Tangle - The pager attack in Lebanon.

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

The pager attacks in Lebanon. On Tuesday, hundreds of pagers carried by members of Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. The Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack — an assertion confirmed by U.S. officials — although Israel has denied responsibility thus far.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can watch the replay of our live stream of the Harris Trump debate with commentary from Isaac on our YouTube Channel!Check out Episode 6 of our podcast series, The Undecideds. You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Help share Tangle.I'm a firm believer that our politics would be a little bit better if everyone were reading balanced news that allows room for debate, disagreement, and multiple perspectives. If you can take 15 seconds to share Tangle with a few friends I'd really appreciate it. Email Tangle to a friend here, share Tangle on X/Twitter here, or share Tangle on Facebook here.Take the survey: What do you think of the Hezbollah device explosions? Let us know!Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and today we are going to be talking about the pager attacks in Lebanon that I think we can say were conducted by Israel. We're going to break down exactly what happened, share some views from the left and the right, and some perspectives from abroad in the Middle East about this attack and what it means for the war, what it means for Israel, for Hezbollah, for Lebanon. There's a lot going on here. Before we do jump in, though, I do want to give you a quick

heads up that on Friday, we finally published that side-by-side comparison of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, where we looked at their positions, their records, and their promises on the biggest issues in 2024 and beyond. Just a reminder, this piece is not us judging these policies or records. It's just us telling you what they are as best we can. Unsurprisingly, we got a lot of criticism from the left and the right for not including one detail or another, for slanted framing, or for otherwise suggesting we didn't do enough to tell you if a policy proposal was good or bad. But to reiterate, that was not the point of the deep dive. We're just trying to show you what each candidate has done, what they say they're going to do, how those line up, and of course what they're campaigning on as we head into 2025. So if you're interested in that, you can read a preview of part one on

our website. There'll be a link to it in today's episode description. It'll be paywalled about halfway through. And then you can also read part two if you decide to become a Tangle member. And a reminder that if you're not a newsletter reader, or if you are and you also listen to the podcast here, if you subscribe to the newsletter, you'll get a discounted opportunity to get ad-free podcasts here. So you can kind of get the best of both worlds if you want. And you can always become a member and support our work by going to readtangle.com forward slash membership. All right, with that out of the way, I'm going to send it to John to break down today's main story, and then I'll be back for my take. Thanks, Isaac, and welcome, everybody. Hope you had a fantastic weekend.

Here are your quick hits for today. First up, House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open for three months. It does not include a Trump-backed measure requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Johnson plans to hold a floor vote on the legislation by Wednesday. Number two, an internal investigation of the Secret Service's performance at former President Donald Trump's campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13th found that poor planning and communication breakdowns were responsible for the agency's failure to stop the assassination attempt at the rally. Separately, Trump has said that he doesn't think he'll run for president in 2028 if he loses in 2024. Number three, a shooting in Birmingham, Alabama killed four people and

injured 17. A manhunt is underway for multiple suspects. Number four, Israeli troops raided the offices of Al Jazeera, a Qatar-funded news outlet in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, claiming the newsroom was being used to support terrorist activities. Al Jazeera denies the claim. Number five, the Federal Trade Commission sued three of the largest healthcare companies in the U.S., alleging that they artificially inflated the price of insulin. And a bonus number six, early voting has begun in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Virginia. Fears of a greater war between Israel and Hezbollah are rising after thousands of electronic devices exploded in Lebanon. of a greater war between Israel and Hezbollah are rising after thousands of electronic devices exploded in Lebanon. The Israeli military also launched a new wave of attacks against Hezbollah targets today.

The second day of deadly attacks in the Middle East, walkie-talkies belonging to members of Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon. It came a day after thousands of Hezbollah pagers exploded. Israel is not claiming responsibility, but officials tell ABC News that it is behind the operation. The leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S., told his followers today that they would exact revenge on Israel for two days of attacks that killed dozens and wounded thousands. In Beirut, pagers and walkie-talkies exploded on Tuesday and Wednesday, targeting members of Hezbollah but also injuring others. On Tuesday, hundreds of pagers carried by members of Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, detonated

simultaneously across Lebanon. The Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack, an assertion confirmed by U.S. officials, although Israel has denied responsibility thus far. Approximately 3,000 people were wounded by the explosions and 37 were killed, including two children, according to Lebanon's health ministry. On Wednesday, another round of exploding devices, this time handheld transceivers or walkie-talkies, injured at least 450 and killed 20, also according to Lebanon's health ministry. Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group that was founded during the Lebanese civil war. The group, which is funded in part by Iran, has made the destruction of Israel one of its primary goals. The day after

Hamas's October 7th attack, Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israeli positions along the Israel-Lebanon border. Since then, the two sides have exchanged attacks, displacing tens of thousands of civilians on each side of the border. In the days since the device detonations, reports from U.S. intelligence sources have suggested that Israel coordinated the attacks via supply chain interdiction, a process of creating a legitimate company to distribute booby-trapped devices. The producer of the pagers, said by U.S. intelligence officials to be a Hungary-based company operating as an Israeli front, planted one to two ounces of explosives and a remote trigger switch in each device, allowing for

simultaneous detonation. Israel reportedly decided to carry out the attack earlier than it had planned on the suspicion that Hezbollah had uncovered the plot. The nature of the attacks has alarmed some in the international community, who worry that weaponizing objects commonly used by civilians creates the potential for mass indiscriminate casualties. The exact number of civilians injured in the attacks remains unclear, but videos from around Lebanon showed the devices exploding in places that could impact civilians like cars, grocery stores, and cafes. The UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk, called for an independent investigation into the mass explosions, and the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss the incidents. Over the weekend, Hezbollah launched a series of retaliatory strikes, firing an estimated

115 projectiles into Israel. At least three missiles struck civilian areas, according to the Israeli military. Meanwhile, Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday and Sunday, which the military called a preemptive measure to neutralize Hezbollah's rocket-launching positions. On Monday, Israeli warplanes struck approximately 300 sites across Lebanon, killing at least 270 and injuring over 1,000, according to Lebanon's health ministry. The Pager and Waki Taki attacks occurred amid escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah. Earlier this month, U.S. and Israeli officials met to discuss easing tensions after both sides had exchanged rocket fire and airstrikes.

On Sunday, prominent U.S. officials publicly cautioned Israel against a war with Hezbollah, urging the country to seek a diplomatic solution. Today, we'll explore the implications of the attacks with views from the left, right, and righters in the Middle East, and then Isaac's take. We'll be right back after this quick commercial break. follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases.

What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. All right, first up, let's start with what the left is saying. The left acknowledges the tactical

success of the attack, but worries it could lead to a wider war. Some frame the attacks as an act of terror meant to stoke fear among civilians. In the Washington Post, David Ignatius wrote about the ominous implications of the Pager attack against Hezbollah. Israel didn't take credit for Tuesday's attack, but it didn't need to. An attack of this sophistication and daring in Lebanon could not have been staged by any other nation. The video scenes of Hezbollah fighters blown to the floor by their own communications devices sent an unmistakable Israeli message to the Iran-backed militia. We own you. We can penetrate every space in which you operate, Ignatius said. Israel's apparent decision to launch the attack was probably driven both by political and operational factors.

The U.S.-led ceasefire plan is stalled, and with it, the hope of a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah to calm the border. From a technical standpoint, it was a brilliant operation. Everyone on the military network was a target, including, it appears, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, who was shown on videos entering a hospital after being wounded. The Hezbollah network has now lost its special internal communications system, Ignatius wrote. Beyond its devastating effect on Hezbollah, the attack signals the beginning of a new and very dangerous era in cyber warfare. Any device that is connected to the internet can potentially be transformed into a weapon. In Jacobin, Madeleeline Hall argued Israel's beeper attacks are terrorism.

Much of the mainstream Western media has marveled at the so-called precision and sophistication of the attack, framing it as an operation intended to only target members of Hezbollah. This is patently false, as numerous civilians have been injured and killed, Hall said. Israel's real aim was clear, to stoke fear and mass panic among the entire population. During the second attack on Wednesday, explosions could be heard during the funeral of four people killed the previous day. There's a word for this. Terrorism. Israel's genocide in Gaza has devastated its own economy and sparked international outcry and condemnation. Yet it's still in the interests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep pushing for a forever war. It's also why

he's been dragging the entire nation into a wider war, Hall wrote. An invasion of Lebanon would bring Iran and Syria into the fray and expand the genocide in Gaza into a multi-war front. That's likely to keep Netanyahu's coalition intact and stave off his looming corruption trial. All right, that is it for what the left is saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. The right lauds Israel for a precise and destabilizing attack on a terrorist group. Some say Hezbollah will decide whether the attack leads to war. The New York Post editorial board said Israel's pager blasts sent just the right message to Hezbollah. That was some sublime act of counterterrorism,

remotely detonating sabotage pagers, walkie-talkies, and other devices belonging to Hezbollah terrorists. Good for Israel, even though it's not taking credit, the board wrote. It also hobbled the Iran-backed terror group's ability to communicate and will force its members to take extra precautions for whatever they plan to do next. Will their computers soon explode? Their cars? Their rockets? The move was exquisitely calibrated, hitting Hez's thugs with minimal harm to civilians, as is typical with the Israeli army military operations. The strikes will remind all Israel's enemies that attacking it also puts them and those around them at risk, the board said. And this was no escalation, just a response or the start of one. Since October 7th, Hezbollah has shot some 8,000 drones, missiles, and rockets

into Israel, igniting massive fires, killing Druze kids, and forcing the evacuation of nearly 100,000 Israelis. So the Pager op was entirely justified. In Newsweek, Jonathan Conricus wrote, Israel has focused its main offensive capabilities on defeating Hamas in Gaza over the past year and has limited itself to absorbing Hezbollah's attacks when it comes to the threat from the north. It seems that strategy has changed and the region could be at the brink of a major escalation, Conrick has said. Israel does not seek war with Hezbollah, at least not now, and is trying to persuade Hezbollah and its Iranian masters to agree to the U.S. offer to

de-escalate the border area and allow Israelis to return home. Hezbollah and its Iranian masters to agree to the U.S. offer to de-escalate the border area and allow Israelis to return home. Hezbollah faces a tough choice, which in many ways may seal its fate for years to come. It can either knowingly expose Lebanon, its population, and infrastructure to tremendous destruction and pain by deciding to unleash its more lethal and long-range weapons at Israel, or it can stand down now and agree to vacate the border with Israel and halt its aggression against it, Conricus wrote. Israel has been signaling to Hezbollah, the Iranians, the U.S., and others for months on end that it needs to return its citizens safely to their homes. This week, Israel chose different signals to carry out that same message

with additional weight. Now the ball is in Hezbollah's court. All right, that is it for what the left and the right are saying, which brings us to what some Middle East writers are saying. Writers from the Arab world say further escalation would be devastating for Israel and Lebanon alike. Israeli writers call the operation a success, but urge Israel's leaders to avoid a war with Hezbollah. In Arab news, Dania Hatib suggested a ground invasion of Lebanon would be a terrible mistake for Israel. The Lebanese people are divided. A majority blame the group, Hezbollah, for directly involving Lebanon in the wider conflict with Israel.

On the other hand, Hezbollah is now so invested in the conflict that halting its attacks on Israel before a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is in place would be viewed as a total defeat for the group, Hatib wrote. Now that Hezbollah is significantly weakened, Israeli authorities might feel encouraged to proceed with a ground operation. From their perspective, it would deliver a decisive knockout blow on the ground. There are two issues that Israeli authorities do not appear to be taking into consideration. The first is that backing Hezbollah into a corner is not a very smart strategy. A cat that is cornered will lash out at anyone it perceives as a threat, even if they are much stronger. The second issue is the ability of the group to adapt, Hatib wrote. If Israel invades Lebanon, it would be a blessing in disguise for Hezbollah.

It would grant the group a renewed legitimacy, help attract new recruits, and push the Lebanese people once again to rally behind it. In Haaretz, Raviv Drucker wrote, Israel hit Hezbollah. They responded. Let's end this. The attacks were meant to force Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to sever the connection he forged on October 8th between Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. In other words, they want to get him to sign a separate agreement with us and ignore the fact that there is no agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza, Drucker said. This goal is right and important, and in the negotiations we like to conduct with ourselves, we seem to have reached a deal.

We used force and conducted a jaw-dropping operation, so we're ready to leave the negotiating table and realize our gains. The recent pager operation, in which thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah members exploded, was ostensibly launched because it was about to be exposed. But alongside the operation's significant beliefs, it also caused quite a bit of harm, Drucker wrote. Above all, it made even people in Lebanon who aren't fans of Hezbollah support a harsh response against Israel. Nevertheless, given that the operation has already been carried out, Israel's smartest move now is to seek a swift diplomatic resolution. We hit them. They responded. Let's end this. Let's not repeat

the mistake we made by dragging out the second Lebanon war. All right, let's head over to Isaac for his take. All right, that is it for what the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. So when I first heard about this attack, the details were still pretty sparse, but I saw two tweets that I sent to the Tangle team and I asked them which perspective they felt more drawn to. The first one was from Peter Meyer, the former Michigan representative, who said, one was from Peter Meyer, the former Michigan representative, who said, I'm awestruck by the brilliance of Israel's beeper bombs. Hezbollah is in utter panic and can't respond because thousands of mid-senior leaders are wounded and their ability to communicate has been literally incinerated, all with minimal civilian casualties. Now that their secure beepers are blown away,

they're forced to make a trade-off between an action and exposing themselves via more easily traceable communications, all while feeling profoundly wounded and shaken by the fear of what else Israel has up its sleeve. Just bloody brilliant. And then there was the perspective of Bassem Youssef, a Palestinian who is also a well-known comedian. Bassem said, and suddenly my phone, our security system, my kids' tablets, are time bombs that detonate at the whims of one country. You win, Israel. Not a single politician or late-night show talks about this. None of that worth the news.

Nothing funny can come out of it. The whole country is truly a hostage. The whole world is. When I asked the team which of these perspectives they were more drawn to, they were pretty split, and I also felt divided. On the one hand, the story was straight out of a spy movie. In fact, if there were a scene in a spy movie where a government simultaneously detonated pagers or walkie-talkies inside a country to kill all the bad guys, we would probably scoff at it being so unrealistic.

Yet, Israel did it. It truly was an intelligence coup, an operation unlike any I can recall off the top of my head, remarkable in the most basic sense of the word, and apparently successful too. And yet, this isn't the movies. This is real life. And when militaries execute operations like this in real life, it comes with collateral damage like this. A story of a nine-year-old Lebanese girl told in the New York Times. Fatima was in the kitchen on Tuesday when a pager on the table began to beep, Peran said. She picked up the device to bring it to her father and was holding it when it exploded, mangling her face and leaving the room covered in blood, she said.

Fatima was trying to take courses in English, Ms. Moussaoui said. She loved English. Her funeral was held in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, a rural area on the border with Syria that is known as a deep well of support for Hezbollah. As cunning and impressive as this operation was, it was also this, tremendously dangerous and irresponsible. Even if you were to presume the guilt of each of these men as terrorists, which many in the West do, they were still predictably in places filled with innocence when their devices exploded, walking through grocery stores or at homes with family. The Lebanese people, not just members of Hezbollah, are now left with the threat

of future covert attacks that could kill them. Doesn't that meet the textbook definition of terrorism? What else should we call people unwittingly being turned into bombs all across a country? I'm confident that sowing distrust was part of Israel's intention. If Israel can create enough fear and paranoia among Hezbollah militants that they begin to turn on each other, have major operational setbacks, or perhaps flee the organization, that would at least be a worthwhile outcome. Hezbollah, like Hamas, has agency to make its own decisions here. It can plunge itself further into the conflict or take the cue that it is overmatched. I fervently wish it chooses the latter, but I don't think it will. Instead, we seem bound for an alternative course in which Hezbollah retaliates in rage, hoping to avenge their families and country in gaining support from people who previously opposed it. This is a theme, and you can see it in Ukraine, in Gaza, or any other war. When one country attacks another,

it breeds virulent opposition and hatred of the attacking country. This is how the world works. Yet Israel, the U.S., and every nation and militant group on Earth always attempts to convince themselves otherwise. And, just so it's said, this attack was obviously leveled by Israel. I don't think there's any real doubt about that and find the denials a little bizarre. Maybe they want to keep the ICC busy with fact-finding, but they're just going to degrade whatever credibility they have left on the international stage with such an obviously false denial. Now, we just have to wait and see the repercussions. Israel wants the attacks to work to their advantage in negotiating an end to its violence with Lebanon or to give it leverage in the war in Gaza. Consider me skeptical. The U.S., meanwhile, will have to justify whatever further steps Israel

takes in their strategy of strong-arming Hezbollah out of the broader regional conflict. And let's be clear, there is already a broad regional conflict, and there has been for some time. Here's what I wrote a few weeks ago, quote, the entire region remains on the brink of an all-out war. The idea that the region isn't at war already is actually hard to wrap my head around. What do you call it when two countries exchange months of rocket fire, assassinate leaders, kill soldiers, and displace tens of thousands of each other's citizens from their homes? The war is on. As National Review's Andrew McCarthy wrote, the real question now is just how bad it will get. How deep will Israel push into Lebanese territory? How successful can Hezbollah be at killing Israelis? And how much will Iran or its other proxies engage?

Since I wrote those words, the signals have only worsened. There is no war to come that we should fear. The war is here, and it is only going to get more dangerous and deadly. We'll be right back after this quick break. We'll be right back after this quick break. Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed.

Learn more at FluCellvax.ca. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answered. This one's from Jeremy in Boca Raton, Florida. Jeremy said, I recently moved to a new area, Palm Beach County, Florida, and registered to vote in the primaries. I'm having a hard time finding reliable information on down-ballot candidates. Do you have any favorite resources that consolidate the views on key issues for each candidate? I.e., how do I make an informed decision on the county court judge that does not come from politicized flyers that are mailed to me? All right, so this is a great question. The general answer here is that media outlets at

their respective levels of political coverage give detailed and reliable breakdowns all the time of candidates running for election. We're going to be doing a review of some of the state-level ballot measures up for citizen vote in the coming weeks, but most people can get reliable information from their local news outlets. For viewing a comparison of the candidates at the state level, newspapers of your state's larger cities will give thorough breakdowns of the candidates running for the Senate, House, or Governor's Mansion. For example, as a Florida voter, the Tampa Bay Times has you covered with a complete voter guide, as does the South Florida Sentinel. More specific to you, I'd keep an eye out on outlets like the Palm Beach Post, the Palm Beach Daily News, or local affiliates like WPTV, which I suspect will all break down the candidates and their policies as the election nears. In general, it's a good

idea to look for a breakdown from a few different sources, as each outlet has its own bias, and these papers will often give candidate endorsements separate from their election coverage. You can also just go to the candidates' websites and compare their different policies they're advertising. The same caveats that apply to those races apply to state and national ones. Be wary of editorial biases and seek out coverage from a variety of sources while forming your opinion. If you want a review of what's up for election in your precinct, Ballotpedia has a phenomenal resource, and they have an online poll that will allow you to see exactly what you'll be voting for in November based on your address. All right, that is it for your reader question today. I'm going to send it

back to John for the rest of the pod, and I'll see you guys tomorrow. Thanks, Isaac. Here's your Under the Radar story for today, folks. Nuclear energy is often touted as a powerful tool to help countries meet their net zero emissions goals, but it could also offer a path to power-emerging and energy-intensive industries like artificial intelligence. On Friday, Microsoft and Constellation Energy announced a plan to restart one of the reactors at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the site of a partial meltdown in 1979, considered the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history. The unit that will be restarted is separate from the reactor involved

in the 1979 incident, but it had been shut down in 2019 over cost concerns. Now, though, Microsoft will purchase electricity from the plant in a 20-year agreement to help power its AI data centers. Goldman Sachs has estimated that these kinds of data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. electricity demand by 2030, compared with 3% at present, making carbon-free energy sources like nuclear an attractive low-emissions option for AI companies. CNBC has this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, next up is our numbers section. The approximate number of people evacuated from their homes in northern Israel since the escalation of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah

in October is 60,000. The approximate number of people displaced from their homes in southern Lebanon in that time was 91,000. The approximate number of people in from their homes in southern Lebanon in that time was 91,000. The approximate number of people in Israel killed by strikes from Lebanon since October 8th is 49, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians. The approximate number of people in Lebanon killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 8th is 500. The approximate number of rockets fired toward Israel by Hezbollah since October 8th is 8,000, according to Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. The approximate number of pagers exported by Taiwan's Gold Apollo since 2022 is 260,000, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. The approximate number of pagers sold by pager network operator Spoke that are in use across the U.S. and Australia is 747,000.

The percentage of Israeli Arabs and Jews, respectively, who think Israel should pursue a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah is 77% and 17%, according to an August 2024 poll from the Israeli Democracy Institute. And the percentage of Israeli Arabs and Jews, respectively, who think Israel should launch an offensive in Lebanon, including targeted Lebanese infrastructure, is 6% and 46%. And last but not least, our Have a Nice Day story. Michael Pirovolakis was diagnosed with spastic paraplegia 50, an incredibly rare neurological disorder, as a toddler. His father, Terry Paravalakis, was told then that Michael would be paralyzed from the waist down by age 10 and quadriplegic by age 20.

Terry started researching a treatment himself, traveling to gene therapy conferences and collaborating with researchers in Cambridge and at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center to develop a drug. After the treatment proved effective at treating the disease in mice, he then found a Spanish company willing to manufacture the drug. Terry has not only administered the drug to Michael, but opened a phase two trial to other children. Doctors and therapists shared the same sentiment. The treatment works, said the mother of a child receiving it. Fox News has this story and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that's it for today's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, please go to readtangle.com and sign up for a membership. We'll be right back here

tomorrow. For Isaac and the rest of the crew, this is John Wall signing off. Have a great day, y'all. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited and engineered by John Wall. The script is edited by our managing editor, Ari Weitzman, Will Kedak, Bailey Saul, and Sean Brady. edited by our managing editor, Ari Weitzman, Will Kedak, Bailey Saul, and Sean Brady. The logo for our podcast was designed by Magdalena Bokova, who is also our social media manager. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. And if you're looking for more from Tangle, please go to readtangle.com and check out our website. Bye.