Wednesday, July 17, 2024

07/17 Links Pt1: Israeli Victory Is So Close, Yet So Far; HRW finds Hamas guilty of war crimes on Oct.7; FBI cracked Trump shooter’s phone Israeli tech

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Israeli Victory Is So Close, Yet So Far
At the moment, the international community’s bandwidth to apply that pressure is limited. The debate between President Biden and former President Trump has changed everything. Democratic anxiety about Biden’s physical and mental decline has only increased. That decline was evident in the president’s NBC interview yesterday which, following images of Trump surviving an assassination attempt with his fist in the air, reignited the fury of center-left commentators who would normally be a public line of defense for the president against the attacks from progressives but who now believe keeping Biden as the nominee would be political suicide.

This has had the effect of defanging Biden on the global stage. Plus, his administration is now in survival mode anyway. Were there to be an attempt to pressure Israel into abandoning the corridor and allowing Hamas to rearm once again, it would be a feeble attempt indeed.

The key point is that no matter who ends up governing Gaza in the near or long term, that corridor has to be secured and/or neutralized. Egypt cannot be trusted to police that border crossing on its own.

The fact that the IDF is still dismantling tunnels a mile from Nahal Oz, and is finding out that some of the tunnels they’ve taken offline have been repaired, means the voices urging Israel out of Gaza must be ignored. Stay until the job is done. If it’s left unfinished, the price will be paid by Israel. Those without skin in the game cannot be allowed to do to what they did 20 years ago and allow Hamas to plant the seeds of unimaginable bloodshed.
A Potemkin façade is not a solution
Gaza was not occupied by Israel, as a matter of law or fact, on Oct. 7, 2023 when genocidal Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and committed rapes, kidnappings, sadistic murders and other atrocities.

Israel fully withdrew from Gaza in 2005, including any military presence and all Israeli residents. Moreover, the records of the United Nations reflect that any occupation of Gaza ended in 1994. Thereafter, the Palestinian Authority era began, as acknowledged and agreed to by the P.A.—including in a 2010 U.N.-sponsored agreement.

President George W. Bush provided Israel with several substantive assurances as an inducement for Israel to proceed with withdrawing from Gaza. The agreement is summarized in President Bush’s letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, dated April 14, 2014. It includes four critical provisions:
1. Palestinians must undertake an immediate cessation of armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere, and all official Palestinian institutions must end incitement against Israel.
2. The Palestinian leadership must act decisively against terror, including sustained, targeted and effective operations to stop terrorism and dismantle terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.
3. The U.S. reaffirms its commitment to Israel’s security, including secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter and defend itself by itself against any threat or possible combination of threats.
4. Israel retains its right to defend itself against terrorism, including proactively against terrorist organizations. Existing arrangements regarding control of airspace, territorial waters and land passages of Gaza are to continue.

The Bush-Sharon letter was, in effect, ratified by a near unanimous (95-3, with two absent) Senate resolution, dated June 24, 2004. Thus, it is arguably not just a binding executive agreement, but also U.S. law.

While Bush and Sharon were well-meaning and had the best of intentions and Sharon, the stark reality of the bad faith and ulterior motives of the P.A. and Hamas, as well as Hamas’s genocidal program, sabotaged their agreement. Hamas defeated P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party in the 2006 P.A. elections. Abbas maneuvered to retain power and a civil war ensued with Hamas seizing control of Gaza in 2007.

Hamas established Gaza as an armed camp in violation of the Oslo Accords and regularly attacked Israel. Now, there is the ongoing war triggered by the Oct. 7 massacre.
Netanyahu: Israel will defeat Hamas ‘neo-Nazi regime’ in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces is making significant progress towards the total destruction of Hamas’s “neo-Nazi regime” in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the opposition during a Knesset debate on Wednesday.

“If it were up to you—in the opposition, the TV studios, the former officials—you would have given up a long time ago,” Netanyahu charged during a so-called 40 signatures debate, which 40 opposition lawmakers can call once a month and in which the premier is legally obliged to participate.

“You would end the war without eliminating commanders, without control of Rafah and the Philadelphi [Corridor], and [Hamas “military” leader] Mohammed Deif would walk around as a winner. Instead of dropping a bomb on him, you would give him a gas agreement in Gaza, just like you gave to [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said, in reference to the deal signed during opposition leader Yair Lapid’s 2022 premiership.

The premier stressed that, despite “enormous pressure at home and abroad, including from the United States,” he insisted on continuing the war and ramping up the IDF’s military actions against Hamas in Gaza.

“Many here, in the studios, and former officials, have said it is not possible to defeat Hamas. They said: ‘It’s an idea; you can’t beat an idea,'” Netanyahu continued, before noting that while “there are still neo-Nazis in Germany, but 80 years ago, they eliminated the Nazi regime.

“This is what we are going to do: Eliminate this neo-Nazi regime in Gaza. We are coming to eliminate the governmental and military capabilities of Hamas, and we are making progress towards this goal,” he said.


Rescued hostage Noa Argamani to fly with Netanyahu to DC
Noa Argamani , whom security forces rescued from Gaza along with three other hostages on June 8, and her father, Yaakov, will join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next week for his address to Congress.

The premier invited rescued and released hostages and their families to accompany him on the trip, although many have not yet responded.

A political source told Ynet that those expected to join Netanyahu aboard the newly inaugurated state airplane Wing of Zion will be “representatives of captive soldiers and civilians, men and women who attended the Nova music festival and those from the affected kibbutzim and cities, Jews and non-Jews.”

The list also includes families of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza in 2014.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing, compiled the list.

Others who accepted Netanyahu’s invitation include Ditza Or, the mother of Noa Argamani’s partner Avinatan Or; Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Yonatan Samerano; and Tali Gueli, the mother of the late Ran Gueli.

Some rejected the invite, including Ayelet Levy, the mother of captive Naama Levy. Other families reportedly refused until a full agreement on returning the hostages is reached.

Sasha Ariev, the sister of captive soldier Karina Ariev, told Ynet she hasn’t accepted the invitation yet: “I want to see progress,” she said. “I can’t fly in peace until I see a deal is in the works.”
US urges UN Security Council to pressure Hamas to accept hostage-ceasefire deal
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield calls on the Security Council to pressure Hamas to accept the ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated.

Addressing the top UN panel’s monthly hearing on the conflict, Thomas-Greenfield says Israel and Hamas have agreed on a framework, which was based on the Israeli proposal submitted in May, outlined by US President Joe Biden in a subsequent speech and enshrined in a resolution adopted by the council.

“There are still gaps to be closed, and this council must keep pressure on Hamas to accept the deal outlined in Resolution 2735, and begin implementing it without delay and without conditions. This is what we all want here in this council, it’s what the Palestinians in Gaza want,” she says.

The US envoy notes that improvements have been made in the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza since a recent breakdown of law and order. However, many requests by the UN and other aid organizations “particularly related to communications equipment vital for deconfliction processes, remain unresolved.”

“We urge the Government of Israel to work with the UN to overcome these and other roadblocks,” Thomas-Greenfield says.

“Palestinian civilians are living in hell. Over and over, they have had to flee from one place to another in search of safety. And so many people have lost parents and siblings, children and friends, including in a recent IDF strike on a UN-supported school in Nuseirat camp,” she continues.
Yaffa Ben-David escorted out of UNSC after calling for release of hostages from Hamas
Yaffa Ben-David, Secretary-general of the Israel Teachers Union, showed a photo on Wednesday of hostage Ohad Yahalomi during a United Nations Security Council meeting and was subsequently escorted out.

A meeting of the Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when she and another protester stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.

The demonstration by two women came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began to address the 15-member body after a statement by Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan. Protests inside the UN headquarters in New York are rare.

Lavrov: "I don't understand, speak clearly"
Lavrov, who was chairing the meeting because Russia is the council president for July, responded: "I don't understand, speak more clearly. One of you can speak clearly to say what you want to say. I see you don't wish to do so, very well."

Diplomats in the Security Council chamber said the women, dressed in black, yelled "free the hostages." UN security asked the women to leave the chamber and they did so, a UN official said.


Pentagon: ‘Some’ blame on Hamas, but Israel must protect Gazans better
The Biden administration has impressed upon the Jewish state how important it is to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but the Hamas terror organization bears “some responsibility” for civilian deaths, a U.S. Department of Defense spokesman said on Tuesday.

“We’ve been very clear to our Israeli partners on our view as it relates to mitigating civilian harm, and I think there’s something I would hope we could all agree on,” Pentagon press secretary U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. “This war is undoubtedly tragic, way too many civilians have died.”

Ryder added that the United States urges the Israel Defense Forces “both publicly and privately to take civilian harm mitigation into account,” and “we know that they need to do more on this front and we’re going to continue to communicate that to them.”

The Pentagon spokesman added that “Hamas bears some responsibility for this as well, in the sense that they continue to embed among the civilian population,” and if they “truly cared about the Palestinian population, one has to ask why they continue to build command and control nodes, barracks, armories, tunnels underneath the city and put themselves in places where there’s active military operations.”

Israel and some international law experts have said that Hamas bears all responsibility for civilian deaths in Gaza, since it operates deliberately in public spaces, including hospitals and schools.


The Lebanon War Is Coming
Soon after Oct. 7, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, indicated that his “Party of God” did not intend to open a second front when Israel invaded Gaza to decapitate Hamas’ leadership and destroy its ability ever to harm Israelis again. Nasrallah and his patron, Iran, undoubtedly feared jeopardizing the military presence the group has steadily built up since its last major clash with Israel in 2006. During that war, which Hezbollah provoked by killing three and kidnapping two Israeli soldiers, Israel bombed the homes and offices of Hezbollah’s leaders in Beirut’s southern suburbs and decimated the country’s infrastructure.

Nasrallah subsequently expressed regret for the war, which the Lebanese blamed on Hezbollah, saying that he never imagined that the capture of two Israeli soldiers would result in a war “of this magnitude.” Now, as in 2006, Hezbollah prefers the ongoing tempo of contained tit-for-tat strikes, allowing the group to achieve significant tactical and strategic gains without incurring the cost of massive devastation.

The current stalemate suits not only Hezbollah, but also its Iranian patron. Tehran has made good use of Hezbollah and its other proxy militias to keep Israel and its allies on the defensive and to set new precedents that advantage Iran. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iranian-supported Houthi militants in Yemen have depressed shipping there, giving Iran the de facto ability to obstruct freedom of navigation and global trade.

Yet Tehran’s strategic gains are only partly the result of actions by its regionwide network of proxies. They are also a consequence of a U.S. posture that has failed to punish Iranian-inspired aggression while calling for restraint by Iran’s targets. For months, American forces in Syria and Iraq were forced to protect themselves against repeated attacks by Iranian proxies. In Omani-mediated talks with Iran last March, the Biden administration pleaded with the Iranians to curb these attacks. U.S. ally Jordan, too, continues to fear infiltration from Iranian-backed fighters.

Soon after Oct. 7, Israel, fearing that Hezbollah militants might cross the border and seize Israelis as Hamas did in the south, ordered the removal of some 70,000 people from the country’s northern border area. While Hezbollah’s clashes and rocket attacks have caused few civilian casualties so far, the internally displaced Israelis are furious that the government has not protected their homes, fields, and shops from Hezbollah’s daily rocket and missile strikes. This passivity, too, was the result of American preferences. In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Joe Biden pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forgo a preemptive strike against Hezbollah days after the Oct. 7 attack.

Nasrallah has made no secret of his desire to raid Israel’s Galilee. In fact, in the months before the Oct. 7 massacre, Hezbollah held a military exercise near the border and released a propaganda video of precisely such raids against Israeli military outposts across the border. This may well have been a diversionary tactic to keep Israel off balance and focused on the northern front while Hamas, whose fighters received training in Lebanon and Tehran for their Oct. 7 attack, planned their assault from Gaza.


Seth Mandel: The Blind Spot in JD Vance’s Foreign Policy
A follow-up question to his undeniably correct praise of Israel’s strategic value to the United States might be: At what point in Israel’s 76-year history did the Jewish state become worthy of American support?

We can all agree that Israel overcame the odds to become—at this point in history—eligible for acceptance into The JD Vance School For Gifted and Talented Nation-States. But surely that wasn’t always the case.

The State of Israel founded in 1948 was vulnerable on seemingly every front. It was poor. Its citizens rationed food. Its ability to obtain arms was precarious, to say the least. When its economy finally grew significantly, inflation threatened to swallow much of the gains.

America played an important role in helping Israel in 1973 when war again became an existential concern. Should we not have done so? Should we have instead encouraged Golda Meir to choose the nuclear option, just to prove Israel could make it on its own?

As a superpower facing a challenge for hegemony from China, should we only aid states that don’t need it? Should our general policy toward land war in Europe have been, over the past century or so, to claim neutrality and side with whomever wins?

Put it this way: Vance recognizes the value of states like Israel but does not value what it would take to enable such states to emerge in the first place.

Israel’s story is inspiring. But it’s easy to root for the underdog who managed to make it big, isn’t it, JD Vance? Who overcame all sorts of situational handicaps and road blocks despite the neglect from the world around them and the social stigma they inherited?

Ukraine’s courageous stand against the Russian military’s march on Europe is in our interest. And if we as the superpower discarded everyone who needed us more than we needed them, we would swiftly be relieved of our superpower status. I do not much worry that Vance won’t support Israel. But I do worry that he doesn’t recognize what it took for the free West to get where it is today, Israel very much included.
The Josh Hammer Show: What Will a Trump-Vance Foreign Policy Look Like? (Feat. Aryeh Lightstone)
Josh is joined by Aryeh Lightstone, former senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to Israel, special envoy for the Abraham Accords, and author of Let My People Know: The Incredible Story of Middle East Peace―and What Lies Ahead, to discuss what could lie ahead for the Trump-Vance administration's foreign policy.
JPost Editorial: Friend in need is a friend indeed: Vance's Israel support is most welcome
Sen. J. D. Vance, named on Monday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee as Donald Trump’s running mate for the November 5 presidential election, is an eloquent and strong supporter of Israel. Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, is also known to be a staunch advocate for a robust US-Israel relationship and an outspoken opponent of antisemitism in America. Whether you support the Republicans or the Democrats or neither, this is good news for Israel and American Jews, who have witnessed an alarming spike in antisemitism since October 7.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post’s then-diplomatic correspondent Lahav Harkov, Vance clarified during his visit to Israel in July 2022 that a solid US-Israeli relationship is based on shared values. “I will be as strong an advocate for the US-Israeli relationship as anyone,” he pledged, saying he believed, inter alia, that “the Iran deal was a disaster, Israel is our most important ally, and Trump was right to move the [embassy] to Jerusalem.”

“I got it intellectually, but emotionally, I didn’t realize,” Vance said after a tour of Jerusalem that included the Old City and the City of David. “[Jerusalem] is the world’s most important cultural heritage site. If Israel didn’t control this land, I would never understand this experience.”

Asked about antisemitism in the US, Vance insisted that “America remains one of the great places to live if you are Jewish. The question now is how to reverse the negative trend of the last years.” His answer was “to aggressively stamp out and prosecute crimes,” adding: “Antisemitism is a particular kind of crime. You have to enforce the law. If you beat up a Jew and don’t face consequences, the attacks will continue and get worse.”

Being only 39, the vice presidential hopeful offers a youthful counterpoint to the candidates at the top of both tickets. Trump turned 78 on June 14, while US President Joe Biden will be 82 on November 20. Born and raised in Ohio, Vance is a former venture capitalist who gained widespread attention after the release of his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which relates how his blue-collar upbringing in the Midwest had shaped his political views.

While he was a harsh critic of Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election, Vance has since become a deft defender of the former president, particularly on television. “Look, I was wrong about Donald Trump. I didn’t think he would be a good president,” Vance told Fox News in an interview last month. “He was a great president, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term.”
The Israel Guys: Trump’s New Vice President J.D. Vance has Surprising Views on America’s Relationship to Israel
Donald Trump news: the Republican National Convention kicked off strong yesterday with former president Trump finally announcing his vice president pick JD Vance. Who is JD Vance, and what is his stance on Israel and their relationship with America? I think you might find some of this surprising.


FBI cracked Trump shooter’s phone with tech from Israel’s Cellebrite – report
The FBI used Israeli technology to break into the phone of former United States president Donald Trump’s would-be assassin, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the investigation.

Investigators used Cellebrite’s tech to unlock the phone of Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel, Pennsylvania, who opened fire at a Trump rally in nearby Butler on Saturday. Crooks, who used an assault rifle legally purchased by his father 11 years prior, killed one person and critically injured two, and one of his bullets grazed the Republican candidate’s right ear. A US Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks on the spot.

The shooter’s phone was recovered from his body and was cracked to help determine his motive, which remains elusive. Investigators are considering the possibility that Crooks used two phones, after discovering a phone with a dead battery at his home in Bethel Park, where he lived with his parents, the Post reported.

People familiar with the investigation were quoted as saying that cracking Crooks’ phone provided investigators with some leads but did not immediately yield “derogatory information” — signs of criminal links or plans.

The phone was reportedly a relatively new model, which can be more difficult for law enforcement to open. The Pittsburgh FBI office, which did not have Cellebrite’s technology, sent the phone to the FBI office in Quantico, Virginia, where agents were able to crack open the phone within 40 minutes using the technology, the report said.
Stefanik Contrasts ‘Vile Anti-Semitism’ on College Campuses Under Biden With Trump’s Strong Support for ‘Israel and the Jewish People’
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) took the stage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday evening to contrast the "vile anti-Semitism" seen on college campuses under President Joe Biden with former president Donald Trump’s strong support for "Israel and the Jewish people."

Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference, blamed "Biden’s Democrat Party" for anti-Semitic chants heard on college campuses following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack that killed over 1,000 Israeli citizens.

"And what has been the response from the radical left on our college campuses? Vile anti-Semitism: chanting Death to Israel, Death to Jews, Death to America. This is Joe Biden’s Democrat Party," Stefanik said.

She said a second Trump term, however, would strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance and counter the rampant anti-Semitism colleges faced under Biden.

"President Trump will bring back moral leadership to the White House," Stefanik said, "Condemning anti-Semitism and standing strong with Israel and the Jewish people."

The New York congresswoman was instrumental in holding leaders at elite universities accountable for the widespread anti-Semitism observed on U.S. college campuses, particularly presidents at Harvard University, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Who saw that congressional hearing with the college presidents of so-called elite universities?" she asked the crowd. "Oh wait, they are former presidents."

"You know, I ask[ed] one simple question at that hearing. It was not a political question. It was a moral question and that was this: Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct? And one after the other … said it depends on the context," Stefanik said. "Let me tell you, America knows it does not depend on the context."
‘A Zionist to my core,’ says Jewish woman who spoke about hostages in prayer at Republican convention
The first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee looked like it might come and go with nary a substantive mention of Jews or Israel. Some in the crowd bore signs with “Trump” written in Hebrew, or “Jews stand with Trump,” but much of day one was about technical votes and procedural matters.

Then, Leora Levy ascended to the dais to close out the session. The former U.S. Senate candidate from Connecticut, who is a representative from the state to the Republican National Committee, brought what seemed like an hours-long party to a whisper.

“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 said. “Lord, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.”

Remembering the retired firefighter, killed in Saturday’s attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., Levy turned to her Judaism and used a traditional phrase of mourning.

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

JNS asked Levy what inspired her to use her time at the podium to recall the hostages taken during Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

“I love Israel. I am a Zionist to my core. I grew up in a very Zionist family,” Levy told JNS. “My family, my mother and her parents, survived because my grandfather was such a Zionist.”

Levy described her family being turned away at New York’s Ellis Island, destined to return to what would become the killing grounds of Lithuania.
Republican Jewish Coalition CEO gives first-ever GOP convention speech
At an unprecedented time for American Jews, Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks did something Tuesday night that was unprecedented for him: He spoke at the Republican National Convention.

“President Trump will bring back law and order so that American Jews can once again wear a kippah and walk the streets without fear,” Brooks said in a fiery speech, waving a red kippah emblazoned with Trump’s name. “President Trump will stop the mobs on college campuses so Jewish students feel safe when they go to class.”

For decades, Brooks has been attending the quadrennial confabs that set the party’s platform and presidential ticket. This year was the first time that organizers invited him to address the convention, in an indication of how intent Republicans and Donald Trump’s campaign are on seizing the mantle of protecting the Jews.

At the time of the last convention in 2020, violent antisemitism was more often identified with far-right agitators who embraced racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories about immigrants. One such theory, which Trump and other Republicans at the time echoed, animated the man who murdered 11 Jews in their Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.

Now, American Jews have been on edge as reports of antisemitism in the United States have spiked since Hamas’s shock October 7 assault on southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, sparking the war in Gaza and inaugurating a wave of pro-Palestinian protests in the US.

Jewish organizations have in part shifted their focus to college campuses, where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been widespread and sometimes accompanied by clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students.

Throughout Tuesday, the convention’s second day that was focused on security concerns, speakers referred to the recent anxieties of American Jews.


CAIR Honcho and ‘Squad’ Donor Suggests Israel Behind Suspected Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump
The executive director of the anti-Israel Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) pushed the baseless claim that the Jewish state is behind a suspected Iranian plot to assassinate former president Donald Trump.

Nihad Awad asserted that reports of Iran’s plans to kill Trump could instead be an "Israeli plot to ignite another war" in the Middle East. Awad was responding to a report that intelligence officials beefed up Trump’s Secret Service security after learning of Iran’s plans to murder the former president. There’s no indication that the suspected Iranian plot is related to Saturday’s assassination attempt, in which the former president was shot in the ear.

It’s the latest inflammatory anti-Israel statement from Awad, who has contributed to the campaigns of several "Squad" members. He has given $3,000 to Rep. Summer Lee (Pa.), $1,000 to Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and $1,500 to Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) since December, according to campaign finance records.

Awad, who also goes by the name Nehad Hammad, made all of those donations after drawing widespread condemnation for praising Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel. Awad said in November he was "happy to see" the attack, and asserted Israel "does not have [the] right to self-defense."

Those jarring comments stoked blowback from the White House, which partnered with CAIR earlier last year on its "National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism." The White House condemned Awad’s "shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms," and removed references to CAIR from the White House’s website.

His latest conspiracy theory raises questions for the trio of "Squad" members, all of whom have faced political blowback over their anti-Israel views and sympathy for Tehran.


Republican says he was 'assaulted' by a 'pro-Hamas' protester outside Milwaukee convention: Demonstrator is arrested as tensions run high
Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he was 'assaulted' by an anti-Israel protester at the Republican National Convention (RNC) who was later arrested.

'While standing in line to enter an event at the RNC today, I was assaulted by what appeared to be a member of the pro-Hamas group CODEPINK,' Van Orden said.

Code Pink, the rabble-rousing liberal activist group, is a fixture on Capitol Hill, these days often confronting politicians over Israel policy.

The Wisconsin Republican added that a police officer witnessed the incident and arrested the protester.

'This appears to be an incident of political violence and I will never tolerate this.'

The confrontation occurred just days after former President Donald Trump was shot at a Butler, Pa. rally.

'Republicans have been intimidated and targeted for years including the attempted assassination of President Trump and we will no longer standby and allow lawlessness,' Van Orden went on.


Human Rights Watch finds Hamas guilty of war crimes on Oct.7
Human Rights Watch, an NGO better known for its anti-Israel positions, broke form on Wednesday to release a report documenting war crimes committed on Oct. 7.

The goal of the report, “Palestinian Armed Groups’ October 7 Assault on Israel,” was to record “the nature and extent” of humanitarian law violations committed by terrorists on that day, in which some 1,200 Israelis, most civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage.

“Palestinian armed groups committed a widespread attack directed against the civilian population, meeting the definition required for crimes against humanity,” said an HRW spokeswoman in a press briefing on Monday ahead of the report’s release.

“We have further found that the killing of civilians and taking hostages were all central aims of the planned attack, and not actions that occurred as an afterthought or as a plan gone awry, or as isolated acts, for example, perpetrated by unaffiliated Palestinians from Gaza,” the spokeswoman said.

It found that five terrorist groups took part: Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Fatah-associated Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Human Rights Watch devoted a lengthy section in the document to its methodology. It said it conducted 144 mostly in-person interviews in Israel in October and November 2023. It interviewed others remotely, including 94 survivors and witnesses from the Oct. 7 assault.

It also talked to family members of victims and survivors, Gazans, foreign workers and Arab Israelis, which it referred to in its report as “Palestinian citizens of Israel.”

The NGO also verified more than 280 videos and photographs taken during or just after the Oct. 7 invasion. One of its researchers attended a screening of the 45-minute video that had been compiled by the Israeli government mainly using footage from Hamas GoPro cameras and cellphones.

Human Rights Watch underscored the efforts it made to independently verify material.

“To determine the location of each video and photograph, researchers matched landmarks with available satellite imagery, street-level photographs, or other visual material,” the report said.

“Where possible, Human Rights Watch used the position of the sun and any resulting shadows visible in videos and photographs to estimate the time the content was recorded at. Researchers also confirmed that each piece of content had not appeared online prior to October 7, using various reverse search image engines,” it added.

HRW said it didn’t make use of interrogation videos of captured terrorists by Israeli authorities, claiming the “inherent unreliability” of such videos.
NGO watchdog organization calls out double standard by Human Rights Watch Oct. 7
Professor Gerald Steinberg, founder and President of NGO Monitor, responded to the July 17 statement release by HRW. "This is another blatant example of HRW's token 'balance' and cynical political manipulation. Nine months after the brutal October 7 atrocities were shown live on social media, no one needs a 'report' from an organization devoted to demonizing Israel using the blood libels of genocide, apartheid, starvation and war crimes," Steinberg stated.

He continued with several HRW points throughout the years that NGO Monitor has noted on the organization's exploitation throughout the years, claiming that the organization is currently exploiting the October 7 tragedies and treatment of hostages "to score cheap points."

"As NGO Monitor has documented, for over 25 years, HRW's systematic PR strategy uses one-off tokens like this to market the deceptions of 'neutrality' and 'expertise' to gullible donors, board members, and journalists."

He referenced Danielle Haas, who was a senior editor at HRW for 13 years before recently publicly resigning. "[Haas] referred to the NGO's deeply embedded antisemitism, including HRW’s first response after October 7, invoking “the ‘context’ of ‘apartheid’ and ‘occupation’ before blood was even dry on bedroom walls.... This was the fruition of years of politicization ... that has frequently violated basic editorial standards related to rigor, balance, and collegiality when it comes to Israel." No one should be fooled by this fake report or give it any credence. "


UN chief says Israel’s settlement activity in West Bank hampering two-state solution
Israel’s policy toward the West Bank is dooming any prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday.

Violence and arrests have soared in the territory since the Gaza war erupted over Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Through administrative and legal steps, Israel is changing the geography of the West Bank, Guterres said in a statement read by his chief of staff, Courtenay Rattray, during a meeting of the Security Council.

Settlement expansion is expected to speed up due to big land seizures in strategic areas and changes to planning, land management and governance, Guterres added.

“Recent developments are driving a stake through the heart of any prospect for a two-state solution,” said the UN chief.

He said Israel is taking steps to extend sovereignty over the West Bank.

Guterres said Israel has taken punitive steps against the Palestinian Authority and legalized five Israeli outposts in the West Bank.

Israelis have built such outposts in the West Bank since 1967.

“We must change course. All settlement activity must cease immediately,” Guterres said.

He said Israeli settlements are a flagrant violation of international law and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.


Report: Probe of Military Intelligence role in Oct. 7 failure finds Hamas planned assault for 7 years
An ongoing probe into the role of the IDF’s Military Intelligence in the failures leading up to the October 7 Hamas surprise assault has found that the terror group had been planning the operation for over seven years, Channel 12 reports.

The internal probe, which has not been finalized nor officially presented to the IDF chief of staff, is looking at how intelligence missed the warning signs of Hamas’s impending attack for so long.

According to the leaked conclusions, Military Intelligence was convinced that Hamas was deterred from a major confrontation with Israel and that the terror group’s leader Yahya Sinwar was interested in an agreement with Israel that would improve the economic situation in Gaza and entrench his control over the Strip.

Analysts had concluded that Hamas “is not seeking and does not have the ability” to go to war with Israel, Channel 12 reports.

They also completely disregarded the possibility that Hamas sitting out the previous round of fighting with Islamic Jihad could be interpreted as anything other than a sign it did not want war.
How October 7 footage helps the IDF kill Nukhba terrorists one by one
The IDF is working to target and eliminate the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre who are still operating within the Gaza Strip.

In recent days, the IDF has struck dozens of these terrorists. On Wednesday, Palestinians reported nine victims from a strike carried out by an Israeli drone on a group near a school in the southern Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City. It is believed these were Hamas terrorists, some of whom participated in the October 7 massacre.

The Shin Bet and the IDF have mapped out the Hamas terrorists involved in the massacre. This mapping was made possible through the analysis of images, videos, and publications uploaded by Hamas members and Gaza civilians on the day of the massacre and at the start of the war, which showed the faces of the terrorists.

The Shin Bet and Military intelligence conducted an investigation and analysis of these images, compiling a list of the names of the terrorists along with their photographs. Another list was created through the interrogation of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners.

Once information about a terrorist's location is received, the Southern Command and the Shin Bet verify the target and the elimination is executed. Hagari speaks to Arab media

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari addressed the issue this week in an interview with al-Arabia. He stated: "Yesterday, I heard Mohammad Nazzal [a senior Hamas member] on your broadcast - he is lying. Rafa Salama was killed. I confirm this to you. He and Deif were together. Hamas is hiding Deif's fate."

Hagari added, "I'll reveal something else to you: Two weeks ago, we attacked other Hamas leaders in Gaza City, and Hamas is hiding what happened to them. Everyone who had a part in October 7, we will pursue them. Just as we did in Khan Yunis against Salama and Deif - we will do against everyone responsible for October 7."
Seth Frantzman: Israel’s northern front is ready, but will anything change?
Israel is on the defensive in the North. This means that Hezbollah and Iran have the initiative: They choose when and where to attack. Israel responds with precision proportionate strikes, usually on terrorist infrastructure. But there may be diminishing returns here. The sense I’ve felt over the last few months is that the IDF is ready and is like a horse chomping at the bit; it is waiting for what comes next but it also has been trained and trained and trained. It’s like a boxer who is ready for the arena but never gets to get in the ring.

Everything comes down to the political level and the decisions that may come. Israel has learned a lot in nine months of clashes with Hezbollah. Hezbollah has also learned a lot. It takes losses but it seems to keep coming. Israel can also learn from other modern conflicts, such as the Ukraine war. Hezbollah is backed by Iran, which supplies it as well as Russia with drones and drone technology.

This means that one could look at the conflicts and see how Iranian-backed groups or partners use a mix of drones and missiles to terrorize civilians. This is what Russia and Hezbollah are doing. It is what Iran did on April 13 when it launched around 350 projectiles at Israel, and Iran’s proxies launched another 150 projectiles, such as missiles and drones, targeting the Jewish state.

Cheap weapons are changing the battlefield. Most of these are cheap drones. However, Hezbollah also uses precision-guided munitions, ATGMs, and rockets to attack Israel. It’s not clear if Hezbollah is rebuilding its infrastructure that was damaged in a dozen villages near the border. Most civilians have fled from villages in southern Lebanon. The damage to Hezbollah adds up. But there is always more to be struck.

The IDF wants to help Israel’s civilians to return to the North. There are still 50,000 evacuees from northern Israel. Four soldiers were recently wounded due to shrapnel from an interception that landed in Kiryat Shmona. Two Israeli civilians were killed in the Golan due to rocket fire. A soldier was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on Kibbutz Kabri. This all shows the danger the terrorist group poses to the North.

Hezbollah and the IDF are both bringing new capabilities to the front. Pro-Iran media recently said that Hezbollah was using the Shahed 101 drone, which Al-Mayadeen media described as a better drone than the one Hezbollah has been using until now. The anti-tank guided missile threat is also a major problem in the North.

Israel and Hezbollah are learning – the big question will be whose learning curve is better.


IDF destroys Hamas tunnel route used for attempted infiltration
IDF engineering forces of the 143rd Division, the Yahalom Unit and the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion demolished this week a route in the Rafah area from which four terrorists attempted to infiltrate into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip in June.

The route was part of an additional three-kilometer route previously destroyed by troops.

Within the route, electrical infrastructure, blast doors, and spaces were used by Hamas terrorists.

The infiltration attempt
The IDF noted that the incident in June was thwarted by the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, who combatted the terrorists and prevented their infiltration. During the battle, Chief Warrant Officer Zeed Mazarib was killed.

In the incident, four terrorists took advantage of the morning fog to attempt to infiltrate Israeli territory. Troops eliminated three terrorists some 300 meters from the border fence, while it was estimated that a fourth terrorist fled back to Rafah.


Nasrallah threatens to attack additional parts of Israel
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to attack Israeli communities that have not come under fire yet if the IDF continues to, in his words, “attack civilians” in Southern Lebanon.

The Iran-backed terrorist army “will continue to launch missiles at settlements that were not attacked before,” Nasrallah said in a speech marking the Muslim holiday of Ashura that was broadcast on Lebanese television. He made the statement after noting an alleged increase in the number of “non-involved” casualties in Lebanon in recent days.

Hezbollah took responsibility for firing around 100 rockets at the Galilee on Tuesday night and into the overnight hours, saying that it was in response to the alleged killing of three Syrian children in an Israeli strike in Southern Lebanon.

Lebanese state media reported that two Syrians were killed in an Israeli strike earlier on Tuesday.

Nasrallah also referred to the IDF saying in a court filing on Monday that it was short on tanks and munitions after me than nine months of war.

“Israel is not only short on soldiers to fight the war, now it is suffering from a shortage of tanks and munitions,” the terrorist leader said.
IAF hits Hezbollah sites in Lebanon amid ongoing rocket fire
Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon overnight Tuesday after the Iranian-backed terror army fired 15 rockets across the border.

The IAF hit terror sites in the areas of Yarine, Ayta ash Shab and Aalma El Chaeb. Additionally, Israel Defense Forces artillery fired to remove a threat in the area of Majdal Zoun.

Sirens sounded around the Mediterranean seaside city of Nahariya in northern Israel at 2:24 a.m. local time.

“Some of the projectiles were successfully intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array and the rest fell in open areas. No injuries were reported,” the IDF said.

The attack on the Nahariya area came after Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at northern Israel in multiple barrages on Tuesday night that set off sirens across the Galilee panhandle and western Galilee.

Forty projectiles crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon in the attack on the Galilee panhandle, with some intercepted, and 10 rockets fell in open areas in the western Galilee. No injuries were reported.


Israel to set up port facility to replace US pier, build field hospital for Gaza kids
Israel will soon replace the United States military’s offshore pier for delivering aid to the Gaza Strip with a dedicated facility in a southern Israeli port, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday, days after the Biden administration announced that the floating platform would soon be shut down.

Gallant said that “Pier 28” would be established in Israel’s Ashdod port to help deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, without specifying a timeline.

Aid coming in through that pier will still need to go in through Israeli land crossings.

The American temporary pier, located off Gaza’s coast, has been beset by ongoing weather and security problems since it was installed in May. The US has said it is winding down the project, although officials maintain it has been a success in delivering badly needed food aid to the territory.

Gallant announced the decision after a meeting with US Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of Central Command.

“The minister emphasized the defense establishment’s commitment to working with international partners to ensure the entry of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza,” his office said.


Los Angeles screening of 'Screams Before Silence' captivates local Jewish community
Like before any special film screening, people streamed into the packed lobby, schmoozing, laughing, and gorging themselves on complimentary sushi.

But during the screening, there wasn’t a candy wrapper rustle or a whisper to be heard as people watched open-mouthed and wiped away tears. Some even left midway through.

On Monday night in Los Angeles, 700 people were invited to the Saban Theatre to watch Sheryl Sandberg’s unflinching 57-minute documentary Screams Before Silence, about the sexual violence and rape committed by Hamas on October 7.

At one point there were audible gasps when Sandberg asked ZAKA executive director Simcha Greiniman (one of the first responders on October 7) if he would show her photos on his phone that he took of the things he could not talk about – the now dead women who had been raped and had had all manner of horrific objects placed inside their genitals.

Even after the credits rolled, it was an incredible sight: a cinema packed with people unsure whether to applaud or sit in silence with their feelings. But the carefully orchestrated evening – led by Daphna Edwards Ziman, co-founder and president of Cinemoi and founder of Justice for Women International – knew exactly what to do next. She invited Greiniman, who had flown in from Israel to say a few words.

“I am the live testimony standing before you, before the world speaking for the victims who no longer can,” he said. “The purpose of this movie is facing [not] only the tragedy that happened, but understanding what humanity is. All these people around the world, the suffering of sexual abuses of women, this is for sure something that has to stop.”

Greiniman’s words were followed by a far-reaching, eight-member panel discussion comprising participants from the Jewish and Muslim communities.

Speaking about the denial around the world, and particularly the UN Women’s entity that waited eight weeks to admit that sexual atrocities had been committed on October 7, Heidi Basch-Harod, executive director of Women’s Voices Now said, “As a global culture, we have an issue with sexual violence and not addressing it. It is actually the best time in the world to be a woman. You have access to economic opportunities, education, political representation. But the one statistic that only gets worse is violence against women. Before the pandemic, it was one in four women… after the pandemic, it’s one in three.”


Should Bibi Have Dealt with Hamas Earlier? | Israel Undiplomatic w/ Mark Regev & Ruthie Blum
What a week it’s been! While American elections switch to full gear, Israeli politics stay revved up in preparation for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trip to Washington. Should Israeli generals stay in their lane and leave politics to the politicians? We tackle today’s burning questions in this latest episode.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:30 Melee at memorial
3:55 Does Israel need international support?
09:00 Intelligence failures
13:30 IDF top brass plays politics
24:00 Bibi stands strong
29:00 Should Bibi stay or go?


Israel: State of a Nation with Eylon Levy: Jewish Superheroes | The global war against the Jews with David Hazony
Is the world once again turning against the Jews? David Hazony's prophetic essay, "The War Against the Jews," written shortly after the October 7th massacre was early to identify some disturbing trends. Hazony discusses the rising global tide of anti-Semitism, the divergent experiences of Jews in Israel and the diaspora, and the urgent need for American Jews to recognize and combat this new wave of hatred. Together with Eylon Levy, they explore the strategic and ideological battle lines being drawn, the critical role of young Zionists, and how the Jewish community must adapt and mobilize in the face of these unprecedented challenges. Don't miss this in-depth conversation on the future of Jewish identity, security, and resilience.






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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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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