Tuesday 15th October 2024

Israel’s Hidden War - Foreign Affairs (No paywall)

In August, Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s general security service, the Shin Bet, wrote a remarkable letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli cabinet ministers. The letter didn’t get much attention in Israel or abroad, but it went to the heart of the crisis that has afflicted the country since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. Bar warned that intensifying attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which he called “Jewish terrorism,” challenge “Israel’s national security” and are a “large stain on Judaism.” He described a trend in which “hilltop youth” (the term used in Israel for extremist settlers, although some of these militants are long past their youth) in the West Bank are not only assaulting Palestinians but also clashing with Israeli security forces—all with the backing of senior members of the government. The settler militias had gone from “evading the security forces to attacking the security forces,” Bar wrote, “from cutting themselves off from the establishment to receiving legitimacy from certain officials in the establishment.”

Over the past year, events in the West Bank have been obscured first by Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza and now by the war’s escalation in Lebanon and Iranian strikes on Israeli territory. But since October 7, 2023, the UN has recorded over 1,400 incidents of settler attacks in the occupied territories (ranging from vandalism to assault, arson, and live fire) that resulted in injury or property damage and led to the displacement of 1,600 Palestinians from their homes, an uptick after an already record-breaking year of settler violence in 2023. Bar’s intervention in the summer came as Israeli officials in the defense ministry and the Israel Defense Forces warned that the West Bank was on the verge of an explosion that could cause hundreds of Israeli fatalities in a new conflagration in Israel’s multifront war.

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The quest to protect farmworkers from extreme heat - MIT Technology Review (No paywall)

Researchers are developing a sensor to predict, and help prevent, heat exhaustion.

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The U.S. Must Learn to Leave Iraq - Foreign Policy (No paywall)

Reports indicate that Baghdad and Washington have agreed to wind down Operation Inherent Resolve. The remaining 2,500 American troops in Iraq will withdraw in two phases over the next two years, marking the end of the decade-long counter-Islamic State mission. Under this agreement, a contingent of U.S. forces will remain in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region to support operations in Syria.

Reports indicate that Baghdad and Washington have agreed to wind down Operation Inherent Resolve. The remaining 2,500 American troops in Iraq will withdraw in two phases over the next two years, marking the end of the decade-long counter-Islamic State mission. Under this agreement, a contingent of U.S. forces will remain in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region to support operations in Syria.

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The WhatsApp Campaign - Intelligencer (No paywall)

Kamala Harris’s team is looking for hard-to-find voters just about everywhere, including one platform favored by Latinos.

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Millions of People Are Using Abusive AI ‘Nudify’ Bots on Telegram - WIRED (No paywall)

In early 2020, deepfake expert Henry Ajder uncovered one of the first Telegram bots built to "undress" photos of women using artificial intelligence. At the time, Ajder recalls, the bot had been used to generate more than 100,000 explicit photos—including those of children—and its development marked a "watershed" moment for the horrors deepfakes could create. Since then, deepfakes have become more prevalent, more damaging, and easier to produce.

Now, a WIRED review of Telegram communities involved with the explicit nonconsensual content has identified at least 50 bots that claim to create explicit photos or videos of people with only a couple of clicks. The bots vary in capabilities, with many suggesting they can "remove clothes" from photos while others claim to create images depicting people in various sexual acts.

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Wall Street wants a strong economy, it also wants Fed rate cuts. The two aren't necessarily compatible - Fortune (No paywall)

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This Neuroscientist Has a Simple Trick for Making Tough Decision-Making Instantly Easier

Imagine you're facing a tough decision. Maybe it's a business decision like which of four locations to pick for your company's expansion. Or maybe it's more personal, like which of four potential schools would be the best fit for your child. You've researched and racked your brains and you just can't seem to pull the trigger on a final choice. 

This is a complicated subject, and if you're looking for all the nitty-gritty details I point you to this fascinating Quanta Magazine article by Emily Singer. In it, she explains in great detail recent experiments on decision making Glimcher conducted using a simple and tasty model — identifying which candy bar study subjects would choose when faced with an array of choices. 


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1 Critical Reminder I Give Myself During Important Meetings: Just Ask Questions

As a visionary leader, it's tempting to walk into important meetings and take control. When you're used to driving the business forward, it can feel natural to steer the conversation, deliver directives, and push for quick decisions. But I've learned that the true measure of leadership isn't about how much you direct-it's about how much you elevate the people around you. That's why I just ask questions.

As a leader, you often have the answers. You know where the business needs to go, and you've likely got a clear sense of how to get there. But growing a successful company isn't about being the smartest person in the room-it's about building a team that feels empowered, engaged, and confident enough to take ownership of their work.


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Entrepreneurship Is Tough. But Leading a Successful Business Ultimately Comes Down to These 3 Surprisingly Simple Truths

I've been an entrepreneur for 15 years. I've co-founded and led a laundry and dry cleaning startup called Rinse, which is now a leader in the space. I've invested in and advised early-stage startups. I mentor aspiring entrepreneurs. I co-teach the "Startup Garage" course at Stanford Business School. And before all of this, when I was just beginning to understand my passion for entrepreneurship, I interned at a little New York startup called Bonobos, where I had the chance to work directly with and learn from Andy Dunn and his team.

Suffice to say, I've seen a lot, from rapid growth and funding successes to jarring setbacks and global crises. These experiences have shaped my understanding of entrepreneurship—and of what it means to succeed.


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Want to Raise More Resilient, Emotionally Healthy Kids? Science Says Always Respond to Their Pain or Illness Like This

As Inc. colleague Bill Murphy Jr. writes, there comes a time in some people's lives when their aspirations for their children begin to rival or even exceed their aspirations for themselves. Plus, if you have or plan to have kids, one of the best ways to feel your work-life balance is healthy is to feel you're succeeding as a parent: that you're helping your children grow up to be happy, fulfilled, independent, and successful.

I was riding horses with my grandfather when I was 12. My saddle slipped (I hadn't cinched it tightly enough), I slid sideways and under, and the horse stepped on my back as he ran away. My grandfather rode back, leaned his forearms on the pommel, and looked down at me while I gasped for breath. "The longer you lie there," he said, "the longer it's going to take to catch your horse."


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