The Rostra

The Pentagon's own Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) just rated Israel's espionage threat to the United States as "critical" — the highest level it has. This isn't new. It's the latest chapter in a sixty-year pattern of Israel spying on American government and military officials — a record that's never once cost Israel a dollar of U.S. support. Since 1948, Israel has...

The Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps once accused Israel — in writing, to the Secretary of Defense — of running a deliberate campaign to threaten the lives of his Marines. Most Americans have never heard this story. In this episode, we revisit the 1967 USS Liberty attack, then dig deep into the 1983 Beirut Marine harassment campaign — the tank confrontations, General Robert H. Barrow's extraord...

Buried on page 8 of a 500-page defense bill, Section 224 of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act would permanently fuse the U.S. and Israeli militaries — merging their weapons development, technology pipelines, and defense industrial base in ways that could never be undone. This isn't a foreign aid provision. It doesn't say "give Israel money." That's exactly what make...

Thomas Massie lost one of the most expensive congressional primaries in American history. More than $34 million was spent on a single House primary race — with millions coming from pro-Israel Super PACs, billionaire donors, and political organizations aligned around one goal: removing one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of foreign aid and intervention. In this episode, we examine what actuall...

Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government are spending an unprecedented $730 million on “public diplomacy” — what Israel calls  hasbara  — in an effort to reverse collapsing global support for Israel following the war in Gaza. In this episode, we examine Israel’s expanding propaganda and influence campaign, including state-backed social media operations, influencer and pastor outreach programs...

Donald Trump campaigned on “America First” and promised to keep the United States out of another major Middle East war. Instead, the U.S. became directly involved in a war with Iran after years of pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pro-Israel lobbying organizations, billionaire donors, and hawkish policy networks in Washington. This episode examines how Israel’s political inf...

This was never a ceasefire. Israel didn’t intend to leave Gaza—and the pattern on the ground makes that clear. While officials frame the situation as “self-defense” or “de-escalation,” Israeli forces continue to expand control, restrict aid, and carry out strikes that make large parts of Gaza unlivable. This episode breaks down what’s actually happening: • A ceasefire that is repeatedly violated T...

This episode breaks down the mounting evidence that Israeli military operations in Gaza and Lebanon have repeatedly targeted paramedics, ambulances, hospitals, and aid workers—all protected under international law. From the Rafah paramedic killings in March 2025 to consecutive strikes on emergency responders in Lebanon and the systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, these are not isola...

You can judge a society by how it treats children. This episode examines the conditions facing Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Drawing on reporting from the  United Nations ,  UNICEF ,  Human Rights Watch ,  Amnesty International , Save the Children, and  B'Tselem , this episode connects individual cases to broader, documented patt...

Since October 2023, the United States has committed  over $30 billion  tied to Israel’s wars — including more than  $20 billion in direct military aid . In this episode, we'll break down where that money actually goes, how the system works, and what it means in practice. We'll walk through: The structure of U.S. military aid to Israel, including  Foreign Military Financing (FMF) The surge in fundi...

Israel has passed a new law authorizing the execution of Palestinians. In military courts, the death penalty is now mandatory, with a timeline that can move from conviction to execution in as little as 90 days. But this episode argues that the law cannot be understood in isolation. Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in a separate military legal system—one with a near-total conviction rate and...

Israeli settlers have carried out repeated attacks on Palestinian civilians—burning homes, destroying property, and forcing communities off their land. These incidents are frequently framed as isolated clashes or the actions of a few extremists. This episode examines a pattern of violence in the occupied West Bank that is often described as “complex,” but rarely analyzed on its own terms. Using wi...

The recent killing of four members of a Palestinian family raises broader questions about what’s happening in the West Bank: is this still an occupation, or is Israel pursuing an even darker policy shift? This episode explores settlement expansion, Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians, and the growing argument that Israel is moving toward de facto annexation and permanent con...

The world is watching Iran. Gaza has been forgotten. But the killing hasn't stopped. Since October 10th, 2025, Israel has violated the so-called ceasefire more than 1,620 times. Over 650 Palestinians have been killed. More than 1,700 wounded. The confirmed death toll since October 2023 now stands at over 72,000 — including more than 20,000 children. This is not a ceasefire breaking down. It is a c...