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Tuesday, July 16, 2024

07/16 Links Pt1: What the ICC Gets Wrong about Israel; Iranian plot to assassinate Trump; Hostage families release photos of 5 female soldiers

From Ian:

Major (Ret) John Spencer: What the ICC Gets Wrong about Israel
Rather than argue that the IDF did not do all the above measures, pundits either cherry pick from the practices, or like the Department of State report acknowledges, make assumptions without access to needed information. They also interpret the effects of IDF operations, irrelevant of the context of each action, to say it does not matter because the IDF measures have been ineffective based on their own kabuki dance of statistics they can cite. Many of these groups also cite a standard of civilian harm mitigation measures, like the new Department of Defense policy, that no military has yet followed especially in a conventional war. Regardless of the facts, critics frame the fighting by comparing the war in Gaza to single battles, in a counterinsurgency or counterterrorist campaign, that do not have nearly the same military challenges.

Again, to its credit, the IDF managed to successfully evacuate over 850,000 civilians out of 1 million people (85 to 90%) in Northern Gaza before the heaviest fighting began and now in Rafah there are reports of temporary evacuation to a high degree of percentage. These percentages are consistent with urban warfare history that show that no matter the effort, about 10 percent of populations stay.

The majority of the criticism and condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza focuses on the combatant to civilian ratio in the war. But even that metric does not show that the IDF have not been effective in reducing civilian harm given the context of the size, disposition (i.e. tunnels under civilian areas), and tactics of Hamas.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry estimate of over 36,000 civilian deaths does not acknowledge a single Hamas fighter death. It also does not distinguish if a civilian died due to the misfiring – estimated between 10% to 20% — of the more than 13,000 rockets fired by Hamas or other terrorists that have landed inside Gaza. Nor does the figure account for the killing of civilians by Hamas or any deaths by natural causes. Literally, this figure just counts every death in Gaza since October 7th.

Israel now publicly estimates it has killed around 15,000 Hamas operatives. Common sense would subtract the IDF estimate of Hamas fighters from the Hamas Gaza Health Ministry total deaths in Gaza to get 21,000 civilian deaths according to Hamas. That would be a 1 to 1.5 or 1.6 ratio. But even the Gaza Health Ministry recently announced they had incomplete data for over 11,000 and cannot provide the names of more than 10,000 of their reported 38,000 deaths. This acknowledgement was followed weeks later by the United Nation acknowledging over 10,000 names were unverifiable and of those names accounted for, the number of women and children was less than 50% previously reported by the Gaza Health Ministry.

So, combined with Hamas’ historic practice of exaggerating casualty figures, the combatant-to-civilian death ratio is more likely one to one, which would be historically low for high intensity urban warfare.

Consider the 2016-2017 Battle of Mosul, the biggest urban battle since the Second World War. The U.S.-led Iraqi Security Force operation led to the death of 9,000 to 11,000 civilians in order to take out 3,000 to 5,000 ISIS combatants in the city. That is a 1 to 2.5 combatant to civilian death ratio. Perhaps the 1945 Battle of Manila is a more apt comparison, given its variables similar to Gaza, like high number of defenders, tunnels, and hostages. During that American operation, 100,000 civilians were killed to defeat 17,000 Japanese defenders. That is a one to six combatant-to-civilian ratio. Or take the 1950 Second Battle of Seoul, another battle with similar variables to the war in Gaza, when American forces likely killed tens of thousands to destroy the 8,000 North Korean enemy defenders and recapture the city. There is no record of how many civilians died in the city battle out of the estimated 2 million-plus civilians who perished in the war.

So, applying all the numbers available, the IDF’s 1-to-1.5 if not one-to-one combatant-to-civilian ratio would be considered more humane than almost any other battle, past or modern, in urban warfare with even remotely similar conditions. Before the war in Gaza, the United Nations and many other international organizations regularly stated that civilians accounted for ninety percent of the casualties of modern urban wars.
The UN’s illegal occupation of Jerusalem
June 5, 2024, marked the 57th anniversary of the U.N.’s occupation of Government House in Jerusalem.

Before the termination of the British Mandate in 1948, the Government House complex, deliberately erected by the British in the 1930s on the commanding heights of the southern Jerusalem ridge overlooking the Old City, was a symbol of British rule.

Between 1949 and 1967 this area complex was acknowledged as a no-man’s-land per the Israel-Jordan armistice of April 1949. On June 5, 1967, at 10:45 am, the Jordanian army opened fire on Jewish Jerusalem despite then-Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol’s attempt through the offices of the U.N. to persuade Jordan not to become involved in the hostilities.

The Jordanians subsequently captured Jebel Mukhaber and by 2:10 pm had seized Government House. In the battle to retake the complex from this illegal occupation, the IDF lost 21 soldiers—testified to by the memorial plaque on the Hass Promenade.

Having pushed out the Jordanians at great cost in lives, the Israeli government procrastinated—as shown in documents found in the State Archives—as to what should happen to the complex. The government failed to show its mettle and disregarded that the complex had been the prestigious headquarters of the Mandate. It should have been incorporated into Jerusalem to serve as the official residence of the president of Israel like the White House in Washington, the Élysée Palace in Paris or the Kremlin in Moscow.

Unfortunately, the Israeli government retained the galut mentality of cowering before the nations of the world instead of exhibiting self-confidence and pride. Were they afraid of offending the King of Jordan or the defeated Arab states? Or were they kowtowing to the “great” powers?

The U.N. was immediately permitted to reoccupy the complex without negotiations, lease or any other quasi-legal conditions.


Hostage families release photos of 5 female soldiers from early days of captivity
The families of five hostage surveillance soldiers released images on Tuesday evening from the women’s first days in captivity in Gaza, demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for the hostages’ release.

In one undated image, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger and Daniella Gilboa can be seen sitting on mattresses on the floor of a room. Ariev and Gilboa both appear to have bandages on their heads.

They are wearing clothes, some with bloodstains, that were apparently given to them by their captors. Bottles of water are shown on the floor, in a room that is apparently above ground in Gaza. They show signs of being injured and of marks left by handcuffs. A framed picture of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is on the wall behind them.

In a separate undated image, Naama Levy is seen with a heavily swollen eye and cuts on her face.

All five are still held by Hamas in the Strip after they were kidnapped by terrorists from the Nahal Oz base on October 7.

According to Channel 12 news, the photos are taken from a Hamas video retrieved by the IDF during operations in Gaza and first shown to the families by the IDF spokesman a few months ago. In the video, which has not been made public, one of the Hamas captors is seen, the outlet said.

At a press conference unveiling the images, the parents of the five soldiers were overcome with emotion. Shira Albag, the mother of Liri, held up a baby doll, symbolizing the possibility that the women were raped and impregnated in captivity.

Her husband, Eli Albag, felt unwell and was taken away from the press conference for medical care.

Yoni Levy, the father of Naama, told the press conference that his daughter was held separately from her comrades.

“She wasn’t captured with the other girls, as we saw in the video with the jeep,” he said. “Naama was held for a long period by herself.”

Levy said the “latest information we have” is that Naama is “held in the tunnels and she is alive… therefore the only way to get her and the other girls out of the tunnels is a deal,” he added. “Not a military operation or anything else — only a deal will get the girls out.”


Netanyahu’s challenge in Congress
During the speech, hundreds of thousands of Hamas supporters are expected to demonstrate outside the Capitol, chanting “Palestine from the river to the sea.” It will not be a rose garden. Jewish leaders of major American Jewish organizations say that Jews who intend to join the demonstrations and encourage Democrats to boycott Netanyahu’s speech are a handful of activists of the progressive Jewish lobby J Street. They draw inspiration from and are helped by a handful of Israelis. The New York Times article revealed their identity.

Israel’s supporters do not believe that many Jews will join the Hamas call “Palestine from the river to the sea.” Those who arrive will be swallowed up by the crowd. Israel’s supporters take solace in the fact that during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in 2015, only around 60 Democratic congresspeople boycotted the event; they believe the picture will be similar in 2024. The leadership of both parties signed the invitation to Netanyahu, so a significant Democratic presence is expected.

For decades, American Jews have provided Israel with a safety net. They have largely become a strategic asset. World War II gave birth to a deep frustration that stemmed from their powerlessness to help their brothers in Europe, who were led like sheep to the gas chambers. After the war, American Jews came to their senses and organized themselves.

On the eve of the Six-Day War, Levi Eshkol sought to characterize the State of Israel, which had not yet turned 20, as Shimshun der nebeckhdikehr—poor Samson. Israel was a young country facing an existential threat, strong in spirit and determined to exist, ready to fight against enemies who sought its extermination.

The Jews of the world stood by the Jewish state as one. They came to volunteer in kibbutzim and moshavim to free up the reservists from the burdens of their daily lives. The power of the Jewish community in the United States gained momentum after the Six-Day War.

The unequivocal victory of the IDF against Egypt, Jordan and Syria added to American Jews’ national pride. Their strengthening in American society—politically and economically—added to their power and influence. The Jews, who had been excluded from leading universities, private country clubs, hotels and resorts reserved for WASPs only, became more and more welcome. The success of the State of Israel also contributed to this transformation.

Talented young Jews were absorbed into public service, politics, the media and academia. The same WASPs who moments earlier had opposed the reception of Jews in their clubs, began to take pride in brides and grooms of Jewish origin. Many of them, including American presidents, became grandparents to Jewish grandchildren.

This success worked in favor of Israel. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Israel was undergoing one of its most difficult times, then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger had a decisive influence on the American airlift sent to Israel, which changed the battlefield’s configuration.

In the early 1990s, China, countries that had broken free from the Soviet bloc and a significant number of third-world countries established relations with Israel because they believed that the road to Washington passes through Jerusalem. This was despite the fact that the White House at the time acted against the reelection of Yitzhak Shamir, who was considered a right-wing, nationalist and rigid leader.

This was mainly thanks to the unity of the Jewish people and the prosperity of the Jewish community in the United States, along with its visionary leadership headed by the iconic Max Fisher and a thriving Israel. Jews who occupied senior positions in the government were able to identify not only the common values but also the tangential interests the two countries shared and strengthen their relations.

Oct. 7 changed things. Israel’s position as a regional power is eroding. The rift, the demonstrations in Israel, the shuffling on the battlefield and the rise of antisemitism are damaging.

Netanyahu must take advantage of the opportunity in Congress to strengthen the unity of the Jewish people; to recall the apples that have fallen far from the tree back to the roots; to tiptoe smartly between Biden and Trump. He must make clear to the Americans and the free world that even though the Israeli Samson had a haircut on Oct. 7, he is not a nebbish; that Israeli soldiers fight bravely and the IDF stands resolutely at the head of the Western front against the radical axis of evil led by Iran, Russia, China and North Korea.

And, the critics at home… They should be a little more patient and shoulder a bit more responsibility if the Jewish state is still dear to them.
CIA: Sinwar under increasing internal pressure to end the war
Hamas leader in Gaza Yayha Sinwar is being pressed by the terror group’s military commanders to accept a ceasefire deal and end the war with Israel, according to U.S. intelligence.

CIA Director Bill Burns conveyed this message to attendees of a closed-door conference in Sun Valley, Idaho on Saturday, a source present at the meeting said to CNN.

According to the source, the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s top target is not “concerned with his own mortality” but is facing calls for Hamas to lay down its arms because it will be blamed for the growing suffering in Gaza after more than nine months of fighting.

American intelligence officials believe that Sinwar, 61, is hiding in the tunnels underneath his birth city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the report.

An Israeli airstrike on July 13 targeted Hamas’ second-in-command, Mohammed Deif, leader of the terror group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, and the Israeli military and intelligence have their sights set on Sinwar.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Sunday said that targeted strikes on Hamas leadership were a key part of a military pressure campaign that would result in the return of Israeli hostages.

The increasing pressure comes as negotiators continue to discuss the framework of a ceasefire and hostage release deal that is acceptable to both Israel and Hamas. It was initially reported that Hamas called off ceasefire talks due to the Deif strike, but it was later clarified by both the terror group and its patron Qatar that negotiations would continue.


Blinken discuses hostage release deal with Thai FM; 8 Thais among the remaining captives
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed efforts to secure a hostage deal, which would include the release of eight Thai nationals, with Bangkok’s new foreign minister in a phone call earlier today, the State Department says.

Blinken thanked Maris Sangiampongsa for Thailand’s support of a June 6 joint statement backing the ceasefire and hostage deal proposed by Israel and backed by the US in May.

“They agreed to continue to work together towards a comprehensive ceasefire deal that would allow the release of the hostages, including Thai nationals, and significantly increase the levels of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, the US readout says.
Israeli gov’t allocates $275,000 for defense of Oct. 7 terrorists
The Israeli government has already allocated around one million shekels (≈$275,000) in taxpayers’ money to fund the legal defense by private attorneys of Palestinian terrorists who invaded Israel on Oct. 7 and took part in the massacre, the Israel Courts Administration said on Tuesday.

The government body said the initial funding would go toward 79 private attorneys who agreed to represent the terrorists captured by Israeli forces on Oct. 7, including suspected members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, which led the mass infiltration and massacre.

The amount was revealed to lawmakers on Tuesday during a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which discussed an amendment to existing legislation that would halt the funding.

On Monday, Israel Hayom reported that Israeli courts maintain that a temporary order passed in the wake of the war with Hamas requires judges to appoint captured terrorists lawyers at Jerusalem’s expense.

The temporary change to the “Law on holding hearings using visual tools with the participation of prisoners and detainees,” which was first passed in late 2023 with the government’s backing, states that court hearings “will be held in the presence of the detainee’s attorney, and if he is not represented, the court will appoint a representative for him.”

Coalition lawmakers in recent months have advanced legislation that would deny terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks the right to a public defender. However, due to the court’s interpretation of the earlier emergency order, Israeli taxpayers will be footing their legal bills.
‘Pretext is a big word,’ State Department spokesman scolds Palestinian reporter
Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman, pushed back twice on Monday during a press conference when Said Arikat, D.C. bureau chief for Al-Quds, suggested that Israel targeted the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone on the “pretext” of killing the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif.

“You don’t feel that the attack on Mawasi that killed close to 100 Palestinians, injured about 300 others and so on, under the pretext of targeting Hamas leaders, which is really a very convenient—,” Arikat began.

“A ‘pretext’ is a big word, Said. Just I—,” Miller interjected.

“Under the pretext—I mean, okay, we had—,” Arikat said, per the official State Department transcript.

“I just want to make sure that’s the word you mean,” Miller said.

“Okay. I mean, under the claim that they were targeting Hamas leaders, which they really—they never have to prove anyway,” Arikat said. “They can say, ‘We know that this X person was there and Y person was there, so we target them. We kill all these people, then nobody is going to ask us.'”

Arikat, who frequently criticizes the Jewish state in his ostensible questions, added that “the most they can do is just, ‘We will launch an investigation,’ which we never hear the results of.”

“So you don’t feel that such a—such a crime, really—using F-35s to bomb two places, one of them against the respondents, the first responders and so on, while the other was going on—you don’t think this is an attempt by the Israeli government to just basically say, ‘You can go fly a kite,’ so to speak, when it comes to negotiations?”

“I guess I don’t understand the logic of the question,” Miller said.
US received intel of Iranian plot to assassinate Trump - CNN
The United States received intelligence from a human source in recent weeks about an Iranian plot to try to assassinate former President Donald Trump, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing people briefed on the matter.

CNN reported that there was no indication that the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate Trump on Saturday was connected to the plot.

Secret Service had increased security around Trump in recent weeks, according to CNN.

The existence of an intelligence threat from a foreign hostile nation and Trump's recently increased security raises questions about how a 20-year-old managed to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots at a former president.

It is unclear whether the Trump campaign was briefed on the Iranian threat, which said in a statement, “We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to The United States Secret Service,” CNN reported.

The Secret Service recently “added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail,” agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said on Sunday in a statement.

Iran later dismissed these claims. "From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Donald Trump is a criminal who should be tried and punished in a court for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani, the late commander of IRGC Quds Force in Iraq, in early 2020," the Permanent Mission Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran to the United Nations said on Tuesday in response, the IRGC-backed MEHR News Agency reported.

"Iran has chosen a legal path to hold the former US president to account," the Iran UN mission added in its statement.


Jewish Republican leads prayer for hostages at first day of RNC
Leora Levy, a Jewish Republican from Connecticut, leads a prayer at the first day of this year’s Republican Party convention.

Her comments include one of the rare mentions of Israel on the convention’s first day, as she leads a hushed and somber crowd in praying for the release of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7.

“O Lord our God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, your eternal city, and for all the children of Abraham, we remember and pray for freedom for the hostages kidnapped and held so cruelly against their will,” Levy says. “Lord, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.”

Levy, who is on the national leadership of the Republican Jewish Coalition and is a former candidate for Senate, also uses a traditional Jewish phrase to mourn a retired fireman who was killed during an assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday.

“We pray for Corey Comperatore and his family,” she says. “May his memory always be a blessing.”

Apart from Trump campaign signs in Hebrew distributed by the RJC, Israel and Jews didn’t make many appearances at the conference yesterday. The day was instead dedicated to the economy, the revelation of Trump’s vice presidential pick JD Vance and the triumphant arrival of Trump, who appeared to thunderous applause with a bandage on the ear grazed by a bullet during the assassination attempt.


Student Who Sued Harvard Over Antisemitism to Speak at Republican National Convention
Shabbos “Alexander” Kestenbaum, a recent Harvard Divinity School graduate who emerged as one of the University’s most fervent critics after he sued the school for its alleged failure to combat campus antisemitism, will speak at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, according to a list released by the Trump campaign.

Kestenbaum confirmed to The Crimson on Sunday that he will address the convention in Milwaukee as one of 24 “everyday Americans” who are supporting former President Donald Trump to win reelection in November.

“I will be discussing the culture Harvard promotes — one of moral degradation, illiberalism, and systemic antisemitism,” Kestenbaum wrote in a statement.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement on Monday that “Harvard has and will continue to be unequivocal — in our words and actions — that antisemitism is not and will not be tolerated on our campus.”

“We remain committed to combating hate and to promoting and nurturing civil dialogue and respectful engagement,” Newton wrote.

Kestenbaum said that Trump’s campaign and the RNC invited him to speak at the convention several weeks ago. He will speak between 8-9 p.m. CT.

In the months since Gay’s resignation, Kestenbaum has increasingly found an audience with Republican lawmakers. In February, he spoke at a congressional roundtable discussion about antisemitism on university campuses hosted by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, during which he called Congress the “last hope” for Jewish students at Harvard.

Kestenbaum is a “lifelong Democrat who will be voting for President Trump for the first time this year,” according to a press release announcing the convention’s speakers. Kestenbaum has previously said that he supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2020 presidential election.

During his presidency, Trump signed an executive order that allowed the Department of Education to withhold federal funding from institutions that failed to address antisemitism.
Drinking With J.D. Vance
To riff on another old joke: OK, but is all this … good for the Jews?

Before I could get my exact question right, Vance launched. “Israel is a country and a nation that doesn’t hate its own fucking people,” he said. “I really admire that.”

It’s worth noting this was pre-Oct. 7, which opened up an ugly rift on the right over Israel, with accusations of Jewish war-mongering bleeding into obscene antisemitism. Still, his comments didn’t feel either superficial or transient. Unlike the neocons, from whom he’s staked a far position, Vance’s admiration for Israel is directly tied to the ideas he has about what’s best for America and our future.

“Israel is the only advanced economy in the entire world that has birth rates above replacement level,” he said. “One of the great lessons of Israel for the United States of America is that when you develop a civilization that’s rooted in self-love and patriotism, you don’t have declining birth rates.”

I asked him how religion factored into these views.

“My relatives want Israel to be successful so that when the Second Coming of Christ happens in seven years, there’s going to be a country there ready to absorb it. So yeah, there’s some of that,” he said. “But the actual reason that most middle-class Christian Ohioans love Israel is that Israel is a nation that doesn’t hate itself. That’s it. That’s why I like it. My dad does not wake up saying, ‘I really want Israel to be successful over the United States of America.’ He says: ‘Israel, they care about each other. They love their own country. They’re basically aligned more or less with America.’ And that’s it. And I think that’s a great thing.”
John Podhoretz: On J.D. Vance
One person who has not, in fact, turned on Ukraine is…Donald Trump, who has very deliberately refused to embrace the isolationist view even as he hints he will end the war the day he’s inaugurated. There’s talk that Trump will reappoint Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, and if he does, that will be a sign the vanguard is not seizing control of American foreign policy. The question raised by Pompeo and wherever Trump will go on foreign policy is this: Will people of principle be weakened by their attachment to larger ideas or will they be strengthened while the chameleons led by Vance will be on the lookout for the next time to change their colors?

It is important to note that Vance has been stalwart in the right way about the war between Israel and Gaza. He said as much in a May address to the Quincy Institute, the new home of bipartisan American isolationism. To prevent a wider regional war in the Middle East, he offered this: “The way that we get there in Israel is by combining the Abraham Accords approach with the defeat of Hamas. That gets us to a place where Israel and the Sunni nations can play a regional counterweight to Iran. We don’t want a broader regional war. We don’t want to get involved in a broader regional war. The best way to do that is to ensure that Israel, with the Sunni nations, can actually police their own region of the world.”

That’s good. It’s the voice of a serious man, the serious man Vance was when he was younger and, one hopes, the serious man he will be if he ends up a heartbeat away from the presidency. Most important, I hope he sees his story as the story of what America can offer those Americans who show the determination to succeed even if their own personal circumstances seem designed to lead them to the very dark place Vance once thought Trump was tempting his own family members toward.


JD Vance worries Europe, sounds right notes on Israel
The choice of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as Donald Trump’s running mate has sparked concerns among European diplomats fearful of an isolationist America. Should Israel also be worried?

The short answer appears to be no.

Vance, who turns 40 in August, has stumped for Trump’s “America First” foreign policy in recent years. He opposes funding a “never-ending war in Ukraine” and recently told Europe “to wake up to the fact” that the United States needs to pivot toward East Asia.

While such statements naturally trouble Europeans, Vance has expressed traditional conservative, even evangelical-like, support for Israel, though a Roman-Catholic.

Speaking at a foreign policy conference sponsored by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and The American Conservative on May 23, Vance said:

“A big part of the reason why Americans care about Israel is because we are still the largest Christian-majority country in the world,” and that means “a majority of citizens of this country think that their Savior, and I count myself a Christian, was born and died and resurrected in that narrow little strip of territory on the Mediterranean.

“The idea that there is ever going to be an American foreign policy that doesn’t care a lot about that slice of the world is preposterous.”

Similarly, he told The Jerusalem Post during his first-ever visit to Israel in 2022 shortly after his Senate election, “I got it intellectually, but emotionally, I didn’t realize. [Jerusalem] is the most important cultural heritage site in the world. If Israel didn’t control this land, I would never understand this experience.”
Antisemitic, anti-Israel activists claim Jews control Trump VP pick Vance
Antisemites and anti-Israel activists were angered by former president and Republican party presidential candidate Donald Trump's pick for vice president on Monday, claiming on social media that J.D. Vance is controlled by Israel or the Jews.

The conspiracy theories about Vance's allegiance to Israel or Jews was based on his staunch pro-Israel positions and good relationship with the American Jewish community.

Many anti-Israel influencers, like American communist commentator Jackson Hinkle, shared photographs of Trump and Vance visiting the Western Wall while wearing a kippah to indicate Israeli or Jewish control. The X account Megatron claimed that such a picture showed Vance pledging "allegiance to Israel."

Others like conspiracy theorist David Icke shared a video of religious Jews singing and Vance speaking at a February Tzadek Association Appreciation Event in New York.

"Guess who will run the White House (again) under Trump and Vance?" asked Icke. "The same people who run it under [President Joe] Biden."

Antisemitic influencer Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis also shared a leading question about "who’ll be running the White House again" alongside a series of photographs of US presidents being visited by orthodox Jews in the oval office.
Vance: Israel should finish war as quickly as possible, partner Sunni states against Iran
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Vance concurred with host Sean Hannity’s statement that Biden had “surrendered the war on terrorism” by failing to sufficiently support Israel in its war on Hamas, sparked by the terror group’s shock October 7 onslaught that killed nearly 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

“What Biden has done is the worst of all possible worlds,” said Vance of the US president’s policy on the war in Gaza. “He has prolonged the war, Israel’s war to actually take out Hamas, but in the process, he’s made it harder for us to really move towards a sustainable peace.”

“You want two things to happen,” said Vance. “Number one is, you want to get this war over and as quickly as possible, because the longer it goes on the harder [Israel’s] situation becomes.

“But second,” he continued, “after the war, you want to reinvigorate that peace process between Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Jordanians and so forth.

“Maybe the most important diplomatic issue of the Trump administration was the Abraham Accords,” said Vance, referring to the 2020 normalization agreements the administration brokered between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and later Morocco.

“I didn’t think I’d see that in my lifetime,” he added.

“The Abraham Accords… showed real promise of uniting the Israelis with some of the Sunni Arab states,” said Vance, asserting that “you’ve… got to enable the Israelis and the Sunni Arab states to work together and actually provide a counterbalance to Iran.”

“A lot of people recognize that we need to do something with Iran, but not these weak little bombing runs,” said Vance, apparently referring to US strikes on Iranian proxies in the Middle East.


Without Israel, every Jew in the world would be at risk, says President Biden
“You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist,” President Joe Biden said in an interview, reiterating his belief in Israel’s right to exist.

Speaking to journalist Speedy Morman from New York-based Complex media, Biden said “Being a Zionist is about whether or not Israel is a haven for Jews because of their history of how they’ve been persecuted”.

The President highlighted the misinterpretation of Zionism, explaining that “If there weren’t an Israel, every Jew in the world would be at risk”. “There was a need… after World War II… for Jews to have a place that was their own,” he said.

Biden also shared his experience in Israel when he visited eight days after October 7. “I saw photos of mothers and daughters being tied in a rope, kerosene poured on their head and then burned to death,” he said. “Nothing’s happened like that since the Holocaust”. The President called Hamas “a bunch of thugs”.

Asked why Arab and Muslim Americans should continue to vote for him, given his support for Israel, Biden said he has “done more for the Palestinian community than anybody”. He cited pressuring Egypt to open their border and let “goods, medicine, and food through”. “I’m the guy that’s been able to pull together the Arab states, who agreed to help the Palestinians with food and shelter,” Biden said.

Biden also discussed his efforts to help normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. “I got a call from the Saudis,” he said. “They want to fully recognise Israel”. Riyadh has not yet gone so far, and Saudi officials have reiterated that they will not normalise relations until Israel agrees to establish a pathway toward a two state solution.

In the interview, Biden was pressed on whether the US should continue weapons sales to Israel. While the President confirmed that the high-payload weapons he had previously withheld were now released to Israel, he said the US would still deny them 2,000 lb offensive weapons. “I made it real clear,” he said. “They cannot use weapons that we provide them…in civilian areas”.


Seth Frantzman: Hamas use of UNRWA facilities is more than a tactic
It’s important to see Hamas's use of the UNRWA facility and Shifa as part of a larger context. It is not just by chance that Hamas moves into these places like it is a second Hamas. Its presence is considered normal in these places because Hamas is seen as the norm, as the “governing authority” by the UN and NGOs that never mention it by name in statements.

They usually call it an “armed group.” But the armed group sends men in civilian clothes through the doors of these facilities, and no one bars their way. This is because they are perceived either as welcome guests, partners, or as a mafia-like presence that the organizations cannot say no to.

Whatever the case, the fact that Hamas feels so secure in moving from the largest hospital in Gaza to the UNRWA headquarters and on to other places that should be protected for civilians illustrates the Hamas system in Gaza. This is not a rabble of Hamas men in civilian clothes who have been defeated. This is a system and part of how the terrorist group is planning to run Gaza in the future.

While it is being debated whether Hamas’s Gaza military leader Muhammed Deif was killed and what impact this may have on it, the use of the UN facilities and hospitals illustrates that the terrorist group has a long-standing plan and method that it is using to retain control of the embattled coastal enclave.

The IDF raids may set Hamas back a month or two here and there. However, the lesson of Shifa and the UNRWA headquarters is that the group returns in a month and begins setting up shop and recruiting and storing arms again.

Hamas is prepared for the long haul. It remains to be seen what its next strategic command and control node will become in northern Gaza. It has already brought ruin to the main hospital and main UNRWA facility. But Hamas has a map of other hospitals and UN facilities that form part of how it runs Gaza, and it is likely that it will move into these places as well.
IAF strikes terrorists in Nuseirat UNRWA school, PIJ commander in Khan
Israel Air Force (IAF) jets struck on Tuesday terrorists who were operating in a UNRWA school in the Nuseirat area in the Gaza Strip, the military said.

The military added that the terrorists operated from the school to plan and carry out terror attacks against the forces in Gaza.

The IDF said the strike was directed by IDF intelligence, southern command and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and that prior to the attack it had carried out measures to reduce harm being done to civilians.

IDF investigating reports of harm to civilians
The military noted that it was investigating reports claiming of harm being done to civilians as a result of the strike.

Separately, in western Khan Yunis, an IAF aircraft struck a company commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad naval force, the IDF said.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, terror groups in Gaza have utilized UN facilities, such as schools, shelters, and warehouses throughout Gaza, hiding in them and in tunnels in their vicinity.


Shi'ite Militias in Syria and Iraq Are Targeting Eilat with Long-Range Drones
Iranian-backed Shi'ite terrorist militias in Syria and Iraq are consistently using long-range unmanned aerial vehicles to target Israel's Red Sea city of Eilat on a regular basis.

These UAVs, launched from areas where Iran has entrenched itself, represent a persistent threat to Israeli security and will require more than defensive action to neutralize.

On Saturday, two UAVs approached the area north of Eilat from Syrian territory and were intercepted before they could inflict any damage.

In retaliation, the IDF launched strikes against a Syrian military command center and targets used by the Syrian military's Aerial Defense Unit.

Yet only Israeli strikes on the Shi'ite terrorist entities themselves in Syria and Iraq will remove the threatening capabilities.

The latest drone attacks from Syria and Iraq indicate a coordinated Iranian effort to create a multi-front threat against Israel, one that, without a direct offensive response, will only grow.
With victory starting to slip away, Deif strike comes at worst time for Sinwar
"We have the Israelis right where we want them," Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar told other Hamas leaders, according to a June report in the Wall Street Journal. But something shifted in recent weeks as the IDF campaign in Gaza has been expanding in Gaza City and Rafah.

It is also clear that Hamas's dream of rousing the West Bank to a third intifada has failed, as the number of terrorist attacks is down drastically from the year before Oct. 7. Much of that is due to the IDF taking off its gloves against Hamas and other terrorist groups in the West Bank. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority understands what a Hamas-led future would mean for its own survival and has been sharing intelligence with Israel and arresting terrorists in West Bank cities.

Israel still has not confirmed whether it killed Hamas's elusive military leader Mohammad Deif in Saturday's airstrike. Even if Deif turns out to have escaped, the fact that Israel knew exactly where he was and determined that bombing the compound was legitimate - even with civilians in the area, because of the essential military value of the target - should give Sinwar further reason to worry about his own fate. Israel's intelligence on Gaza is only improving the more its soldiers map out tunnels and interrogate captured Hamas fighters.
Comedian books room for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in prank call to Qatar hotel
Israeli comedian Orel Tsabari prank-called the Katara Hills Hotel in Qatar to book a room for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a Friday Channel 12 segment.

“I want to book a room for our boss so he can rest and enjoy himself because he has gone through a very difficult time. May his memory be erased,” Tsabari began.

When the woman on the line asked for his name, he identified himself as “Abu Ibrahim.”

“I want to book a name for our boss. His name is Yahya Sinwar,” Tsabari continued as the hosts on Channel 12 held back laughter.

Without pause, the woman on the line responded, “Of course, welcome.” She added, “Its an honor for us!”

Tsabari then asked, “Do you know him? Do you like him?”

She said, “Of course,” and confirmed with Tsabari that it was the Palestinian leader he was calling about.

Sinwar is 'always invited'
She then added that Sinwar is “always invited.”

“He doesn’t have a credit card, and he doesn’t have a bank account. Can he give you a suitcase of dollars?” Tsabari then asked. “He will return your Qatari suitcase of dollars to you.”

She confirmed that it was not a problem.

After asking if there would be a television in the room, he told the woman on the phone that the reservation must be made in secret so the Palestinian people would not know that the “Palestinian leader is enjoying himself in a hotel while the Palestinian people are suffering from Israeli bombardments.”

The Katara Hills representative agreed.

Tsabari then told her, “I am telling you honestly, I am from the Mossad, and I want to know if you can help us.”

“We will come to the hotel, and then we will kill Ismail Haniyeh and everything,” Tsabari continued.

The representative asked for clarification, and Tsabari repeated that he was from the Mossad. She then hung up.


IDF increasingly certain Deif died in strike, says Hamas fighters in ‘survival mode’
The Israel Defense Forces increasingly believes that Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, was killed in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, although as of Tuesday, it was still awaiting final confirmation before making a public announcement.

The IDF believed that its intelligence indicating that Deif arrived at a compound belonging to Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, was highly accurate, and that the pair were together in the building that was targeted with several heavy munitions.

Salameh was killed in the strike, the IDF announced Sunday after obtaining final confirmation on the matter. It has yet to receive the same kind of information on Deif, and if he was dead, Hamas would attempt to hide the truth for some time.

According to IDF assessments described to The Times of Israel, military pressure exerted on Hamas caused Deif to venture out from the underground tunnels where he was thought to be hiding, and join Salameh, who had been at the compound for several weeks.

The military has also assessed that a very small number of civilians were harmed in the attack, despite its proximity to tent camps for displaced Palestinians in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone.

Deif was one of the chief architects of the October 7 massacre in southern Israel, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists broke through the border, killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. He has been one of the figures most wanted by Israel since 1995 for his involvement in the planning and execution of many terror attacks, including bus bombings in the 1990s and early 2000s. The head of Hamas’s military wing Muhammad Deif (left) and Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, in an undated photo. (Courtesy)

Saturday’s strike was Israel’s eighth attempt to eliminate the shadowy terror leader, who survived multiple attempts on his life between 2001 and 2021. He was seriously injured in two of them.

Deif would be the most senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip to be slain by Israel amid the ongoing war, after his deputy, Marwan Issa, was killed in an airstrike in March. Hamas’s deputy political leader, Salah al-Arouri, was assassinated by Israel in an airstrike in Lebanon’s capital Beirut in January.
IDF intel reveals: 66% Hamas fighter losses, 75% reduced rocket inventory in Shejaia
IDF intelligence has revealed Hamas's internal estimate of its forces in the once-powerful northern Gaza area of Shejaia.

According to previous secret information shown to the Jerusalem Post and some other media, the internal estimates show that Shejaia forces have dropped pre-war to 435 fighters from an initial 1,235 - a drop of around 66%.

In addition, the estimate was that Hamas rockets in Shejaia were down to 15 rockets from an original inventory of 63, a drop of over 75%.

This effectively ends most of the threat Hamas's forces could present using rockets from Shejaia.

Likewise, the volume of anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades had fallen to 134 from 652, though due to the larger initial volume of RPGs as opposed to the smaller number of rockets, this still left Hamas with a fairly large inventory of RPGs to conduct ambushes against IDF soldiers nearby.

Further, Hamas was down to 133 improvised explosives from a high point of 662, something which again has depleted long-term or strategic fighting but provides the capability to continue to sabotage nearby IDF soldiers for some time.

In the wider perspective, the IDF said that Hamas is down to between 1,000-1,500 rockets.

Pre-war, Hamas reportedly had around 15,000 rockets.

The IDF is still concerned that Hamas still has a small supply of long-range rockets that could strike Tel Aviv, and on July 1, the terror group showed it could still execute a complex operation in which it fired 20 rockets from the Khan Yunis area into Israeli Gaza border areas and communities.

But overall, the IDF said that Hamas has been reduced to a mode of survival as opposed to being able to do very much strategic or proactive attack plans.


Three Israelis wounded in Samaria terror shooting
Three Israelis were lightly wounded on Tuesday morning in a terrorist attack near Shavei Shomron in Samaria, some six miles northwest of Nablus.

The victims, males aged 15, 16 and 32, were wounded by shards of glass after their vehicle came under fire. They were treated on the scene before being evacuated to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers launched a manhunt for the assailants.

One of the survivors of the attack, Uri Hirschfeld, discussed the details of the incident with the head of the Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, who lives nearby, according to Israel National News.

“We left Avnei Hefetz and were heading to Har Bracha. We got to the intersection. I heard a loud boom, and found … the exit holes of a bullet. I looked to my friend on my right and saw that he had been hit and had blood on his hands,” he said. “We continued driving straight from here, and we saw an IDF jeep. We stopped it and arrived here,” he added.

“We are strong, and we will still drive here. It will be all right, with God’s help,” he said.
IDF hits launchers after 40 rockets fired from southern Lebanon
After more than 40 rockets were launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at Kiryat Shmona this evening, the IDF says it struck the launcher used in the attack.

The launcher, in the Jabal Blat area, was struck by a drone shortly after the rocket fire, the army says.

Separately, a Hezbollah cell was targeted in Yarine, the IDF adds.


"Threat To Democracy" Piers Morgan Reacts To Trump Shooting | Ben Shapiro x Rudy Giuliani
A horrifying assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life was made this past Saturday; with the shooter causing the death of one onlooker and serious injuries for two others. Trump’s opponent President Joe Biden has already condemned the violence and there are still a lot of unknowns, but a glaring condemnation of US political debate in recent years is that no one seems surprised that this could have happened.

On a more coldly practical level, many say Trump’s defiant response to his bleeding ear wound will rally any 'on the fence' voters to his side.

To fully dissect what we know and don’t know, Piers brings The Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali, former Navy SEAL & author Robert O'Neill, journalist Emily Austin, The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro, former lawyer and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, progressive political commentator Luke Beasley, co-chair of the Republican Youth Advisory Council CJ Pearson and former Navy Seal and Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw onto Uncensored.

Everyone manages to condemn political violence, but that’s pretty much the only thing they agree on.

01:04 - Piers' Monologue
04:14 - Ben Shapiro gives Piers his thoughts on Trump’s attempted assassination
07:19 - The Trump-Hitler rhetoric
11:04 - One in seven US presidents either assassinated or subject to an attempt
14:04 - Florida judge’s dismissal classified documents case against Trump
16:22 - Is a Trump Victory guaranteed?
21:54 - Robert O’Neill joins Piers to discuss the shooting aftermath
24:07 - Female secret agents slammed after shooting
26:19 - Wajahat Ali joins Piers to talk about his tweet and ‘what about-ism’
31:04 - Wajahat Ali: “Joe Biden does not use Hitler’s language”
35:49 - Emily Austin: Wajahat Ali is “part of the problem”
39:24 - Wajahat Ali: “We politicised condemning political violence”
49:04 - The January 6th insurrection
56:04 - Will Trump win?
1:00:04 - Former Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw reacts to Trump shooting
1:07:00 - Biden rhetoric to blame?
1:11:05 - Rudy Giuliani gives his reaction
1:13:24 - Giuliani: 'No sensible explanation for how this happened!'
1.20.04 - Will Trump be more moderate if he wins?
1:22:54 - Rudy Giuliani: 'Not much going on with me!'
1:23:09 - YouTuber Luke Beasley describes witnessing assassination attempt
1:27:59 - Republican activist CJ Pearson reacts
1:33:12 - Is the Left celebrating the Trump attack?


Jonny Gould's Jewish State: Major Andrew Fox (Ret.): "Iran could FIVE nuclear warheads in THREE weeks". So what's stopping them?
The October 7th War in Gaza is the longest war in Israel’s history.
But how to grasp the nettle that is Hezbollah?
What will “the day after” really look like in Gaza?: are the oil rich gulf states the answer to a more moderate Palestinian state?
How soft have the West been on Iran? Is dethroning the theocracy in Tehran the key to an Islamic reformation?
Is Britain’s foreign policy reset really pondering between Qatar and Saudi? And is it a Hobsons choice anyway?
And as President Trump dodges an assassin's bullet, we roll-call the achievements of his first administration, from the Abraham Accords to the Jerusalem embassy and ask what else can be achieved in a second term?
Retired Major Andrew Fox is a Research Fellow at The Henry Jackson Society. He served in the Army for sixteen years, with three tours to Afghanistan, one of them with US Army Special Forces.
He was in the Parachute Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group.
There were also tours in Bosnia, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland. He retired in 2021.
Andrew then leveraged his huge experience into academia, as a senior lecturer in the War Studies and Behavioural Science at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
He holds degrees in Law & Politics, Modern War Studies, and Psychology.
Let’s have a word on David Lammy, British Foreign Secretary who once dubbed President Trump, "a neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath, a profound threat to the international order that’s been the foundation of Western progress for so long!”.
He marched with Sadiq Khan in protest at his UK visit.
Is that the same President Trump who dodged death by millimetres, where aggressive opposition rhetoric is seen as the trigger to political violence?
Is it the same President Trump, who produced the biggest diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East?
Striking a decisive blow IN FAVOUR of western progress in a troubled region?
This is Major (Ret.) Andrew Fox.
The Israel Guys: The Assassination Attempt That NO ONE is Talking About
As the entire world reels from the shocking, yet unsuccessful assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, there was another assassination attempt on that same Saturday that no one is talking about.

But unlike the attempt made on Trump, this assassination was successful and might signal significant changes to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. What happened?

Also, is Hamas starting to break?

Josiah breaks it all down on today’s show!


Israel nixes Norwegian FM visit over Oslo's Palestinian statehood policy
Jerusalem rejected a request by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to visit Israel and the West Bank as a protest move against his country’s decision in May to unilaterally recognize Palestinian statehood.

The Foreign Ministry said it had also taken issue with Norway’s refusal to recognize Hamas as a terror group and for its support of South Africa’s legal petition to the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel was in violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Initially, the ministry failed to respond to several requests from its Norwegian counterpart that had sought approval for the visit.

Eide then personally turned to Foreign Minister Israel Katz on the matter when they were both attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit in Washington last week. Katz rejected the request.

“The Norwegian minister told him: ‘We have a lot to talk about,’” Katz’s spokesperson said. “Foreign Minister Katz replied: ‘There are also many things you have done to us,’ and refused his request to meet in Israel.”

Norway’s Foreign Ministry said in response, “Norway seeks dialogue and engagement and maintains ongoing contact with Israel on multiple levels.

“In the context of an upcoming visit to the region, Foreign Minister Eide had proposed a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Katz,” it said.


In Milwaukee, Anti-Israel Protesters Preview DNC Unrest: 'Matter of Life and Death'
Left-wing protesters from across the country assembled near the Republican National Convention, with some holding signs that read "Down with Trump!" just days after the assassination attempt on the former president.

Leaders from several left-wing organizations outlined plans to protest next month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Demonstrators at the rally—located just blocks from the convention and attended by the Washington Free Beacon—waved Palestinian flags and held signs, including one that reads "Victory to the Palestinian Resistance."

"Israel also has no right to exist as a racist, white supremacist, settler-colonialist, apartheid, Zionist state. It is on its last legs, as is the U.S. empire," U.S. Palestinian Community Network national chairman Hatem Abudayyeh told the crowd. "And once we're done here this week in Milwaukee, we'll move south to Chicago and do the same with tens of thousands of protesters in August, telling Genocide Joe, Killer Kamala, Baneful Blinken, and their cabal of top Democrats that 'From the river to sea, Palestine will be free'!"

The demonstration reflects the far left's dissatisfaction with the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. After the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, President Joe Biden described America's support for the Jewish state as "ironclad" and "rock-solid." Since then, however, he has capitulated to his party's progressive faction, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and withholding arms from Israel.

"We have to play our part in the belly of the beast to stop the genocide, to end U.S. aid to Israel, and to stand with Palestine," Abudayyeh said at the rally. "Trump in Milwaukee this week and Genocide Joe Biden in Chicago next month shouldn't forget that the vast majority of the world stands with Palestine and its right to self-defense and resistance in Gaza."

In the past, Abudayyeh—who is also a spokesman for the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine—defended the Oct. 7 terror attack and expressed support for terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

Abudayyeh echoed Freedom Road Socialist Organization member and Chicago middle school teacher Kobi Guillory, the first person to speak at the rally.

"Defeating the Republican agenda is a matter of life and death for working and oppressed people," Guillory told the crowd of protesters. "Our government, in a bipartisan initiative, is committing genocide in Palestine with our tax dollars and reinforcing deadly militarism and fascism around the world."

"We live in the belly of the beast; this is the headquarters of the world imperialist system. That means it is our responsibility to destroy this system," he continued. "That's why we're here protesting the RNC. That's why next month, we're going to be in Chicago, protesting against the DNC."


Australian senator slammed for chocolate milk 'Hamas' headband
Australian senator Lidia Thorpe was criticized on Tuesday for publishing a picture of her wearing a headband with a similar appearance to that of a Hamas headband.

The headband according to the Australian Jewish Association translated to “I like chocolate milk” in Arabic, but in similar calligraphy and green coloring to that of Hamas logo.

"I wholeheartedly support this message," Thorpe wrote alongside the now deleted X post. "I hope you do too!"

AJA attacked Thorpe, saying that altering the logo didn't change the fact that her intention was to emulate a Hamas headband.

'Like dressing as a Nazi'
"This is one of the most racist and ugly acts to come from a member of Australia's Parliament for some time. By dressing in a mock Hamas-style headband, Lidia Thorpe is mocking the victims of murder and rape on October 7," said AJA CEO Robert Gregory. "This is the equivalent of dressing in a Nazi uniform while changing the SS letters slightly."




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