Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Incredible: Israel hacked Tehran traffic cameras to track Khamenei ahead of assassination
Israel hacked into Tehran’s extensive traffic camera network in order to track the bodyguards of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials ahead of Saturday’s assassination of the supreme leader, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Iran’s cameras are believed to be part of the state’s surveillance apparatus, allowing authorities to identify and pursue protesters and regime opponents. But the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, was able to co-opt the network for use against the regime, the report said.
The FT said Israel gained access to the cameras years ago, and found that one particular camera was angled in such a way that it showed where members of Khamenei’s security team parked their cars.
Through the cameras, Israeli intelligence built files on the guards’ addresses, work schedules, and who they were assigned to protect.
On the day of the attack, Israel and the US also disrupted cellular service on Tehran’s Pasteur Street, where Khamenei was assassinated, so those trying to reach the bodyguards and deliver possible warnings would receive busy signals, per the report.
“We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official told the Financial Times. “And when you know [a place] as well as you know the street you grew up on, you notice a single thing that’s out of place.”
Israel used AI tools and algorithms it had developed to sort through mountains of data it was amassing on Iran’s leadership and their movements, according to an official who spoke with the British daily, which said the bulk of the work was performed by the IDF’s Unit 8200.
The massive data mining operation allowed the military to track Khamenei to the Saturday meeting where he was struck, and assured Mossad and the CIA that senior officials were on their way to the meeting.
The CIA also had a human source who provided key intelligence, according to the sources. No further details were provided.
Khamenei, who had led the Islamic Republic since 1989, was killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday morning during the opening salvo of the US-Israeli campaign that has hammered Iran in the days since. Iran has said it will convene its Assembly of Experts as soon as it can to name a successor.
The New York Times reported on Monday that the US and Israel were intending to open the war against Iran on Friday night, hitting Tehran under the cover of darkness, but delayed the first strikes until Saturday morning because of intelligence that enabled the elimination of Khamenei.
“The timing was ultimately determined by a remarkable intelligence coup,” said the newspaper, in an extensive report that chronicled US President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war. “The CIA, which had been closely tracking Ayatollah Khamenei’s movements, learned that the supreme leader was planning to be at his residential compound in central Tehran on Saturday morning. Senior Iranian civilian and military leaders were also set to convene at the same location, at the same time. The CIA passed the intelligence to the Israelis, and leaders of both countries decided to kick off the war with a bold ‘decapitation’ strike in daylight.”
It said Trump gave “the official go order” as he flew to Corpus Christi on Friday afternoon to deliver a speech about energy.
Israel attacked the Supreme Council as it voted for Khamenei's successor......88 Members were inside.. Hoping they were all inside!
مهم نیست امروز چه کسی انتخاب میشود سرنوشت او قلم زده شده، تنها ملت ایران راهبر آتی خود را انتخاب خواهند کرد pic.twitter.com/dwyRW6ZB4U
— Mossad Farsi (@MossadSpokesman) March 3, 2026
A security source confirmed that Israel attacked the council building in Qom, where the Supreme Council's Assembly of Experts, consisting of 88 members, was set to vote on the next Supreme Leader of Iran during the voting process.
Shortly before 4:00 PM, the IDF announced that it had launched a ninth wave of attacks in Tehran. In Iran, explosions were reported in the capital. The Iranian establishment media also reported explosions in the cities of Raj, Shiraz, and Fawah.
At the same time, the IDF spokesman in Persian, Lt. Col. (res.) Kamal Pinhasi, issued an evacuation notice for those in the "Hakimiyeh" industrial zone in Tehran. "In the coming hours, the IDF will operate in the area," it said.
Another tweet by the Mossad in Persian stated: "It doesn't matter who is chosen today; his fate has been decreed. Only the Iranian nation will choose their next leader."
DemonRats scheme to steal NYC"s Lone GOP Seat Fails
The US Supreme Court blocked Democrats from redrawing New York City’s lone GOP-held House seat following an emergency appeal from Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.
The order grants a stay, barring a state judge from redrawing the 11th Congressional District map ahead of the midterm elections.
Malliotakis had appealed to the high court earlier this month, after a Manhattan judge ruled her district’s current map — which links Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn — was “unconstitutional,” and ordered it redrawn in January.
“This evening, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a stay in the NY-11 case,” New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox wrote in a statement.
“This blatantly political case violated both the New York State and federal constitutions and, as Justice Alito stated, the lower court’s decision was a full-blown racial gerrymander,” Cox said.
A separate appeal from Republicans to halt the Dems’ attempts at redrawing the district lines was unanimously rejected by a mid-level state appellate court.
Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to keep New York’s 11th Congressional District intact helps restore the public’s confidence in our judicial system and proves the challenge to our district lines was always meritless,” Malliotakis wrote in a statement.
“The plaintiffs in this case attempted to manipulate our state’s courts to use race as a weapon to rig our elections. That was wrong and, as demonstrated by today’s ruling, clearly unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the politicization of New York’s courts and its judges necessitated action from the nation’s highest court,” she continued.
The plaintiffs argued in court that the existing maps – which no Democrats in the state legislature opposed when they were adopted in 2024 – had diluted minority black and Latino voters in the 11th District.
Democrats, with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, had launched the effort to redraw Malliotakis’ district in reaction to Texas allegedly gerrymandering its map to favor Republicans last year.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the high court recognizes it would’ve likely intervened if New York redrew the lines.
“Our stay, far from causing disruption or upsetting legitimate expectations, eliminates much of the uncertainty and confusion that would exist if the Independent Redistricting Commission proceeded to draw a new district that this Court would likely strike down if the cases reached us in time,” Alito wrote.
Justice Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion along with fellow liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown-Jackson, called the stay an “unprecedented step” of the court’s intervention on redistricting matters.
“Time and again, this Court has said that federal courts should not interfere with state-court litigation,” Sotomayor wrote.
Israel successfully deploys Iron Beam
After many years in research and development, Israel successfully operated the IRON BEAM missile defense system for the first time in a warfare secenario against Iranian drones and missiles in February 2026.
Iron Beam represents a revolutionary shift from “ammunition-based" to “energy-based" defense - turning electricity into an inexhaustible, precision weapon at about 3 dollars per laser burst instead of $150K for each Iron Dome rocket.
Iron Beam engages the enemy missile at the speed of light and has a range of about 10 kilometers.
Iron Beam requires “dwell" time on a target because it is literally setting the missile on fir which causes it to fall in heavy rain, dust or even fog. It is weather sensitive.
Iron Beam uses a high-intensity laser beam to deliver concentrated thermal energy at a coin-sized spot - heating the surface to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit and igniting propellant or causing structural failure.
Iron Beam works best against slower rockets or drones.
The weapon fires hundreds of “coin-sized" laser beams and once the first hit is detected then the other beams are re-directed to that same spot.
The success of Iron Beam will lead to many governments to order it as the new cornerstone of their missile and drone defensive system born out of Israel’s essential need to protect its people from multiple enemies often targeting the Jewish State at the same time as we have seen over the last few years.
Iran’s failure is Israel’s success.
Barry Shaw blogs at The View from Israel, Israel Institute for Strategic Studies.
Israel carried out ground operation in Iran
Israel carried out a ground operation in Iran on Monday night, using Mossad and special forces, Al Arabiya reported.
The report, which quoted "sources," did not offer additional details. Israel has not commented on or responded to the report.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF reported that an Israeli Air Force aircraft struck and thwarted a cell of operatives from the Iranian terrorist regime’s air defense array as they attempted to operate systems against the IDF.
"The Israeli Air Force continues to strike Iranian ballistic missile launchers and fire array sites that target Israeli Air Force aircraft," the IDF stressed. "The IDF will not allow the Iranian terrorist regime to target Israeli Air Force aircraft and will continue to strike against attempts to arm missile launchers."
Following the incident, the Israeli Air Force is continuing to strike live fire array sites, missile launchers, and ballistic missiles.
Spain condemns US and Israel’s strikes on Iran, denies base use
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| Spanish Inquisition |
Spain has denied the United States permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory for attacks on Iran, as Madrid increased its criticism of the US and Israel's military intervention, the Guardian reported Monday.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned what he described as the “unilateral military action" taken by the US and Israel against Iran, warning that it is contributing to a “more hostile and uncertain international order."
Sánchez's government has reinforced this stance by refusing to allow the US to use bases in Rota and Morón for the ongoing strikes against Iran.
José Manuel Albares, Spain's Foreign Minister, made it clear on Monday that while Spain supports “democracy, freedom, and fundamental rights for the Iranian people," it would not permit its bases to be used in military operations that fall outside of agreements with the US or violate the UN charter.
"The bases are not being used - nor will they be used - for anything that is not in the agreement with the US, nor for anything that isn’t covered by the UN charter," he was quoted as having stated in an interview with Telecinco.
Bereaved father: 'Abraham sacrificed one son, I have sacrificed three'
Hundreds accompanied the three Biton siblings-Avigail, Yaakov, and Sarah, may God avenge their blood- to their final resting place this evening (Monday). They were killed by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh.
Their grieving father, Yitzhak Biton, eulogized them in tears: “Our father Abraham sacrificed one son, I sacrificed three. I sacrificed my son Yaakov, my daughter Avigail, and my daughter Sarah. The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to take these holy souls. We were at home when there was a tremendous blast. The ceiling collapsed, and I shielded the youngest daughter."
During the funeral procession, their grandmother, Lillian, eulogized them through tears: “These were pure children who only knew how to do good. They grew up in a home of goodness, joy, love for Israel, and only doing good for others."
She also spoke about her daughter, the children’s mother: “They have a special mother. Their mother is stronger than anyone. She has great strength and deep faith. She taught them at home, not in institutions. A home education-she feared that the outside world would spoil them."
In her remarks, she addressed the public: “The people of Israel must strengthen themselves-this is the time. We must be together and believe that the Torah will save us and cling to the Holy One, blessed be He. That is what will save us, not shelters. The mother told them, ‘Do not go to the shelter, stay with me,’ because she has faith."
During the funeral procession, the grandmother cried out: “Creator of the world, these holy children have come to You; send redemption, enough, Creator of the world!"
Monday, March 2, 2026
The Unbearable Lightness of Charedi Emptiness
I remember growing up and slowly noticing a pattern: the more yeshivish the kid was, the wilder they tended to be.
I don’t mean “wild” in a charming or adventurous sense. I mean impulsive, reckless, sometimes physically aggressive. Jumping off things. Jumping on people. Testing boundaries constantly. They were often nice kids, but they were not well-contained kids.
And the explanation that circulated, and that many adults genuinely believed, was that these kids were protected. That they were insulated. That because they didn’t watch television, because they didn’t read newspapers, because they didn’t engage with the outside world, they were somehow purer, more kosher, more spiritual.
That simply didn’t match reality. This matters, because it connects directly to the larger conversation about secular studies.
Over the past few decades, a new model has been celebrated in parts of the yeshivish world: the idea that you can eliminate secular studies entirely and still succeed.
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