Sunday, July 14, 2024

07/14 Links: The free world needs a strong America and safe Israel; ‘God bless Trump’: Israeli politicos react to assassination attempt

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: The free world needs a strong America and safe Israel
What happened a mere four hours after Netanyahu’s declaration that he wouldn’t budge on his red lines made everything else suddenly pale in comparison. While addressing supporters at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump was nearly killed by a sniper.

Thankfully, the assassination attempt failed. Miraculously, Trump turned his head at the split second that the shot was fired, so the bullet grazed his ear, but missed his brain. One hopes that Deif wasn’t so lucky.

Which brings us to the problem of moral equivalence in general and that which the Biden administration has been applying to Israel and Gaza specifically. (The progressives in the Democratic Party don’t bother with false comparisons; they simply consider Israel to be culpable of all crimes.)

Killing individuals or groups who set out to annihilate you, especially if they manage to accomplish part of their mission, is a worthy aim. Understanding, empathizing with or appeasing them is exactly the opposite.

It is therefore good to wish Deif dead and be happy that Trump’s would-be assassin was taken out. It is honorable to battle forces of evil, and shameful to succumb to their blackmail. The concept isn’t all that complicated.

When he was president, Trump’s less-than-complex instincts led him to starve the regime in Tehran of the resources that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had heaped on it in order to cut America down to the size of its inferiors. To the amazement of his detractors, the same gut feelings—coupled with top-notch advisers—resulted in the Abraham Accords.

When Biden took the reins, he resuscitated Obama’s “leading from behind” doctrine. And here we are.

Everyone now knows that Biden’s faculties are impaired, but his politics have always been defective. Replacing him with Kamala won’t make the slightest bit of difference on that score.

Nor can eradicating Trump—through lawfare or bloodshed—obfuscate the need of the free world for a strong America and safe Israel.
Victor Davis Hanson: Assassination porn and the sickness on the left
If we were leftists and we were to use leftist tropes to editorialize the recent attempt on Trump’s life, then we would frame the assassination attempt in the following way:

We have witnessed for years blatant exceptions to the once-common custom that we don’t normalize the imagined killing of any president or presidential candidate and thus lower the bar of violence.

But the left constantly makes Trump an exception. Now, it is as if the imagined killing of Trump had been mainstreamed and become acceptable in a way inconceivable of other presidents.

(Do we remember the rodeo clown who merely wore an Obama mask during a bull riding contest and was punished by being permanently banned by the Missouri State Fair authorities?)

So, since at least 2016, there has been a parlor game among leftist celebrities and entertainers joking (one hopes), dreaming, imagining and just talking about the various and graphic ways they would like to assassinate or seriously injure Trump:

By slugging his face (Robert De Niro), by decapitation (Kathy Griffin, Marilyn Manson), by stabbing (Shakespeare in the Park), by clubbing (Mickey Rourke), by shooting ( Snoop Dogg), by poisoning (Anthony Bourdain), by bounty killing (George Lopez), by carrion-eating his corpse (Pearl Jam), by suffocating (Larry Whilmore), by blowing him up (Madonna, Moby), by throwing him over a cliff (Rosie O’Donnell), just by generic “killing” him (Johnny Depp, Big Sean) or by martyring him (Reid Hoffman: “Yeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr.”).

Or should we deplore the use of telescopic scope imagery, given that the left blamed Sarah Palin for once using bullseye spots on an election map of opposition congressional districts, claiming that such usage had incited the mass shooting by Jared Lee Loughner?

Yet recently, POTUS Joe Biden was a little bit more graphic and a lot more literal.

In a widely reported call to hundreds of donors last week, Biden boasted: “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

“In a bullseye”?
‘God bless Trump’: Israeli politicos react to assassination attempt
Israelis from across the political spectrum on Sunday conveyed overwhelming support for Donald Trump following the attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the assassination attempt on the former president and presumptive Republican nominee for the White House “is not only a heinous crime, it is also an attempt to assassinate American democracy.”

At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, Netanyahu said that he “would like to send him in my name, in the name of my wife, Sara, in the name of the ministers of the Israeli government and in the name of the entire people of Israel our best wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to full strength.”

Netanyahu earlier wrote that he and Sara were “shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump” and praying “for his safety and speedy recovery.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz tweeted, “I am shocked by the shooting at the 45th President of the U.S. Donald Trump. I pray for his speedy recovery. Violence can never ever be part of politics.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the shooting as “greatly troubling and dangerous,” tweeting, “Political violence is an existential threat to democratic systems. I extend my wishes for a speedy recovery to the former president.”


Netanyahu: Trump shooting ‘attempt to assassinate American democracy’
Saturday’s assassination attempt on former president and presumptive Republican nominee for the White House Donald Trump “is not only a heinous crime, it is also an attempt to assassinate American democracy,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, Netanyahu said that he “would like to send him in my name, in the name of my wife, Sara, in the name of the ministers of the Israeli government and in the name of the entire people of Israel our best wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to full strength.”

Netanyahu earlier wrote that he and, Sara, were “shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump” and praying “for his safety and speedy recovery.”


‘No place in our country’: US Jewish leaders slam Trump shooting
American Jewish leaders have denounced the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, suffered minor injuries as a bullet grazed his right ear. One bystander was killed. The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed at the scene.

“I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country,” tweeted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Democratic Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker tweeted, “Violence is never the answer in our democracy. I am closely monitoring the situation and praying for former President Trump’s recovery. Thankful to the Secret Service for their quick response.”

Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, tweeted, “ZOA and its president Morton Klein wishes president Trump & the other victims of horrific shooting a speedy Refuah Shelaima & our condolences to family of victim murdered. We urge Biden to give requested increased protection to Trump and finally provide protection to RFK, Jr.”

Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, posted, “What a terrible day for our democracy. The former President of the United States was targeted and injured at a campaign rally. One person in the crowd was killed and another was seriously injured. And we are all shocked and traumatized by what happened.

“We must come together to condemn political violence. We are all Americans. Whatever our politics. Thoughts and prayers for former President Trump, the family of the deceased, the injured attendee, and our nation. Deep gratitude for the Secret Service and law enforcement.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt said, “There is no room in democracy for political violence, period. What happened today is tragic and should be condemned by all. Our thoughts are with former President Trump and those in attendance.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania wrote, “Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted, “Political violence is absolutely unacceptable. I wish Donald Trump, and anyone else who may have been hurt, a speedy recovery.”
Commentary Podcast: EMERGENCY: The Assassination Attempt
Is what happened to Donald Trump last night in Pennsylvania the beginning of a new period of American instability of the sort that gripped the country and the world in the wake of the JFK assassination—or is it the culmination of two decades of wildly irresponsible rhetoric? Or is it both? Give a listen.


Palestinian Authority Condemns Trump Assassination Attempt; Says Has 'Always Rejected Violence'
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attempted assassination Saturday of former President Donald Trump, saying in a statement Sunday that Palestinians rejected all terrorism and violence.

The government-run WAFA news agency reported:
President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump, expressing his hopes for a swift recovery.

In a statement released today, the President stated, “We condemn this act of terror and reaffirm the positions of the State of Palestine, which has always rejected violence, terrorism, and extremism, regardless of its source.”

“Palestine” is not yet a state.

The Palestinian Authority is notorious for supporting terrorism. It provides subsidies to Palestinian terrorists jailed in Israel; pays pensions to the families of Palestinian terrorists killed by Israel; names monuments after Palestinian terrorists; and broadcasts propaganda that incites terror.

Trump and Abbas had a frosty relationship when the president was in office. Initially, Trump reached out to the Palestinian leader, hoping to craft an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. However, he became convinced that Abbas did not want peace. The Palestinian Authority rejected Trump’s Middle East peace plan — despite a generous offer of $50 billion in development assistance — and rejected the Abraham Accords, signed by several Arab and Muslim states.

Abbas has yet to condemn the Hamas terror attack of October 7. Palestinians were also seen celebrating the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the time that they occurred– a scene that haunted American memories for years.


UK foreign secretary to touch down in Israel on backdrop of war
Newly minted British Foreign Secretary David Lammy was set to arrive in Israel on Sunday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

Lammy was appointed earlier this month after Labour won the general election.

He was expected to meet with his counterpart Israel Katz and President Isaac Herzog and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Lammy was also set to travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas.

“I’m in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories today. The situation in Gaza remains desperate and the need for medical aid is crucial,” Lammy said in a post on X.

As part of his visit, London’s top diplomat announced a £5.5 million pound (≈$7 million) donation to UK-Med, which Lammy said sends “experienced humanitarian medics, including those working in the NHS, to crisis-hit regions to deliver life and limb-saving health care.

“This funding will be used to support the ongoing work of their field hospitals and the emergency department at Nasser Hospital,” he stated.

In February, the Israel Defense Forces arrested 200 Hamas terrorists inside the Khan Younis hospital, which like every other medical, educational and civilian site in Gaza served as a Hamas terrorist hub.

Last week, The Guardian reported that London’s new government would abandon the U.K.’s effort to challenge the International Criminal Court over attempts to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu.


Saudi Arabia waiting for Gaza ceasefire before normalisation deal with Israel
A potential normalisation agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh won't be signed until after the next U.S. president is decided in November's election, Ynet reported on Friday, citing Israeli and American officials.

The Saudis are also waiting for a ceasefire in Gaza before joining the Abraham Accords.

Senior White House officials have put a positive spin on the potential for a historic deal between the two countries in recent months. The Wall Street Journal reported in June on an effort led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to secure a major security pact between Washington and Riyadh, which would have included Saudi-Israel normalisation. It would have made Saudi Arabia the only Arab state with a formal U.S. defense treaty.

According to Ynet, the Biden administration has clarified that any Saudi-Israel deal will not take place before the U.S. elections and a ceasefire in Gaza.

"The government explained that Riyadh can’t justify normalising relations with Israel to the Arab world while a war is ongoing in the Gaza Strip," according to Ynet.

Israel has been fighting Hamas in the coastal enclave since the terror group's bloody invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7. Negotiators have been working on a ceasefire outline, but a senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the terror group was withdrawing from talks. The comments came a day after an Israeli assassination attempt on the terror group's military leader in Gaza, Mohammed Deif.

The senior official said Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh had told international mediators of the "decision to halt negotiations due to the occupation's [Israel] lack of seriousness, continued policy of procrastination and obstruction, and the ongoing massacres against unarmed civilians," AFP reported.

One of the main obstacles to a potential Saudi-Israel deal is a pathway to a Palestinian statehood. The Saudis have said that they want guarantees on progress towards achieving that goal, while Jerusalem is firmly opposed to Palestinian statehood, which they argue would threaten Israeli security by becoming an Iranian terror vassal state similar to other entities surrounding Israel.

Netanyahu in June warned that the Iranian-led axis also threatens Saudi Arabia.
Khaled Abu Toameh: For many Palestinians, the ‘day after’ should look just like the ‘day before’
More than nine months after the Israel-Hamas war began, many Palestinians are convinced that the “day after” in the Gaza Strip will be a return to the pre-Oct. 7 era, in which the Iran-backed terrorist group still has control of the coastal enclave. For them, the “day after” means going back to the day before the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Today, Palestinians fall into two groups: those who hate Hamas but think that under the current circumstances it is impossible to remove it from power, and those who want Hamas to stay in power because they embrace it and its extremist ideology.

Opponents of Hamas contend that until the terrorist organization is totally destroyed, neither the Palestinian Authority nor any Arab state will be prepared to rule the Gaza Strip. And they do not see that objective being met more than nine months after the start of the war.

Recently, Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, claimed that his group has been successful in bringing thousands of new “fighters” into its ranks to replace those killed since the start of the war.

Even if Abu Obaida’s claim is exaggerated, its purpose is to demonstrate to Palestinians, Arabs and the international community that Hamas is not going anywhere. This is a form of warning to any party that would consider playing a role in the Gaza Strip the “day after.”

Over the past few months, Hamas has killed clan leaders and kidnapped and tortured political opponents to thwart the establishment of a new government.

In response to Hamas’s campaign of terror and intimidation, several clans in the Gaza Strip have released statements declaring their support for the terrorist group and denouncing any “conspiracy” to foster the rise of new leaders there.

That, however, does not mean that Hamas will prevent the Palestinian Authority or any other party from providing financial and humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, it does not imply that Hamas will impede any initiative to reconstruct Gaza. As long as these actions do not compromise Hamas’s authority, the organization will permit them to take place.


Now is a unique opportunity for UNRWA to change, Israel should take it
UNRWA has rotted
NO WONDER that an organization which aims to preserve the problem that it was established to serve has rotted. Many of its workers actively undermine Israel, including through direct involvement in terror. Problems like incitement and corruption have long been known and discussed, to little avail. It all blew up, literally, on October 7.

True, UNRWA performs vital civilian tasks, but for the first time the organization was widely seen not only as part of the solution but also as part of the problem. Subsequently, many donor countries suspended their contributions.

In the meantime, while there was broad understanding for Israel’s response to the attack, the world asked and continues to ask about its plans for the day after the war. What are its aims, other than vague slogans? Who will control the area after they are achieved? Who will provide loans to small businesses? Who will maintain medical clinics, deal with sewage? These, after all, are not manna from heaven, to be picked up and used at will.

The threat of the disintegration of the current Israeli government coalition prevents discussion of the day after. The ongoing war, the humanitarian crisis and absence of vision, including any practical suggestions regarding the future of the organization and the services it offers (Should UNRWA be fixed and if so how? Should it be replaced and if so, who is willing and able to do so? Which guarantees are required to ensure that aberrations do not recur?) persuaded most donors to release their suspended contributions.

The problems with UNRWA are not a new revelation. Even before the war, laws were proposed to limit it, and these are proceeding through the legislative channels. Statements by politicians imply that many will not be satisfied with limits and that they aim to close it entirely. In contrast, professionals on the ground seem to understand that there is currently no viable substitute for the services which the agency provides.

It would be an understatement to say that UNRWA is problematic. Current circumstances provide a unique opportunity for a change that will take into account Israel’s needs and its demands. But instead of providing practical suggestions, Israel is satisfied with condemnations. They may be completely justified, but they advance nothing, achieve nothing. Absent initiative and cooperation, we will be obliged to adapt to external decisions.

Foreign minister Abba Eban famously said that the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. This assessment can equally describe another player in the Middle East – Israel.

In the meantime, UNRWA survives, as does the Israeli government coalition.
UNRWA head claims key allegation of Hamas collaboration lawsuit is false
The head of UNRWA, the United Nations’ embattled Palestinian-only aid and social services agency, told JNS it disputes a key section of a civil lawsuit filed against the agency by victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre.

The lawsuit alleges, in part, that UNRWA helped funnel millions of dollars each month to Hamas by insisting on a policy the plaintiffs say applies only in Gaza: the payment of employee salaries and other expenses in U.S. dollars, rather in the local currency of Israeli shekels.

The suit, filed on June 24 in New York federal court, alleges that the scheme forces UNRWA employees to turn to Hamas and Hamas-affiliated money changers to exchange dollars for shekels, thereby providing the terrorist organization with significant funds through exchange fees.

At a press briefing on Friday in New York in connection to a pledging conference held by UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner-general, disputed the assertion, saying the payment in dollars applies not only in Gaza.

“We pay salaries in dollars in Lebanon, and we pay also our staff in Syria on a dollar basis, like we do in Gaza,” said Lazzarini in response to a JNS inquiry in the briefing. He did not specify whether or not the policy applied to UNRWA staff serving Palestinians in Jordan or Judea and Samaria, or Arabs in Jerusalem.

JNS has reached out for comment to the law firm that filed the suit.

Lazzarini said he believed—and his staff later confirmed to JNS—that cash assistance to Gazans is paid in shekels.

JNS also asked Lazzarini why UNRWA, which for unclear reasons took over the tracking of the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs during this war, is publicizing figures that have since shown to be far off the mark, leading to consequential accusations against Israel of denial of aid and intentional starvation of Gazans.


Scotland's Former first minister Humza Yousaf faces probe after quarter-million donation to Gaza
Humza Yousaf, Scotland's former first minister, is facing a probe by the Scottish government over donations he made using government funds while his Palestinian in-laws were seeking to escape a Gazan warzone, according to British media reports from Sunday.

Yousaf, overruling officials, made a £250,000 donation to the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA) - despite the agency employing individuals who participated in Hamas's October 7 attacks on southern Israel.

IDF activities in Gaza have also identified a number of Hamas terrorists and infrastructures embedded within UNRWA facilities, including schools.

Yousaf was, according to GB News, insistent that the funds be donated to UNRWA and not UNICEF - despite officials recommending the latter. Additionally, the former Scottish leader exceeded the £100,000 to £200,000 donation limited recommended by officials.

The donation to UNRWA
Overruling the officials, Yousaf spent the £250,000 from the International Development Fund, according to The Telegraph. He justified the decision as he was about to meet with officials from the group.

The fund, according to the Telegraph, contains £10 million which was destined for four partner projects in Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan.

The donation was made public knowledge on November 2 and Yousaf's in-laws were given safe passage to Egypt via the Rafah crossing on November 3.

A Scottish Government spokesperson cited by GB News said: “The review, which will focus on evolving future Scottish Government humanitarian funding mechanisms and processes, will be announced in due course.”

Yousaf denied that the donation was made in connection to the release of his in-laws.


Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser: Possible Strategies for Israel in Gaza
As Israel completes the current stage of the war in Gaza, it faces three possible strategies for achieving its announced objectives: the collapse of Hamas's military and government, freeing all of the hostages, and the creation of a new reality in Gaza that will prevent it from becoming a base to attack Israel in the future.

Strategy A: A deal with Hamas to end the war. This strategy requires Israel to accept Hamas's conditions for freeing the hostages, including an end to the war and the early withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza.

The practical meaning of this strategy is to allow Hamas to continue to govern Gaza. It would signal Israel's acceptance of Hamas as the victor in the war, showing the world that the strategy that served as the basis for Hamas's decision to start the war against Israel was vindicated and correct. Hamas's victory would be seen as a huge achievement and it would expand Iran's influence in the region. It would also strengthen Hamas among the Palestinians.

Strategy B: Continuing military pressure. This strategy views the primary effort in Gaza as continuing the military pressure on Hamas in order to bring about its eventual dismantling, involving pinpoint attacks that will cause serious harm to the terror organization and bring it to accept a deal for the return of the hostages. Israel would maintain full responsibility for the fight against terrorists in Gaza and will maintain its presence in the Philadelphi corridor along the Egyptian border and in the Netzarim corridor that now divides Gaza in two, as well as in the perimeter that surrounds Gaza.

However, this strategy would leave Hamas as the ruler of most of the territory of Gaza and of most of the population, giving a boost to Hamas and Iran. It also completely ignores a basic problem - the need to change the Palestinian narrative, known as deradicalization.

Strategy C: Control and dismantling. This strategy aims to act with full force to replace Hamas's military and governmental rule - initially with Israeli military rule. This is necessary so that in a relatively short time, after it becomes clear that Hamas rule will not be returning, it will be possible to transfer most of the civilian responsibilities to Palestinians who are not connected to terror and to international and Arab players who will deal with the reconstruction of Gaza.

This will bring about the freeing of the hostages due to military pressure, in a deal where Israel allows Hamas's leaders and remaining forces to leave Gaza. Such a strategy will improve Israel's strategic position and serve as a serious blow to Iran, both in the region and among the Palestinians. It would also strengthen Israel's position opposite Hizbullah and enable progress toward deradicalization to create a possibility of change in the long term.
Gov't greenlights bill to extend IDF mandatory service to three years
Israel’s government on Sunday voted to approve the progression of a bill sponsored by the Defense Ministry to lengthen mandatory service for men in most units in the IDF from 32 to 36 months.

The bill, whose text was made public already in February, was delayed over legal and social concerns that it unequally increased the burden of military service on some groups while leaving others exempt, especially the ultra-Orthodox (haredim).

A law to exempt haredim was ruled unconstitutional in 2017 and finally expired in July 2023. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that the IDF would begin in the coming weeks to summon thousands of military-age haredi men for initial checkups. However, he clarified that in the short term, the increase in haredi draftees will not cover the IDF’s increased manpower needs for both heightened security threats and to replace the thousands of casualties sustained during the current war against Hamas. This paved the way for Sunday’s vote.

The law is temporary as it will only apply for five years, after which the mandatory service will revert back to 32 months unless it is extended. In addition, the law does not apply to all units – draftees to some units who were previously required to complete 28 months will for five years now serve for 32 months, and the bulk of the combat units, whose members served for 32 months, will for the next five years serve for 36 months.

In addition, from the 33rd month on, soldiers will receive an increased income, and those who are currently in the midst of their mandatory service and who now have to serve an extra four months will receive an extra stipend, on top of the increased income. The amounts of the income and stipend have yet to be determined.

Defense Ministry legal adviser Pazit Tidhar acknowledged in an opinion accompanying the law that it included “legal difficulties” related to inequality, and the fact that it will apply to soldiers who are currently in mandatory service, and now will need to serve an extra four months. However, Tidhar wrote that since the law is temporary and soldiers will be compensated for the extra service, that is enough to offset the increase in the burden.

The bill is now likely to be fast-tracked through the Knesset and may pass into law by the end of July.


Chief of Staff Halevi: 'Hamas is trying to hide' results of strike on Deif
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi delivered a situational assessment at the Palmahim Air Force base on Sunday, where he spoke of the recent IDF strike on a compound where Mohammad Deif was located.

"Yesterday, in a joint operation by the IDF and Shin Bet, we attacked a compound in Khan Yunis where Mohammad Deif, the commander of the military wing of Hamas, was hiding - the man who planned and gave the order for the October 7 attacks."

Halevi noted that the strike killed Rafa’a Salameh, commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade, which was confirmed earlier on Sunday by the IDF.

The IDF Chief of Staff also stated that according to intelligence assessments, there were no hostages in the compound.

"It is still too early to summarize the results of the attack, which Hamas is trying to hide. We are determined to continue to persecute senior Hamas officials, those who planned and carried out the massacre of October 7."

"Mohammad Deif was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even action was in his power to command. He hid and sacrificed with him his men and civilians who were around, were in danger, and few were hurt," Halevi said.

"We found him and will find those next in line."

IDF Chief responds to criticisms of first Oct. 7 probe
After discussing the unknown fate of Deif, Halevi also addressed the IDF probe into the events of the October 7 massacre at Kibbutz Be'eri and the response of IDF soldiers to the probe.

Halevi noted that he met with commanders of the Shaldag, noting, "I see the actions of Shaldag soldiers and commanders throughout the war in all arenas, and the citizens of Isreal should know that there is a generation of exemplary soldiers and commanders whose heroism will still be talked about."

Halevi's statements come amid criticisms from within the IDF over the Be'eri probe, which was released last week. The investigation found that over 300 terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz, with residents left alone for hours until Shaldag forces arrived at 9:00 a.m.

The report noted that the Shaldag soldiers retreated due to a decision made by their commander.

Numerous Israeli sources quoted Roni Eliav, a combat soldier in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, who criticized the findings and accused the army of shielding the truth.

"The IDF investigation published on the battle of Be'eri is full of lies and incorrect conclusions. This is not an investigation, this is a cover-up for the emergency standby squads and Barak Hiram," Eliav wrote, and was quoted by Israeli media.


IDF confirms death of Mohammed Deif’s deputy in Gaza strike
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Sunday that Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, was killed the previous day in a targeted airstrike on terrorist infrastructure in southern Gaza.

“Acting upon information from the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, fighter jets yesterday attacked in the Khan Younis area and killed Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the military announced on X.

“Salameh was one of the close associates of Mohammed Deif, the head of the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization, one of the planners and executors of the October 7 massacre,” the IDF said in the post.

The army noted that Salameh joined Hamas in the 1990s and played a central part in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. He also played a significant role in Hamas’s tunnel project and was responsible for rockets fired into the Jewish state from Khan Younis.

Salameh’s death “constitutes significant damage to the military capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization,” added the military.

Salameh and terror master Mohammed Deif were targeted in a structure close to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone and Khan Younis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night that it could not yet be confirmed whether the two men died in the strike.

Speaking at a press conference from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the Israeli leader said that “while there is no absolute certainty yet that they were eliminated, I would like to assure you that one way or another, we will reach the entire Hamas leadership.”

Hamas sources confirmed that Salameh was killed in the Israeli Air Force attack, while refusing to confirm or deny Deif’s death, according to a Sunday morning report in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.


IDF soldiers injured in car-ramming attack in central Israel
Four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded, including two seriously, on Sunday afternoon in a car-ramming attack near the central Israeli city of Lod, the military confirmed.

“An IDF officer and soldier were seriously injured, an IDF soldier was moderately injured, and a cadet in an officers course was lightly injured,” the army said on Sunday night.

One of the soldiers was listed in critical condition, Shamir Medical Center (formerly Assaf Harofeh Hospital) in Be’er Ya’akov said.

The Magen David Adom emergency response group said its medics treated two men in their 20s in serious condition at the Nir Tzvi Junction, located close to the moshav of the same name and near the Israel Defense Forces’ Tzrifin base.

The commander of the Israel Police’s Central District, Supt. Avi Biton, told reporters that “the terrorist ran over several Israelis at a bus stop, continued a few hundred meters and carried out another run-over attack.”

Police said the assailant, whom they identified as 26-year-old Muhammad Shahab from the Kafr Aqab neighborhood of northeastern Jerusalem, was “neutralized” by Border Police officers and that the incident was being investigated as a terrorist attack.

The Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization hailed the attack as a “heroic operation,” but stopped short of taking responsibility.


Stabbing attack foiled at Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron
Israeli security forces thwarted a stabbing attack at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the Judea city of Hebron, the Israel Police said on Sunday.

The suspect, a 37-year-old Palestinian woman who came to the holy site with her two children, aroused suspicion from security guards when she refused to open her bag during a routine inspection, police said.

“During the search of the bag, a police officer noticed a knife hidden inside a T-shirt,” according to the statement. “The suspect (37) was arrested along with one of her sons; the other son was detained.”

Following her arrest, the suspect confessed that she is married to a Hamas terrorist serving time in an Israeli prison and that she had intended to stab officers protecting Judaism’s second-holiest site.


The Gaza pier shows America's approach to the war is tone-deaf
In its most recent intervention in the region to improve the situation, the US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to construct and repeatedly repair a pier its military built off the coast of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Recently, the Pentagon announced the floating pier was being dismantled due to weather. Evidently, a pier built for the sea can’t handle rain, wind, and waves. Due to the security situation in Gaza – Hamas keeps stealing humanitarian aid and shooting Palestinians who want to eat – aid groups have stopped their work and might not return. This would make the pier pointless and American officials have said they wouldn’t rebuild it.

From the outset, when President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken started floating the idea (pun intended) of building a floating pier off the coast of Gaza, Israelis scoffed at the idea. The US vowed not to put any “boots on the ground,” which doomed the project before it even got underway. Israelis saw the pier as yet another bound-to-fail American intervention in the Middle East.

Whether or not the floating pier was waterproof was beside the point. Palestinians in Gaza have consistently demonstrated that they will resist attempts to help themselves. After years of watching Hamas siphoning off aid in Gaza to build terror tunnels and Palestinian Authority (PA) resident Mahmoud Abbas and his cronies embezzling foreign aid to enrich themselves, it was predictable that building a floating pier to bring aid into Gaza was going to fail.

The current and all future American administrations should learn a lesson from the failure of the floating pier. Successfully changing circumstances, whether to feed people or end a violent conflict, can only come by studying the issue from a local perspective. Projecting a Western mindset, based on Western values onto a people with a different perspective and values is doomed to fail.

Successful mediation of an end to the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian conflict will require US officials to understand the perspective of the players in the conflict and construct a strategy around the values of the people involved, not their own.


Melanie Phillips: Britain's new Labour government and the Jews
My discussion on a Tikvah podcast
A few days ago, I recorded a Tikvah podcast with Jonathan Silver. We discussed the UK general election and how the new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, differs from his predecessor as Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the tensions within conservatism in Britain and America, the significance of Brexit, the safety of British Jews and the Labour government’s attitude to Israel.


WSJ: Anti-Israel Protesters Seek to "Make 2024 as Great as 1968"
Behind Enemy Lines, a self-styled "anti-imperialist organization," has issued calls on Instagram to "Make 2024 as Great as 1968" and "come to Chicago this summer and shut down the DNC!" (Democratic National Convention).

Anti-Israel groups, including Palestine Action US, have promoted this campaign on social media.

Black Lives Matter Chicago, Students for Justice in Palestine, Students for a Democratic Society, and others also plan to protest as part of the Coalition to March on the DNC.


Sydney’s oldest synagogue targeted by anti-Israel activists
Anti-Israel activists vandalized the oldest synagogue in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, displaying a large banner outside the front entrance reading “sanction Israel” in capital letters, along with Palestinian flags.

“Let’s be clear—targeting a synagogue is pure, unadulterated antisemitism which is intended to have a chilling and intimidating effect on members of the Synagogue and the Jewish community more broadly,” tweeted the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies.

“Despicable conduct such as this is completely antithetical to our Australian way of life. Places of worship are sacred and should be places of safety, refuge and comfort,” the statement continued.

“This is truly outrageous behaviour and we are appalled. Enough is surely enough. If you have so far remained silent, now is the time to speak up.”

Consecrated in 1878 in the capital of New South Wales, The Great Synagogue has been in continuous operation since, and is currently home to an Orthodox Jewish community of some 550 families.

According to the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7 and amid the ensuing war in Gaza, services at the synagogue have been regularly interrupted by anti-Israeli protests in the area.

Last week, Australia tapped its first special envoy to combat antisemitism amid a rise in anti-Jewish sentiment in the country since the start of the war.


Anti-Israel groups set to protest real estate event at Queens synagogue
Dozens of anti-Israel organizations are set to hold a protest against an Israeli real estate event outside of a Queens synagogue on Sunday, according to Jewish neighborhood watch groups Queens Shmira and Palestinian Assembly for Liberation New York and New Jersey (PAL-Awda).

The real estate event at Congregation Charm Circle was changed to another venue to accommodate a larger audience, according to a Shmira statement on social media, but as of Sunday evening Pal-Awda had not issued a new location for its demonstration.

The Kew Gardens Hills synagogue is reportedly set to remain open for use during the protest, and the congregation is in contact with the New York Police Department and local politicians.

"We have been in direct contact with our precinct who have assured us that the NYP will contain any planned protest," said Shmira. "There will be many officers on duty to ensure our community will not be harassed or threatened."

Security in place to protect attendees
Pal-Awda said on Saturday that that the event was screening out non-Jews, secular Jews, and anti-Zionist Jews, by requiring photo ID, where in Israel they would be interested in moving, and asked to translate sentences from Hebrew to English.


IDF soldier, fearing antisemitism, tricks fans at Euro 2024
David, a 23-year-old Israeli IDF soldier, recently attended the 2024 Euro games in Berlin, Germany, with his friends. What he expected to be an exciting sports event turned into a troubling encounter with widespread antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment.

David reported in an interview with Israel Hayom that signs of anti-Israel attitudes were evident from the moment he arrived. "First of all, the moment you get there, you see graffiti on the walls of 'Free Palestine.' Somebody went around with an ink stamp and stamped 'Free Palestine' everywhere," he said. He was surprised by how prevalent the topic was, noting, "Even the taxi driver from the airport mentioned the Palestinian situation. It's a very common topic all around. You wouldn't imagine that they care so much, but it's one of the mainstream topics people talk about in Europe."

The young soldier observed a stark contrast in how Jewish and Israeli establishments present themselves in Berlin. "Any shul, any Israeli embassy, is guarded like crazy with no Jewish symbols outside," David explained. He added that kosher restaurants in the city also avoid displaying any Israeli imagery, describing the situation as "very censored." When asked if anyone wore an Israeli flag out, David responded, "No, nobody. Nothing Israeli."

David's personal interactions were also affected by his nationality. "When I said, 'I'm from Israel.' Suddenly, their faces change, and the conversation ends a sentence later," he recounted. This led him and his friend to create false identities to avoid negative reactions. "I switched from saying that I was from Israel to saying that I was from Canada," David admitted.

The situation became so tense that they resorted to elaborate measures to conceal their identities. "We had to create an alibi for my friend, who can't speak English. Initially, we said he was from Portugal or Spain because he has a Spanish look. But then we stumbled across people who knew Spanish. When they started speaking to him in Spanish, he just mumbled. After that, we created a perfect alibi. I told him, 'From now on, you say you're from Fiji because nobody knows how people from Fiji look or what language they speak.'"

"People heard our Hebrew conversations and were suspecting something. They asked what language we were talking to each other, and we said it was a combination of Portuguese and Maldivian. We just made up random things. We were speaking Hebrew to each other once, and a group questioned us, 'Is that Hebrew?' We were afraid, and then they were like, 'It's okay, we're Jewish,'" David explained.


Mary Kostakidis faces Human Rights complaint
Former SBS newsreader Mary Kostakidis is facing a formal complaint before the Australian Human Right Commission over her comments about Jews and Israel.

Zionist Federation of Australia chief executive Alon Cassuto is taking the action, saying that Kostakidis breached racial discrimination laws by republishing a speech by Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, in which he called for the ethnic cleansing of Jews “from the river to the sea.”

He said he is taking the action in the context of the current situation in which since 7 October 2023, thousands of Jewish Australians have been victimised, harassed and racially vilified, businesses have been boycotted and people’s safety threatened.

Cassuto said at a press conference on Sunday that it is irresponsible and dangerous for a person with Mary Kostakidis’ influence and authority to repeat calls by a terrorist for Jews to the ethnically cleansed.

“Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Mary Kostakidis has shared extreme propaganda with her 30,000 Twitter followers, including a Hamas pamphlet that sought to justify its sadistic massacre. For the sake of the precious multicultural nation that we have, we must stand up against racial hatred, no matter who is being targeted and who is spreading it” Cassuto said.

ZFA President Jeremy Leibler, supporting Cassuto, told the press conference that the media just last week reported a number of sickening conspiracy theories that Mary Kostakidis has spread, which deny the events of the Hamas massacre on the seventh of October.

“She has also shared conspiracy theories that denied the use of sexual violence and indeed blames Israel for the Hamas terror attacks.

Leibler said the action is asking for an apology to the Australian Jewish community and for the offending tweets to be removed.

“But this is really about sending a message as well to hold Mary Kostakidis to account, someone with a very significant platform, [who] we believe is misusing her platform. We cannot bring conflicts from the other side of the world on the streets of Australia” Leibler said.


PA minister says Palestinian Olympic athletes are ‘symbols of resistance’
Eight Palestinian athletes taking part in the Paris Olympics will be symbols of “resistance,” a Palestinian minister says.

The athletes are preparing for the start of the Paris Games on July 26 in a “very dark moment in our history,” says Palestinian Authority minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin.

“You are not just athletes, you are also… symbols of Palestinian resistance,” Aghabekian adds.

Olympic committee head Jibril Rajoub says: “We want this participation to be a message from the Palestinians to the world that it is time for them to be free in their homeland.”

“Through this participation, we want to present the suffering of the Palestinian people and the unprecedented killing taking place in Gaza,” he adds.

Rajoub says getting athletes to Paris “is already a victory.”




JPost Editorial: The world must help Israel stop Iran and its proxies, not appease them
Stopping a nuclear Iran, which has always been a top priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will surely be high on the agenda of his visit to Washington later this month when he is due to address a special joint session of Congress.

But Israel and the US cannot deal with the Islamic Republic alone. An international alliance is necessary to curb the Iranian regime’s nuclear program, led by the United Nations via bodies such as the IAEA and NATO. It must also enlist the support of the European Union and key players in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia.

Besides closer supervision of Iran’s nuclear program, the international community must enforce tighter economic sanctions against Tehran.

Ways must be found to stop it from funding Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. And its funding of anti-Israel protests in the US, as Haines warned last week, must be thwarted. But this is not enough. Only decisive action will show Iran that it cannot get away with terrorism.

“Candidate objectives [to be attacked] should include Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps installations, Iranian naval assets, critical energy infrastructure, and even nuclear weapons development facilities with strike packages that are more destructive than any launched by Iran’s proxies,” he said. “Iran’s religious leaders must feel the ground shake under their own feet, both politically and militarily. If this threat is not made manifest in their minds, they will continue to feel free to attack American interests wherever and whenever they wish.”

On the other hand, as Haines concludes, if the US – and the rest of the world – continue to appease the ayatollahs, “there will be no peace.”


Israeli officials to hold ‘strategic dialogue’ on Iran threat in DC
Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will hold high-level meetings on the Iranian threat at the White House this week, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem confirmed on Saturday night.

The U.S.-Israel Strategic Consultative Group (SCG) has not convened since March 2023, most recently having been postponed after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Biden administration of withholding arms from Jerusalem amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

The “strategic dialogue” is led on the U.S. side by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and includes officials from the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

The development comes amid growing concern in Israel over Iran’s efforts to weaponize components of its nuclear program.

Late last month, Axios reported that Jerusalem was re-establishing working groups in various government bodies to discuss the Iran nuclear threat after they were frozen some 18 months ago.

The initiative, overseen by Hanegbi, restarts six groups in the Mossad, the Israel Security Agency and in the intelligence and cyber fields, according to the report. The Mossad groups will focus on the nuclear program and weaponization, while the ISA will focus on combating Iranian influence campaigns in Israel. The other teams will combat cyber threats vis-à-vis Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest report showed Iran holding 30 times the stockpile of uranium allowed under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, and has enriched it to near-weapons-grade.


Google close to acquiring Israeli cyber security start-up Wiz for $23 billion - WSJ report
Google is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli cyber security start-up Wiz for $23 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday.

The report noted that the deal would be made with Google's parent company, Alphabet, and would be the largest acquisition in its history. It also noted that the deal could materialize soon should the negotiations remain intact.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Alphabet is considering the deal during intense antitrust scrutiny of the company and other tech giants. It also noted that the acquisition would propel Alphabet as a leader in cloud computing, which it has apparently lagged behind competitors in recent years. Israeli-founded Wiz has offices in Israel, US

Wiz is a cloud security start-up founded in 2020 by Israelis Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak. Its headquarters are in New York City, though it has offices in the US and Israel. The company's valuation has sharply risen since its founding, and the Wall Street Journal stated that it raised $1 billion earlier in 2024 at a valuation of $12 billion.


The Indomitable Dr. Ruth
The renowned sex therapist was a Holocaust survivor, former Israeli soldier, and a proud Jew.
“Dr. Ruth” Westheimer, the Jewish woman who helped countless of people in their intimate lives, has died at the age of 96. In over 40 books, on television, and through her popular syndicated radio show, Dr. Ruth educated millions of people, providing accurate, clear information about sexuality at a time when the topic was taboo. Dr. Ruth reassured people that sex was a normal part of life.

Few of her many fans realized that Dr. Ruth – a diminutive, motherly figure with a thick German accent – was a decorated military hero in Israel, and that her life was marked both by the Holocaust and by her intense devotion to Jewish life.

Orthodox Jewish Childhood
Dr. Ruth’s parents met in a way that is fittingly romantic for their daughter’s later career in romance: her mother Irma took a job as a housekeeper for the Seigel family in the German town of Weisenfeld. She and Julius Seigel, her employer’s son, fell in love, married, and moved to Frankfurt, where Dr. Ruth was born in 1928. Irma and Julius were Orthodox Jews, and raised their daughter – named Karola Ruth Siegel – in a warm Jewish home. She was their only child, and later fondly recalled going to synagogue regularly with her father.

Upheaval During the Holocaust
The last time Dr. Ruth saw her beloved father she was ten years old, during Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” November 9-10, 1938. Nazi members and ordinary citizens took to the streets in towns throughout Germany, Austria, and in parts of Czechoslovakia. Over 1,500 synagogues were destroyed; 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses were burned down and ransacked; hundreds of Jews were beaten, raped, and murdered. Over 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Among them was Julius Segal, Dr. Ruth’s father. She later recalled watching as he was bundled away outside their apartment window.

Her mother and grandmother realized that no Jew was safe in Germany and secured a place for young Ruth in a group of 300 Jewish children who were being sent to Switzerland as part of a Kindertransport. The Kindertransport missions brought about 10,000 Jewish children to safety in countries including Britain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. These children were saved, but at the cost of losing their families: no adults were allowed on the transports. Dr. Ruth never saw her family again. After the war, she believed her parents were both murdered in Auschwitz.

In Switzerland, Dr. Ruth lived in an orphanage. She later recalled that she and the other Jewish children were treated badly, forced to do housework and take care of the younger children. Girls were not allowed to attend regular high school. By day, Dr. Ruth learned how to do housework in an all-girls school. At night, she would steal her way to one of the orphanage’s stairwells where the lights remained on and study from the books of a Jewish orphan who would share his textbooks with her.

Heroism in Israel
After the Holocaust, at the age of 16, Dr. Ruth – along with her friend from the orphanage – moved to British-ruled Mandatory Palestine, in present-day Israel. She began going by her middle name, Ruth, and lived in various kibbutzim, or collective farms.

At that time, the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine was besieged: beset by violent attacks from hostile Arab forces, and forbidden by the British from accepting the tens of thousands of ragged Holocaust survivors who were begging to move to the Holy Land. Dr. Ruth later described how she joined the precursor to the modern day IDF (Israeli Army): “At the age of 16 I immigrated to Palestine from Europe, where I became a member of the Haganah, the main underground army of the Jews. I learned to assemble a rifle in the dark and was trained as a sniper so that I could hit the center of the target time after time. As it happened, I never did get into actual combat, but that didn’t prevent my being severely wounded. I almost lost both my feet as a result of a bombing attack on Jerusalem” on her 20th birthday.

In the same article, Dr. Ruth also explained why she felt, as a female Jewish combat veteran, that it is so important for all Jews to defend the Jewish state: “Now were it up to me, I would abolish all warfare. But having lost my family at the hands of the Nazis, I know that we need our armed forces in order to protect our freedoms. And there is no reason why our troops have to be composed only of one sex.”





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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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