Caroline Glick: The hour of Israeli leadership has arrived
During the course of his address to Congress, Netanyahu described the existential threat Iran poses to both Israel and the United States and laid out his vision for contending with it.Douglas Murray: The flag burning, terrorist supporting anti-Israel protesters are proving Netanyahu right
In his words, “America and Israel today can forge a security alliance in the Middle East to counter the growing Iranian threat.
“All countries that are in peace with Israel and all those countries who will make peace with Israel should be invited to join this alliance. We saw a glimpse of that potential alliance on April 14. Led by the United States, more than half a dozen nations worked alongside Israel to help neutralize hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran against us. …
“The new alliance I envision would be a natural extension of the groundbreaking Abraham Accords. Those accords saw peace forged between Israel and four Arab countries, and they were supported by Republicans and Democrats alike.
“I have a name for this new alliance. I think we should call it: ‘The Abraham Alliance.’”
On the face of things, since both Republicans and Democrats have played a role in forging the alliance—former President Donald Trump through the 2020 Abraham Accords, and President Joe Biden by organizing the Arab states in support of intercepting Iran’s missiles and drones shot against Israel on April 14—Netanyahu’s vision ought to attract support from both sides of the aisle. The problem is that Trump and Biden view their regional alliance as a means to achieve opposite ends.
Biden’s actions in the region are a continuation of those initiated by former President Barack Obama, and to understand his policies, they must be viewed in the context of Obama’s policies.
Obama’s predecessors hoped to buy off Iran with a “grand bargain” that could moderate its policies. That is, they believed Iran should change. In contrast, Obama believed that the United States should change.
Obama’s foreign policy was predicated on his anti-imperialist worldview. Guided by its principles of Western culpability for the pathologies of the Middle East, Obama believed that Iran’s hostility towards America was justified. As he saw things, it was up to the United States to make amends to Iran by changing the way it operated in the Middle East.
To accomplish this goal, Obama began realigning the United States towards Iran and its Sunni allies in the Muslim Brotherhood at the expense of Israel and America’s traditional Sunni Arab allies.
Obama’s betrayal of both Israel and the Sunni Arabs brought the long-estranged neighbors together. The Israeli-Sunni partnership was first brought to bear in the 2014 Hamas war (“Operation Protective Edge”) against Israel. Obama sided with Hamas’s state sponsors Qatar and Turkey and insisted that Israel accept the terror regime’s ceasefire demands. Supported by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Netanyahu was able to withstand Obama’s pressure.
The true birth of the Abraham alliance then, came without U.S. involvement, in response to the U.S.’s betrayal of Israel and the Sunni Arabs under the Obama administration.
When Trump came into office, he abandoned Obama’s realignment and sought to rebuild America’s credibility in the eyes of its allies. To this end, Trump embraced the new Israeli-Sunni partnership, using it as a means to rebuild U.S. credibility and reassert U.S. regional leadership.
Trump envisioned a regional partnership where, supported by U.S. military equipment, intelligence and diplomatic support, U.S. allies led by Israel and Saudi Arabia would combat Iran on their own. America wouldn’t fight the wars of the region for its allies, but it also wouldn’t second guess its actions in pursuit of the common goal of defeating the threat Iran posed to the region.
On Wednesday, I was down in DC to hear Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give his address to the joint session of Congress.Daniel Greenfield: Kamala’s Anti-Israel Advisers Helped Bring On Oct 7
I don’t think I have ever seen a case made so forcefully — not just by the speaker but by the people who had come to town to oppose him.
As I waited to get into the heavily guarded Capitol, I chatted with two very friendly and professional police officers.
As we were there, a number of groups of “anti-Israel protesters” started to march past.
Many of them were so proud of their views that they covered their faces — as usual — with COVID masks.
“You c–k-sucking motherf–ckers. Get the f–k out of our city,” they screamed at the policemen.
“White supremacists,” they also screamed through megaphones at the boys in blue who were (incidentally) black.
The protesters continued on their way, screaming abuse and profanities everywhere they could.
Common enemies
Inside Congress, the Israeli prime minister made many points, but one was especially relevant to the American public.
Netanyahu addressed the complete moral inversion that we have seen from some people in America since the attacks of Oct. 7.
Referring to those people who immediately turned on Israel when its citizens had been raped, butchered and burned alive, he said people have to be able to make the moral distinction “between those who target terrorists and those who target civilians, between the democratic state of Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hamas.”
He mentioned the fact that the US director of national intelligence recently confirmed that Iran is funding anti-Israel protests in America.
This explains why the surge in radical anti-Israel protests — from the streets of our cities to the nation’s campuses — has been so coordinated and organized.
“They want to disrupt America,” Netanyahu said.
“These protesters burned America flags even on the 4th of July. If you remember one thing from this speech, remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory.”
Prominent Democrats — including Nancy Pelosi, who had boycotted the prime minister’s speech — promptly took to social media to denounce Netanyahu for these words.
How dare the Israeli prime minister suggest that these protesters are bigots, useful idiots of the Iranians and much more?
As if on cue, the mobs outside on the streets of Washington immediately proved Netanyahu right.
Outside Union Station, these terrorist supporters ripped down the American flags that were flying there.
And then the mob burned them. Right on the streets of the nation’s capital.
The flag that American servicemen throughout the generations, and to this day, have fought for, bled for and died for was burned and trampled upon by people who no longer even pretend that their problem is with Israel.
“The idea that terrorists attack because they hate freedom, however, is misguided,” Philip Gordon wrote in ‘Winning the Right War’. “Even most of the Muslims who support terrorism and trust Osama bin Laden favor elected government” and “personal liberty.”
Gordon, Obama’s future Middle East coordinator, explained in his book that Muslim terrorists weren’t “born evil” or “hate our freedoms”, but rather they feel “shame” over the state of “a once great Islamic civilization” surpassed by other cultures including “the local upstart, Israel.”
America was “creating conditions” that “generate” Islamic terrorism by detaining Al Qaeda terrorists, failing to punish American soldiers and “justifying any Israeli military action”. Gordon urged the White House to assure Iran that we have “no intention of using military force against Iran or fomenting internal dissent” because “Iran’s concerns about such issues are legitimate”
Published in 2007 by an imprint of the New York Times, Gordon’s book was a blueprint of the policies that the Obama administration would adopt, including blaming America and Israel, appeasing Iran and Islamists, and making Muslims feel better about themselves. These are the building blocks of the policies that led us to Oct 7 and an Iranian war across the region.
Today, Gordon is Kamala’s National Security Advisor, and possible future Secretary of State.
Gordon’s hostility toward Israel and sympathy for Islamic terrorists is a longstanding matter. Even before joining the Biden administration, he had co-written an article with Iran lobby figure Robert Malley, under FBI investigation for mishandling classified documents, urging Biden to reverse Trump’s possible recognition of Israel territory, and to cut political and economic support for Israel to punish it for its diplomatic successes under the Trump administration.
Recently, Gordon urged Israel to stop seeking victory against Hamas and accept a hostage deal that would allow the Islamic terrorist group to hang on in Gaza and free thousands of terrorists.
In his book, Gordon had claimed that “though Hamas refuses to recognize Israel today, it is not hard to imagine an eventual change in that position”. And in 2014, he had argued that a reconciliation deal between the PLO and Hamas “isn’t necessarily a bad thing”.
In 2016, Gordon, speaking on behalf of the Clinton campaign, appeared at a conference by National Iranian American Council (NIAC) widely regarded as the Iran Lobby, and promised that Hillary Clinton would veto new sanctions on Iran. He was described as assuring the Iran Lobby of the “potential for collaboration with Iran”. The New York Times even appeared to list him as a “tour guide” on its Iran trips.
And Gordon is not the only terror booster on Kamala’s team.
Eli Lake: Kamala Harris Should Not Have Snubbed Bibi
When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, his fourth such speech, the new leader of the Democratic Party was missing. Vice President Kamala Harris, who was busy delivering an address to the Zeta Phi Beta sorority’s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis.In ad, Republican Jewish Coalition slams Kamala Harris for skipping Netanyahu speech
In normal times, Harris’s snub of Bibi would be expected. Democrats still sting from Netanyahu’s campaign in 2015 against former president Barack Obama’s nuclear deal. When Netanyahu spoke before a joint session that year to make his case, many Democrats boycotted. Things have only gone downhill since then: Bibi’s relationship with President Joe Biden has been strained in recent months; Senator Chuck Schumer blasted Bibi from the House floor in March; the Squad, along with lots of left-wing activists and many Arab American groups, have decried Israel’s war in Gaza as a “genocide.”
But Harris effectively won her party’s nomination within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement Sunday that he would not seek reelection. In other words: she does not need to please the anti-Israel base of her party in order to win a primary.
Instead, what Harris needs to do is spend the precious 100 days before the election defining herself before the nation. Simply sitting behind the rostrum as the leader of the Jewish state delivered a stirring address about how his country’s enemies were also America’s would have neutralized the Trump campaign’s efforts to paint the vice president as a San Francisco socialist who is out of touch with everyday people.
The Republican Jewish Coalition released its first ad targeting US Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the presidency, slamming her for not attending and presiding over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint meeting of Congress.
“Now, in her first test as a presidential candidate, Kamala snubs Israel again,” said the 45-second digital ad, which the RJC released Wednesday and said cost in the five figures.
“Instead of supporting America’s strongest ally by attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, Kamala Harris decides to go to a sorority luncheon. A sorority luncheon? She can’t be serious.”
The ad also referenced previous comments she made where she voiced sympathy for the emotions driving anti-Israel student protesters.
At the time of the speech, Harris was campaigning in Indiana, addressing a sorority event. Vice presidents conventionally co-preside with the speaker of the House of Representatives at joint meetings of Congress, in their capacity as president of the Senate. Harris’s staff noted that she had been scheduled to meet the following day with Netanyahu.
Also absent was Ohio Senator JD Vance, the running mate of former president Donald Trump, whom Harris is set to face in the November election. Vance also was campaigning, addressing an evening rally in Radford, Virginia.
The ad demonstrated that the RJC campaign against Harris will center a longtime Republican argument to Jewish voters: That the party is more reliably pro-Israel and thus a more comfortable home for American Jews.
Republicans have made that case especially this year, as anti-Israel protests organized largely by progressive groups have spread across American cities and college campuses, and as a subset of Democratic officials have called for an end to US assistance to Israel.
Rep. Stefanik and Sen. Hagerty: Biden’s policies endanger Israel
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) sent U.S. President Joe Biden a letter advocating “our strong support for Israel’s right to self-defense amid the intensifying attacks that Israel faces from Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.'It must end': Australia, New Zealand, Canada call for immediate Gaza ceasefire
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, “Hezbollah alone has launched over 5,820 rocket, missile and drone attacks into northern Israel that have killed 33 Israelis and forced more than 60,000 Israelis to uproot their lives and flee their homes,” they wrote.
The legislators called on the Biden administration to “unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah’s attacks, and to provide in a timely manner the support necessary to restore peace and security.”
Stefanik criticized Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, saying they had “completely failed to stand with our most precious ally Israel.” She urged the United States to defend Israel’s right to protect its borders.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s failure to support the only democracy in the Middle East undermines America’s national security interests and has emboldened the violent Iranian regime,” she said.
Australia, New Zealand and Canada on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to respond to a United Nations court that last week ruled that the West Bank settlements and Israel’s military rule there are illegal.Hamas said to reject proposal for hostage-ceasefire deal before receiving it
“Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community,” the leaders of the three countries said in a joint statement.
“The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end,” the leaders said, adding that they “remain unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas.”
The leaders also said Israel needed to hold extremist settlers accountable for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians, reverse its settlement program in the West Bank, and work toward a two-state solution.
Israel’s Embassy in Australia on Thursday said it condemned acts of violence against Palestinian communities.
Last Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, its strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand called on Israel to “respond substantively” to the July 19 ruling of the ICJ about the illegality of Israel’s military control over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
The Foreign Ministry rejected the ICJ opinion as “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can only be reached by negotiations.
The Hamas terror group preemptively rejected the terms of an Israeli proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal on Thursday night, according to Reuters, in what a senior Israeli official called “bizarre” messages, given that “nobody has read [the proposal] yet.”Netanyahu delegation discouraged after meeting with VP Harris
A senior Israeli official said Hamas had not yet seen the latest proposal, which was expected to go out “in the coming hours.”
“We haven’t sent it yet, nobody has read it yet. Even the negotiators haven’t got it yet. They will read it before transferring it to Hamas for their reaction,” said the official, presumably referring to the Arab intermediaries facilitating the talks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the White House, and Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Families of American-Israeli hostages who met with US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday said they were told Israel would submit an updated deal proposal to Hamas within days. “The leaders and their staff… are working as we speak to put together an updated Israeli proposal that will be sent back to Hamas,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is held hostage, told The Times of Israel after their meeting. “It is all within the framework of that three-stage proposed deal that the President announced at the end of May.”
Hamas reportedly objected to an expected demand that Israel be allowed to screen Palestinians returning to the north of the Gaza Strip after fleeing south earlier in the war.
Israel has agreed to allow civilians to return home, but seeks a means to prevent Hamas fighters from returning with them. Earlier this month, Netanyahu listed as a “nonnegotiable” that “the return of thousands of armed terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip will not be possible.”
Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to Washington were disappointed after their meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a senior Israeli diplomatic source, expressing concern that the likely Democratic presidential nominee wants to create more daylight between the U.S. and Israel.Inside story: Behind the Netanyahu-Harris meeting
Netanyahu and Harris’ meeting was closely watched by analysts as a likely indication of how the newly minted presidential candidate will position herself on Israel and the war in Gaza. The members of Netanyahu’s delegation to Washington didn’t have an encouraging first impression with the vice president, according to multiple Israeli sources.
Netanyahu believes that a united front between Israel and the U.S. strengthens the Jewish state’s position in the indirect negotiations with Hamas to release the 120 hostages it is holding in Gaza. According to a source in his delegation, Netanyahu views Hamas as having walked away from negotiations in March when it saw greater pressure on Israel from Washington.
Netanyahu’s meeting with President Joe Biden focused in large part on hostage negotiations, was positive and showed “a positive trend” towards an agreement, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said.
According to the senior source, Netanyahu “told [Biden] that the more our enemies see that there is a united stance between Israel and the U.S., the greater the chances of a deal to release the hostages, and the lower the chance of a regional war.”
“The greater the gap” between the Israeli and American public positions, the senior source continued, “the farther away a deal gets and the greater chance of a military conflagration.”
The source specifically described Harris’ reference to ending the war through a hostage deal as problematic, because Israel ensured in its negotiations that the war can continue if Hamas does not release more hostages after the first 42-day stage of the deal.
”I hope this does not bring about a regression” in negotiations, he said.
Another senior diplomatic source said: “I hope that the things the vice president said in her press conference will not be interpreted by Hamas as there being a gap between the U.S. and Israel, thus making a deal less likely.”
‘It is time to get this deal done’Top Israeli official says Harris comments could hurt chances for hostage deal
But she also used a phrase oft-repeated by Blinken that while Israel has a right to defend itself, “how it does so matters.”
She pivoted to express her “serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.” Calling what has “happened in Gaza over the last nine months devastating,” she expressed concerns about “the dire humanitarian situation there” and “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”
“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent,” she pledged.
She discussed a two-phased ceasefire agreement, only within the terms of Israeli military withdrawals—first from Gazan population centers and then “from Gaza entirely.”
“I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris said.
There were no demands of Hamas, and from the remarks, it was clear by stunning omission that removing the terrorist group from power was not among her goals or priorities.
And while Harris mentioned some of the talking points she delivered to Netanyahu, she did not comment on anything that he told her.
Israeli officials said following the tête-à-tête that the delegation was uncomfortable with the “tone” of Harris’s press statement and worried that her remarks might demonstrate to Hamas and the world that the United States and Israel are not completely aligned in their policies.
On condition of anonymity, a senior Israeli official told reporters following the meeting that “the more our enemies see the complete alignment of positions between Israel and the U.S., the more we increase the chance of securing the release of hostages and decrease the chances of a larger regional war. The more the gap widens, the greater the possibility of a broader conflict.”
Officials worried that Harris’s calls for Israel to “end the war” could lead to a breakdown in the negotiations, as they provide an incentive for Hamas to harden its demands, making a swift deal less likely.
They also shot back at her comments regarding a “dire humanitarian crisis” and “acute food shortage.” The officials noted that they presented detailed evidence that there was no lack of food for Palestinians in Gaza.
A senior Israeli official accuses US Vice President Kamala Harris of putting ongoing efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire agreement at risk with her public statement on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.The Commentary Magazine Podcast: Kamala’s Anti-Israel Debut
“Hopefully the remarks Harris made in her press conference won’t be interpreted by Hamas as daylight between the US and Israel, thereby making a deal harder to secure,” the senior official says in a briefing with reporters on condition of anonymity.
The senior official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of there being no perceived gaps between the stances of Israel and the US during his Thursday meeting with US President Joe Biden.
“The more our enemies see that there is complete alignment of positions between Israel and the US, the more we increase the chance of securing the release of the hostages and decrease the chance of a regional war,” the senior official says. “The more the gap widens between our countries, the more we move away from a deal and thus also increase the possibility of a regional escalation.”
The senior Israeli official says the meeting with Biden was productive and helped move efforts to secure a hostage deal in a “positive direction.”
The official does not make a point of describing Netanyahu’s meeting with Harris in the same manner.
According to an Israeli official, Jerusalem had been uncomfortable with Harris’s tone throughout her remarks and thought they overly stressed the importance of ending the war in a manner that appeared to show the US and Israel not in lockstep.
Harris did indeed declare that, “It is time for this war to end,” but specified that it must be done “in a way where Israel is secure.”
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew ContinettiCall Me Back - with Dan Senor: Divergent reactions to BiBi’s address & its impact — with Nadav Eyal
In her first major statement as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris announced she would not “be silent” about supposed Israeli depredations in Gaza. Didn’t take long! Also didn’t take the media long to begin creating a castle in the air for their new queen to live in, and to dig a grave for the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Fresh off viewing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, Nadav Eyal sits down for an analysis as we debate the impact of Netanyahu’s speech in Israel, in the U.S., on the hostage negotiations, and on Israel’s geopolitics.Israel Advocacy Movement: Is Kamala Harris a friend of Israel?
Nadav Eyal is a columnist for Yediot. He has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.
Is there really anyone out there who believes Kamala collected funds as a young girl to plant trees in Israel?
— Aleks Djuricic (@AleksDjuricic) July 26, 2024
Give me a break.
Because Democrats have no shame, Republicans need to be prepared to fight fire with fire. pic.twitter.com/6PgkAJWPaz
Netanyahu caught off guard as Kamala Harris slams Israel for Gaza deaths in post-meeting address: report
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught off guard by public comments Vice President Kamala Harris made about his government killing “far too many” civilians in the Gaza Strip, according to a report.Harris offers ‘platitudes about complexities’ but no call for ending Hamas, former US envoy says
“Harris’ statement after the meeting was much more critical than what she told Netanyahu in the meeting,” one Israeli official told Axios.
Harris met with the Israeli leader after President Biden welcomed him on Thursday to the Oval Office, where the two world leaders also met with the families of eight US hostages being held in Gaza.
“To everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you,” Harris said after Netanyahu left the White House.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating — the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” she added. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”
Israeli officials fear Harris’ comments not only ticked off Netanyahu, but the timing of her publicly criticizing the nation could disrupt hostage negotiations deals with Hamas.
“When our enemies see the US and Israel are aligned, it increases the chances for a hostage deal and decreases the chances for a regional escalation,” the Israeli official shared.
“When there is such daylight, it pushes the deal further away and brings a regional escalation closer. We hope that Harris’ public criticism of Israel won’t give Hamas the impression that there is daylight between the US and Israel and as a result make it harder to get a deal.”
In her remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for about 40 minutes on Thursday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris offered “some platitudes about complexities, nuances, human suffering, peace and security,” as well as a plea for a two-state solution, but no call to eliminate Hamas, former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman stated.
“Madame vice president, there was a Palestinian state in Gaza—not a single Jew or Jewish soldier was there when this war began,” Friedman said. “In 2005, Israel evacuated all its soldiers and citizens from Gaza, handing full control of the territory to the Palestinians in the hope of peace, and the Palestinians in Gaza then elected Hamas.”
“Your push for a Palestinian state at this time is tone-deaf and a betrayal of the Jewish lives lost and still missing from this heinous assault. It also conflicts with the recent vote of the Israeli Knesset which overwhelmingly rejected a Palestinian state,” the former envoy added.
“You are no friend of Israel, and you have exhibited a shocking lack of command of the relevant facts,” he added. “Your insensitivity to Jewish suffering, and failure to attribute good and evil where they belong, means you will never help to bring peace to this troubled region.”
You can’t want to end Gaza’s suffering while also helping to leave Hamas in power in Gaza. Why? Because Hamas’s one and only strategy is to maximize that suffering.
— Haviv Rettig Gur (@havivrettiggur) July 26, 2024
You can’t want to rebuild in Gaza and also want Hamas to remain in power in Gaza. Why? Because nobody can rebuild… https://t.co/bVgoRRgSdN
This is the new style of Democratic Party rhetoric on Israel: Perfunctory slogans about their "unwavering commitment to Israel's security" while substantively they attack, delegitimize, and demonize Israel's efforts to protect itself. Nobody should be fooled. https://t.co/0y5HphLMa1
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) July 25, 2024
I love Bibi's expressions here. They say it all. https://t.co/W8gSJMsia6
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) July 26, 2024
Israel has about six months to become militarily self-sufficient, because if she wins she's going to cut them off and weaponize the Security Council - she's really hard core, don't kid yourselves https://t.co/MgRZTV1SCW
— William A. Jacobson (@wajacobson) July 25, 2024
As soon as Kamala threw Israel under the bus, the Obamas gave her their seal of approval. https://t.co/i0NJSyDHuq
— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) July 26, 2024
Huh. So her strong, anti-Hamas press release from earlier today was clearly the one-off. She’s tying Islamophobia with antisemitism here, because of course she is. She’s awful. https://t.co/9jxZESOTxq
— This Here Snakeskin Jacket (@SFlipp) July 25, 2024
I've asked @jstreetdotorg several times already, to no avail, but maybe @JeremyBenAmi will give me an answer.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) July 26, 2024
Jeremy, how would you recommend the Biden/Harris administration pressure Hamas to release the hostages? What measures would you call for? Please be specific. https://t.co/ot7KgR9kCJ
Kamala the Language Cop: Harris Urges End to Terms 'Radical Islamic Terrorism,' 'Illegal Alien'
Vice President Kamala Harris said the public should no longer use the terms "radical Islamic terrorism" and "illegal alien" during a speech she gave at a Los Angeles mosque in July 2016.
"We must have the courage to object when they use that term, ‘radical Islamic terrorism,’ which ignores how Muslims have overwhelmingly been the greatest victims of terror," she told the crowd at the Islamic Center of Southern California. "We must also have the courage to reject the term ‘illegal alien.’"
Harris’s remarks, which are available on her Facebook page, are yet another example of her history as one of the most left-wing lawmakers in the Senate as well as a potential electoral liability. Her failed 2020 presidential campaign was predicated on the idea that she was a more palatable alternative to socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).
The result was Harris staking out far-left positions such as abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, endorsing "Medicare for All," and applauding cities that slashed the budgets of their police departments. Harris’s comments about Islamic terrorism came well before she threw her hat into the presidential ring, but nonetheless give a window into how she may govern in the White House.
"We must have the courage to stand up. And here’s why it is so important to stand up: Words have meaning," she told the crowd. "As a life-long prosecutor, I have seen the relationship between speech and action on an almost constant basis."
Much of Harris’s speech focused on combating Islamophobia and other prejudices. A more liberal immigration policy, Harris said, is consistent with "the spirit of Ramadan."
🚨REVEALED: FAR-LEFT KAMALA'S SYMPATHY FOR TERRORISTS🚨
— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) July 26, 2024
Speaking to the Islamic Center of Southern California, Kamala Harris says the term "radical Islamic terrorism" should be abolished.
Harris is affiliated with NIAC, a pro-Khamenei lobby group for the Islamic Republic. pic.twitter.com/pnIcI2pMKl
You held back a day because your fans love this and you know it. https://t.co/dqjqw0A17W
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 26, 2024
Iran speaks. https://t.co/CCaK0gzd1T
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 26, 2024
IRONY: Struck by how the Biden administration just 3 months ago openly called for Netanyahu to resign and now it is Joe Biden who is resigning and BIBI is at the White House one of Biden’s last meetings with a world leader before becoming a full on lame-duck President. pic.twitter.com/d7As2oQWQV
— Ron M. (@Jewtastic) July 25, 2024
Michigan and Minnesota ‘uncommitted’ delegates appear open to backing Harris if she changes Israel policy
Delegates bound to the uncommitted votes in Michigan and Minnesota appear to be willing to hear Vice President Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, out — if she distances herself from Biden’s foreign policy stance on Israel.Left-wing anti-Israel activists organize against Josh Shapiro for veepstakes
Minnesota and Michigan’s uncommitted delegates have not pledged to support Harris until they see if her stance on Israel and the war in Gaza differs from that of President Joe Biden. Abbas Alawie, one of the two “no” votes from Michigan, told Axios the national uncommitted movement is trying to schedule a meeting with the vice president to discuss her gaining their support.
“Our uncommitted national movement will do everything in our power to mobilize the 730,000 people who voted uncommitted to vote for Vice President Harris,” he told Axios.
Harris’s public statements surrounding Israel and the war have not differed that much from those of Biden, but Harris has expressed more public sympathy toward the loss of life in Gaza and questioned some Israeli military strategy, while still condemning Hamas.
While on a call during the vote to send Michigan delegates to Harris, Alawieh said he was told to “shut up, a**hole” while he was discussing a more humane policy approach to the war.
“To have Democratic elected officials in the state on the call and not a single one speak up and say, ‘Hey, Abbas is one of us, or ‘Uncommitted voters matter to us,’ it was a slap in the face,” Alawieh told Axios.
As Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign team get closer to selecting a running mate, the online left has centered their hostility on one potential candidate: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The most vehement opposition to Shapiro centers on his unapologetic support for Israel, and his criticisms of extreme anti-Israel student protesters. Some have also cited Shapiro’s support for school choice as a reason, though the governor vetoed funding for a voucher program last year.
A New Republic article called Shapiro “the one vice presidential pick who could ruin Democratic unity.” Shapiro, according to the article, “stands out among the current field of potential running mates as being egregiously bad on Palestine.”
A new online campaign from far-left activists called “No Genocide Josh” argued that Shapiro will get in the way of Harris’ efforts “to gain the trust of working-class, progressive and young voters.” It is in Democrats’ “best interests,” according to a website associated with the campaign, that the nominee “support the majority of Democrats and Americans who want social and economic justice for workers and an immediate ceasefire in Palestine.”
The website was created on Wednesday, the day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. Planning documents from the team behind “No Genocide Josh” that were obtained by Jewish Insider reveal a highly coordinated effort by a handful of organizers — including at least one leader of the Uncommitted movement — to put pressure on Democrats to avoid choosing Shapiro.
A messaging document shows that the group’s organizers include “Dear White Staffers,” an Instagram account created to document workplace abuse on Capitol Hill but that has since Oct. 7 become one of the biggest anti-Israel platforms in Washington. The person who runs the account is a staffer for Rep. Summer Lee, a Pittsburgh Democrat who is one of Israel’s harshest critics in Congress. A spokesperson for Lee did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
According to notes from a meeting held by the organizers on Thursday, the campaign believes Shapiro would alienate young voters. “Picking a candidate who TikTok turns on over his stance on Gaza would put young people right at the low engagement spot they were for Biden,” organizers wrote. They decided not to push an alternative to Shapiro because “a candidate being associated with ‘us’ and ‘leftists’ probably isn’t good for their chances,” one of the organizers noted.
Josh Shapiro has not condemned the anti-Semitism oozing out of the pores of his party in any memorable way.
— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) July 25, 2024
If he is Kamala Harris's running mate, will he condemn it? Will he condemn her for boycotting Netanyahu's speech? Will he condemn the Hamas supporters who burned the U.S.… https://t.co/h0kzSPwwfc
The @newrepublic doesn't even flinch saying the quiet part out loud–that picking a Jewish "supporter of Israel" who called out @Penn president Liz Magill after her disastrous congressional testimony & believes “BDS is rooted in antisemitism” would "fracture the party." pic.twitter.com/KWhJpUXjlr
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) July 25, 2024
Every potential nominee for Vice President is pro-Israel. Yet only one, Josh Shapiro, has been singled out by a far-left smear campaign calling him “Genocide Josh.” The reason he is treated differently from the rest? Antisemitism.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) July 26, 2024
The antisemitic far left must never be given… pic.twitter.com/EE4HgRGzfQ
A new group opposing Josh Shapiro as Harris' VP pick registered a new website, https://t.co/UhW8AEIMn2, yesterday.
— Gabby Deutch (@GSDeutch) July 25, 2024
Ironically, they are hosting the website on Wix, an Israeli software company. https://t.co/UPdESX5K3Y pic.twitter.com/EI9kBk6RhA
Trump-Netanyahu relationship ‘good’ ahead of Mar-a-Lago meet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet former President Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday.
“Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said earlier this week. “During my first term, we had peace and stability in the region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords, and we will have it again.”
Ahead of their meeting, an Israeli official revealed that Netanyahu called Trump on July 4 in what was reportedly their first conversation since January 2021.
Trump has often said that he felt slighted when the Israeli leader congratulated Joe Biden for winning the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On Wednesday, Trump, who is the Republican nominee for his old job, declined to commit to changing Biden’s policy of slow-walking weapon shipments to Israel.
Asked on Fox News morning program “Fox and Friends” if he would, as president, fast-track arms transfers to the Jewish state, Trump dodged the question, hours after Netanyahu made that request during an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
Instead, he focused on Israel finishing the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “I would make sure that it gets over with fast. You have to end this fast,” he said.
“They gotta get this done fast because the world is not taking lightly to it,” added Trump, while again claiming that Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre “would’ve never happened” if he were president.
— Kosher🎗🧡 (@KosherCockney) July 26, 2024
🔴🆕 Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife together with Trump are holding a picture of the Bibas family. pic.twitter.com/5HG18vUgGG
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 26, 2024
Iran deploys deceptively edited clip of 2017 Trump-Netanyahu meeting
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) published an eight-second video on social media with the description “Netanyahu humiliated in the U.S.”
Observers soon discovered that the clip, released on Friday before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, had occurred in 2017. The video shows Trump appearing to snub Netanyahu, wandering away in the middle of an exchange.
“The clip also doesn’t include the part where Netanyahu and Trump shook hands first and then towards the end when Trump was redirected back,” Yashar Ali, a journalist regularly critical of Iran, wrote on X. “But even without that, it was still odd that Trump walked away in the way that he did.”
Instructions:
— The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome (@TheMossadIL) July 26, 2024
I dare you. https://t.co/4U7lceSQNm
Lawyers launch legal challenge against ICC decision on Netanyahu arrest warrant
The International Criminal Court has accepted a request by four leading NGOs challenging the arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes.UK acting against justice by dropping ICC objections — Israeli official
UK Lawyers for Israel, The International Legal Forum, B’nai B’rith and the Jerusalem Initiative are challenging the ICC’s decision to grant the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants against the ministers over Israel’s response to Hamas’s massacre on October 7.
Arsen Ostrovsky, chief executive of The International Legal Forum, said: “The ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants against the prime minister and defence minister of Israel was an egregious and unprecedented violation of every norm of international law, that is not only entirely lacking in substance, but also underscores the court’s blatant lack of jurisdiction in the first instance to pursue the Israeli leaders.”
He added that the ministers had “already gone above and beyond to unprecedented levels, to abide by international law in response to the terrorist entity Hamas, who committed the massacre of October 7 and continues to hold 120 hostages captive in Gaza”.
This follows the ICC’s decision on 27 June to grant the UK government leave to appeal the prosecutor’s request on the basis he lacks jurisdiction over Israeli nationals.
The NGOs agreed that under the Oslo Accords, Palestine should not have criminal jurisdiction over Israeli citizens that can be delegated to the ICC, and have now been afforded the same right of being granted leave to make submissions alongside countries such as the United States, Germany, Czech Republic and Argentina.
The NGOs pointed out that Israel has a “widely respected, independent and robust national legal system”.
The court also accepted a separate request, by the NGOs alongside the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, to submit written observations regarding what the NGOs have said to be factual inaccuracies and the omission of relevant information and evidence that contradict the prosecutor’s allegations in his applications for the arrest warrants of the Israeli leaders.
The United Kingdom is acting against justice end turret by dropping its objecting to the ICC proceedings against the Jewish state, a senior Israeli official said.Chief rabbi requests meeting with PM to express deep concern over Israel policy
“Israel is deeply disappointed by this,” the official stated. “This is a fundamentally wrong decision” that is “contrary to justice and truth and violates the right of all democracies to fight terrorism,” the official added.
British Attorney General Richard Simon Hermer visited Israel on Thursday to personally explain the government’s position on this, with his counterparts here, British embassy sources told The Jerusalem Post.
“He confirmed our commitment to Israel and Israel’s security in all his conversations,” the sources said.
A Downing Street spokesperson told reporters, “I can confirm the government will not be pursuing (the proposal) in line with our long-standing position that this is a matter for the court to decide on.”
Britain’s previous Conservative party-led government had filed a request to the ICC on June 27, asking permission to file an amicus brief on jurisdiction issues. It wanted to comment on “whether the ICC could “exercise jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, in circumstances where Palestine cannot exercise criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals (under) the Oslo Accords.”
The UK turned to the ICC after the court’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan asked the pre-trial chamber at The Hauge to issue arrest warrants against top Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The court had given the UK until July 26 to file its comments, but there had been speculation that the newly elected Labour government would take a different stance than that of its predecessors.
The Chief Rabbi has requested a meeting with the prime minister to raise his deep concerns about a perceived shift in the government’s policy on Israel, the JC understands.
It comes after Jewish communal bodies issued a joint statement on Friday condemning the government’s decision to drop its opposition to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council said they were “concerned” that the new government has made a “significant shift in policy away from Israel being a key UK ally”.
Communal bodies fear the UK is now “at odds with our allies” and say the move marks a “strategic and moral error”.
On Friday, Downing Street confirmed that it would not submit a challenge to the jurisdiction of the ICC over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is seeking a warrant against Israel’s prime minister and defence minister, as well as three Hamas leaders.
The previous UK government had filed a request with the ICC to provide evidence on whether the court had jurisdiction over the conflict.
Under advice from the new attorney general Richard Hermer KC, the government has dropped the request, suggesting they believe the ICC should have jurisdiction.
The BoD and JLC said of the decision on Friday: “This regretful and regressive step not only appears to be a reversal of long-term UK foreign policy, but also puts us at odds with international allies such as the USA and Germany, who have challenged the court's treatment of Israel.
“This decision comes at a time where many in the Jewish community are still assessing how this government will in practice stand by its words, delivered when in opposition, to support Israel's right to self-defence.”
Joint statement with the @JLC_uk: “We are concerned that the cumulative effect of these announcements, in quick succession, signal a significant shift in policy, away from Israel being a key UK ally. This would not only be a strategic error but a moral one.” pic.twitter.com/pu8tRin5Gd
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) July 26, 2024
What judgment of the ICC?
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) July 25, 2024
The court, to which neither Israel nor the United States is a party, has never said such a thing. The political prosecutor is claiming it based on false information, but the court has never made such a judgment. It hasn’t made any judgment. https://t.co/oILDcuWBv6
Our statement on the UK’s withdrawal of objection to the ICC chief prosecutor’s case. pic.twitter.com/2h0deV4JO6
— Labour Friends of Israel (@_LFI) July 26, 2024
‘Precisely what I was thinking,’ Albanese says of Hitler-Netanyahu comparison
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Palestinian rights with a long history of anti-Israel comments, shared and agreed with a post on social media that likens Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” she wrote in response to the post.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement replied that “this is an undeniably antisemitic comparison.”
The U.N. special rapporteur is “clearly unfit” and should be fired, the group said.
The German Government strongly rejects Ms Albaneses’s @FranceskAlbs recent comment likening the Israeli Prime Minister to Hitler. Such a comparison coming from a representative of the United Nations is unacceptable.
— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) July 26, 2024
Truly unacceptable - @FranceskAlbs should be fired for this alone, alongside her long record of grossly antisemitic statements: https://t.co/yb9lqr6a78
— Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn (@SaraHirschhorn1) July 26, 2024
History was watching but apparently math was not.
— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) July 26, 2024
Hitler killed six million Jews.
All those dead in the 75 years of Arab Israeli conflict (on both sides) don’t add up to 100 thousand.
Think, people. Think! https://t.co/OAPEVa2rQC
At least 11 anti-Israel protesters have their cases dropped in DC
At least 11 anti-Israel protesters arrested in Washington, D.C., had their misdemeanor charges dropped Thursday evening, one day after protesters scrawled graffiti across federal property and burned an American flag in the nation’s capital.
The charges for the 11 protesters who had their cases dropped included crossing police lines and disorderly conduct at the protest attended by thousands in Washington on Wednesday, according to the Washington attorney general’s office. Additionally, at least seven people charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington were released pending their next court hearing, according to Washington Superior Court records obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The protesters given release conditions face charges such as assault on a police officer, attempted assault with a deadly weapon, making threats, and attempted second-degree theft, and they have been issued a “Stay Away” order to avoid the Union Station grounds until they head to preliminary hearings in late August. An example of one “Stay Away” from Union Station order for defendant Essa Ejelat, who was charged with making threats at the protest.
Altogether, there were 23 total arrests made on Wednesday in connection to demonstrations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday afternoon, according to a list of names provided to the Washington Examiner by the Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Capitol Police, and the U.S. attorney’s office. The protests involved thousands and led to tense confrontations with police.
Four of the 23 protesters were charged with assault on a law enforcement officer, including an unnamed 15-year-old male from Westlake, Ohio. The other two with misdemeanor assault charges on an officer included Zachary Kam, who faces two counts, and Kevin Ramirez, who also faces a misdemeanor charge for crossing a police line. It is unclear who is the fourth person who allegedly assaulted an officer, and the Washington Examiner was unable to locate federal or local court records for Ramirez. There were no records of custody for the pair by Central Cell Block, the district jail, or MPD precinct holdings.
The behavior we witnessed yesterday in our nation's capital by pro-Hamas terrorist sympathizers is unacceptable in a free society rooted in the rule of law.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 25, 2024
The perpetrators should be held accountable—no excuses! pic.twitter.com/IrCMKgTAbk
You can buy a new flag, but you can't bring 180,000 people back to life.
— Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) July 25, 2024
How is it that this "full statement" says NOTHING about murderous genocide funded by the USA? https://t.co/vIAarnAneI
“HAMAS IS COMING"
— Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) July 25, 2024
Following the Money at C and 3rd
🚨Many folks wonder WHO organized the bus caravan for the rally that even Kamala Harris now condemns for its protestors scrawling graffiti like "HAMAS IS COMING" on the monuments of Washington, D.C.
As I heard reports of… pic.twitter.com/5mzBb8AroU
According to Mccloskey’s LinkedIn, she works with Candle-Lite out of Cincinnati.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) July 26, 2024
Reach out to them here: https://t.co/hvd3dPubav pic.twitter.com/rc4ctHOIhF
The fatass idiot: "It's a Mossad psyops" https://t.co/3gevGwO5ba
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 25, 2024
Has that gentleman been informed about how the rich white leftists are fighting structural racism by making him clean up their mess? https://t.co/0g3GH8X44s
— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 26, 2024
Wrote and produced this parody that is all too real right now… DEATH TO ‘THE WEST WING’ 🇺🇸🔥#gaza #israel #westwing #comedy #news #palestine #america #usa #parody #unitedstates #protests pic.twitter.com/LxS7bnKBgr
— Zach Sage Fox (@zachsagefox) July 26, 2024
Iran’s encirclement of Israel is aimed at destroying it
One of the most notable aspects of the relative abilities of Iran and Israel’s ability to project power across the Middle East is that Iran is more flexible and strategic in its approach. It has developed a “Unification of the Arenas” strategy which coordinates all its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Iraqi Shia militias and the Houthis in Yemen.Muslim soldier praised by Netanyahu in Congress: IDF needs to finish Hamas
As such, Iran is encircling Israel in order to be able to create a multifront war against it. The intention is to enable Iran to provide a nuclear umbrella to its proxies, threatening the survival of the Jewish state. Just as Russia wields its nuclear weapons to deter the West from greater involvement in Ukraine, imagine if Iran had a nuclear weapon and was able to provide Hamas and Hezbollah with a nuclear umbrella. Iran would be able to restrain Israel from entering Gaza to eliminate Hamas.
In contrast, Israel can only allocate its resources to a single arena at any one time - such as Gaza now to dismantle Hamas - or conduct individual strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon. It cannot realistically contend with a full-blown conflict against Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran simultaneously.
Israel and Iran’s strategic competition sits against the backdrop of the US lacking a coherent Iran strategy. At the start of his administration, President Biden said his priority was, “how we move forward and what is needed to allow us to move back into the JCPOA.” By November 2022, however, President Biden admitted that the JCPOA was “dead”. Since then the US has failed to formulate a replacement strategy for Iran.
The US and Israel have not responded significantly to Iran’s provocations across the region, enabling it to act with impunity and never face any consequences for its actions. Despite Iran seeking to escalate and regionalise the conflict, the Biden administration’s priority of localising it led the US to initially deny Iran’s involvement in the October 7 massacre. At best, the US merely responds rather than pre-empting Iranian-led threats. Israel has similarly adopted a restrained approach towards the Iranian regime, focusing on preventing Iran from establishing a military base on its border with Syria by conducting airstrikes on Iranian proxies or the IRGC when it operates near Israel’s borders.
Hamas targeted Jews and Muslims alike during its Oct. 7 massacre, Israel Defense Forces soldier Master Sgt. Ashraf al Bahir said a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted his bravery in an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.Location of hostage bodies rescued on Thursday came from interrogation, says Shin Bet
“People think that the people of Israel are only Jews. But there are Druze and Bedouins—as they say: One for all and all for one,” al Bahir told the Ynet outlet on Thursday. “It was strange for the Americans to see a Muslim Bedouin serving in the army. But the prime minister explained to them.”
He continued, “I just want to say thank you to the Israeli people. Israel should look ahead and completely annihilate Hamas.”
Al Bahiri said that it was a “great honor” for Israel’s Bedouin community that he was able to travel to Washington with Netanyahu, adding that he “didn’t expect to end up in this situation.
“I can only thank the army for sending me with the prime minister. This was a great honor for my family and the city of Rahat. People don’t stop calling me,” the soldier said.
In his speech, Netanyahu noted several guests who served heroically on and after Oct. 7, including IDF soldiers of various backgrounds who were wounded. They and their colleagues deserve respect and admiration, not condemnation for fictitious war crimes, he said.
The recovery of the bodies of five hostages from Gaza on Thursday was based on intelligence taken from interrogations of terrorists, Yossi Amrosi, a former senior Shin Bet officer, told Maariv on Friday morning.
During the operation, the bodies of three civilians and two soldiers who were taken hostage on October 7 were recovered from Khan Yunis.
Amrosi said that "this was an operation that arose from intelligence deriving from Shin Bet investigations, carried out by investigators at detention facilities. In this war, there are a high number of detainees, and for the Shin Bet, it's like an intelligence treasure trove."
He explained that Shin Bet translated the intelligence "very quickly" into "high-quality intelligence that would help the IDF soldiers in the field." He claimed the interrogations by the investigators led to the precise location of the five bodies.
"There is no doubt that these interrogations bring high-quality data," he says, adding that seven hostages have been rescued alive as a result, referring to the separate rescues on 8 June, 12 Feb, and 30 Oct.
Speaking on the role of the interrogators, Amrosi said: "Terrorists who two days ago were fighting you in the field and are now suddenly brought to the facilities, and the interrogators must use many methods and tricks to make them speak. It is very satisfying. You are an investigator of a Gazan terrorist, so of course, the first thing you will ask him is what he knows about the hostages."
Amrosi claimed that "Hamas gets 'hit' by the IDF and the Shin Bet every day" and that he believed "military pressure is beneficial."
As examples, he said "We conquered Rafah, we control the Philadelphi Route, we constantly locate tunnels to Egypt."
Amrosi noted that "the moment the IDF told the population to leave that area [Khan Yunis], everyone left, including the terrorists, leaving the bodies unattended. Therefore, I strongly believe that the IDF is determined."
"We will continue the work and will not give up until we reach all the hostages, both the living and the dead," he promised.
#BREAKING: The IDF says new operations launched in Khan Yunis have eliminated some 100 terrorists there. Forces took out seven terror squads after they fired mortars at troops.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) July 26, 2024
Full statement:
IDF operational activity continues in the Gaza Strip
Thus far, IDF troops operating… pic.twitter.com/tT6RlP39zy
I have heard it said that the @IDF is tired after nearly 10 months of fighting. Their enemies might like to think that but it is the opposite of what I’ve seen talking to many soldiers & commanders in the last few days. They remain fully motivated & determined to crush Hamas. pic.twitter.com/KqQpOQxZx0
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁ (@COLRICHARDKEMP) July 25, 2024
Let’s get the biggest and most concerning issue out of the way: the damage to Gaza generally.
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) July 25, 2024
There’s only one reason for it. Short intro video below and a long article in the first reply (or link in bio). pic.twitter.com/Qv40fMoavB
Just made this point to Admiral Hagari in IDF HQ and I think it’s a good one so I’ll share it.
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) July 26, 2024
Even though I have combat experience myself, have degrees in Law, War Studies and Psychology, on first seeing the destruction in Rafah my nanosecond first reaction was: “Fucking hell.”… pic.twitter.com/qommMwpmro
My fave fact I learned today.
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) July 25, 2024
2,831 vehicles in one IDF division have needed some level of repair due to enemy damage since 7th October. *Every single repaired vehicle* has made it back to the front line. Hamas has only succeeded in destroying 4 armoured vehicles in 9 months.…
IDF destroys kilometer long tunnel in northern Gaza, rockets fired at Ashkelon
IDF troops continued operating in Gaza, carrying out several raids into the territory in the past few days.
Troops raided terror centers in both Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, including underground tunnels.
The destroyed tunnel in Beit Lahia was about a kilometer long and is based out of the heart of a residential neighborhood. The IDF found weapons caches beside the tunnel.
Troops in the Beit Hanoun destroyed several anti-tank positions, booby-trapped buildings, and other pieces of terror infrastructure.
Rockets fired at Ashkelon
Sirens sounded in Ashkelon for the first time in months, with no injuries reported, according to Israeli media.
Three rockets were fired at Ashkelon from the Gaza Strip, with one being intercepted and two falling in an open area.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the first time that sirens have been heard in Ashkelon in more than a month; the last time rockets were fired at the city was on June 24.
Additionally, sirens heard in Misgav Am, were false alarms.
500-odd kilometres of tunnels underneath Gaza. Estimates are that each kilometre of tunnel cost $275,000.
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) July 26, 2024
Do the maths ($137,500,000, for those who can’t be bothered).
The things that money could have been spent on instead of wanting to kill Jews…
🔴🆕 Fighters of IDF Unit 414 identified two armed Hams terrorists operating in the Rafah area, and in cooperation with the Air Force, an aircraft attacked the terrorists and eliminated them.
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 26, 2024
A short time later, a detected Hams terrorist takes the weapon that one of the… pic.twitter.com/PRSoKzEiJ6
IDF: One-Kilometer-Long Terror Tunnel in the Northern Gaza Strip Was Dismantled by the IDF.
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 26, 2024
In recent days, a one-kilometer-long Hamas attack tunnel, that had an exit located inside a residential area in Beit Lahia, was dismantled by the Northern Gaza Brigade in cooperation with… pic.twitter.com/Uqfx2clsPb
He's not fooling anyone with the blanket and rpg. pic.twitter.com/kJgpSJa47l
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 25, 2024
We are heartbroken to report on the death of an additional #IDF soldier:
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) July 26, 2024
🕯️Corporal (Res.) Moti Rave (37).
Moti was killed in #Gaza during this current operation against Hamas terrorists.
May his memory forever be a blessing. 🕯️ pic.twitter.com/VAM26XlbO6
Airwars used social media, Palestinian media & NGOs to document 3,000 deaths from 17 days in Oct 23 and match them to Hamas list of 7,000 deaths, a 43% confirm rate. Nice job. But Airwars has another agenda: to bestow credibility on all of Hamas’ 39,000 claimed fatalities. 2/ pic.twitter.com/pqUeN6nXQy
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) July 26, 2024
Airwars links to article by Spagat but ignores his proof showing 1 in 7 names Hamas "identified" are flawed. Airwars ignores UN removed ~10,000 fatalities due to missing bodies (so-called "unidentified") and ignores UN reduced women & children claimed killed from 70% to ~50%. 4/ pic.twitter.com/tUj0abIwo3
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) July 26, 2024
Conclusion II: Media & NGOs continue to push notion that Hamas fatality numbers have been reliable in past and the “consensus” today is that they are also reliable. This is false. Hamas has lied about fatalities in every prior war, as thread proves. ENDhttps://t.co/Osy0AAucJC
— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) July 26, 2024
Israel has constructed new aid crossing points, built roads inside Gaza to distribute aid & coordinated many thousands of deliveries to deconflict with military action. Has any other army ever made such immense efforts to get aid in to hostile territory while fighting a war? pic.twitter.com/BQLHEDDXcg
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁ (@COLRICHARDKEMP) July 26, 2024
Today I visited crossing points from Israel to Gaza. The @IDF is facilitating significantly more food aid than Gazans need. Here is the Rafah Crossing between Egypt & Gaza. Egypt has closed this crossing and zero aid is flowing to their Arab brothers. pic.twitter.com/C5T5gux9bq
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁ (@COLRICHARDKEMP) July 25, 2024
Some of this week's humanitarian efforts 21-26 July:
— COGAT (@cogatonline) July 26, 2024
🍼16 trucks carrying baby formula and food with extra nutrients donated by @UNICEF were transferred to Gaza.
🛻4 empty trucks were transferred to Gaza to boost the logistic capacity of @UN aid agencies inside Gaza.
🔁The… pic.twitter.com/2FFvfzjV1N
— Noa Cochva (@noacochvaa) July 26, 2024
SPECIAL REPORT: Heartbroken families speak out against evil from inside Israel
In this exclusive Sky News special report, journalist Gabriella Power travels inside Israel and sits down with brave survivors of the October 7 terror attack.
Ms Power speaks with the heartbroken, yet resilient, Israelis' fighting for their loved ones to be released from captivity.
Nova Music festival survivor, Shalev Biton, recalls running for his life while hearing Hamas terrorists yell, “where are the Jews?” as they tried to hunt him down with guns.
“I thought in mind, it is so early to finish my life, because I have a lot of dreams,” Mr Biton said. 30-year-old Gal Dalal also survived the October 7 massacre.
He now spends every day fighting for his 22-year-old brother, Guy, to be released from Hamas’ captivity.
“He’s honestly my best friend. We see the same movies together, we play the same games together, we go to concerts together, and I miss him so much. I miss him more than anything. I would do anything to get him back,” Mr Dalal told Sky News Australia.
Dr Uriel Trahtemberg, who works in Israel’s north, said a solution to the conflict is simple.
“There is a very easy way to end what's happening in Gaza, which is return the hostages and renounce terrorism,” Dr Trahtemberg said.
Every Israeli interviewed for this special report, expressed their fear about the rise in anti-Semitism displayed around the world, following the October 7 attack by Hamas.
“Despite all the hate in the world, the people of Israel are united,” Gabriella Power said.
Gabriella Power travelled to Israel as a guest of the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
Today's House guest chaplain - Rabbi Levi Slonim, Chabad of Binghamton, NY - begins his prayer by doing a mitzvah: Putting a dollar in the pushka - the Tzedakah (Charity) Box ... His prayer includes: "We pray for the safe and swift return of the hostages being held in Gaza" pic.twitter.com/a0xQCkwh3D
— "When Rabbis Bless Congress" (@CongressRabbi) July 25, 2024
Uncle of Kfir Bibas breaks down as he speaks about his family held hostage in Gaza
The uncle of the Bibas family – whose picture of mother Shiri clutching her two red-headed sons went viral as a defining image from the October 7 atrocity – has cried in public “for the first time” since October 7.
During the “most emotional” public panel he had been a part of since the terror attack against Israel almost 300 days ago, Yarden Bibas’ uncle, Yair Keshet, broke down in tears in front of an audience at JW3 when describing how Hamas “took two flowers from us”.
The images of Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped at nine months old and who spent his first birthday held hostage, captured the hearts of millions around the world. He was abducted by Hamas terrorists, along with his mother Shiri, 32, brother Ariel, four, and father Yarden, 34.
Hamas has given the family “absolutely nothing” in terms of answers. “We know nothing,” Yair said. “Sometimes there is a picture or some other thing the IDF finds, and maybe it can give us a brief sign of life. But even that we cannot trust because what is true yesterday might not be true today. We are so tired of [grasping] at hope.”
He said that hearing this week the IDF confirm the deaths of two more hostages, Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, had “made us get lower and lower and lower, until we feel there is no hope.
“But we need hope, we need a sign of life. It is very difficult to have hope. That is why we come here to these places to meet as many people as we can. Do not think you can’t do anything; you can. Everybody is connected to someone else, so raise your voice, support Israel, support the families, put pressure on anybody who needs it. We need your help.”
He added, through tears, that it was on October 7 that “they (Hamas) took two flowers from us”, referring to Kfir and his four-year-old brother, Ariel.
🔴🆕 emotional moments. Noa Argamani lays the names of the abductees and their families in the Lubavitch Rebbe's tent, praying for their speedy release. pic.twitter.com/3BRUyPFZ3f
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 26, 2024
When Yaara Medioni and Naama Boni first met during their #IDF training, they quickly formed a strong bond and shared a dream of attending officer school together. On October 7th, Naama Boni was murdered in the #Hamas terrorist massacre while serving at her base. This week, Yaara… pic.twitter.com/8Bv8aPHQrK
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) July 25, 2024
At the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (The Bayit), which I proudly represent, I had the high honor of joining JCRC and AMEPA in hosting two heroes—Daniel and Neria Sharabi—who shared their stories of saving lives on 10/7. pic.twitter.com/VBoEmipqr9
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) July 26, 2024
Did Kamala Snub Netanyahu in Congress? | Israel Undiplomatic w/ Mark Regev & Ruthie Blum
Fmr. Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev and Author/Journalist Ruthie Blum dissect Netanyahu's speech to Congress ahead of his meetings with President Biden, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Netanyahu's speech before the joint session of Congress focused on the importance of Israel's national security and the need for the United States to support Israel in combating the threat from Iran. But were the Israeli people behind their Prime Minister or are Israeli politics so divided that such a move was contested? Will the Democratic party continue to support Israel as major Democratic figures refused to attend the speech?
All this and more on Israel Undiplomatic!
Chapters
00:00 Netanyahu's Speech: Focusing on Israel's National Security
02:04 Supporting Israel: A Matter of National Interest
07:15 Polarization in Israeli Politics
10:33 Challenges for the Democratic Party on Israel
Canada revoking JNF Canada charitable status, JNF says motive antisemitic
The Canadian Revenue Agency notified the Jewish National Fund Canada that it was revoking the organization’s charitable status because the government body did find its original 1967 main charitable object unacceptable, the JNF said in a statement and newsletter on Thursday.
JNF Canada national president Nathan Disenhouse and CEO Lance Davis announced in a statement dated Wednesday and published Thursday that they had launched a legal challenge against CRA with the Federal Court of Appeal.
CRA was reportedly making its decision based off of a 2014 Audit, and JNF said that it was unjust that after five issueless audits and accepting the original charitable objective decades ago charitable status was now being revoked.
The 1967 charter for the Israel-focused charity proposed to raise “funds for the employment of indigent labourers – recent immigrants in the main – on various work projects, for which they receive daily stipends . “
Disenhouse and Davis said that CRA had bypassed its usual compliance measures such as education letters, compliance agreements and sanctions before revoking JNF’s status, even refusing to discuss a new objective or compliance agreement.
Antisemitic motives
JNF suggested that anti-Zionist or antisemitic motives within the ranks of CRA may have influenced the decision.
“As a Zionist-inspired organization, JNF Canada has many vociferous antisemitic detractors who we believe have influenced the decision-making process in this matter,” said Disenhouse and Davis. “We believe that arguably there is a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the CRA. This evidence of bias comes from the CRA’s own records, which show that the public pressure on the CRA and the Minister of National Revenue to revoke JNF’s status was an important consideration within the chain of authority at the Charities Directorate. A review of the record would leave a reasonable person with the impression that this pressure resulted in a biased decision.”
JNF said that as the matter was before the court, they would continue to organize events, fundraising campaigns, and delegations to Israel.
‘Their deaths don’t matter do they? Because they weren’t killed by Jews. But somehow, again, it’s all the Jews’@TomTugendhat was asked at a Tonbridge hustings before the election how he would resolve the Gaza crisis
— Lewis Denison (@lewisUTBdenison) July 25, 2024
The MP is now running to be leader of the @Conservatives pic.twitter.com/hwzU7qwX1s
Iran TV: The Israeli Athletes Competing in the Paris Olympics Are All Part of the Military: They Have Been Participating in the Genocide in Gaza; 26 of Them Are Extreme Anti-Palestinian Fascists pic.twitter.com/pMZFvhZzzl
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) July 26, 2024
The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the @Paris2024 Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran's axis of evil and radical Islam. As I warned my French counterpart @steph_sejourne this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians…
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 26, 2024
New map shows the extent of the coordinated arson attacks that paralyzed France’s high-speed railway network this morning.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 26, 2024
The Paris Olympics opening ceremony takes place today and hundreds of thousands of people are trying to travel to Paris.
Russian sabotage operation? pic.twitter.com/hMIBjZEkKe
Not anymore he isn't.
— The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome (@TheMossadIL) July 25, 2024
This account was doxing Israeli Olympic athletes, severely compromising their safety.
Thank you all for getting this taken down. pic.twitter.com/MKCJHnaKRZ
UPDATE: @JCDecauxGlobal has removed this poster.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) July 26, 2024
Per the company: "This is illegal flyposting and our teams are removing this whenever it is reported to us or identified by our teams." https://t.co/anQ9kmmT6e
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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