Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

02/19 Links Pt2: Israelis and Palestinians Chose Their Own Paths; BBC accused of using Hamas official’s son in documentary

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Israelis and Palestinians Chose Their Own Paths

The phrase “live your values” is a bit of a cliché, but the Jewish DPs did so—and how they did so is one of the lesser-appreciated stories of the struggle for statehood.

“The displaced Jews have an almost obsessive will to live normally again, to reclaim their full rights as free men,” wrote Leo Srole in COMMENTARY in 1947, after spending time at the Landsberg camp. “Their energies and talents have been dramatically exhibited in the vigorous communities they have created in the camps, despite scant material resources and highly abnormal environmental conditions. This achievement in reconstruction reduces to absurdity the efforts made to stigmatize the Jewish survivors. It deserves the world’s admiration. More important, it calls for the determination that such character and courage shall no longer be denied fulfillment.”

Srole takes pains to point out that, at least in Landsberg in the American zone, the camp is not a prison. There isn’t enough space or food, but the Jews are making the best of it rather than wallowing in their misfortune. At the entrance to the camp there are “statues of the Jew of the exile, bent by the Torah scrolls on his back, and of the halutz (pioneer), ramrod-straight, with a shovel at his shoulder.”

The streets are clean, the men and women stay busy and productive, the children are educated in makeshift schools. There were newspapers, theaters, religious institutions, sports clubs, boy scouts. “Even for a population predominantly young adult, the birth rate is extraordinarily high,” Srole writes. Life began anew.

But often overlooked among these makeshift institutions was the fact that the Jewish DPs governed themselves, complete with political parties and various administrative agencies. This was done with the approval, of course, of the Americans. President Eisenhower encouraged it and his military governors recognized it.

As historian Abram Sachar wrote in The Redemption of the Unwanted, when one general attended a camp Hanukkah party as if he were a visiting dignitary, the Armed Forces Network cheered that it “writes a new page in our history.” The general “has recognized the existence of a little democracy of 160,000 people liberated in the heart of Germany. The Central Committee of Liberated Jews is now a government without a flag.”

In 1945, David Ben-Gurion visited the camp and told cheering crowds that statehood in Palestine was not just inevitable but near. “If England attempts to keep the doors of Palestine shut, our youth will open them; and even if our hopes are stifled, we will meet the situation like a nation confident in its cause and in its strength.”

Self-determination was the natural state of the Jews; they built polities wherever they stood. They refused to see themselves as beaten-down victims even after the Holocaust. They built a democracy in postwar Germany before Germany did.

There is another, Sliding Doors-like timeline in which the Jews waited for others to determine their fate. If nothing else, the current conflict is a reminder of that.

Azerbaijan’s top adviser meets Netanyahu, sparking Abraham Accords talk

In a significant diplomatic development, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, held extensive talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday, marking what officials describe as a potential "game-changing moment" in regional politics.

"Mr. Hajiyev conveyed the greetings of President Ilham Aliyev to Prime Minister Netanyahu," the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel stated, adding that both sides discussed expanding bilateral cooperation and regional developments.

The high-level meeting, which comes just 48 hours after Netanyahu's strategic dialogue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signals growing momentum for Azerbaijan's potential inclusion in the Abraham Accords framework, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the discussions.

"Azerbaijan has been one of Israel's most reliable partners in the Muslim world for three decades," a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post. "Their strategic importance to regional security architecture cannot be overstated."

Close relations with Azerbaijan positive development
The Atlantic Council, a prominent US think tank, recently emphasized that "Washington should learn from Israel’s diplomatic and security collaboration with Azerbaijan to bolster its own ties with Baku. Besides being a bulwark against Iran, close relations with Azerbaijan could help the United States gain a stronger foothold among Central Asian countries, with whom Azerbaijan has been developing stronger relations. This would be especially important for the United States, as Central Asia is rich in minerals and energy and is home to the Middle Corridor, a trade route from Asia to Europe that bypasses both Russia and Iran".

The same day, the Assistant to the Azerbaijani President arrived in Jerusalem, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies published a special Prospective Paper called ”How to Effectively Engage Azerbaijan in Trump’s Regional Plans and in Israel’s Interests: Practical Recommendations”.

It points out that Israel and pro-Israel forces in the US should actively advocate for Azerbaijan’s inclusion in American-Israeli regional development, investment, and technology partnerships. Israel is already advancing a trilateral partnership model for Morocco, involving American companies, and plans to extend this approach to Sunni Gulf monarchies and the US in defense, AI, and cybersecurity as part of the Abraham Accords expansion. Azerbaijan’s participation in such initiatives would strengthen the Muslim component of Israel’s regional partnerships. Moreover, this fully aligns with the Trump administration’s strategy of expanding multilateral cooperation among US allies to reduce Washington’s financial burden on regional development and defense projects.

The paper highlights a significant obstacle: Section 907, a legislative amendment that has restricted U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan since 1992. "For the U.S. and Israel to fully leverage Azerbaijan's advantages within the new 'Greater Middle East' architecture, these formal obstacles must be eliminated," the report states.

Daniel Greenfield: How USAID Shipped Bags of Hundred Dollar Bills to the Taliban

[T]he ultimate responsibility lay with USAID. The $40 million on the tarmac was part of a much larger scheme under which USAID and the State Department provided over $1.7 billion in funding to the UN, which then shipped $2.9 billion in cash to Afghanistan.

Under the guise of humanitarian needs, $1.7 billion was provided to the UN, which used some of the money to buy dollars to fly into Afghanistan, to trade for Afghan currency, which the U.S. had also arranged to have printed on behalf of the Taliban.

The cash is not provided to the Taliban or DAB by the UN, but by the groups funded by the UN.

During the intermediate step, DAB held "auctions" of the dollars which elements linked to the Taliban, including the Haqqani network allied with Al Qaeda, reportedly "win." The auctions prop up the Afghan currency and keep the Taliban in power.

Putting the money into UN pooled accounts allowed USAID to claim that they "do not provide assistance to or through the Taliban", they just put money into "pooled UN accounts..."

The State Department responded to these revelations by falsely claiming that there are no sanctions on Afghanistan, that banks refuse to carry out wire transfers because of "the lack of profitability" and that "to the best of our knowledge, no electronic financial delivery systems are currently scalable to meet the liquidity needs of the UN" requiring it to instead convert billions of dollars into paper notes and ship them by plane. None of this is true or even a plausible lie.

The Taliban money laundering scheme was not an exception. It was how USAID, the State Department and the UN have operated for too long, not only in Afghanistan, but in Syria, Yemen, Gaza and many other terrorist areas around the world, using plausible deniability and chains of organizations to avoid accountability and direct responsibility for aiding terrorists.

Americans have become the financiers of their worst enemies. It's time for that to stop.

02/19 Links Pt1: The Hamas baby killers and a broken global moral compass; Trump Freezes Funding to PA 'Security Forces'; GOP Senators Put Red Cross on Notice

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: The Hamas baby killers and a broken global moral compass

For generations, decent people have wondered how it was that the citizens of what was arguably the most civilized and scientifically advanced society in Europe—Germany—behaved as they did during the Holocaust.

The answer was that they didn’t believe in the humanity of the Jews. Ordinary Germans looked the other way as their Jewish neighbors were taken away and sent to their deaths. The best and brightest of their young men fought to preserve the Nazi regime and/or took part in the slaughter of 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children, and millions of other victims.

The point being is that if you cheer for or justify these Hamas baby killers, it isn’t just that you’re mistaken about the origins and causes of the post-Oct. 7 war or have been misled by the misinformation about it spread by the Palestinians. It means you are no different from those ordinary Germans who stood by with indifference or actually facilitated the Holocaust.

During World War II, the people of the Allied nations instinctively understood that there was no moral equivalence between those murdered by the German Nazis and their collaborators and civilians killed as a result of military actions that led to the liberation of Europe. But that wise understanding of the nature of war is not shared by much of liberal and leftist elite public opinion today. Instead, they have accepted the big lies about Israel committing “genocide” and Hamas terrorism being justified “resistance.”

This sort of broken moral compass is to be found among so many of those who consider themselves good people and can be discerned in many ways. It’s evident among those who think that democracy can only be preserved by trashing its basic values through censorship of dissent against leftist orthodoxies. It’s also present among those who have come to reject the canon of Western civilization because it doesn’t conform to divisive woke ideas about race.

But at the core of the argument are those who take the side of the Hamas baby killers and spread hatred for a moral and democratic Israel, as well as for the Jewish people. Not for the first time in world history, antisemitism has provided a justification for the murderers of Jewish children.

Herzog: This is a wake up call, we are facing absolute cruel evil, we must stand together

President Isaac Herzog addressed the Great Synagogue of Rome on Wednesday evening as the names of the slain hostages to be returned on Thursday - Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, and Kfir Bibas - were announced.

Herzog concluded his official visit to Italy on Wednesday with an address at a historic gathering of the Jewish community at the Great Synagogue of Rome.

"These days are a wake-up call—not just for our nation, but for the entire family of nations. In the face of this evil—led by the evil Iranian regime—we must stand together, resolutely, firmly, and courageously," he told the congregants.

He thanked them for their support and solidarity with the Israeli people and addressed their deep concerns for the difficult days ahead.

Pain and sorrow
“Yesterday, it became apparent to all of us that the days ahead will be especially heart-wrenching."

"They will hold both pain, grief, and sorrow—as the bodies of hostages are returned to us tomorrow—but also relief and even hope, as living hostages, our brothers, are freed on Shabbat."

"These heart-wrenching, overwhelming days also highlight two absolute truths."

"The first: it is our highest duty to bring every last one of our hostage brothers home. Every moment that they are in the hands of the terrorist monsters is a direct threat to their lives. We must use every means and every measure to bring them home urgently. Every single one of them."

"The second is the understanding that we really are dealing with absolute and cruel evil. An evil that murders, tortures, and kidnaps mothers and babies, motivated by a murderous jihadist ideology. An evil that butchers whole families. An evil that is continuing its crimes against humanity at these very moments."

Orange-haired angels gone too soon: Bibas family to return to Israel

The interminable, excruciating wait is over. After more than 500 days of not knowing, prayers, and unbearable suffering, Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, will at last be brought back to Israel. But this is no relief, no closure — just the searing stillness of a nightmare that never really ends.

For nearly a year and a half, the faces of Shiri, Ariel, and baby Kfir — the youngest hostage taken on October 7 — haunted all of us. We saw that heart-tearing photo: Shiri hugging her two redheaded boys, her eyes wide with fear as armed men closed in around them. We imagined their anguish, their fear, their innocence shattered by brutality.

We posed impossible questions: Was baby Kfir learning to walk? Did he begin to speak? Did he comprehend Hebrew or just the tongue of his kidnappers? Could Ariel play with toys, or was childhood taken from him entirely?Now we know they were killed. The precise details are still unclear, but does it make a difference? Their brief lives were extinguished in Gaza — victims of a massacre, of hate, of a war that has broken so many hearts and homes. The world mourns. The color orange, which was selected to represent the bright red hair of the Bibas children, has turned into an international symbol of shared sorrow. Israel and the world will wear orange in their memory, not only as a mark of bereavement but as a summons to humanity.

Collective pain
During these harrowing months, the Bibas family represented collective sorrow. Their plight had resonance abroad, and attempts at raising awareness transcended continents. Protesters numbering hundreds gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square on Kfir's first birthday in January 2024. "We wanted to mark the birthday he couldn't with us," a family member explained. "He should have been here, smashing cake with his little hands, learning to walk.".

So we let orange balloons up into the air, hoping he would sense our love. In August 2024, the Redhead Days Festival in Holland — a festival for people with red hair — paid tribute to the Bibas children. Orange ribbons and signs reading, "Where are Ariel and Kfir Bibas?" were held up by thousands of red-haired festival-goers. A representative of the family said at the festival, "We don't have language or country in common, but we have humanity in common. And humanity requires that these innocent children be brought back." Ariel and Kfir's lovely red hair served as a metaphor for their innocence and the world's hope for their safe return. Red hair has been associated with intense emotions, passion, and, most of all, intensity in Jewish tradition for centuries.Redhead biblical heroes

Esau is described in the Torah as having been born with red hair:
"The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak; and they called his name Esau." (Genesis 25:25)Red hair here is most commonly observed to indicate a passionate, fiery, and occasionally tumultuous disposition. The tale of Esau prompts us to consider that external attributes can reflect internal strength — strength we envisioned in young Ariel and Kfir as they responded to captivity.

Yet red hair is not solely a sign of strife. Israel's most famous warrior and poet, King David, was also said to have a ruddy, reddish appearance:

"He was ruddy-cheeked, having beautiful eyes and good-looking in appearance." (I Samuel 16:12)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

I should be overjoyed that Donald Trump won the election. But the truth is, I’m angry. Even deep into February. Still angry.

I had thought, ‘Finally, finally, American Jews will wake up and stop voting Democrat, the party that hurts Israel.’ Instead, overwhelmingly, the Jewish vote once again went to the Democratic candidate, this time Kamala Harris. But really, it could have been any Democrat, an addlepated Biden or anyone at all.

It’s not like the Jewish vote made a difference to the outcome, a landslide for Trump by all accounts. But to me, the American Jewish vote felt like a betrayal of our people. Many Jewish lives had been lost as a result of the policies and dirty machinations of the Biden Harris administration. Had she won, Harris would have been far more hostile to Israel, and infinitely more dangerous to the Israeli people.

It was aggravating. Couldn’t they see it? The Biden Harris administration did not get our hostages home. They gave money to Hamas. They gave money to Iran. They slow-walked arms to Israel and even forced Israel to give aid to the people who murdered and raped them.

The Biden Harris administration did all manner of terrible things to Israel. As such, I expected my people to stand up for me. Heck. I expected them to stand up for themselves. Forget about the cost of bacon or tampons in boys’ bathrooms. What about their Jewish grandchildren’s ability to safely step onto a college campus?

Instead they posted memes about Kfir Bibas, but voted for Harris. Maybe they thought that sharing those memes meant they could vote however they liked and it wouldn't matter. Because posting memes of Kfir made them good Jews no matter what else they did. Except that Biden and Harris did exactly nothing for the Bibas family. They didn't fight for them. They didn't make the effort to ascertain their wellbeing. They didn't speak about the Bibas family often and at length or make them a household name.

Doug displays a stunning breadth of knowledge on the Jewish holiday known as Hanukkah

We may not yet know when or how or even if it happened, but Shiri, Ariel, and little Kfir, as of this writing, are believed to be coming home to Israel in body bags tomorrow. Could we reasonably expect that Biden and Harris could have done something different that would have changed the outcome? Like not send money to Iran and Hamas to begin with? Of course! But their constituents didn't think about or do anything about that. They didn't pressure the administration. Instead, they just shared lots and lots of memes of little red-headed Kfir, then went out and voted for Harris.

I think of all the anxious calls I received from Jewish family and friends in the wake of October 7, and how much effort I expended in order to update and reassure them. How could they have voted this way? Did they really care anything at all about my kids in uniform?

It’s impossible. If they cared about me and my family or their people at all, it seemed to me they would have voted for Trump. But they cared more about voting for a Democrat than doing what their family and friends in Israel prayed they would do, speak up for Israel and for their people with their vote.

It must be said that not all American Jews voted Democrat. The orthodox didn’t. But they’re a tiny minority within a minority. By and large, the Jewish vote went to the party that shed Jewish blood.

From The Jewish Vote in 2024 (emphasis added):

. . . At bottom, the story of the Jewish vote is really a tale of two communities—the ultra-Orthodox, who vote like Evangelicals and are about 10 percent of the total Jewish population, and secular Jews, who constitute 85 percent of the total and who vote more solidly for Democrats than any demographic besides blacks, with whom they are now virtually tied. . .

. . . More than 85 percent of American Jews (who are neither ultra-Orthodox nor Modern Orthodox) are solidly in the liberal camp and show little sign of abandoning the Democratic Party. In fact, the National Election Pool’s exit poll promoted by CNN (the one that showed that 79 percent of Jews voted for Harris) probably underrepresents the percentage of secular Jews who voted for her, since that poll included votes in Florida, where a sizable number of Modern Orthodox Jews reside. A poll by the Jewish Electorate Institute showed that Reform-affiliated Jews voted for Harris at a rate of 84 percent, with Conservative-affiliated Jews only slightly behind, at 75 percent. The same poll found that 74 percent of Orthodox Jews (Haredi and Modern Orthodox) voted for Trump.

Even when you add the pro-Trump observant Jews into the mix, American Jews still voted for Harris in greater percentages than any other major religious group in America. Catholics voted 41 percent for Harris; Protestants gave her 37 percent; Mormons came in at 25 percent, and Muslims only at 20. The only “religious” group that surpassed Jews in their support for Harris were described in the Washington Post poll as “voters with no religion” who voted for Harris over Trump 72 to 25 percent—a ratio that actually puts them behind Reform and Conservative Jews in their ardor for Harris.

For the most part, American Israelis voted much like the orthodox Jews of America. We voted for Trump, because Trump is good for Israel. It really is that simple. Why this simple fact didn’t matter to our American co-religionists—or at least didn’t take precedence over more domestic issues—was and remains unfathomable to me.

Because we had a frickin’ massacre here. I mean, wake the hell up! Is it only me who is walking around with steam coming out my ears over the Jewish vote?

Doug and Kamala doing Jewy-stuff in Jerusalem

“Hi - American Israeli here,” wrote Stuart Schnee. I had wanted to speak to American Israelis about the US election, and the self-described book “shepherd” and book publicist was happy to oblige me.

I explained to Schnee that I was writing about our feelings as American Israelis—how we felt about relatives and friends who did not vote with Israel in mind in the recent presidential election.

“Ah. I am not the right guy,” wrote Schnee. “My family voted with Israel in mind.”

I blinked. What a lovely, unexpected answer. I felt happy for a brief moment. But I wanted to know how he felt.

“How did that make you feel?” I asked.

“I can say that I am proud and appreciate it,” wrote Schnee. “They are all loyal Americans, and at the same time Israel was part of the consideration for much of my family (and they didn't all vote the same!!)”

“Interesting,” I commented.

It was like a light had come on. I saw what he meant. In their own way, even if they didn’t agree with us, Stuart Schnee’s relatives had indeed voted with Israel in mind. They cared about Israel.

Okay, but what about in the run up to the election. Did he do anything in an attempt to give them an insider’s perspective? “Did you leave them alone, or try to persuade those who didn't see it your way? Or. . . I guess you don't get all hot-headed about this stuff?”

“I used to,” wrote Schnee, “but over the years I have seen that in the US one has very little influence.”

“Are you pleased with the way American Jewry votes?” I asked. “Do you think they are well informed?”

Schnee was matter of fact. “I fully understand why Jews still vote Dem even when it seems like it isn't such a great match any more. Even Jews I know who have started voting GOP - they don't always agree with every policy the GOP champions.”

She knows a thing or two about yarmulkes.

I posed the same question to Batya Spiegelman Medad, an expat American living in Shilo, a woman who has no problem stating her mind. “Do you have relatives who expressed concern for you after October 7, then proceeded to vote for a candidate you felt was bad for Israel?”

“Yes, for sure. The vast majority of my relatives vote religiously for Democrats, and a few have shown concern—in one case very strong, sincere concern and support—for Israel, but they don't recognize that the party they support endangers the survival of the State of Israel. I never initiate political discussions with them, nor with American friends. I write very clearly what I think on Facebook and my blog Shiloh Musings. I try not to argue with anyone or respond to the negative things they write, but I won't mute my opinions,” said Medad.

“Does it make you angry to know they voted for someone who you feel poses a danger to Israel? Or rather, how does it make you feel? I don't want to presume you're angry,” I said.

“Angry? I'm beyond anger; it saddens me,” said Medad. “I'm so different from my family. Actually, I'm the ‘rebel.’ I took the 1960s in a different direction, becoming a Torah observant Jew, demonstrating for Soviet Jewry as my version of civil rights and then making aliyah with my husband two months after our wedding.

“When one tried to discuss American elections, I said that for me the important issues for choosing which party to vote for in the presidency depends on two things only, defense/security and economics. They don't get it.”

“But you kept it to yourself. You said nothing to them. It's just politics, and politics shouldn't come between relatives?” I asked. “Or you just didn't see the point? Something else? Does it feel like you're carrying it around? Does it make you uncomfortable to correspond/speak with them?”

“There's no doubt that many of my family have seen/read my opinions,” said Medad, “but I'm not going to argue directly with them. Without facebook, I'd lose all contact with most of my family, and I don't want that. If anyone asks a question, I answer.

Medad continued, “The problem is that most Americans have chosen to listen/read only one type of news media. They don't think/compare to make their own decisions. They repeat the lies they've heard and aren't open to hearing something else.

“It must be so confusing for most American Jews to have heard what happened to innocent Israelis on Oct 7, 2024, and then be told that Israel is guilty,” added Medad. “But there are left-wing Israelis, even bereaved families from the southern kibbutzim, who can't accept that their political opinions about peace with their Arab neighbors is a dangerous lie. They're sticking together to make sure nobody shakes their ‘conceptzia.’”

Chanuka joy

I went next to Susan Tova Mann Hirsch, a retired teacher (44 years) of children with special needs and asked her to weigh in. “Did you have relatives who expressed concern for you in regard to Oct. 7, but then voted in a way you felt was contrary to Israel's interests? Do you feel American Jewry is well informed about Israel and geopolitics?”

“My one sister expressed a lot of concern about my living here in Israel after Oct. 7; however, she still voted for Harris,” said Hirsch. “I still have lots of friends and family in America and I feel they are poorly informed (and educated) about Israel and the geopolitical situation in our part of the world. Most see no problem with granting the so-called Palestinians with a state of their own. They really don’t understand what is going on here and the issues/problems faced by Israel.”

“How does that make you feel?” I asked.

“That if my family members really cared about my safety (and the safety of all Israelis),” continued Hirsch, “they would do more to support Israel. They really didn’t/don’t understand how much more dangerous it would have been for Israel if Harris and her crew would have been elected.”

“Well, but can you tell me what emotion it makes you feel, for example, understanding, betrayed, patient, despairing, resigned, angry, sad?” I pressed.

“A tad angry, but more resigned that they truly don’t understand and/comprehend what really is happening here.”

Bear hug from Bibi!

Last but not least, I spoke with Israel Pickholtz, a genealogist friend. Knowing he shares my sentiments on the subject, I got right down to it. “How do you feel about the fact that even after Oct. 7, American Jewry still largely voted for Harris?” I asked

“There is definitely a disconnect between caring about Israel and actually voting that way,” said Pickholtz, a genealogist.

“What do you think causes that disconnect, and is there anything regular people can do to help them reconnect?” I asked.

“Let's give them the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “They must have great faith to believe that we will survive despite the US government.

He quoted Esther 4:14: "רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה יַעֲמוֹד לַיְּהוּדִים מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר" “Relief and salvation will come to the Jewish people from another place . . .”

I finished the verse in my head, “. . . and you and your father’s house will be lost.”

“We will survive,” said Pickholtz. “They?”

“Is there anything we can or should do to address this?” I asked.

“Keep reminding them that they are on the wrong side of Jewish history.”

Oh, I will. But I guess I’ll have to start reminding them in a quieter voice. The angry tone of my written social media screeds doesn't seem to be having the desired effect. If my words have had any impact at all it was to to alienate my faraway loved ones. They think I don’t understand them and what is important to them. They’re right. I don’t understand why their people don’t come before all other considerations. That is the wide chasm that divides us, a divide that may prove too wide to bridge.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Ahmet Davutoğlu is a former prime miniister and foreign minister of Turkey. Now is is the chairman of Turkey's opposition Future Party.

Last week, he responded to Donald Trump's plan for the US to take over Gaza by suggesting that ...Turkey should take over Gaza.

Speaking to a group of aligned politicians, Davutoğlu stated, “Now, as a Turk, as a Turk who is a subject of the Ottoman Empire, I am saying to Trump; the last legitimate state of the people of Gaza was the Ottoman Empire. After that, the British mandate was established, it did not grant citizenship. Israel is already illegitimate and has never granted citizenship. As the Republic of Turkey, which is the legitimate continuity of the Ottoman Empire, the people of Gaza should hold a referendum as our natural compatriots and citizens. And they should be connected to the Republic of Turkey as an autonomous region until the State of Palestine is established.”

And by that he means it should be part of the neo-Ottoman Empire forever.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

The Arab World Wants To Force Gazans To Stay--Isn't That Also A Violation Of International Law? (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

The Associated Press cheerfully reports that the Egyptian plan for Gaza is moving right along:

Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out in a counter to President Donald Trump's proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.

Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing "secure areas," equipped with mobile houses and shelters, within Gaza, where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate infrastructure.

Ever since Trump first announced his idea of permanently removing all Palestinian Arabs from Gaza, the media has been attacking his plan as a major violation of international law. The New York Times pulled out all of the stops when it condemned Trump's idea:

The forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international humanitarian law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.

Even so, the article admits that Trump's plan can be salvaged by allowing the Gazans to return at some point. That would allow for "the strongest legal defense of his plan: It is legal under the laws of war to temporarily evacuate civilians for their own safety."

Actually, the insistence on the automatic illegality of forced displacement is being overstated. Forced displacement is not by definition a violation of international law. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):

Forced displacement is often, but not always, unlawful. While international law provides numerous safeguards against forced displacement, there may be circumstances in which it can serve a legitimate purpose. Even in such cases, however, it must meet certain minimum safeguards and take place in conditions of safety and dignity.

This is followed by a note indicating that not only can forced displacement be legal--preventing people from leaving their country can be just as much a violation of international law:

Limiting a person's freedom to leave their country also violates international law.

And the New York Times will be the first to admit that Gaza is not safe for its inhabitants:

Even with a cease-fire in place, Gaza remains extremely dangerous to civilians because of unexploded bombs, many of them hidden beneath rubble or underground, as well as catastrophic damage to civilian necessities like shelter, water, and power.

This right to leave the territory is also enshrined within the Geneva Convention:

But wait. Do Palestinian Arabs really want to leave Gaza?

According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research:

24% of the public say they want to emigrate due to political, security, and economic conditions. The percentage in the Gaza Strip stands at 32% and in the West Bank at 19%. Three months ago, 20% of West Bankers expressed a desire to emigrate and 30% of Gazans expressed the same desire.

This was in March 2023, before the Hamas massacre and the beginning of the war. The number of Gazans who want to emigrate has likely increased since then. Also, this number may undercount how many Gazans want to leave. After all, how many Palestinians would openly admit that they want to leave?

More than that, Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch suggests other reasons why even more Gazans want to emigrate:

Facing years of life in tents and rubble, breathing dust and hearing endless construction noise, the number wanting to leave today, especially among the youth who desire to start a life and build a future, will be far above 50%.

The Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), published a September 2024 survey that indeed showed that the number of Gazans who wanted to leave Gaza had gone up to just short of 50%.

Marcus points out that whatever that number is, once the opportunity to leave Gaza presents itself, even more Palestinian Arabs will want to emigrate:

Once people start leaving, those left behind will feel jealous of those already out of the Gaza hell. Once those who are resettled start sending messages about their new lives and pictures of their new homes, the floodgates will open.

Yet despite the desire of half of Gazans to leave, not only does Egypt, and the rest of the Arab world, insist on their staying, they claim--as do the international law experts quoted in the media--that they all have only the best interests of Gaza at heart while Trump is ignoring international law.

Natasha Hausdorff, a British barrister and expert in international law exposes this farce in a recent interview:

Trump has, perhaps uniquely exhibited a humanitarian concern for those Palestinians that have otherwise been trapped in Gaza as a result of the international community's decision to say, uniquely, Palestinians may not be permitted to leave a war zone and that has been a really extraordinary state of affairs over the last year and a half...A change by this American Administration does, I think project some form of hope to those Palestinians who have been so neglected and abused not just by the terrorist proxies of this Iranian regime but also seemingly by the complicity of the international community. [at 5:40 of the interview]

The Arab world has shown they will go to any length to keep Palestinian Arabs trapped in the Gazan war zone. The international community needs to take the initiative that Trump has started and find homes for the Palestinian Arabs of Gaza. And the media, which shows pictures of Gaza in ruins, needs to face up to the implications of those images for the future of Gazans.

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In 2021, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, wrote an article in Al Jazeera where he insisted that UNRWA was not a political organization.

The charge most frequently levied against us is that UNRWA plays a political role. This could not be further from the truth. UNRWA is mandated to provide direct, vital humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. That is the agency’s priority and focus. It does not engage in politics. UNRWA, like all other United Nations agencies and international NGOs, is bound to the four humanitarian principles (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence) that are enshrined in two UN General Assembly resolutions.

On Monday, faced with the prospect of losing its funding, Lazzarini said the exact opposite.

UNRWA is a formidable asset for ensuring a viable political transition that can provide a definitive answer to the question of Palestine.
Embedding the Agency in a political process will help to protect Palestine Refugees and maintain the long-established parameters for peace in the occupied Palestinian territory.

What happened to its mandate? Well, UNRWA feels it can change its mandate at will, without the UN General Assembly getting involved.

Up until now, UNRWA stubbornly insisted that it must provide a separate education, health, housing and other social service infrastructure even in areas where the Palestinians would receive those same benefits from the government - in the Palestinian territories (and in Jordan.)

Suddenly, UNRWA is very interested in transitioning its services to the Palestinian Authority and supposedly ending its service there.

Alternatively, we can allow UNRWA to progressively conclude its mandate within the framework of a political process like that championed by the Global Alliance.
The Agency would gradually transition its public-like services to empowered and prepared Palestinian institutions.
This is the future for which we are preparing.
Today, you will hear from my colleagues how UNRWA’s critical services, personnel and assets can be handed over in the context of a political process.
Developing the capacity of Palestinian personnel and institutions will be the cornerstone of our approach.

I've noted that Lazzarini, had expanded UNRWA's mandate to exist until Palestinian institutions were "empowered."

But the Palestinian Authority already runs schools, medical facilities and social service programs millions of its citizens. What more empowerment do they need? Why has UNRWA avoided transitioning its services to the PA for three decades, but now is pushing a plan to do exactly that? Why has UNRWA made a U-turn from doing everything it can to promote duplicative services to a supposed plan to move its services to a government, where it should have been for so long?

Lazzarini is gaslighting the world.

He was speaking at the Fourth Meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, an initiative started last September by Saudi Arabia and Norway, to pressure Israel to move to the 1949 armistice lines.

He's saying that UNRWA must transition its services - but it cannot do this until there is a fully recognized Palestinian state.

The success of our efforts depends entirely on the strength of the international community’s commitment to a political pathway.

This commitment must be backed by funding to preserve the Agency’s operations until the transfer of its services to Palestinian institutions is complete.

The world that is no longer so interested in funding an organization that has done everything possible to grow forever. Facing severe budget cuts, Lazzarini is now saying, look, we are only temporary - just fund us until we can successfully transition our services!

But make sure you pressure Israel to give up the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel first, and to allow a "right of return" for millions of Arabs who never lived in Israel. Because the Palestinian leaders have made it very clear they won't accept anything less.

Lazzarini knows Israel will never do that, so he is preparing to blame Israel for the lack of a "political pathway."

Meanwhile, UNRWA keeps getting funded as some European countries skittish about funding UNRWA indefinitely is suddenly presented with a "transition plan" that by definition will never happen.

If Lazzarini were serious, this would have happened already. Or he could start it today, both in the West Bank and in Jordan. Saying that he must wait until some political process is complete - to UNRWA's satisfaction - it just a transparent ploy to keep UNRWA funded, forever.

And, incidentally, to help destroy Israel.

The Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution is not pressuring the Palestinian Authority to accept the Clinton parameters or any other peace proposal that would maintain Israel's security. The Palestinian Authority is part of this alliance, meaning that their maximal demands - including Jerusalem and "return" - are part of the alliance's position.

UNRWA is saying that no two state solution is acceptable unless the PA supports it. The PA doesn't support any solution that doesn't lead to the end of the Jewish state.

And UNRWA wants to make sure it is funded until it sees that happen, which would fulfill its real internal mandate.

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The Guinness Book of World Records falsely calls a Palestinian murderer the world's "longest serving political prisoner" @GWR

Nael Barghouti, who has been in Israeli prisons for 44 years, is set to be released this weekend in a swap for Israeli prisoners.

Hamas' mouthpiece Felesteen says the 67-year old Barghouti is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the "oldest prisoner in the world," which is obviously not true. But he is listed in Guinness, in a shameful entry, as the "longest serving political prisoner."

Political prisoner? He's a murderer!

Nael and his two brothers, Omar and Rehbe, murdered Israeli bus driver Mordechai Yekuel in January 1978. Yekuel was helping Arabs travel to their jobs in Israel. Nael and Fakhri were released in the Shalit deal in 2011 but Nael was re-arrested for returning to terrorism, a ruling that was upheld on appeal by Israel's high court (Omar died in an Israeli prison from COVID.)

The Barghouti family is proud of its many members who have murdered Israelis. The Times of London once interviewed Fakhri who enthusiastically re-enacted the murder of Yekuel.

Calling Nael a "political prisoner" is a lie. He was tried and convicted for the most heinous crime. If he is considered a "political prisoner," then certainly so is Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and has been in prison for nearly 56 years.

Acts of terrorism are specifically excluded from the definitions of political prisoner coined by the EU and by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Only Palestinians consider terrorist murderers to be political prisoners.

I don't know how this fake record got past Guinness' fact checkers. Possibly some anti-Israel activists contacted Guinness, knowing that the organization wouldn't look too deeply into the issue beyond that Nael was a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail, and it enshrined the lie. Or it is possible that an anti-Israel activist works at Guinness and considers murdering a bus driver to be merely a political act.

Tell Guinness (@GWR on X, Facebook) to stop spreading anti-Israel propaganda. Their response should answer the question of how this entry was published.

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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

02/18 Links Pt2: The End of the ‘Deliberate Starvation’ Lie; BBC put on a Hamas Propaganda Pantomime; Is Al Jazeera Providing Material Support to Hamas?

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: The End of the ‘Deliberate Starvation’ Lie

Turns out you really can prove a negative, some of the time.

Israeli researchers have released a study of the food aid allowed into Gaza during the current war and—surprise!—there was no genocide, no starvation policy, no manmade famine. (At least none made by Israel.)

As Haaretz reports, possibly through gritted teeth:

“In the study, Israeli researchers and doctors examined the quantity and nutrient composition of the food that aid organizations brought into Gaza during the study period in order to examine whether they met the ‘Sphere’ international standards for nutrition for a population in a humanitarian crisis.

“Between January and July 2024, 478,229 tons of food entered the Gaza Strip in 28,734 shipments by land, sea, and air, the study found. The quantity of food provided an average of 3,004 calories per person per day, based on 98 grams of protein, 61 grams of fat, and 23 milligrams of iron.”

Israeli officials have been saying this throughout the war: They let in 3,000 calories per person per day, more than the estimated daily caloric intake recommended by the FDA. In fact, 3,000 calories is markedly more than required, according to the FDA, for everyone but active males.

And before anyone suggests that this seven-month average could be thanks to one or even two months of very high levels of food aid, worry not: Of the seven months studied, per-person calorie levels surpassed the recommended minimum in six of them. The outlier was a month in which major combat operations coincided with Israeli activists’ efforts to sabotage the aid caravans’ ability to travel through the crossings.

Crucially, the study points out: “While reliable data do not exist for critical dimensions of food access and consumption across Gaza, these estimates suggest that adequate amounts of nutritious food were being transported into the Gaza Strip during most of the first half of 2024.”

In other words, Israel did its part. And here’s where the actual war crime comes in: We know for a fact that Hamas hijacked aid convoys, hoarded food and resold some of it at marked-up prices while keeping the rest for themselves, and even shot Gazans who tried to accept food-aid deliveries.

Brendan O'Neill: The Australian nurses who wished death on Israelis

The threatening comments made by those Aussie nurses, and the justification of them by ‘Muslim leaders’, confirms how out of control the dehumanisation of Israel has become. What we have on our streets, on our campuses and in our press is not ‘criticism of Israel’ – it’s the feverish singling out of Israel as the most murderous and morally corrupt nation on Earth. It’s the damning of Israel as Nazi-esque. As a child-killing machine. As a people in the grip of ‘genocidal mania’. As a country so unholy, so poisonous, that every virtuous Westerner must forcefield his life from its wares and its ideas by signing up to BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions).

The message we receive over and over is that Israel is the demon of world affairs, a moral pox on the Earth. Even to read its writers or eat its fruits is to pollute one’s body with its toxins. Hence, the activist dream of erasing it: save humanity, destroy the Jewish State. It is inevitable that such singular vilification of a state will lead to suspicion and even contempt for that state’s inhabitants. When you make the Jewish nation into the epitome of human debasement, and make hatred for the Jewish nation into the central credo of polite society, you actively incite bigotry. You can’t spread the calumny that Israel is a barbarous aberration among the family of nations and then reach for the smelling salts when someone draws his fingers across his throat to show how much he hates that horrible country.

Anti-Israel activism belongs less to the realm of political critique than to the realm of pre-modern hysteria, with ‘the Jewish State’ now playing the role of ‘the Jews’ as the great, delirious menace to mankind. Those nurses are not outliers. They were giving voice to a mania that is mainstream. Wishing death on Israelis is the logical conclusion to wishing death on Israel. And yet when Jews push back against this frothing demonisation of their homeland, they’re accused of ‘weaponising anti-Semitism’, as that letter says. Jews were accused of ‘weaponising’ the Holocaust to further their global power. They were accused of ‘weaponising’ 7 October to justify conquering Gaza. Now they’re accused of ‘weaponising’ acts of anti-Jewish hatred to fortify their victim status. These accusations of ‘weaponisation’ depict the Jews as such a soulless, mercenary people that they’ll even sell their own suffering for political gain.

Australia having nurses who passionately hate Israelis is deeply worrying. Australia having ‘Muslim groups’ that are willing to defend those nurses is even more so. It exposes the depth of the moral rot under the ideology of multiculturalism. Israelophobia is an old hatred in new garb. It is the social malady that springs from our rejection of civilisational values. Tackling it is the great task of our time.

Is Al Jazeera Providing Material Support to Hamas?

On January 25, the world watched in revulsion as Hamas paraded four young Israeli female hostages through a Gaza square. They were surrounded by hordes of militants garbed in fatigues, donning black face-concealing masks, and green Hamas head gear proclaiming “Jihad for Liberation.” The militants clutched and clicked their AK-47 guns.

The grotesque display continued as the women were marched onto an outdoor stage, forced to wave to the unruly crowd. Hamas had kidnapped the women in their pajamas on the morning of October 7, 2023 and at gun point, violently dragged them to Gaza. On stage, the hostages, flanked by militants, held “certificates” and “gift bags” from their captors as part of an elaborate faux ceremony to depict them as women returning from a vacation-like trip, masking the brutality they endured for 477 days.

One would expect nothing less of Hamas, designated as a terrorist entity by the U.S. and a dozen other countries. But an expose’ on Israel’s i24 News alleged that it was actually an Al Jazeera employee who masterminded this theatre of horror for Hamas.

Senior Al Jazeera producer and investigative reporter Tamer Almisshal reportedly conceived and directed the vile “ceremony” for Hamas from his office in Qatar—planning every detail of the staging, including the backdrop displaying Hamas slogans glorifying the Oct 7 massacre. Almisshal may have played the same role for subsequent hostage release faux “ceremonies.”

If true, this report raises concerns that Al Jazeera and the Government of Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, have crossed the line from biased reporting to being a participant in the war against Israel, including by providing material support for Hamas, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. If true, this would be a serious violation of U.S. law.

Almisshal reportedly coordinated the ceremony productions with Ezzedine Al Haddad, a Hamas commander who oversees the Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza.

If the report is accurate, was this a rogue or one-off occurrence? Quite the contrary. Almisshal is also the producer and presenter of an Al Jazeera docuseries called “More Than Meets the Eye” (also known as “What is Hidden is Greater.”) In one recent episode, the show aired exclusive footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar planning operations in Gaza, as well as "testimonies" from Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct 7 massacre. Almisshal ended the episode by praising Hamas’ “historic blow” against Israel.

02/18 Links Pt1: BHL: The Hostage Releases Are Obscene; Hamas to release four bodies of hostages on Thursday, six living hostages on Saturday; Agam Berger’s Biblical Heroism in Hamas Captivity

From Ian:

Bernard-Henri Levy: The Hostage Releases Are Obscene

One watches captives on their way to freedom. But what one sees - comparable or not - are survivors of the Nazi death camps.

The same bodies, reduced to bags of bones. The same hollow eye sockets, with that vacant stare. The same despair, gaunt and dazed.

Only one feeling takes hold over these days - rage - at this 3-for-183 exchange. This arithmetic is obscene.

We must revolt against this endless torment.

Israel's allies, in Europe and in the U.S., have only one thing to negotiate with Hamas and its sponsors: the unconditional surrender of those responsible for these sadistic charades and the immediate release of all hostages.

The Devastating Health Impact of Gaza Captivity

Returned hostages are showing severe health impacts including dramatic weight loss of up to 25 kg. (55 pounds), significant muscle deterioration, and complex medical challenges that will require long-term rehabilitation, medical experts told the Knesset Health Committee on Monday.

Dr. Michal Mizrachi, director of medical treatment for returned hostages at Ichilov Hospital, said, "the patients still face significant nutritional deficiencies requiring rehabilitation and ongoing care."

"We've documented substantial functional impairment, including dramatic decreases in physical capabilities resulting from prolonged inactivity."

The Ministry of Health has established a specialized clinic for returned hostages in Kiryat Gat.

Hanna Katzir, 78, who endured seven weeks of Hamas captivity in Gaza before being released, died in December 2024 at age 78.

Her daughter said, "My mother entered captivity taking one blood pressure medication. After 49 days without it, she returned with severe cardiac issues, arrhythmias, and respiratory failure."

"The contaminated conditions in Gaza - polluted water, air, and deadly fungi - contributed to her decline."

"She lost basic functions - walking, standing, using the bathroom, breathing independently. She was sedated and ventilated for months before succumbing to these complications."

Released Gaza Hostages Face Long, Wrenching Recoveries

Interviews with three Israeli hostages who were released more than a year ago, as well as with family members of others and psychologists who are treating former captives, indicate that many released hostages struggle with physical and psychological aftereffects.

"I don't sleep much at night anymore," said Luis Har, 71, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak.

"Many times, a noise - a motorcycle or an ambulance - takes you right back. You have to tell your body that you are here, you aren't there."

Mia Schem, 22, said, "People think you are out, you are safe, and that it's over, but it's not. Every day is a battle to get up and fight."

She said she vividly recalls piles of dead bodies at the Nova music festival.

Schem was shot in the arm. Her elbow was destroyed. Four surgeries later, her right arm is a few inches shorter than her left.

Moran Stela Yanai, 41, said she can't tolerate being indoors or in a closed room for more than a few minutes.

Yanai lost much of her hearing in captivity and now wears hearing aids.

Both of her legs were broken during her kidnapping, and she has had multiple surgeries on them since her release.

Brett McGurk: Hamas Is Playing Games with Releasing Hostages

Last week, Hamas once again showed why reaching a ceasefire deal was so elusive for so long: the group threatened to stop releasing hostages and return to war with Israel. As someone who helped lead months of ceasefire talks for the Biden administration, this did not come as a surprise.

Throughout the ceasefire negotiations, Hamas consistently held back on a commitment to release hostages and aimed to ensure it remained in power after the war ends. President Joe Biden was right to stand firmly by Israel and demand the release of hostages by Hamas. And President Donald Trump is right to do the same.

Hamas is a terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades. Its Oct. 7 attack, however, was not just an act of terrorism but a full-blown military invasion. More than 3,000 Hamas fighters in military formations attacked on multiple fronts, with a mission to inflict mass casualties and to take hostages, including mothers and toddlers, back inside Gaza to deter an Israeli response. A U.S.-mediated deal to release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire broke down less than two months into the crisis when Hamas refused to free young women it had agreed to release. Hamas then rejected continuing talks unless Israel accepted a permanent truce up front, with a return to the Oct. 6 status quo.

While Hamas and its defenders claim it accepted another ceasefire framework in July 2024, that is not true. Hamas reinserted demands for a permanent truce. And never once agreed to a list of hostages that it would release if a ceasefire was agreed. Hamas refused to engage seriously on the essence of the deal: the hostages to be released during the ceasefire. Nor did Hamas seem to care about the civilians of Gaza, whose suffering would be greatly alleviated by a stop to the fighting.

Hamas had no serious intent to release hostages so long as Iran and Hizbullah backed its maximalist demands with ongoing attacks against Israel. Then Israel, with U.S. backing, turned north to Lebanon, where it decimated Hizbullah and, with U.S. mediation, forged a ceasefire that severed Hizbullah's support for Hamas in Gaza.

Iran on Oct. 26 fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel - the largest ballistic missile attack in history. U.S. and Israeli forces defeated that attack, and Israel soon responded with an attack of its own, eliminating Iran's strategic air defenses and its capacity to produce new missiles.

The final stages of talks that began in December took place with the backdrop of a transformed Middle East. The talks ultimately succeeded because the military equation across the region changed, with Hamas isolated and no longer able to count on a multifront conflict. All this was achieved without the U.S. being drawn directly into an all-out Middle East war that so many analysts had predicted.

L'Orient Today reports that the new government has released its ministerial statement, and it is notable for two reasons.

It is the first time since the Taif Agreement [which ended the 1975-90 Civil War] that a ministerial statement makes no mention of "the people's right to resist by all means the Israeli occupation."

Instead, the new ministerial team emphasized that "the state is fully responsible for the defense of its territory" and must "hold the monopoly on weapons." The text underscores "Lebanon's right to defend itself in case of aggression, in accordance with the U.N. Charter"

This is saying that Hezbollah can no longer claim to defend southern Lebanon and it has no right to have a separate army.

For three decades, Hezbollah has claimed that it was necessary to build a separate army and pretended to be defending Lebanon. Now, everyone sees that Hezbollah invited attacks, with its various offensive actions, not defended against them.
It seems that Lebanon has now turned the page on the infamous triad of "army, people, resistance," long cherished by Hezbollah — with the party's approval and without being provoked.
[The statement] first reaffirms Lebanon’s commitment to upholding international resolutions, including U.N. Resolution 1701 (2006) in full — which, among other provisions, calls for Hezbollah’s withdrawal north of the Litani River — as well as all other U.N. resolutions concerning Lebanon.
This is a barely veiled reference to Resolution 1559 of 2004, which specifically calls for the disarmament of both "Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."
The Cabinet also reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the cease-fire established on Nov. 27, 2024.

Today everyone is concerned over Israel's insistence on keeping control of several strategically important areas on the border. Yet Israel withdrew from Lebanon after routing Hezbollah, which is as good a proof as any that Israel has no territorial designs on occupying Lebanon.

But it has every interest in defending its own communities from the high ground that Hezbollah could regain.

All the other areas that the IDF withdrew from have reportedly been taken over by the Lebanese army. Hezbollah still have a presence in southern Lebanon but it appears that, at least for now, the Lebanese government and army are serious about keeping them from regaining power.

Which is about as clear a victory as is possible in today's world.

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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

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