can’t make fun of me, I have a master’s degree in comedy”
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  25. Douglass Mackey✓@douglassmackey
    “You can’t make fun of me, I have a master’s degree in comedy”
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  26. liel leibovitz✓@liel
    Walking home today on the UWS, saw a car full of people campaigning for @TheRealCShinkle. Not bored-looking teens paid $6 an hour to hand out signs. Not bitter old Commie crones. Just young and happy people waving American flags and believing in the future. Let's go!
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