Eye on Extremism: March 27, 2026
Top Stories
The Times: Iran ‘may have hired useful idiots’ for Jewish ambulance attack
Police investigating the arson attack on Jewish ambulances in north London are examining whether it may have been directed by Iran using proxy operatives recruited online, sources said. Investigators believe that those behind the attack may have followed a model used by Russia, recruiting so-called “useful idiots” through online criminal networks and paying them in cryptocurrency.
Jerusalem Post: IRGC issues evacuation warning for civilians close to US forces in Gulf States
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a warning for civilians to leave the areas where US forces are deployed across the Gulf region, the IRGC-run Fars News Agency reported on Friday. In the warning, which stated that the US forces are attempting to use civilians as human shields out of fear of Iranian attack, the IRGC urged all civilians to avoid areas with US forces while they carry out their "duty to eliminate the American terrorist forces."
CEP Mentions
Gothamist: NYPD says it's tracking online radicalization after failed Gracie Mansion attack
Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher at the Counter Extremism Project, said extremist propagandists operate similarly to content creators in many ways: they try to score as many followers as possible and keep them engaged. “This is all part of the attention economy,” he said. Extremist groups aim to spread their propaganda on large social media sites with lots of eyes on them, like TikTok and Instagram, Fisher-Birch said, or on gaming platforms that are popular with younger people. Telegram and other messaging apps are sometimes used for private chats and one-on-one communication, he said.
New York Sun: ISIS Exploits Syria’s Chaos as Fighter Numbers Balloon Fivefold
“The estimates of how many fighters terror groups, such as ISIS, have are always a complex endeavor,” senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, tells the New York Sun. “One of the key challenges is what is classified as a ‘fighter’. Some governments only estimate the number of individuals that are armed and involved in actual fighting or attacks, while other governments also count all the supporters, including, for example, families.”
Berliner Morgenpost: Iran in a state of emergency: Five men and a group are running the country
The Revolutionary Guards are the Iranian regime’s defense force against external and internal threats. This elite force, which numbers up to 200,000 members, comprises ground forces, an air force, and a navy. It is responsible for the missile and drone programs. In addition, it is responsible for security in the Strait of Hormuz. This includes the decision to close the strait or launch attacks on Gulf states. “In times of war, the Guard is the central power in Iran,” Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Berlin-based think tank Counter Extremism Project, told our editorial team.
Analysis
Washington Institute for Near East Policy: With the Iran War, Hamas Tilts Toward the Brotherhood
The monthlong conflict and developments in Gaza have weakened the terrorist group’s connection to Tehran, offering Washington an opportunity to achieve its goals by working through Qatar and Turkey as well as Egypt.
United States
The US is working on options for a “final blow” to Iran that could see American ground troops deployed on Iranian soil, as well as a major bombing effort, the Axios outlet reported Thursday, citing two US officials and two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Washington Post: DHS funding bill moves to House after early morning passage in Senate
The Senate voted early Friday morning to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, taking a step to reopen large parts of an agency that has been partially shut down for more than a month, leading to lengthy security delays at some airports.]
Iran International: Iran-linked hackers say they breached FBI director’s personal email
Iran-linked hackers said they breached the personal email account of FBI Director Kash Patel, while a Justice Department official confirmed to Reuters that his emails were compromised. The hackers published photos of Patel and what they said was his resume. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vice President JD Vance has spent months drawing fire from Jewish conservatives for his refusal to confront antisemitism within the Republican coalition. Now, a new profile suggests that the Jew who is perhaps closest to him — his chief of staff, Jacob Reses — is on board with that approach.
New York Times: Why a 100-Foot Protest ‘Buffer Zone’ at Houses of Worship Won’t Happen
After a volatile protest at a Manhattan synagogue last fall unnerved an already anxious Jewish population, the new leader of the New York City Council promised action. Council Speaker Julie Menin declared in January that she would pass legislation requiring the Police Department to secure buffer zones of up to 100 feet outside of houses of worship.
CNN: Man charged with planting explosive device at US military base had fled to China
A man who has since fled to China was charged with placing an improvised explosive device outside the visitor’s center at a Florida military base housing US Central Command, which is leading the joint US-Israeli war effort against Iran.
A Maryland man and alleged member of an extremist group pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and cyberstalking related to a 2025 arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. Court documents allege that Erik Lee Madison, 20, of Halethorpe, is a member of "764," a violent criminal network of "Nihilistic Violent Extremists." According to officials, he sexually exploited at least 10 girls who were under 18.
Jewish Insider: Social media is the main source of current antisemitic wave, AJC concludes
A new report by the American Jewish Committee, released on Friday, found that 73% of American Jews saw or heard antisemitism online in the last year and 21% said that the antisemitism they witnessed made them feel physically threatened. Top officials at the group say that this pervasive antisemitism online is the fundamental root of the current wave of antisemitic sentiment society-wide, including violent extremist attacks on Jewish communities in the U.S. and globally, and that protecting the Jewish community requires making real progress in tackling that problem.
Jewish Insider: Ted Deutch compares Hasan Piker to Nick Fuentes, says Dems should shun him
Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee and a former Democratic congressman, said that Democratic lawmakers and candidates should not associate with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has a record of antisemitism and support for terrorism.
A feud over antisemitism is erupting among conservatives at the University of Florida—and colliding with the governor’s race. Earlier this month, administrators at the state’s flagship public university—which has been at the vanguard of a national movement championing conservative values—deactivated its College Republicans chapter after a photo circulated online showing a young man with his arm raised in an alleged Nazi salute.
KTLA 5: Neo-Nazi group groomed kids into making sexual abuse material, prosecutors say
A 26-year-old man from Texas, who is in federal custody in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to leading an internet-based child exploitation group that groomed children into producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), officials with the United States Attorney’s Office announced.
New York Times: Assassination Plot Targeting N.Y.C. Palestinian Activist Is Disrupted
Federal law enforcement officers disrupted what was described as a plot to assassinate the leader of one of New York’s most active pro-Palestinian protest groups on Thursday night, according to a federal law enforcement official and a lawyer for the activist.
Canada
CBC: Contentious anti-hate legislation passes final vote in the House, now moves to Senate
The Liberal government's politically contentious new anti-hate bill has passed its final hurdle in the House of Commons and will now go to the Senate. Bill C-9 — dubbed the Combatting Hate Act — proposes new Criminal Code offences, including one that would make it a crime to intentionally promote hatred against identifiable groups in public using certain hate- or terrorism-related symbols.
Expressing concern that Matthew Althorpe continues to “harbour white supremacist ideology,” a Toronto judge sentenced the neo-Nazi terrorist on Friday to 20 years in prison.
Czech Republic
Reuters: Molotov cocktails thrown at Russian cultural centre in Prague
An unknown attacker threw several Molotov cocktails at the building of a Russian cultural centre in Prague on Thursday night and police are searching for the suspect, Czech police said on Friday. Pictures released by the police showed a charred facade of the building in the Prague 6 district that is home to many diplomatic missions, including the Russian one.
France
Al-Monitor: French ISIS Member Convicted of Genocide Against Yazidis
For the first time, a court in France has convicted a member of the Islamic State for crimes of genocide committed against the Yazidi minority in Iraq and Syria. Sabri Essid was born in France and left in 2014 to join ISIS as it swept into Iraq's Sinjar Mountains, massacring the men, abducting the boys and enslaving the women and girls.
United Kingdom
Reuters: UK sanctions two Iraqis over Islamic State financial operations
Britain on Friday sanctioned two Iraqi men for what it describes as their roles as senior Islamic State financial operatives in helping manage the group's revenue streams and supporting its leadership structure. A notice from the government said Sami Jasim Muhammad Jaata al‑Jaburi and Abd el Hamid Salim Ibrahim Brukan al-Khatouni were added to its sanctions list for handling the group's money.
Simon Lester logged on for his shift as an on-call paramedic for Jewish rescue service Hatzola at 7 a.m. on Monday morning. Minutes earlier, he’d heard the devastating news — that four ambulances from a neighboring branch of the Jewish volunteer group were destroyed in an arson attack in Golders Green, a northwest London suburb with a large Jewish population.
LBC: Alleged far-right extremist accused of planning attack on asylum hotel
Mikka Lee Anderson, 23, from Hull, is charged with preparing acts of terrorism between May 2025 and February 26 this year. It is alleged that he identified a hotel in Hull city centre that was housing asylum seekers and tried to recruit a helper, who reported the defendant to the police.
The Times: Celebrities back anti far-right march ‘freezing out Jewish groups’
Jewish groups say they have been ignored by the organisers of an anti far-right march in London, which has been backed by celebrities including Sir Lenny Henry and Paloma Faith. The Together Alliance, which is made up of groups claiming to represent more than 15 million people, is hoping that a record crowd will travel to the capital for its march against “hate and division”.
NHS doctor Rahmeh Aladwan, known for making several anti-Israel and antisemitic statements on social media, has been charged with inviting support for the Hamas terror group, UK media reports. Aladwan was arrested yesterday at her home for violating bail conditions from previous arrests. She was set to appear in court today.
A 16-year-old boy who joined a banned far-right group and researched a synagogue has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for a series of terror offences. The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was found guilty last month of possession of terrorist documents, dissemination of terrorist documents and membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation.
Independent: ‘It looks bad’: Reform candidate apologises after being pictured performing Nazi salute
A Reform candidate has apologised after a photograph of him appearing to perform a Nazi salute appeared online hours after it was announced he was running in the Welsh Senedd elections.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Opponents Call For Afghan Political System Based On Popular Vote
A group of politicians and representatives of anti-Taliban groups said after a two-day meeting in London that Afghanistan’s future political system must be based on the will and vote of the people, within the framework of a modern constitution. The statement also stressed the need for broad public participation in the structure of power.
Afghanistan International: Russia, Taliban In Talks On Recruiting Afghan Workers
Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, said Moscow is in talks with Taliban officials about recruiting Afghan workers. He said the two sides have not yet reached any concrete agreements, but feasibility assessments are under way at expert level.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Reuters: Trump board plan would disarm Hamas in stages over 8 months, destroy Gaza's tunnels
Hamas would be required to allow the destruction of its vast Gaza tunnel network as it lays down its arms in stages over eight months under a disarmament plan presented to the militants by U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace". The plan follows a timeline that begins with a U.S.-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats taking security control of Gaza and concludes with Israeli forces withdrawing completely upon "verification that Gaza is free of weaponry".
A new report by the human rights group Yesh Din said there were 257 incidents of extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank in the war’s first 25 days, averaging more than 10 per day. It accused the state of supporting the violence due to what it said were minimal efforts by security services to prevent attacks or bring those responsible to justice.
IDF soldiers continue to conduct counterterrorism operations in the Gaza Strip, particularly along the Yellow Line, to destroy terror infrastructure, including destroying terror tunnels, locating weapons, and killing Hamas terrorists.
Iran
Iran International: Iran says Mojtaba Khamenei safe, absence due to 'security measures'
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains safe and active despite not appearing in public. Ali Bahreini said his low profile was due to heightened security considerations, adding that he continues to carry out his responsibilities and that the country’s political system is operating as normal.
Israel
JTA: 1000+ Diaspora leaders call for action against ‘Jewish-extremist terror in the West Bank’
Over 1,000 Diaspora Jews are petitioning Israeli President Isaac Herzog to intervene against settler violence in the West Bank, saying that the settlers are threatening Israeli security. “Mr. President, the terror, death and destruction inflicted by Jewish-Israeli extremists against innocent Palestinians across the West Bank is an abomination,” says an open letter published Thursday. “It is not only morally shameful but a strategic threat to the future of Israel. It damages world Jewry and the relationship of future generations with Israel.”
The IDF Home Front Command says it will be extending the warning times for rocket fire from Lebanon, as Hezbollah has been pushed back further from the border. The move means that those in northern border communities that until now had to seek shelter immediately or within 15-30 seconds, will now have slightly more time.
An Israeli soldier was killed and four others were wounded in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday evening, the military’s second fatality of the day.
Lebanon
Reuters: War between Hezbollah and Israel deepens fractures in Lebanon
War between Israel and Hezbollah is pushing Lebanon's fragile state and society towards breaking point, straining sectarian and political faultlines as Shi'ite Muslims are displaced and enmity deepens between the Iran-backed group and its opponents. Of all Lebanon's many crises since a 1975-90 civil war, the renewed conflict ignited by the Iran war could be its most destabilising, Lebanese analysts and figures from across the political spectrum say.
The IDF uncovered a Hezbollah tunnel stocked with weapons near a church in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Friday, emphasizing the threat the terrorist organization poses to Lebanon's Christian population. The tunnel was discovered by the IDF's Givati Brigade in the Lebanese village of El-Khiam. The area had previously been cleared by the IDF in December 2024. Therein, three shafts were discovered, as well as mattresses and food used by Hezbollah terrorists.
Naharnet: How did Hezbollah 'reappear' south of Litani with its weapons?
The Hezbollah members fighting in the area south of the Litani River are the sons of the area's villages and towns, supported by fighters from the Bekaa Valley and other regions, including foreigners, a media report said. "These fighters moved to the battle zones after the start of the war on Iran, and they arrived without weapons," the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper quoted a Lebanese official as saying.
Naharnet: Report: Egyptian security delegation meets with Hezbollah officials
In the past hours an Egyptian security delegation arrived in Beirut following a directive from the Egyptian leadership to initiate engagement with Lebanese authorities aimed at reducing tensions on the Lebanese scene and finding solutions, An-Nahar newspaper said. Their first meeting was with a delegation from Hezbollah, arranged in advance, and lasted three and a half hours, with a senior security official in attendance.
Naharnet: Israeli troops clash with Hezbollah as they advance toward Qussair in south Lebanon
The Israeli army shelled Friday al-Naqoura, al-Bayyada and Shamaa in south Lebanon with white phosphorus bombs after Hezbollah claimed attacks against troops trying to advance there.
Syria
Reuters: UN says 1,700 killed in Syria’s Suweida violence, cites possible war crimes
More than 1,700 people were killed, nearly 200,000 displaced and multiple actors including Syrian government forces, tribal fighters and Druze armed groups committed acts that may amount to war crimes during a week of violence in southern Syria in July 2025, a U.N. investigation said on Friday. The 85-page report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic found that at least 1,707 people were killed in Suweida Governorate, the majority civilians of the Druze minority sect, alongside members of the Bedouin community and at least 225 government personnel.
India
NDTV: 12 With Links To ISIS, Al-Qaeda Arrested. They Met On Gaming App
12 people with suspected links to banned terrorist outfits like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have been arrested after a multi-state operation.
Pakistan
Dawn: Educational reforms stressed to counter violent extremism in Sindh
Law enforcers, security experts and other officials on Thursday highlighted educational reforms and “serious reflection” on the evolving geopolitical situation as the key steps needed to counter violent extremism in Sindh.
Australia
J-Wire: Extremist seeks forgiveness in court appeal over antisemitic speech
A Sydney man serving a 12-month jail sentence for an antisemitic speech at an Australia Day rally has told the District Court he regrets his actions, has rejected white supremacist ideology, and does not want to be perceived as “a hateful person”.
Independent: Police investigate swastika etched into Jewish-owned shop
A swastika was carved into the window of Lox in a Box, a Jewish-owned bagel shop in Paddington, Sydney, weeks before its planned opening. The malicious damage, which occurred on 21 March, was only discovered recently when coverings were removed from the shopfront windows.
Technology
Jewish Insider: New report highlights fake AI rabbis spreading antisemitism on Instagram
An AI-generated Instagram account portraying an Orthodox-looking rabbi is pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories to its more than 1.4 million followers, and it’s not the only one, a study published this week about antisemitic content on the social media platform has found.
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