Koby Benmeleh

How We End the Middle East Wars. How We End Antisemitism. This region is low on hope. October 7th exposed what we should have known all along -- Hamas will never allow peace between Jews and Arabs. The overwhelming support Hamas received from the Palestinian public, and in many parts of the Muslim world, proved that the problem is far deeper than just Hamas. The region is low on hope because everyone now understands that politics can't solve this. Politics was never the problem to begin with. The problem is far deeper. It is a struggle at the level of the individual soul. That is where the fight truly is. That is where we are going to win.

I've been helping one startup trying to land an enterprise deal with a large European company. I don't want to give too much away. Ruins a bit of the fun. Started off good. I got a 1st-hand look at where AI could save tens of millions of euros per year, and rather quickly. Would be a major win for all. My first layer there responded warmly but as soon as it got to the team responsible for the problem, they shut it down. Super weak reason, didn't want to speak with us. Stinks of ego and corporate politics. The same folks who were warm in the beginning told me they weren't interested anymore. I'm guessing somebody doesn't want to face the music. Normally this shit would piss me off. But I sensed a calmness. Any and all corporate manager's primary weakness is accountability. Of having to answer for their work. Then I remembered that I was a former reporter. And I know other reporters. And I know how to sell a story. And there's nothing like an investigative story in a major outlet exposing corporate incompetence that holds management accountable. And when they are flooded with questions from investors and board members and other journalists? Perhaps they'll start looking seriously for partners who can help. We'll see. Perhaps this company fucked around with the wrong guy. Perhaps not. The irony of course is if they were nice about it, this whole thing could have been avoided. The truth shall set you free. Always a good one.

1) Approaching global debt crisis 2) Depression for young men has doubled since Covid to 29% and they lonely as hell 3) Trust in media at all time low and they deserve it because they mostly the unconscious microphone to an unconscious system. Instead of telling people the truth about the world -- waaaaay more good than bad -- they tell them what they want to hear which is "watch out for the bogeyman!" 4) AI acceleration exposes what we already know, which is most jobs require 2 hours per day and the rest is theater and ritual disguised by fancy titles for status-seekers and keepers 5) Social media makes it cheaper than ever before to divide and conquer and stoke this collective existential anxiety Strip away all the narratives and what we're looking at are a wealthy and pampered bunch of people who are terrified to let go of their illusions -- the values they were taught by their parents and teachers and communities, who were just like them. No better. No worse. Craziest thing is that we live in an age of super abundance. Billions of people will never miss a meal in their life, guaranteed. So what's to fear? But when the music stops, people are gonna flip out, and realize material comforts were never THE answer (don't get me wrong, I like my iphone. Sorry not sorry). They're gonna finally face the true terror of existence and have to answer the one question they were meant to answer. Who the hell are you? The way to find out is simple. Tell the truth. Be the Truth. That's when you find out there was nothing to fear in the first place.

Incredible. Makes perfect sense for 99% of articles.

@rockwell22711 thank you clara

@kbenme this is the most honest take I've seen on this. everyone debates whether AI will take jobs but almost nobody talks about the identity crisis underneath... what happens when the thing you resent is also the thing that gives you structure

The talk about AI replacing jobs is increasing in volume. I don't know if it's real. But it is the alarm and the panic that is most interesting to me. It is a signal of the fear to confront the void. What will I feel when I am stripped of the thing I detest but keeps me comfortable? Who will I be in the void? The terror people feel with this question is an egoic one. Who am I without the titles and the stable monthly paycheck? These are of course not the most important questions to ask yourself. It is common knowledge that the things we cherish most are not our accomplishments but our relationships. Who cares if you're rich and famous if everyone hates you? You are a comfortable asshole madman. Good for you. It is the most important question an individual faces in his or her life -- who are you? Most prefer to stay hidden in the herd and never find out. The ego chooses comfort and illusion over truth, because, as the stupid saying goes, the truth is brutal and harsh. Bullshit. The truth is your friend. What kind of world is it where we view the truth as brutal instead of beautiful and kind? The kind that is terrified of the potential of AI. AI is neutral. Like every technology. Just like violence. What matters is the person who wields it. But on we go, slow-rolling towards a mega-collective-crash. The truth always has its day. That's why those who take comfort still feel a tremendous amount of pain. Pain is your true self's only way of reaching you. Egos are that much of a pain in the ass. I got a taste while at Bloomberg. The demand for reporter jobs shrank because the internet smashed the economics for journalism. Power went to middle and upper management as supply grew. They held the leverage and used it to crush the guys popping out the news. My time came early. Many millions more will be dealing with this soon enough. Young people by the millions are entering a world where they have no useful skills for a corporation. Who needs an intern in the age of AI? They have no relationships because what have they done besides party and learn useless theory? Prices keep climbing because those at the top would rather ignore the problem (fucking ego). I don't mean to say this to scare although I suppose that will be how it is received. I mean to wake you up. To stop waiting and face who you are. To know that there's more to you than you can possibly imagine. That the world is turning and moving and forming in ways we don't understand -- can't understand -- and that the universe is planning things for you that nobody has ever dreamed of except for the few who dare to. Be the few. Be you. And never apologize for it. There was never any reason to say sorry to begin with.

I sometimes wonder if Sam Altman and the faceless bunch at OpenAI (who knows who the others are, right? As if it's all one guy...) got together a few years ago and realized that the only way to accelerate AI adoption was to scare the shit out of everyone. Not that AI isn't useful. It's awesome. I'm one of the countless who use it everyday. But awesomeness doesn't get people to use a tool. I encounter this dipshit behavior all the time (myself included), especially with large enterprises (sorry not sorry). I watched a Jordan Peterson lecture where he says that people are not motivated to succeed -- they are motivated not to stand out. To stay hidden in the herd. Because standing out increases the risk of getting killed by a predator. So maybe Altman and crew came up with a PR strategy that was simply: AI is coming for your job. Use AI or a human who uses AI wins. And here we are. Asking AI why our lives aren't panning out the way we want instead of accepting reality in all its glory, and doing something about that instead. AI may come for your job. But it will never TAKE OUR FREEEEEEDDDDOOOOOMMMMM. Sue me I'm 41 if you don't get the reference.

$100k is officially lower middle class. Here's how much it costs to live "comfortably" in every US state:

@_The_Prophet__ Why do you separate ourselves from the universe?

⚡️The strangest thing about the universe is that it can contain beings capable of noticing how strange it is. Everything else is downstream of that single, impossible fact: You are a pattern of carbon and electricity that woke up inside a cold expanding vacuum and started asking questions the universe itself cannot answer. Think about what that implies: • The universe is mostly silence, yet somehow produced minds that demand meaning. • Physics has no intention, yet created creatures obsessed with purpose. • Matter is blind, yet gives rise to observation. • The cosmos does not think, yet birthed things that think about the cosmos. • The laws of nature never change, yet they created entities that can imagine alternatives. The real strangeness is not dark matter, inflation, multiverses, quantum probability, or spacetime geometry. The real strangeness is self-awareness emerging from matter that was never supposed to know what it is. The universe did not have to generate cognition. It did not have to generate perception. It did not have to generate anything that looks like “mind.” And yet here you are looking at a picture of galaxies and trying to understand the container you are trapped inside. Here is the cleanest statement of the weirdness: The universe is not only vast. It is introspective through us. That is the strangest thing.

It was really nice to catch up with Uri Jeremias, the owner of the Uri Buri restaurant and the Effendi Hotel in Akko. He was telling me how much international attention his businesses were getting. From the LSE. From European media. From Harvard business school. I always love it when people deserving of success get it. He once told me that when rioters burned his restaurant during the May 2021 war (and mini civil war), he was already drawing up plans to reopen in a new site as he was running toward the flames. Man I love his spirit. I called him to see if he wants to participate in my mega awesome social media campaign to get tourists back to Israel. The trade is that he gets a massive audience (minimum 500k views) for his businesses in exchange for offering them as part of the exclusive giveaway package. He was interested and asked to hear more. I promised to keep him posted. There's upcoming talks with the tourism and foreign ministry, and another MK. I'm toying with the idea of bringing in a mega influencer into the fold. Might be too early. Might not. The conversation was all over the place. We talked religion. We talked media. We talked psychology. I told him about my vision to end the Mideast wars and end antisemitism. He didn't call me crazy or laugh. He simply argued with me about some fundamental points. It was respectful. Goes back to what I said earlier -- it's lovely to see a guy like that be successful. He's told me on more than one occasion that he was never cut out for school. Yet here he is. Invited all around the world to cook because the restaurant he runs in fucking Akko is world-class. How do you like that? It gave me this feeling that this doesn't have to be all that hard. After all, what I'm doing isn't rocket science.

It was a good day. I texted with Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar about my viral social media project to bring tourists back to Israel. His senior adviser and I are scheduled to talk soon. I also spoke with a sharp executive at Israel's Hotel Association. She described the state of the hotel industry in terms much worse than I imagined. It sounds strange to say but I was sorta happy to hear this. I obviously don't like to see people struggle for their livelihood. It just feels good to have someone give you a sanity check, and you come out okay. She and I agreed that the root problem is the perception of Israel abroad. No one wants to come to Israel if they are worried about a rocket landing on their head. I added that there's an equally large group of people who won't come for fear of losing friendships and status for supporting genocide lovers. The virtue signallers. She impressed me. She got it when I stressed the urgency of the situation -- it's gonna take time to course correct. But course correct we will. We're gonna set the world on fire. My job now is to make sure the right people understand the urgency. And if they already do, to help them convey this energy within their organization.

Jonathan Pollard sends me an article about how Israeli society is heading toward collapse. The argument is that Israelis love to believe in the fantasy of unity and heroism and victory when in reality they are divided and fought a 2-year war to an inconclusive result. He sends me more articles that reflect his world view. The rearming of Hezbollah in Lebanon outpacing its disarmament. Hamas taking half the roles in this new technocratic body in Gaza. Egypt smuggling in lord knows what and militarizing the Sinai. We have learned nothing, he says. It’s sorta right. Jews woke up to antisemitism and the true face of their enemies. That isn’t something you just forget. Those who say Israel committed genocide won’t simply acknowledge they were wrong. Hamas and all their friends are going to try to kill Israelis again. They will happily sacrifice another hundred thousand Palestinians again. The gloves are off. The masks are off. There was a real genocidal air in Israel on October 8. A feeling of “Jesus don’t you understand that we want peace and why don’t you learn and will you ever learn?” If the answer is no, then what? How do you handle an explicitly genocidal movement? What happens when they strike again? Israel has no answer for this. Well, they do, but they don’t want to deploy it. It’s called a nuke. Jonathan, if given the chance, would. I’m not putting words in his mouth. He’s said this on multiple occasions and in public. He’s ahead of the curve. The Israeli friends of mine who say now – in front of other people – that we need to “flatten Gaza” will find someone with Jonathan's balls appealing. Let him take the heat for saying what they think but won’t dare utter to everyone. Let him be remembered for it. History of course does not stop there. There will be reactions. Counter reactions. Until we witness Armaggeddon first hand. Hopefully Jonathan and I are wrong, haha. Or maybe none of this stuff is a joke and we should take it more seriously.

You are right and also not right. Hamas is an expression of Palestinian culture, which is a revenge fantasy built on the victim lie. This war has created fertile breeding ground for this to intensify. How many people have to die in order for Hamas to be defeated? Nobody has an answer to this question. Because nobody wants to answer this question.

🚨🚨Ahmed, this is getting seriously boring. You started calling for the war to end even before Sinwar was killed. You said Bibi is prolonging the war for his own political interests and that the Israelis are happy killing children. Now that the fighting has stopped, you've immediately switched to criticising Hamas's takeover of the Strip. You can't have it both ways. You have been doing this for days. I tried to be patient and understanding out of respect for your personal circumstances and your family's situation in Gaza. But, seriously, what on earth did you think was going to happen? Did you finally learn that allowing Hamas to survive was always going to end terribly FOR GAZANS more than anyone else? No one is coming to save you. No one, other than the IDF, wants to see Hamas defeated. Good luck!

I want to provide a *guaranteed* audience of 500k-1m viewers on X for a company. To give you an idea of how it would go, I'll lay out what I offered to El Al (they turned me down, which I respect. They have their own plans on how to meet the following challenge. Unfortunately I didn't get feedback on what I can do better. Would be great to hear other perspectives! Come on -- don't be embarrassed 😘 ). Dream outcome (using El Al for the sake of ease on the reader): 500k-1m viewers for an X giveaway campaign to draw tourists to Israel. Foreign airlines will resume flights to Israel now that the war is sorta over. Tourism is in the toilet. El Al going to lose market share. Therefore incentive to bring tourists back to Israel. However, there's a perception problem. Foreigners think Israel is a war zone or full of genocide lovers. Neither are true. Israel has world-class food, historical sites and hotel stays. Plus it has Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Ya gotta freaking go there once in your life homie! Present people an opportunity to win a 10-day kick-ass vacation package worth $40,000 (I'm making up the number, but just go with me). First class flights and the best hotels next to Israel's cool sites. All they have to do is repost my X post to have a chance to win. 2,000 reposts for the game to start (therefore minimum 500k viewers). 10 lucky winners. All I ask of the winners is that they share their experience on social media. Nobody tells them what to say or write or where to go or what to feel. Just tell the truth. Knock-on effects: El Al gets a ton of content to play with, showcasing its best face. We slowly start to shift public discussion of Israel back to reality (it's very dangerous when people hold strong opinions about things that don't exist). We generate enough buzz to get people interested in Israel as a tourist destination. (Here's where I have to rally influencers behind the cause. And where they show their true colors -- are they for a realistic picture of the world, or not? My sense so far is yes.) All of this is very doable. This is also super replicable (Could have done this with the b2b startup I worked with until recently but the stars didn't align). I'll continue searching but am putting this out there in case someone knows of a company fit for such a project.

It's one thing for tens or even hundreds of millions of young men in the Middle East with no purpose and therefore being easy prey for rage based theology (aka jihadism). It's another ballgame if it's the entire world. Stop being slaves. Accept who you are. It's your only shot at inner peace.

A man in a top hat and an Adidas sweatshirt is smoking a cigar and reading the Jerusalem Post. He holds the paper with both hands. We are seated outside. Behind me is the Prima Kings Hotel. I stayed there in my early 20s when living in Israel was just a fantasy. If I follow the decline of the road to my left, I will get to the Old City of Jerusalem. Mr. Cigar coughs violently. It’s the first time I see him touch his cigar with his hands. He drinks his iced coffee and keeps reading the paper. I’m waiting to meet a senior official from Israel's foreign ministry. He’s involved in digital media projects. I’m feeling a little unsettled because he’s going to ask me what my plan is. I can tell him that I’m going to end the Mideast wars and antisemitism with the help of social media but then I’ll lose him. He ain’t gonna see what’s in it for him. I have to ease him into it. I’m concerned that it’s gonna fuck with my flow. Flow is huge. You have to walk and talk and feel as though it’s gonna work out. You gotta know in your bones that you’re gonna be okay with the Truth, no matter what. The Truth is your friend. Once you get that, no one can fuck with you. He shows up. He’s shorter than I imagined. He’s wearing a kippa. He’s smart. He said that Israel is successful when negative articles are written about its social media work. It means enemies are pissed. He also said the rumor that Israel pays influencers $7,000 per post is BS. You aren't doing something worthwhile if people aren’t attacking you and lying about you. Those who do the most important work at the highest levels get the most heat out of anyone. I lay out my idea over the course of our conversation. I’m looking for a sponsor and support to get hotels, restaurants, social media influencers and El Al to run a wild campaign to show the true Israel. No hasbara BS (that stuff is icky, tbh). It's a loser strategy because it agrees to terms of the discussion that are BS. I told him that Israel needs to be seen as the awesome tourist hotspot that it is. Make it about exclusivity and status. People want to get laid and have shit that others don’t. I walk him to his next stop. He's going to a dinner to commemorate Oct. 7. He gives me the talking points about Israel's progressive democracy. Even the gays come here to party. Fucking right, I tell him. Tens of thousands fly to Israel for, well, I don’t know how else to say this, butt fucking. The Holy Land has many meanings. He says he'll connect me with FM officials in Europe and that I should try El Al as a sponsor. They are rolling in cash after they monopolized the market during the war. They have an incentive to get tourists back to Israel. He doesn’t know the right people in El Al. And the foreign ministry folks aren’t the center of the bullseye for me. But the title is helpful to open doors (people are suckers for titles, which don’t necessarily correlate with competence or quality of character). Let’s see how this goes.

My second-most lucrative business partnership, at least in terms of potential, is over. I won’t discuss the reasons why here. I said what I had to say directly to my former business partner. One day I’ll tell the full story. We could have made billions. It wasn’t meant to be. I registered my emotions after he said it wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t angry, which I think is a good sign. It felt more like sadness. Grieving over a wonderful future that will never come to pass. Like a funeral for a fetus. But by the end of the day I was fine. Relieved even. I don't have to carry something that was never going to work.

I was drinking coffee with Israeli cousins next to the boardwalk in Netanya. Formerly of the left. I ask them what they think will be the immediate future of this country. There will be elections and they will be about the same issues before Oct. 7, one of them tells me. We’ve learned that our foreign policy is dictated by America (it’s hard to say which interest is doing the talking. Trump’s most likely incentive is to keep America from going broke and therefore civil war, and possibly world war. Nevertheless, my cousin has a point.) Trump decided this war is over, and he made sure that everyone is now going to pay America handsomely to keep it so. That’s not exactly in Israel’s interest. We’re heading towards a very awkward period. My cousins agree that the Israeli left is dead. Or I should say that the left is no longer about foreign policy because that debate is over. What the left is now about is Israeli issues. About ultra-Orthodox partaking equally in societal burdens. About protecting the status quo of the justice system. This is what is awkward. If the ones who were most blind about the Jewish people’s enemies are seeing things clearly, how exactly do we deal with what’s happened in the past two years? Are we now going to hear apologies from Hamas, Iran, Qatar, Turkey? I doubt it. That means everyone is awake to them AND noticing the lack of remorse. And what about the Israelis? Are they really going to risk a civil war knowing what’s out there and watching? Everyone has their fangs out. Everyone is waiting for the right moment to strike.

I walk the width of Tel Aviv to meet up with my business partner for hummus. I’m listening to my running playlist and chatting with my mentor. I don’t have any expectations for this meeting. We’ve been working together since Jan 1. Overall great chemistry and have done awesome work. But our wives have put end of year ultimatums on us. Either deliver on your promise or find something else to do. I can see the path to us being worth a few hundred million each. Probably more. For now, we’re trending toward zero. We’ve been stuck for a few months in a bizarre power struggle. We’re both good hearted, but out of the two of us, I’ve had world-class training on how to handle corporate cunts and their midlevel bullshit. I know what I’m doing and I can get us to where we should be. But only if I’m empowered to do so. That’s where we’re stuck. About a month ago I pulled back all activity with the company. I got tired of explaining myself and not being listened to. I told my partner that “this has to play out. Either we learn our lessons or not.” In other words, do it your way. If it works – great. You just proved you don’t need me. If it doesn’t, then I have full rights to tell you to shut the fuck up and listen. The beauty is in the deadline. This could have dragged on forever but it’s only when faced with the consequences of our decisions do we suddenly realize that we have to change course. My mentor calls this the “oh fuck moment.” You smoke for 20 years and the doctor informs you of your lung cancer. Oh fuck. You hung on to your corporate job because of the fat paycheck but they fired you because you got complacent and lazy and now you’re in your mid-40s or in your 50s and you have to start over. Oh fuck. You didn’t listen to Koby for months and now he’s moved on to other projects where he’s making serious bank and you don’t have enough time left in your own deadline and shit is still stuck. Oh fuck. Old Koby would have flipped out for not working for a month, especially in my financial state. That’s the thing with fear. It fucks with your grasp on reality. Letting people crash and burn is the only way to make them listen. Doing nothing is the highest value action I can do. I don’t stress about it. If this partnership collapses, then, by definition, it wasn’t meant to be. It would be a bummer, sure, but it doesn’t change the fact that I know my worth. It’s infinite. We wrap up the meeting. No progress made but the air is friendly. I’m here to win and that means doing it together. But I accept that some people just aren’t ready for it. As I walk back, I wonder when it is that people understand exactly who they are dealing with.