Thursday, January 26, 2023
HRC Op-Ed In The Hill Times History Doesn’t Support Giving Israel An ‘Occupier’ Label
HRC’s Op-Ed entitled: “History Doesn’t Support Giving Israel An ‘Occupier’ Label” was published in The Hill Times on Wednesday, January 25, 2023Melanie Phillips: Netanyahu at bay, but what about the facts?
Israel, the nation-state of the Jewish people, is not an “occupier” of its own land and of its own eternal and undivided capital, Jerusalem.
No UN resolution or political proclamation can distort these historical truths.
Furthermore, Jews have historical ties to Judea and Samaria which dates back thousands of years. Israel strenuously disputes claims that it’s an “occupier,” citing pre-existing legal, ancestral, and biblical claims to lands it acquired in a war of self-defence in 1967 against pan-Arab armies seeking its destruction and as there was no recognized sovereign of these areas at the time.
Jordan controlled the area now regarded as the “West Bank” from 1948-1967 following the War of Independence, which saw combined Arab armies try to wipe the nascent State of Israel off the map. Jordan didn’t have rightful title to the land according to international law. Same equally applies for Egypt, which controlled the Gaza Strip from 1948-1967, unlawfully, and which Israel acquired in 1967, but from which, in 2005, it unilaterally disengaged, removing 21 settlements, 8,000 settlers, and its combined armed forces in a unilateral concession for peace.
Importantly, the Palestinians have never had sovereignty and statehood, and according to Israel’s position and many leading international jurists, the laws of occupation aren’t applicable.
So, how’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faring in his supposed program to smash democracy at the behest of the religious extremists in his government?Gadi Taub: The Struggle for Israel’s Democracy
Well, as Israel’s newly-minted dictator, he’s not doing too well in that regard.
Consider: Netanyahu has demonstrated his supposed craven subjection to the ultra-nationalist Bezalel Smotrich, to whom he gave authority over civilian administration in the disputed territories, by brutally slapping Smotrich down when he attempted to overrule an IDF and Defense Ministry decision to tear down an illegal Israeli outpost.
Netanyahu has shown his allegedly despotic determination to ditch the rule of law by bowing to the Supreme Court’s ruling against his minister and long-time ally Aryeh Deri and firing him.
And Netanyahu showed himself captured, bound and gagged by the zealots in his government who want to turn Israel into a theocracy when he effectively overruled the Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, who said he would stop funding cultural activities on Shabbat.
In other words, in every case, Netanyahu has chosen to uphold the existing order rather than overthrow it.
Undoubtedly, the fight between Smotrich and the defense establishment has further to go. Netanyahu has said he will somehow bring Deri back into his government. We have yet to see how these and other issues will turn out.
Maybe Netanyahu will yet morph into a cross between Viktor Orban, Herod and Mussolini. But so far, he has been behaving as a cautious, risk-averse prime minister determined to keep the liberal, constitutional show on the road.
Of course, this has received no acknowledgment from the “progressive” Jewish world, both in Israel and the Diaspora. To such people, Netanyahu is personally irredeemable, and because the government he has formed is committed to defending Jewish interests rather than left-wing principles, it is deemed incapable of doing anything sensible or good.
In his previous administrations Netanyahu was careful not to pick a fight with the country’s judicial oligarchy, preferring to spend his political capital on other subjects—primarily Iran and economics. He assumed, based on experience, that Israel’s judicial oligarchy would continue to abide by an unwritten rule: If a politician doesn’t try to reform the justice system, they will leave his person—though not necessarily his policies—alone. The flip side of this arrangement was, in any case, more obviously true: Try to advance a reform, and you almost always end up with a criminal investigation, often one that was fabricated, as in the cases of Yaacov Neeman and Reuven Rivlin, both of whom were among those barred from serving as justice ministers by contrived investigations that ended up with nothing. The judiciary had its own praetorian guard in the Office of the State Attorney, which cultivated a culture of promiscuous yet slow-moving investigations that made sure politicians didn’t step out of line.
After Netanyahu won his fourth term in 2015, the despair on the left reached a fever pitch, and the various centers of left-wing power began to clamor for Netanyahu’s head. The press led the way with investigative pieces accusing Netanyahu of corruption. Despite the speculative nature of these investigations, law enforcement pursued them with new vigor, leading, finally, to indictments.
The indictments had a paradoxical effect on the struggle for power between bureaucracy and democracy. First, they showed Netanyahu that the judicial oligarchy posed a direct threat to his political fortunes that could not be reasonably abated through the usual program of mutual noninterference. Second, the attacks by the judiciary on Likud’s undisputed leader had an energizing effect on his voters.
While removing a justice minister can be seen as a peripheral event, taking down a prime minster, and thus overturning the results of a national election, is a wholly different matter. It can fly, even with his supporters, when a prime minister is clearly proven to be corrupt, as was the case with Ehud Olmert, who ended up serving jail time. But when more than half the public feels its standard-bearer was framed and its ballots effectively shredded, it is unlikely to just accept that result. So both Netanyahu and his voters came to see, more clearly than before, the severity of the problem and the urgency in restoring the balance between the branches of government.
But the indictments and later trial also threatened to neutralize Netanyahu’s ability to act. It is difficult for a prime minster to reform the judicial system and put checks on politicized law enforcement when he himself is facing a trial. How would he escape the obvious suspicion that he is trying to save himself and is willing—as the left dramatically phrases this talking point—to “smash the justice system just to save his own skin”? True, judicial reform is unlikely to interfere with an ongoing trial, except maybe by making the judges more hostile. But perception is crucial here, and so Netanyahu seemed caught in a bind. The question came down to this: Will voters support a reform, or will enough of them see it as cynical, self-serving move on his part?
Last year’s election turned precisely on that question. And the voters gave a clear answer.
Mark Levin, Eugene Kontorovich Explain Israel’s Judicial Reforms
Conservative radio host and litigator Mark Levin hosted Israeli legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich on LevinTV to explain Israel’s judicial reforms, which are being falsely described by some media as a threat to democracy.
If anything, Kontorovich explains in the video, the reforms would make Israel’s government more democratic by giving the legislature some power to check the authority of the Supreme Court, which has become absolute.
Kontorovich notes that Israel’s judiciary began assuming more powers in the 1990s, including the right to reject executive appointments, review administrative decisions, and declare legislation unconstitutional in advance.
In the absence of a written constitution, Kontorovich argues, Israel’s Supreme Court has been acting as a supreme legislative body — what Levin described as a “politburo” — that largely selects its own members.
Here is a dispassionate analysis, and indictment, of the system now perhaps to be reformed, made long before the current kerfuffle by a non-Israeli and a great legal scholar of his age Judge Posner.https://t.co/Mvi7TPLVX9
— Vladimir Kontorovich (@DedVova2) January 26, 2023
High Court declines to hear petition calling for disqualification of Netanyahu as PM
The High Court of Justice rejected a petition filed this week by a democracy watchdog to declare Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit to hold office.Cabinet poised to give nod to formal recognition of dozens of unauthorized outposts
The Israeli Democracy Guard filed its petition on Wednesday, calling on High Court justices “to instruct” the government and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara “to determine that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to fulfill his duties as prime minister,” the organization said, arguing that the premier was unfit for office due to his ongoing criminal trial, his conflict of interest, and his actions to promote a “regime coup d’etat.”
The justices unsurprisingly declined on Thursday to consider the petition, on the grounds that “other procedures have not been exhausted” on the issue.
In its petition to the court, the Israeli Democracy Guard wrote that there is “a serious and real concern that there is a direct connection between the government plan” to radically overhaul the justice system “and the criminal cases against Netanyahu — and the main purpose of the plan is to help [Netanyahu] escape prosecution.”
The petition was filed a week after the High Court ruled that Shas leader Aryeh Deri was unable to serve as a minister, and amid reports that the attorney general has considered compelling Netanyahu to take a leave of absence due to a conflict of interest. She has denied doing so.
Netanyahu is currently on trial for charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases, known as Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000, in which he is accused of providing quid pro quo benefits to two billionaires in return for luxury gifts, and of working to improperly influence media coverage. The prime minister has denied all wrongdoing.
When Netanyahu was indicted in November 2019, he was forced to relinquish all ministerial positions — with the exception of that of prime minister — in line with a High Court precedent.
On Monday, Baharav-Miara denied reports that she had been discussing the possibility of ordering Netanyahu to take a leave of absence from the premiership.
The government is poised to vote on a series of measures aimed at retroactively approving dozens of unauthorized outposts in Judea and Samaria, at a cost of several billions of shekels, Israel Hayom has learned.President Herzog must use his trip to Europe to address inconvenient truths about the Palestinian Authority
Under the coalition agreements signed between Likud and Otzma Yehudit in December, the government must start the process of formalizing the status of the small communities in Judea and Samaria, often set up by young settlers without official permits from authorities.
The deal stipulates that a ministerial forum headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to be formed within 30 days of the government being sworn in and that within sixty days, the cabinet will have to pass a resolution to have those communities get official recognition, launching an 18-month process that would culminate in them being connected to the electricity grid and water infrastructure, as well as other essential services and security.
Information obtained by Israel Hayom indicates that the first part of the agreement will be put into motion as early as Sunday when several major items will be on the agenda during the weekly cabinet session. The ministers will ask to approve a series of technical measures that would facilitate the communities' being linked to critical infrastructure and help them cut red tape for the construction of public buildings.
Although the measures in and of themselves won't constitute official state recognition of those communities, their approval would show that the coalition agreements are in fact being implemented.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog landed in Belgium mid-morning Wednesday on an official visit to the European Union (E.U.), where he will speak on behalf of the State of Israel before the European Parliament on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In a packed schedule, he will meet with King Philippe of Belgium, the President of the European Commission, the NATO Secretary-General and representatives of NATO member-states, members of the Brussels and Antwerp Jewish communities. He will also visit a Jewish school.Anti-Israel bias continues unabated in UN agencies
Of this visit, Herzog said, “At all these places, I shall of course raise the enormous challenge facing us and the whole Middle East in the form of Iran, which is racing toward nuclear weapons, using terror throughout the Middle East, and supplying weapons used against the Ukrainian people. I shall also raise the issue of the hostages and MIAs, our sons, whom we call for Hamas to release immediately and return to Israel. Thank you very much.”
Something is missing here.
Is Herzog going to raise the issue of E.U. subversion of Israel’s sovereignty and its complicity in the violation of the Oslo Accords, a contract that created the Palestinian Authority (P.A.)? Is he going to express anger—or at least diplomatically express Israel’s “displeasure”—with how the E.U. and some individual European member-states are providing the financial means by which the P.A. can conduct its silent war against Israel?
The crimes abetted by the E.U. are finally being reported by Israeli mainstream media after decades of tireless effort on the part of pro-Zionist NGOs (to distinguish them from anti-Zionist NGOs that support those offenses). Regavim and Ad Kan are two of these pro-Zionist NGOs.
In response to all these revelations, Michèle Taylor, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, wrote that the Biden administration was “appalled by [the] recently uncovered antisemitic remarks. … References to the ‘Jewish Lobby’ are an age-old trope; this is outrageous, inappropriate, corrosive, & degrades the value of the UN.”The Saudis are growing sick of Palestine - opinion
Due to Albanese’s remarks, Israeli authorities still have not allowed her to enter the country or the Palestinian-controlled territories.
The Israeli mission to the U.N. in Geneva issued a statement calling on the U.N. to “take concrete action in addressing systemic antisemitism within the United Nations Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.”
The U.N. has remained silent on this issue.
Albanese is just the latest case in a pattern of inherent anti-Israeli bias within U.N. agencies. Previous U.N. special rapporteurs have described the situation in Palestine as “apartheid” in reports that were well-received by Islamist-affiliated Palestinian think tanks.
Other U.N. agencies, such as the Human Rights Council, have constantly demonstrated bias against Israel. The previous U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, issued 14 comments against Israel during her tenure, compared to only six against China.
She did not react when a member of her office spoke of a “Jewish lobby” and went so far as to question Israel’s right to be a U.N. member.
The credibility of an agency like the U.N. Human Rights Council suffers when it focuses on Israel while ignoring far more pernicious, systematic human rights abuses in countries like China, Cuba and Venezuela. Since 2015, the council has approved 99 resolutions condemning Israel, more than twice the number of times it condemned Syria and seven times more than it condemned Iran. Tellingly, the Council has issued no resolutions against China or Turkey.
It seems that U.N. agencies continue their anti-Israel bias unhindered, presenting a distorted view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that indirectly legitimizes terrorism and continuing violence against Israel and its citizens.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said there will be no normalization with Israel until the Palestinians achieve statehood.Palestinian man arrested for deadly stabbing spree on German train
That’s not true for a lot of good reasons. Normalization between the kingdom and Israel has actually been underway for some time even though Palestinian statehood remains further away than ever. The Saudis have grown weary of Palestinian intransigence and have decided it is in their own interest to build relations with the Jewish state. Also, the two countries share a common cause: stopping Iran’s terrorism and nuclear ambitions.
The Arabs states have vetoed the Palestinian veto, which said no recognition or peace with Israel until Palestinian claims, including statehood, were achieved. Several moderate Sunni states have opted for normalizing relations with Israel and the trade, technology and tourism that would bring them, but most of all for the critical shared strategic interest.
The Palestinians’ maximalist demands and unwillingness to make meaningful compromises have frustrated their moderate Arab benefactors who decided that opening to Israel will help stabilize and protect their region. They still pay lip service to the Palestinian cause, talk about statehood and send money. These countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – were never at war with Israel, as Jordan and Egypt were, and grew to resent Palestinian intransigence.
Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace are slim and there are none in the foreseeable future for several reasons. The Israelis don’t want it. The Palestinians aren’t ready. The moderate Arabs have other priorities. The Americans can’t go it alone, even if President Joe Biden wanted to, which he doesn’t.
A knife-wielding man described as a stateless Palestinian fatally stabbed two passengers and injured seven others on a train in northern Germany before being grabbed by members of the public and arrested by police, officials say. The motive of the attack was not immediately known.Berlin Police release photo of suspect who beat a local rabbi
Germany’s Federal Police force said the suspect used a knife to attack several passengers shortly before a regional train traveling from Kiel to Hamburg arrived at the Brokstedt station.
Police spokesman Juergen Henningsen from the nearby city of Flensburg says two of the stabbed people died after the attack. Three were severely injured and four others suffered minor injuries. No details were given about the identity of the victims.
The attacker was also injured and taken to the hospital, police say.
The Berlin police have asked the public to assist with information about an antisemitic verbal attack and physical injury against a German-American Jew that occurred on the morning of September 13, in Mariendorf and have published a photo of the suspect.
The Berlin Police has asked the public to assist with information about an antisemitic verbal and physical attack against a German-American rabbi on September 13, in Mariendorf. The department published a photo of the suspect
“The incident happened on the mezzanine level of the Westphalweg underground station,” the announcement reads. “The previously unknown suspect is said to have suddenly given a 43-year-old man who was traveling with his son a push in the upper left arm and also insulted him with antisemitic [remarks]. Then the unknown man is said to have boarded a train on the U 6 line,” the police said.
Sending "Dumb" Weapons from Israel to Ukraine Is Smart
The U.S. military announced last week that it would take 300,000 American 155-millimeter artillery shells from a weapons stockpile in Israel and transfer them to the Ukrainian military. Israeli officials said the rounds were U.S.-owned and that how they were used was "American business."
The U.S. has a substantial amount of combat material and equipment forward-deployed in Israel. I was in charge of those stockpiles when I was commander of U.S. European Command a decade ago. I toured the stockpiles on several occasions, and they are impressive, extensive and well maintained - ready for combat.
One reason Israel is comfortable with withdrawing the 155-mm rounds is that this will free up space for precision-guided munitions, which is about all the Israeli air force uses. Preparing intelligently for war is a good way to prevent the need for actually fighting one. Replenishing the war reserve in Israel will help deter Iranian adventurism, tamp down options for mischief by Hizbullah and keep Syrian forces away from the Israeli border.
Jeremy Corbyn wants Ukraine to surrender — in the name of peace. He is a Quisling. To end this bloody war we need to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to defeat Russia. Fortunately, the US, UK, Germany, Norway, Poland and Spain have now announced they will send tanks to Ukraine. https://t.co/YcigYkS5ql
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 26, 2023
Nine Palestinians killed in Jenin, Israeli security forces thwart terror attack
As many as nine Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday were killed in an extended battle with the IDF which was trying to thwart planned terror attacks as well as to capture at least three known Islamic Jihad terrorists.We Dismantled a Ticking Time Bomb, Says Israeli Army of Jenin Raid
The operation was a joint one involving the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the IDF and the police.
Israel's defense establishment is prepared for an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip in response to Thursday's raid, a senior IDF officer told Israeli media following the conclusion of the operation. "However, it is important to note that there are currently no changes to the IDF's available manpower," the officer added.
The IDF said that when it approached the residence where the three terrorists were known to be hiding out, two of them started running out of the residence while armed and were killed by IDF forces.
A third wanted terrorist willingly surrendered himself to be arrested, while a fourth armed Palestinian there attempted to engage Israeli security forces and was also killed.
IDF anti-explosive experts entered the residence and safely exploded two bombs that the terrorists had in their possession.
The IDF said that the three wanted terrorists had already participated in multiple attacks and were planning even more substantial attacks.
‘We’re fully prepared for the event of an attack from Gaza’9 Palestinian gunmen killed as IDF foils terror cell in Jenin
Israeli security forces “dismantled a ticking time bomb” in Thursday morning’s raid on a terrorist cell planning to carry out an attack on a civilian target in Israel, a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer said.
The risky and high-stakes three-hour operation was carried out in the midst of the Jenin refugee camp by IDF Special Units, Border Patrols, the Yamam counter-terrorism unit and the Shin Bet security agency. At least nine wanted terrorists—mostly affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group— were killed in the operation.
Israel is preparing for retaliatory attacks, including from Palestinian terrorist groups based in the Gaza Strip.
“The terrorists have put numerous barricades in front of the hideout and opened fire once the Israeli forces arrived. We responded with targeted precision shots, grenades, and an anti-tank missile,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. He stressed that Israeli security forces have not relaxed their stringent rules of engagement and only opened fire when faced with grave and immediate danger.
The commander of IDF’s West Bank division Brigadier-General Avi Blut was leading the operation inside the camp. Terrorists targeted his armored vehicle with gas bombs and pipe bombs.
“The cell has already carried out attacks and was about to carry out attacks against soldiers and civilians. We needed to act immediately unless the cell should have operated. Our troops are prepared for any scenario in Gaza as well,” the IDF official said.
2. Earlier this morning, Israeli security forces conducted a counterterrorism operation in the center of the Jenin camp, to apprehend a terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization.
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) January 26, 2023
Palestinian Authority ends security coordination with Israel over Jenin raid
The Palestinian Authority announced on Thursday evening that it has decided to halt security coordination with Israel.Palestinian Policeman Among Gunmen Killed in Jenin Raid
The announcement was made after an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to discuss the repercussions of the Israeli military operation in Jenin Refugee Camp, during which nine Palestinians were killed and 20 others injured, including four who are reported in critical condition.
In 2020, the PA took a similar decision but backtracked after five months.
“The security coordination with the Israeli occupation government is no longer existent as of now” said PA presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudaineh, accusing Israel of committing a “massacre” against the Palestinians.
PA In recent years, a number of Palestinian institutions belonging to the PLO and the ruling Fatah faction recommended that the Palestinian Authority halt the security coordination with Israel. President Mahmoud Abbas announced three days of mourning for the dead. He also called an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to discuss the latest developments.
He said that more than 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis security forces since the beginning of January.
Earlier, Abbas announced three days of mourning over the killing of nine Palestinians during an Israeli military operation in Jenin Refugee Camp. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said another 20 Palestinians were injured, four of them seriously, during the operation.
A gunman who attacked IDF soldiers near entrance to Jenin was part of Palestinian Civil Police Force, a body tasked with cooperating with IsraelTerrorists, Bombs, Gunfights & Drones: The Fiery Facts the Media Ignored About Jenin Arrest Raid
One of the Palestinian gunmen killed in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raid in Jenin belonged to the Palestinian Civil Police Force, an official body tasked with cooperating with the Israeli military in counterterrorism efforts in the West Bank.
At least nine Palestinians were killed and several others wounded during Thursday morning clashes in Jenin in between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian terrorists. Israeli intelligence received information pointing to a Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell in the area that intended to carry out a major attack immediately.
The policeman’s name was reported by a Palestinian outlet as Az Adin Salahat and confirmed by i24NEWS. According to the Palestinians, he confronted Israeli soldiers at the entrance to Jenin and “initiated armed confrontation” in which he was killed. No Israeli soldiers were hurt during the raid.
Printed in the Guardian, the piece headlined, ‘Palestinians say nine killed in Israeli raid on Jenin refugee camp,’ opens thus:UN envoy ‘alarmed’ after deadly Jenin raid; PA calls for international intervention
An Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed nine Palestinians including an elderly woman, Palestinian officials have said. They also accused the forces of using teargas inside a hospital’s children’s ward.
The health ministry said that in addition to the nine dead, multiple people were wounded.
In a separate statement, the Palestinian health minister, Mai al-Kaila, said: ‘Occupation forces stormed Jenin government hospital and intentionally fired teargas canisters at the paediatric department.’
She described the situation in the refugee camp as ‘critical’ and said Israeli forces were preventing ambulances from reaching the wounded.”
First, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest Israeli soldiers targeted a children’s ward in a hospital with teargas, nor that the IDF prevented ambulances from reaching individuals that had been wounded during the gunfight.
Second, at no point in the entire article is the reason for the IDF’s presence in Jenin mentioned. Indeed, Islamic Jihad’s name does not appear once, nor does the fact there was an imminent terror attack threat that prompted the raid in the first place.
Third, and most egregiously, the circumstances in which the deaths occurred are not given at all in the article. That is, the IDF was responding to heavy gunfire by militants who also set off explosives, which may have been responsible for some of the deaths.
Instead, AFP felt entitled to quote Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman ludicrously claiming the arrest raid was part of a pattern of Israel committing “massacres” in “full view of the world.”
The raid in Jenin was for the sole purpose of preventing a terror atrocity — why does AFP have such a hard time reporting this and other relevant facts?
The United Nations envoy to the Middle East urged for calm on Thursday after nine Palestinians were killed during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops entered the Jenin refugee camp to foil imminent attack plans by a local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group but became entangled in firefights with local gunmen.
“I am deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence in the occupied West Bank,” said UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland in a statement. “The deaths today of nine Palestinians, including militants and one woman, during an Israeli arrest operation in Jenin is another stark example.”
Reuters reported that one of the eight slain gunmen was also a civilian but it was not immediately clear if this was the case.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel does not seek an escalation “but instructed the security forces to prepare for any scenario,” according to his office.
In a message to government ministers, he said there would be “no cities of refuge for terrorists,” and that is areas where the Palestinian Authority “doesn’t fulfill its authority, we’ll be forced to enter and foil terror attacks.” The Prime Minister’s Office also stressed that IDF forces were fired on first, and made every effort to avoid hitting innocent civilians.
Of course no mention of Palestinian terror groups that necessitated #Israel’s operation in #Jenin! No wonder Ireland has become such a hotbed of Jew hatred and antisemitism! @dfatirl @EmbassyTLV https://t.co/fc54CJZ5Wr
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) January 26, 2023
Palestinian social media users reporting one Palestinian has been killed during Israeli operations in Jenin Thursday morning. The news is unofficial at the moment. pic.twitter.com/0j75TLBvDg
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) January 26, 2023
Images of #Palestinian terrorist Izz Edin Salahat who died during an Israeli counterterrorism operation when the IDF apprehended an #IslamicJihad squad.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 26, 2023
The terror operatives were planning multiple major terror attacks.
Will the media include these details? pic.twitter.com/U5QvuceLRW
The amount of militants in Jenin, guns, and children walking around who are seemingly armed in this video is astounding, yet not surprising. There's a serious problem in the West Bank, especially in Jenin, and this video demonstrates it perfectly. https://t.co/VOO12G001s
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) January 26, 2023
Hamas issued a statement mourning the death of Lahlouh and described him as a mujahid, which is a term generally reserved for militants. Photos circulating on Palestinian social media also suggest Lahlouh belonged to Hamas and engaged in militant activity. pic.twitter.com/GCW76uEpI5
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) January 26, 2023
FDD: Shin Bet: Hamas Attempting to Recruit Palestinians in the West Bank
On Wednesday, Israel’s security agency (Shin Bet) alleged that Hamas in the Gaza Strip was attempting to recruit Palestinians in the West Bank that would act as facilitators to attacks against Israelis. The alleged operation is another sign of Hamas’ attempts to foment violence in the West Bank as a part of an overall strategy to undermine the Palestinian Authority (PA) and keep Israeli security forces bogged down in almost daily operations while it rearms itself after Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021.The Israel Guys: US Military is Conducting a HUGE Military Exercise With the IDF
The Shin Bet stated that Hamas deportees from the Shalit Deal attempted to recruit Palestinians — most without the knowledge they were being recruited by Hamas — to assist in funds and arms transfers that would be used in strikes against Israelis. While the Shin Bet did not give a specific date when the operation was thwarted, the agency said “in recent weeks” it and Israeli police “have been conducting an intelligence effort that led to the disclosure of a phenomenon in which Hamas operatives from Gaza are exploiting Palestinian youths in the West Bank.”
The Shin Bet’s statement provided some detail about Hamas’ modus operandi. In one example, a Hamas operative calling himself Khaled Taleb who worked for a Turkish delivery company reached out to Salam Zeid, a Palestinian from the Jalazon refugee camp. Zeid was asked to transfer funds between different areas controlled by the PA. Though according to the Shin Bet, Zeid was unware the funds were intended for members of Hamas.
Another example detailed by the Shin Bet alleged that Taleb falsely represented himself as someone working for Muhammed Dahlan, a Fatah rival to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Taleb asked Zeid to purchase arms and ammunition for an “official”, presumably a member of Fatah, and deliver it to the West Bank village of Hawarra. Zeid transferred the arms and ammunition to two individuals that used it to carry out shooting assaults against Israeli vehicles.
The Shin Bet stated that “dozens of residents who were in contact with Hamas operatives in Gaza were arrested and interrogated in the West Bank.” It also added that “some of them did not know at all that they were involved in an activity whose purpose was to carry out terrorist attacks.”
New reforms for Judea and Samaria are being pushed forward in Israel’s government right now.
The Palestinian Authority is claiming that Netanyahu is trying to take over Palestinian land in Judea and Samaria.
The US central command is conducting a huge military exercise with the IDF.
Hamas is once again trying to teach their children to hate Jews.
PMW: “Princess of Fatah’s lauded female self-sacrificing fighters” – Fatah praises terrorist who led murder of 37
One of the PA and Fatah’s greatest role models for women especially is terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi. She led a group of terrorists who carried out what remains the most lethal terror attack in Israel's history, hijacking a bus full of Israeli civilians and ultimately murdering 37 of them, including 12 children. Ever since, Mughrabi has been highlighted as a hero whose actions are to be emulated by Palestinians in general and women in particular.
The PA and Fatah regularly honor murderer Mughrabi and remind Palestinians of her “heroic” deeds. A recent example appeared on the TV station Awdah of Abbas’ Fatah Movement, where the host read a will it claimed was written by Mughrabi. In the will, Mughrabi called to “aim all the rifles at the Zionist enemy.” The Fatah TV host added that Mughrabi’s flattering nickname was “the Bride of Jaffa,” calling her terror attack “an operation” that aimed to teach Israel “a painful lesson”:
Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “‘My last will to you all, my rifle-bearing brothers, begins with freezing the secondary conflicts and escalating the main conflict against the Zionist enemy and aiming the rifles, all the rifles, at the Zionist enemy. What protects the independence of the Palestinian decision is the firm rifles of all the Palestinians. I say to all my brothers wherever they are to continue on the same path we went on.’ This is the last will of Dalal Mughrabi, or ‘the Bride of Jaffa’ as the Palestinians call her, who was full of love for the homeland and dedicated her life to see it free and proud. Dalal carried out an operation (i.e., terror attack) against the occupation, through which she wanted to teach it a painful lesson by striking its [territorial] depth, and thus she wrote with her blood a new page in the history of the Palestinian resistance in 1978.”
[Fatah-run Awdah TV, YouTube channel, Dec. 27, 2022]
Our brave brethren will erase this provocative act, washing away Isr*eli violations by once again spraying the divine area with the ‘Holy Palestinian Urine of Respect’.
— Qunts News Network (@QuntsNews) January 25, 2023
????????? https://t.co/sLr53GYvt7 pic.twitter.com/n0vG5FfRoj
Hizbullah Announces 9,000 New Recruits
Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah recently announced that more than 9,000 new recruits had joined the "resistance." This number bolsters the 90,000 members of the al-Mahdi scouts.
Nasrallah also recalled that the party can count on at least 100,000 experienced fighters, meaning that Hizbullah can mobilize 200,000 men in the event of an armed conflict.
Mohanad Hajj Ali, a researcher at the Carnegie Middle East Center, questioned the validity of the figure of 100,000 fully dedicated combatants. He also cautioned that there is a major distinction between those within Hizbullah's ranks who have undergone a few weeks of small-scale military training and those who are fully dedicated to military operations.
Lebanese International Affairs Expert Abdo Laqis in Response to Quran-Burning Incident in Sweden: Refugee Children There Are Sold to Gay Families Who Rape Them and “Rent Them Out” #Sweden #homophobia #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/8lIPQBzqKZ
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 26, 2023
Where Iran Casts a Shadow, Human Rights Recede
The Iranian regime is, at this point, one of the greatest threats to the free world. The Ayatollahs' policy of "exporting the revolution" has meant exporting the same brutal oppression it applies against its own citizens. In arming violent proxy forces throughout the Middle East, Iran has spread extremism to every place it touches - from Gaza to Lebanon, from Yemen to Syria. And the same cruelty with which the regime in Tehran is now trying to crush protestors demanding dignity and basic freedoms, it is also inflicting on its neighbors. Where Iran casts a shadow, human rights recede.Israeli Leaders Demand EU Terror Designation for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
Iran's destructive behavior is now reaching into Europe itself. Iran has been supplying deadly unmanned aerial vehicles used to kill innocent civilians in Ukraine, exporting its chaos as far as the borders of Poland and Romania. This regime knows no bounds and has come all the way to Europe's door.
One urgent strategic danger is the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, and here Europe and Israel share a fundamental strategic interest. A regime that executes citizens who are simply exercising their basic human rights, sows chaos among its neighbors, violates every agreement, and pursues a policy of aggression against my country must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
Against Iran's revanchism, the Middle East is realigning to produce a solid alliance determined to safeguard the peace and stability of our region. The Abraham Accords have articulated a new and bold vision of mutual respect and dialogue between Jews and Muslims. We extend a hand in peace to all our neighbors and call on all nations in our region, including our Palestinian neighbors, to join and harness this positive momentum.
I will address the European Parliament on January 26 to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am the son of a British Army officer who helped to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and my father told me stories of the horrors he witnessed when he entered the gates of hell. Together, we will remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in the worst crime in human history. And, together, we will pledge to stamp out the resurgence of vicious anti-Semitism.
Israel’s president has appealed to the EU to designate the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization during meetings in Brussels with the bloc’s senior leaders.UN watchdog warns Iran has enough nuclear material for ‘several’ bombs
President Isaac Herzog urged the measure at talks with the President of EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “Iran is fighting Ukrainian citizens by supplying drones and lethal weapons, endangering the world by rushing toward nuclear capabilities, killing and torturing its own citizens,’’ he stated.
Herzog’s call was echoed separately by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who told the EU’s Ambassador to Israel, Dimiter Tzantchev, that “only a sweeping move” against Tehran would “send a clear message to the terrorist regime in Iran.”
The Israeli appeals follow Monday’s resolution passed by the European Parliament demanding the IRGC’s designation. After the resolution was passed, Josef Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, responded that it could not be implemented without the approval of the court of an EU member state through a ruling condemning the IRGC.
EU diplomats are also understood to be concerned that designating the IRGC might wreck the slim hopes of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, the US and five other world powers.
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he plans to go to Iran next month for “much needed” talks on getting it to resume cooperation over its nuclear activities and warned that Tehran has enough material for “several” weapons.US Monitoring Iranian Bid To Establish ‘Military Presence’ in Panama Canal
“I might be back in Tehran… in February, perhaps, for a much-needed political dialogue, or reestablishment thereof, with Iran,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told lawmakers in the European Parliament.
Such a trip would come at a bleak time for EU-mediated negotiations aimed at bringing back a 2015 agreement that was struck to curb Iran’s atomic activities in return for a lifting of international sanctions.
That accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, is moribund after the US under Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 and Tehran progressively rolled back its compliance.
Grossi noted the “big, big impasse” on the JCPOA and said that Iran’s own pullback from it — including disconnecting 27 IAEA cameras monitoring its declared nuclear sites — means the IAEA was no longer effectively monitoring Tehran’s nuclear program.
The State Department said on Tuesday that it is monitoring "Iran's attempts to have a military presence in the Western Hemisphere," putting the Biden administration in an increasingly difficult position as it balances anti-regime protests, Iranian military escalation, and collapsing diplomacy over a revamped nuclear deal.Mike Pompeo reveals CIA rescued Mossad agents from Iran
A State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon that it is tracking a recent announcement by the commander of Iran’s navy indicating that warships will establish a presence in the Panama Canal as soon as next month. Already, two Iranian warships—including one equipped with "anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes, and naval cannons"—were granted permission to dock in Brazil earlier this week, according to documents published by the Brazilian Navy.
"We are aware of these claims by Iran’s navy," the State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon. "We continue to monitor Iran's attempts to have a military presence in the Western Hemisphere." The official would not preview any potential action the Biden administration may take in response, or answer questions about how it views Iran’s growing military presence in Latin America.
Iran’s increasing influence in Latin America poses a unique problem for the Biden administration as it navigates diplomacy in the region amid a growing number of dictatorships that view an alliance with Tehran as beneficial. Venezuela, for instance, recently inked a massive foreign policy agreement with the Iranian government that will see Tehran increasing its role in the country’s lucrative energy sector. Iranian vessels have more frequently voyaged into the Latin American region, and this month’s announcement by the Iranian Navy indicates the hardline regime is seeking to protect its interests with force.
Gabriel Noronha talks about CIA-Mossad connection after a revelation by Pompeo that the US helped Israeli agents out of Iran.
Iranian Expert Dr. Masoud Asadollahi Warns E.U., U.K. against Designating the IRGC as a Terrorist Organization: Don’t Play with Fire, because the Fire Will Spread All Over the World #Iran #IRGC #JCPOA pic.twitter.com/ViX1PAdafZ
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 26, 2023
Iranian Bots on Twitter Incite Violent Protest Against Israeli Reforms
Iran is attempting to exacerbate leftist demonstrations against planned Israeli government reforms by inciting violent protests in the Jewish State.
An apparent Iranian bot was discovered on the Twitter social networking site, written by “Itai Kaufman” and urging users in a Hebrew-language tweet to take to the streets.
“Leave the marks of your protest, write on the walls, burn cars and shops,” the post exhorts. “Break windows, attack government interests. Write slogans on the city signs and splash paint on them. This will make those who understand you notice your presence, and distinguish them from those who are indifferent to you. Kaplan, 7 pm, Saturday night.”
The tweets were picked up by Hebrew-language journalist Erel Segal, who works at Israel’s Channel 14 news station, 103FM and the Hebrew-language edition of Israel Hayom.
“Apparently Mr. Kaufman is an Iranian bot trying to incite violence,” Segal wrote in a tweet warning about the posts. “He [Kaufman] joined Twitter in December 2022. The style is a machine translation.”
“Attack the government headquarters so that your protest will be heard and be effective. Small people have slogans and small goals and big people have big goals and ambitions,” another Iranian bot post read.
The phrase “Saturday night. 7 pm. Kaplan” – found on several inflammatory posts by apparent Iranian bots — is a reference to the time and place of massive demonstrations by leftist Israelis, led by former Israeli government officials, protesting plans by the new Israeli government to institute much-needed reforms in the judicial system and elsewhere.
“Instead of on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we write our wishes on the streets of the city so that you can be sure that we are not subject to censorship,” another Iranian bot post by the so-called “Itai Kaufman” reads.
Tellingly, the above incitement by “Itai Kaufman” had disappeared from the account by the time JewishPress.com attempted to track them down.
ARROGANT POWER: All praise the wisdom of Khamenei. The desecration of a man made book is definitely worse than beating women to death and hanging men who love other men.
— Qunts News Network (@QuntsNews) January 25, 2023
??????? https://t.co/adVDLMCXfE
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ambassador in Madrid, Hassan Ghashghavi, refuses to shake hands with Queen Letizia of Spain pic.twitter.com/ae0NEODya4
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) January 25, 2023
PreOccupiedTerritory: Obama Glad He Shipped All His Classified Docs To Iran (satire)
Obama sent the documents in several shipments; the first occurred in 2015 when he flew pallets of cash, amounting to billions of dollars, to Iran overnight to appease the mullahs and get them to agree to the JCPOA nuclear deal. Aides to the president included at least four boxes of classified documents in that shipment, plus what former adviser Ben Rhodes called “a very sweet handwritten note.” The other documents made their way to Tehran through subsequent trips of American envoys and other personnel to Vienna, where the talks were taking place, and later, via more clandestine means.
Brouhaha over classified materials in the residences of former White House occupants began when federal agents raided a Florida property of Donald Trump and removed various materials. Presidents have the power to declassify materials; it remains unclear whether Trump’s possession of the documents rises to a prosecutable level. More recently, President Biden’s personnel discovered classified documents in his garage from when he was vice president, and the Department of Justice has subsequently found and removed more such materials from his home. Former Vice President Mike Pence also announced this week he had discovered such documents in his home, and gave them to the authorities. Unconfirmed reports have similarly emerged in the meantime about other former presidents and vice presidents, going back as far as Jimmy Carter.
Obama declined to disclose the nature of the documents he sent to the Ayatollahs, fueling speculation among pundits. “Ooooh, I hope it was sensitive stuff about Israel,” offered Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. “That would be poetic.”
“Nah, probably something much more vanilla,” countered John Kerry. “The classified stuff I fly around with, for example, from when I was Secretary of State – it’s not that exciting. But it impresses the folks at the climate conferences, so it works for me.”
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