Sunday, September 08, 2024

09/08 Links: BHL: A Big Part of the World Was Longing for Something Like Oct. 7; Dan Senor: One Year Since October 7th - Douglas Murray‬; Sinwar’s useful idiots

From Ian:

A Big Part of the World Was Longing for Something Like Oct. 7
Bernard-Henri Levy interviewed by Tunku Varadarajan
The muted reaction to the murder of six Israeli hostages by Hamas "tragically confirms" liberal Jewish French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy's view that the Jewish state and "Jews around the world" are alone, as reflected in the title of his new book, Israel Alone.

In an interview in Paris, Levy draws attention to one of the hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23. "Hersh was executed for being a Jew. He was also American. Where is the collective rage in the USA? The collective grief?" It is "fashionable to be anti-Jew in America. Jews have been assimilated into the box of oppressors."

After Oct. 7, everyone realized "that there is no place in the world where Jews are safe." Rather than provoke sympathy and compassion for the Jews, Hamas's massacre liberated hate. "I expected at least a moment of real solidarity in the face of this enormous crime." Instead, the murderers were "blessed, excused and praised." The victims were "accused, cursed and held responsible for their fates."

"A big part of the world was longing for something like Oct. 7, dreaming of it. People danced in the streets...after Oct. 7. They loved the humiliation of...Israel." There was a craving among the "antiliberal, antidemocratic, anti-Western, antisemitic crowds" for "someone to do this."

Yet Levy wrote his book to "instill courage and pride in the Jews, and to galvanize their many non-Jewish supporters in America." He concludes that "the soul, mind, and genius of Judaism are standing firm amid tumult and torment." He's confident Jews will emerge stronger. The Jews "don't disarm themselves. They fight back. They behave as they should. They are proud."
Gadi Taub: Sinwar’s useful idiots
The mainstream media, itself a major player in the Never-Bibi info op, was not eager to emphasize the way the demonstrators are following Sinwar’s playbook. Predictably, the usual suspects rushed to blame Netanyahu for everything, as they always do. Prominent columnists such as Haaretz‘s Yossi Verter, Maariv‘s Ben Caspit, Yedioth Ahronoth‘s Nadav Eyal, Channel 12‘s Amnon Abramowitz and Channel 13‘s Raviv Druker unfurled the party line: it’s all on Netanyahu. Netanyahu has deliberately thrown in new demands (this time it was the Philadelphi Corridor, we were told) because staying in power is more important to him than saving the hostages.

Since this is what the Israeli media keeps repeating in both Hebrew and English, much of the foreign press assumes it’s true, and that Israelis generally believe it to be true.

But, alas, that’s wrong on both counts. Netanyahu could not have saved the hostages by giving up the Philadelphi Corridor even if he was so inclined. The corridor was never the only bone of contention. Giving it up (which Israel should not do) would not have brought about a deal.

As Khalil al-Hayya, Sinwar’s deputy for negotiations, recently reiterated, Hamas’s demands for a deal have not changed. They are tantamount to an Israeli surrender:
1. A permanent ceasefire.
2. A complete withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from all of the Gaza Strip, including the security parameter along the border, the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor (which cuts the north of the strip from the south just below Gaza city).
3. Rebuilding the whole of Gaza.
4. An exchange of 50 terrorists for every female IDF soldier and 30 for every civilian in the first stage, then 500 terrorists for every male soldier in the second.

These terms will eliminate all Israel’s gains in this war and ensure that Hamas remains in power, able to rebuild its military capabilities with Iran’s help, and its front-line cadres fresh from Israel’s jails (where courtesy of our Supreme Court they get a well-balanced diet, diverse and certain to include enough fresh fruit). No prime minister of Israel can accept these terms because Israel’s public won’t.

The media has been trumpeting polls saying most Israelis support a hostage deal. This is a crucial part of the narrative. But then, these polls do not specify what deal, or else present a deal that would never be accepted by Hamas. Of course, most Israelis want some deal—but not the one Hamas is offering.

One Telegram channel owner got tired of the media’s game. That person is, most probably, a former intelligence officer. He calls his channel, tongue in cheek, Abu Ali Express. But he is a serious professional and a reliable source of news from the Arab world, one many in Israel rely on. Over 400,000 Hebrew speakers subscribe to this channel. Abu Ali decided to run an opinion poll of his own. He first presented the Hamas terms for a deal, then asked his followers if they would have accepted it. 51,000 users responded in the space of two hours. Eighty-one percent said they would not accept such a deal, 10% said they would, 9% said they don’t know. Granted, this is not a representative sample, nor a proper survey. Still, it is indicative of something. And it gives you an idea about how the mainstream media is misleading you.

This public mood was also demonstrated by the collapse of last week’s (illegal) attempt at a general strike. The Histadrut (the umbrella organization of Israeli labor unions) declared it—under pressure from demonstration organizers insisting they are the sole legitimate representatives of the families of hostages—only to fold it all at 2 p.m. the next day following a labor court ruling. The Never-Bibi activists found they don’t really have enough troops.

Still, in the immediate aftermath of the shocking news of the executions the protests drew more people than usual. Predictably, the media inflated the numbers. And then, mistaking the press coverage for reality, the Biden administration seems to have felt that perhaps the wave of anger that will topple Netanyahu has finally arrived. The president therefore chipped in, reversing earlier statements that put the blame on Hamas. He did it with a single word. Asked whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to conclude a hostage deal, the president simply said “no.” But that too had little impact.

It now seems that the protesters’ attempt to harness the tragedy of the six hostages for their permanent political project may have just backfired. More people now see them more clearly as Sinwar’s useful idiots.

But the wrong turn the permanent anti-Netanyahu protesters took long preceded these recent events. It began soon after the war broke out. From the start, their arguments, focused as they were on Netanyahu’s responsibility for Oct. 7, were not only controversial but also in the wrong conversation. For most Israelis, the question now is not who is responsible for the disaster, but who can lead us to victory. And the answer to that question cannot possibly be a Chamberlain in the guise of Benny Gantz, Yoav Gallant or Yair Lapid, all of whom are willing to cave in to Hamas’s demands and leave it on its feet at the end of this war.

Netanyahu owes his recovery in the polls to one thing above all. He never wavered on this one issue: The Gaza campaign must end with the clear defeat of Hamas. Nothing less. In this, he represents the majority in Israel. And it is that majority that has—and will—sustain him so long as he stays on this course.
ISIS attack on Pope Francis in Jakarta thwarted: Indonesian police detain terror org. members
Indonesian police have detained seven individuals following an attempted attack on Pope Francis during his visit to Jakarta, The Straits Times reported, citing statements released Friday by Indonesia’s national police anti-terrorism unit, Detachment 88.

Colonel Aswin Siregar, a spokesperson for Detachment 88, stated that authorities have yet to determine if the suspects belong to a coordinated terrorist cell.

Pope Francis arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday for a three-day stay, part of his 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the Straits Times, police discovered bows and arrows, a drone, and ISIS propaganda materials in the home of one of the suspects. The report also mentioned that several of the detainees had pledged allegiance to ISIS.

A source informed the media that the suspects were angered by the pope’s scheduled visit to the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta and the government’s request to suspend the public broadcasting of the Islamic call to prayer during the visit.

Indonesia, where 87% of the population identifies as Muslim and about 10% as Christian, has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population, with the Pew Research Center estimating that 99% of Indonesian Muslims are Sunni. The small Shia minority resides mainly in Jakarta.


Hamas ‘poison pill’ impeding hostage talks, US official says
Hamas is making faltering ceasefire talks with Israel more difficult by adding demands, including that Jerusalem commute the sentences of a large number of Palestinian terrorists serving life terms already during the first phase of a deal.

The Washington Post cited a senior U.S. official as saying on Saturday that while the two sides had agreed to the release of terrorist murderers in exchange for Hamas freeing Israel Defense Forces troops, Hamas last week decided that Israeli civilians would also need to be exchanged for these longtime prisoners, an idea the official described as a “poison pill.”

Last week, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Hamas had increased the number of terrorist murderers serving life sentences that it is demanding be released during the initial days of the first phase of a deal.

CIA Director William Burns said on Saturday in London that reaching a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas terrorists will necessitate “some hard choices and some political compromises” from both sides.

Burns said that 90% of the proposed deal has been agreed on, but that “the last 10% is the last 10% for a reason, because it’s the hardest part to do.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week dismissed reports suggesting that an agreement was close. “In fact, while we agreed in May, in July and in August to a deal, an American proposal, Hamas has consistently said no to every one of them,” he said on Thursday.

Confidential documents obtained from the computer of a senior Hamas leader by IDF troops have unveiled the terrorist organization’s calculated strategy of exploiting hostages, manipulating public opinion and rebuilding its military capabilities under the guise of ceasefire negotiations.


US suggests Lebanon-Israel land swap in bid to end border conflicts - Al-Jarida
American officials recently proposed, in a virtual meeting with their Israeli counterparts, a land swap between Lebanon and Israel as part of a comprehensive agreement to end the border conflicts and resolve the land dispute between the two countries, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported on Sunday.

The report follows Saturday night's rocket attacks, which involved about 50 launches from Lebanon toward Kiryat Shmona and Western Galilee.

According to the report, the Israeli side reiterated its main demand for a complete military withdrawal of Hezbollah to 10 km away from the border, a demand that the organization currently rejects.

On the other hand, two outstanding issues were raised in Washington's proposal for a diplomatic settlement. The first is the "Point B1" issue, the westernmost border point of the "Blue Line," overlooking the Israeli tourist site at Rosh Hanikra.

The proposal for this point involves recognizing it as part of Lebanon, with UN forces deployed there as a neutral party for both sides.

The second issue is the Kibbutz Misgav Am, which belongs to the Upper Galilee Regional Council.

A quid-pro-quo
Here, the Americans propose a land swap that would not alter the kibbutz's characteristics in exchange for twice the area currently held by Israel.

Other issues on the table, such as the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, and the northern part of the Rajar village, remain to be addressed later.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether the current escalation signals preparation for a new military phase or if it is simply part of ongoing efforts to target Hezbollah sites in the southern Litani region.

Additionally, the diplomatic information regarding the fate of Lebanon's southern front remains unclear, with Western and American diplomatic sources indicating the improbability of a broad war, assuring that the Biden administration is making every effort to achieve calm in Gaza and other fronts.

On the other hand, diplomatic assessments suggest that Israel aims to use the period until the November US elections to weaken Hezbollah as much as possible.
Feb 2024: Biden’s Hezbollah Plan Is a Win-Win—for the Terrorists
To that end, Nasrallah might be persuaded to agree to certain window-dressing concessions as long as he can spin the deal as a win for Lebanon. The threat from Hezbollah’s “Radwan” special forces—a group that’s been training for years to execute a complex invasion of northern Israel like the one Hamas perpetrated on Gaza’s border communities—forced Israel to evacuate all communities close to the Lebanese border. Many of these families might be willing to brave occasional rocket attacks, as they have for decades, but none will return to a border crawling with Radwan terrorists.

In the weeks after October 7, the IDF targeted Radwan leaders, prompting Hezbollah to pull these high-value assets farther back from Israel’s border. Thus, a deal that requires these fighters to stay 10 kilometers from Israel’s border and removes their outposts south of that line would be a meager concession for Nasrallah. But alongside an historic surge of IDF border patrols, it could offer Israel enough of a fig leaf to persuade evacuated communities to return home.

Unsurprisingly, that is exactly the deal on the table from the United States and France. With reports that sweeteners might include a massive economic bailout for Lebanon and Israeli negotiation over its disputed land border with it, too. Who would be responsible for keeping the peace? The LAF and UNIFIL—the same pair that has spent 17 years helping Hezbollah become the threat it is today. That would guarantee that Hezbollah’s commitments will never be verified or enforced.

It’s a win-win for Nasrallah. Many of his fighters live and keep their missiles hidden within 10 kilometers of Israel’s border. They will blend into the civilian population without any mechanism to force their departure. And even if the U.S. or France could verify a movement of weapons to the north, Nasrallah’s arsenal is more than capable of terrorizing Israeli cities from 10 kilometers away. Meanwhile, a bailout of Lebanon will increase Hezbollah’s popularity—demonstrating its tactics against Israel work.

Israel faces a harsh reality in which an American president is saying ‘No.’ President Biden will not come to Israel’s aid in the U.N. Security Council or from the White House podium. He will not approve requests for emergency resupply of critical munitions Israel will need in a war with Hezbollah. Biden felt compelled to support Israel in a war against Hamas after seeing the horror of October 7, but he does not want conflict to continue in the Middle East deep into his re-election. These truths compel the Israeli government to secure whatever agreement can both buy time until Jerusalem is independently prepared for a full-scale war and give its citizens the illusion of security on the northern border.

Whatever the Hochstein process delivers, it will not deliver Israelis the security they need, along the border or in major cities in the north and central regions. Nor will it in any way degrade the robust capabilities of a terrorist group that threatens America as much as Israel. The longer the Hezbollah can gets kicked down the road, the bloodier and costlier the eventual day of reckoning will be.
Natasha Hausdorff: David Lammy’s decision to suspend arms exports to Israel isn’t just wrong. It’s unlawful
The Foreign Secretary’s announcement last week that the UK is suspending 30 licences for arms exports to Israel has been resoundingly criticised for playing politics and abandoning a key ally facing a seven-front war of survival against Iran and its proxies. Based upon the Government’s published reasoning and analysis, it is also unlawful.

The announcement was not a surprise, given the obvious political motivation driving the decision. Indeed, according to several media reports, the Government had already suspended the granting of new licences for arms exports to Israel in July, before its promised in-depth legal review and analysis.

It is striking that the UK’s stated concerns in its announcement, regarding Israel’s treatment of detainees and facilitation of aid, have no connection to the arms it has said it has embargoed. There is a disconnect with the applicable test: “a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.

The Government has acknowledged that it did not reach a judgment on the conduct of hostilities. Further explanations provided by the Solicitor-General were similarly incoherent, and at certain points clearly inverted this legal test, stating “the UK Government can only grant export licenses for arms if it is confident that the those [sic] arms will not be used in breach of international humanitarian law.”

Successive UK and US governments have indicated satisfaction with Israel’s conduct in hostilities. Indeed, experts, including members of the High Level Military Group, have reported that Israel’s efforts on targeting, proportionality and minimising civilian casualties far surpass what the British and US armies are capable of. The concerns raised by the Foreign Secretary on aid and detention, however misplaced they might be, have no connection to the arms the Government says are subject to this embargo.

Guidance endorsed by the Court of Appeal demonstrates that there must be a clear link between the reasons for a decision of this nature and the specific use of the items or technologies blocked. But no such link has been made in this case. A decision by a government body based on improper purposes or upon irrelevant considerations is unlawful.
UKLFI: Legal Challenge to UK Government Ban on Arms Sales to Israel
The UK Government is facing a Judicial Review of its decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has sent a formal letter to the Government threatening legal action unless it cancels the decision to suspend around 30 licences for the export of arms to Israel.

The letter notes that the Government’s decision is based on criterion 2c of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC). This says that the Government will “Not grant a licence if it determines there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

However, according to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy MP, as well as the Government’s Press Release and Policy Paper, the Decision was made on two grounds, which had nothing to do with whether the banned items might be used to violate international humanitarian law. These were:
1. That Israel could have done more to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the Gaza population and
2. That there were credible allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees, who were denied access by the Red Cross.

UKLFI’s letter points out that, even if these alleged risks exist, they are not connected with the particular arms whose export licences are being suspended. Therefore the decision is not justified under criterion 2c of the SELC.

The Government’s statements also ruled out justification based on the conduct of the hostilities, in which the arms would be used. These said that “it has not been possible to reach a determinative judgment on the allegations regarding Israel’s conduct of hostilities”

UKLFI’s letter also criticises emails by the Solicitor-General, Sarah Sackman MP, responding to some of her constituents. These emails asserted that “The UK Government can only grant export licenses for arms if it is confident that the those [sic] arms will not be used in breach of international humanitarian law.”

The Solicitor-General’s emails were inaccurate and misstated the legal test. Under Sackman’s test, any country trading with the UK would be treated as guilty of war crimes until proven innocent. If she was right then the entire UK defence industry would find it impossible to make any exports.

This reverses the burden of proof in criterion 2c: as stated above, licences can only be refused under this provision if “the Government determines that there is a clear risk that the arms might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
Simon Sebag Montefiore: Starmer’s foreign policy risks rewarding aggressive extremists
Not many writers can claim to have been given an audience at No 10 with Mrs Thatcher, and only one was an “avowed Maoist” who dared directly to suggest to the prime minister that her defence of the Falklands was purely a ruse to improve her image.

“There was a lot of finger waving,” recalls the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, “but she was very nice to me. At one point she told me to pull my socks up. I thought she meant I should pull myself together – I was lounging on a sofa – but then she stood up, pointed at my socks and made me pull them up there and then.”

The subsequent interview was written up in the Harrovian, the eponymous public-school newspaper Montefiore edited, aged 17. But, alas, it was vetted by the Iron Lady herself. “I wrote that ‘I left that famous black door of No 10 with the relief of a prisoner escaping the torture chambers of the Great Khan’,” says Montefiore. “But when we got the proof back, it had a red line through it and a note which just said ‘No’.”

Following the episode, Montefiore – or Sebag as he is known to his family and friends – has continued to cut a dash. A brief career in banking with the “big swinging d---s” of Wall Street during the boom of the late 1980s was followed by a lively stint as a war correspondent in the Caucasus following the collapse of the Soviet Union and then a long career as an author and esteemed historian.

Now, in perhaps his most risqué move, he has updated his international bestseller, Jerusalem: A History of the Middle East, to include within its sweeping 3,000-year narrative the October 7 massacre and the start of the Gaza war.

The aim was to “deliver something that didn’t exist which was a balanced, fair, judicious account, respecting both narratives, all peoples, all faiths, all centuries and all empires,” he said when I spoke to him this week. Good luck with that, you might think, not least for an author whose great-great uncle, the British financier and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore, was a founder of the modern city of Jerusalem, that part which exists outside the Old City’s walls.

“My ancestor Montefiore got on extremely well with Palestinian Arabs, with Ottoman Turks, and all the different Christian sects… he was never a nationalist,” says Montefiore, 59, who has studied his forebear’s correspondence. “He’s sometimes described as a ‘pre-zionist’, but I don’t think he envisioned a full state. He bought land from Turks and Arabs, he dined with them, he socialised with them… he’d have hated the curse of ultra-nationalism on both sides that we see today.”

The first edition of Jerusalem, published in 2011, included the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the Nakba, in which the Palestinian population was displaced but ended relatively cautiously with the Six Day War of 1967. “A gripping account of war, betrayal, looting, rape, massacre, sadistic torture, fanaticism, feuds, persecution, corruption, hypocrisy and spirituality… Montefiore’s narrative is remarkably objective,” wrote the historian Antony Beevor. Its Herod the Great and Caesars section is now being adapted into a television series which Montefiore likened – before October 7 – to the fantasy drama Game of Thrones.

Time heals and even the most horrific events can be written about decades later with elan and even humour, but tackling raw events such as October 7 is a different thing entirely. “Israel is there to stay and it should have a Palestinian republic next to it. The great challenge for both nations, Israeli and Palestinian, is to change significantly if we wish to go forward – to back brave, tolerant leaders and to reject extremists, ghouls, blood-suckers and pyromaniacs… and I believe history can help with that,” says Montefiore.

Montefiore has been a bit of a warrior on the social media platform X during the Gaza war, but those hoping to find simple conclusions in the new edition of the book will be disappointed. Jerusalem remains a serious historical endeavour, not another propaganda vehicle for the ethno-nationalist Israeli Right.

In his book, Hamas’s “colossal and ghoulish crimes” are rightly compared to the Crusaders’ storming of Jerusalem in July 1099, which resulted in the slaughter of thousands of Muslims and Jews, including women and babies. In many ways, October 7 was “a crime against Islamic tradition, which is why its critics are so often Arab moderates, while its cheerleaders, Western activist radicals”, writes Montefiore.

But while Hamas and its “cadaverous” leader Yahya Sinwar are pilloried, so too is the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a man “no longer able to see the difference between his own personal interests and those of the republic”. “Netanyahu cynically enabled the extremists of Hamas, whom he believed he could confine to their Gaza fiefdom, and who were the worst possible representatives for the Palestinian cause.”


Jordanian terrorist kills three Israelis at Allenby crossing
Three security guards at the Allenby Bridge crossing in the Jordan Valley were killed in a terrorist shooting on Sunday morning.

The gunman, who according to the IDF was a Jordanian citizen, was killed, and Israeli forces were conducting scans of the area to ensure there were no more terrorists in the area.

Magen David Adom emergency service spokesperson Zaki Heller said that “after resuscitation operations, MDA medics and paramedics in cooperation with the IDF medical force pronounced the deaths of three men about 50 years old with gunshot wounds to their bodies.”

One of the victims was named as Yohanan Shchori, 61, a father of six from Ma’ale Efraim. Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from Moshav Na’ama north of Jericho, was also killed in the attack. The third victim was Adrian Marcelo Podsmeser, from the city of Ariel in Samaria.

The terrorist who carried out the attack was named as Maher D’yab Hussein Jazi, a 39-year-old truck driver from the city of Irbid.

The IDF said that the terrorist drove in a truck to the crossing from the Jordanian side. The terrorist then exited the vehicle and began firing at forces guarding the crossing. Security forces were working to rule out suspicions that the truck was laced with explosives.
Yuri Birnbaum, Adrian Marcelo Podmesser, Yohanan Shehori named as victims of W. Bank attack
Three individuals were killed by a Jordanian citizen at the Allenby Crossing in the West Bank on Sunday, including Yuri Birnbaum, Adrian Marcelo Modmesser, and Yohanan Shchori.

Yuri Birnbaum
Yuri Birnbaum was a 65-year-old resident of Moshav Na'ama in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, and had worked as a forklift operator at the Allenby crossing.

Yuri had immigrated to Israel in the 90's from Russia with his wife Tovah, who died of cancer several years ago. They were parents to three children named Philip, Orly, and Andrei.

"Today we are saying goodbye to Yuri Birinbaum, a member of the Naama Moshav since 1990," Walla quoted the Jordan Valley Regional Council. "He was murdered in a shooting attack on the Allenby Bridge. We share in the family's grief for his untimely death. May his memory be a blessing. Details on the funeral date will be provided later."

Adrian Marcelo Podmesser
One of the others killed in the West Bank terror attack was Adrian Marcelo Podmesser, 57, from Ariel. He leaves behind a wife and four children. His funeral will take place on Monday at 5 p.m. at the Ariel cemetery.

"We grieve alongside Marcelo's family. He will always be remembered as a kind man," Ariel Mayor Yair Shatbon told Walla. "The attack reminds us once again that we are at war with a cruel enemy, not only in the south and the north, and sharpens the need for broad action in all areas."

Yohanan Shchori
Yohanan Shchori, 61, and father of six was also killed in the attack.

Shchori was a resident of Ma'aleh Ephraim and worked for the Israel Airports Authority, Walla reported.

"Starting on October 7, Shchori was recruited to a reserve squad and performed every task required out of mission and commitment to the security of the residents. He was a regular volunteer in the civil guard for many years. We are saddened by the murder of our dear friend and grieve with his family," Ma'ale Ephraim said, Walla reported.
Netanyahu condemns Allenby crossing shooting attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, condemned the deadly shooting at the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan hours earlier.

“This is a difficult day. An abhorrent terrorist murdered three of our citizens in cold blood at the Allenby Bridge. On behalf of the government and myself, I send condolences to the families of those who were murdered,” the premier said.

Three security guards at the crossing in the Jordan Valley were killed in the shooting. The gunman, who according to the IDF was a Jordanian citizen, was killed, and Israeli forces were conducting scans of the area to ensure there were no more terrorists in the area.

“We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil. In recent days, abhorrent terrorists murdered six of our hostages and three Israel Police officers in cold blood,” Netanyahu continued, referring to the recent murder of six hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza and three police officers in a drive-by shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint in Judea.

“The murderers do not differentiate between us. They want to murder us all, right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews, until the last one.

“What prevents the destruction of our people, as in previous times, is the strength of the State of Israel and the power of the IDF: Our soldiers’ spirit of heroism, the police officers, the men and women of our security forces, the supreme sacrifice of our fallen heroes and the stamina of our people—these make all the difference.

“When we stand together, our enemies cannot overcome us; therefore, their main objective is to divide us and to sow discord among us,” the prime minister said.”


Just a week ago, a soldier doing his duty faithfully shot at the wheel of a Palestinian's truck who refused to come down for inspection. Today we found out that it is impossible to know what is in the cab of the truck, maybe a gun like in today's attack. And the great disgrace is that the soldier was detained for questioning and is suspended until the end instead of receiving a certificate of appreciation.

Gaza war breakdown: 17,000 terrorists killed as Israel weathers terror attacks, rockets - INSS
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, 1,664 Israelis have been killed, of which 706 were soldiers, 17,809 were wounded, some 143,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, and some 20,000 projectiles have been fired at Israeli territory, according to a recent INSS report.

Currently, 101 hostages are being detained in Hamas captivity.

Since the beginning of the war, alerts have sounded in 935 communities, forcing Israelis to run to safe areas around 15,000 times.

In October alone, 7,721 sirens were activated. The numbers dropped in November to 1,303 and in December to 1,277. Since then, fewer than a thousand sirens have sounded, apart from April when more than a thousand sirens were triggered amid Iran's April attack.

Data from the Gaza Strip, the north and West Bank
Since the outset of the war, some 17,000 Hamas terrorists have been eliminated in Gaza, with the IDF striking approximately 38,000 Hamas military targets throughout Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not draw distinctions between the deaths of civilians and combatants, some 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, and almost 95,000 have been wounded since October 7.

On the northern front, 50 Israelis have been killed, of which 24 were soldiers.

Some 7,600 projectiles have been fired to date at Israeli territory from both Syria and Lebanon.

Over 68,000 Israelis have been evacuated from 43 northern communities, and according to the report, some 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Lebanon.

The report also detailed the occurrences in the West Bank. According to the INSS, since the onset of the war, 4,973 terror attacks have occurred in the West Bank, killing 38 Israelis, 12 of whom were soldiers and three were police officers.

In addition, 285 Israelis were wounded in these terror attacks.

Nearly 700 Palestinians have been killed throughout the West Bank since the beginning of the war, according to the report, citing the Palestinian health ministry.

Some 4,400 Palestinians were arrested, among whom 1,850 were Hamas terrorists, representing a 114% increase in the number of Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israeli jails compared with the numbers in July of 2022.

Also, in the West Bank, since the beginning of the war, there have been 1,407 incidents of violence between Palestinians and settlers, with the largest number of such incidents, 300, occurring in October of last year.

Regarding protests worldwide on the war, the report showed that an average of 2,090 anti-Israel protests occur globally every month in comparison to 65 pro-Israel demonstrations.

Yemen saw the most anti-Israel protests, with 5,500 demonstrations. The US came in second, with 3,500 protests, followed by Morocco, Turkey and Iran.

The most pro-Israel protests, 317, have occurred in the US, followed by France with 108, Germany, Canada, and Australia.


IDF kills Hamas commander Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab in Gaza
An Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft killed Hamas commander Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military said on Sunday.

Shab was reportedly the commander of the Rocket Launching Platoon in Hamas's Eastern Khan Yunis Battalion.

The IDF noted that the platoon commander had been in charge of the rocket barrages fired at southern Israel from the Khan Yunis area since the onset of the Israel-Hamas War. IDF troops operate throughout Gaza

In other operation activities, in Rafah, IDF troops of the 162nd Division eliminated terrorists, raided terror targets, and located weapons, the IDF added.

In central Gaza, soldiers of the 252nd Division eliminated terrorists who posed a threat to the security forces, the military noted.

The IDF specified that in the past day, it had struck some 25 Hamas terror targets throughout Gaza.

Among the targets were terrorist squads, terror infrastructure, and military structures.


Hezbollah fires 50 rockets at northern Israel
Hezbollah launched some 50 rockets at northern Israel from Lebanon overnight Saturday.

Some 20 projectiles were launched at around 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. at the area of Kiryat Shmona, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Most were intercepted, though a few impacts were identified. No injuries were reported, according to the military.

The Kiryat Shmona Municipality said one rocket scored a direct hit on a structure and another hit a sidewalk. The building, property, infrastructure and a parked car suffered damage, according to the city.

At around 5:35 a.m., the Iranian terror proxy fired another 30 rockets at the Upper Galilee, with the IDF’s aerial defense array shooting down several and the rest falling in open areas. No injuries were reported in that barrage.

Several Hezbollah drones also crossed from Lebanon into the Upper Galilee on Saturday evening, with several impacts identified and no injuries reported.

Meanwhile, the IDF said that overnight the Israeli Air Force had struck Hezbollah “military” structures in the areas of Aitaroun, Maroun El Ras and Yaroun in Southern Lebanon.

An IDF drone also struck and eliminated terrorists from the Hezbollah-aligned Amal terrorist organization operating within a Hezbollah compound in the area of Froun in Southern Lebanon.

A Hezbollah rocket launcher that had been used to launch rockets at Safed was also hit in the area of Aynata in Southern Lebanon, according to the IDF.


Call me Back Podcast - with Dan Senor: One Year Since October 7th - Douglas Murray‬
Since October 7th, on this podcast we have tried to present Israel’s dilemmas and challenges as Israel responded to a genocidal attack from Gaza and what is now a multi-front war. We have tried to do this by talking to Israelis – Israeli journalists, political figures, historians and other thought leaders, and different people from Israel’s civil society. We have tried to provide historical context and perspectives from various actors in the U.S.-Israel relationship from both sides of that relationship.

We did not think we would still be recording these episodes – with this focus – for one year. And yet, here we are — approaching the one-year anniversary of October 7, which will be regarded as one of the darkest days in Jewish history (and one of the darkest days in the history of Western Civilization).

Most of our episodes have been shaped by weekly and daily news developments. But as we approach the one-year anniversary, we wanted to take a step back, and spend extended time with a few of our previous guests and thought leaders who are not our go-to analysts.

We asked each one of them to take a longer horizon perspective, to look back at this past year and the year ahead. In each conversation, we will try to understand the larger lessons these guests have learned as we approach this grim milestone. If you are listening to this episode on a podcast app, please note that this series was filmed in a studio and is also available in video form on our YouTube channel.

We begin this series with a conversation with Douglas Murray – war journalist, columnist, and bestselling author. We will be dropping one of these long-form conversations with a different guest each week between now and the first couple weeks after 10/07.


Biden has to realize, you can't negotiate with murderers: Caroline Glick | National Report
On Friday's "National Report," Caroline Glick, former assistant foreign policy advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu, called on the Biden admin to side with Israel in defeating Hamas and ending the war in Gaza.


‘Horrifically biased’: Former British commander accuses BBC of anti-Israel bias
Former British commander Richard Kemp has accused the BBC of being “horrifically biased” towards Hamas in its coverage of the war in the Middle East.

“There is always undue criticism of Israel and they go easy on Hamas,” Mr Kemp told Sky News Australia.

“There is no doubt in my mind that is a consistent editorial policy and it has been that way with the BBC for a long time, not just with this conflict but certainly since I can ever remember seeing coverage of the Middle East.”


Spiked: Labour’s capitulation to the pro-Hamas mob
Jake Wallis Simons joins Tom Slater and Fraser Myers, live from Jerusalem, to discuss the UK government’s arms embargo against Israel.


Mike Baker: Hostage Execution Fallout & Escalation in the South China Sea
• We start with the tragic news of six hostages killed in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. We'll explore what this means for the future of the conflict. Former White House National Security Council official Richard Goldberg will provide insight.


How are universities miseducating students amid pro-terror protests?
Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law founder and chairman Ken Marcus reacts to pro-terror protests on campus following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.


Daniel Greenfield: Kamala Considers Racist Hatemonger Keith Ellison for Attorney General
How bad is the Kamala administration shaping up to be? Let’s put it this way, if the current signals are correct, it will make the Obama administration look like the Reagan administration.

Current chatter has Maher Bitar being tipped for National Security Adviser. That’s this guy.

Why Is Georgetown Providing a Platform for This Dangerous Group?” an op-ed in the Washington Post had asked.

The group was the Palestine Solidarity Movement, a BDS anti-Israel hate group whose conferences had a history of antisemitism, supporting Hamas and the murder of Jews.

Maher Bitar, one of the executive board members of Students for Justice in Palestine, was one of the principal organizers of the 2006 conference which was being hosted by Georgetown University’s SJP hate group. A photo appears to show him dancing in a keffiyah in front of a banner reading, “Divest from Israel Apartheid”.

Can it get any worse? Current reports are that Kamala’s people have told Muslim groups that Keith X. Ellison would be on the shortlist for Attorney General of the United States. That’s this guy.

Back in 1989, Keith Ellison was already being condemned for anti-Semitism. The Minnesota Daily opinion editor, Michael Olenick, described Ellison’s writing as “a genuine threat to the long-term safety and well-being of the Jewish people, a threat that history dictates must not be ignored.”

“Time and time again my people have been slaughtered after the words of Hakim (Ellison) and those like him influenced the masses,” Olenick writes.

In a more recent comment, Olenick compared Ellison to David Duke.

In 1997, two years later, he was defending the Nation of Islam’s anti-Semitism and praising “Minister Farrakhan” as a “tireless servant of Black people”.

In 1998, Ellison ran for office as affiliated with the Nation of Islam on a platform of, among other things, having Nation of Islam thugs patrol neighborhoods. He complained about a “propaganda war” being waged against “Minister Louis Farrakhan”.

In 2000, five years later, Ellison is still referring to “Minister Farrakhan” and spewing NOI conspiracy theories.

As recently as the Minnesota Attorney General debate in 2018, Ellison claimed that “Louis Farrakhan was a person speaking to issues of African-American civil rights, at that time, he had, I thought, something to offer.”

The Democrats in Walz’s state made a decision to stand with a member of a racist hate group. And now that Walz is part of the Kamala ticket, he’s blasting Israel and defending Hamas supporters in Michigan.

And Ellison, his political ally, is reportedly being considered for Attorney General of the United States after scoring a speaking slot at the DNC.


Queen Rania of Jordan hits out at Western 'double standards' over war in Gaza
Jordan's Queen Rania on Saturday criticized what she described as Western "double standards" regarding the war in Gaza, which she said are contributing to a "loss of faith in the rules and moral standards meant to govern our world."

Speaking at the 50th European House Ambrosetti Forum, an annual economic conference in Cernobbio, Italy, the queen said that in the aftermath of global wars and other bloody conflicts in Europe during the 20th century, the international community established several global institutions to prevent similar violence.

"The people of the world deserve a global system they can trust, free of prejudice, moral loopholes, and deadly blind spots. And trust in that system has become intrinsically tied to the fate of the Palestinian people," she said as she urged European countries to weigh their responses to the conflict in Gaza against their proclaimed values.

"From the United Nations to the International Court of Justice to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the world came together to establish norms for a future better than its past, a future based on the values of the UN Charter: peace, justice, and human rights," she said.

However, Queen Rania added that many people worldwide are struggling to maintain their belief in the integrity and impartiality of these norms.

"Looking at Israel's war in Gaza, they see a glaring double standard or, worse yet, a seeming abdication of any standards at all," she said.

Over the past 11 months, the Gaza Strip had been hit by an estimated 70,000 tonnes of bombs, the queen continued, which is "more than all bombs dropped on London, Hamburg, and Dresden throughout all of the Second World War."


Jewish director wins Venice film prize—then attacks Israel
The 81st Venice International Film Festival on Saturday honored Sarah Friedland’s “Familiar Touch” awards for Best Director, Best First Film and Best Actress.

During her acceptance speech for the Luigi de Laurentiis Prize for Best First Film, Friedland took the opportunity to make a political statement and voiced her support for Palestinians.

“As a Jewish American artist working in a time-based medium, I must note, I’m accepting this award on the 336th day of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and 76th year of occupation,” she said.

“I believe it is our responsibility as filmmakers to use the institutional platforms through which we work to redress Israel’s impunity on the global stage. I stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation,” Friedland continued.


Couple attacked in Germany over T-shirt for Israeli hostages
A woman was assaulted in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg last week for wearing a “Bring them home now” T-shirt in support of the Israelis held captive in Gaza.

The attack came the same week that a gunman opened fire near the Israeli consulate in Munich on the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and was killed by police.

The couple was assaulted on Monday evening by a 29-year-old man as they were walking outside in the university town, according to images captured on CCTV.

The attacker grabbed the woman by the T-shirt, demanding she take it off, lightly injuring her, local media reported. When her husband tried to help his wife, the attacker punched him several times in the face, reportedly knocking out a tooth before fleeing the scene.

The attacker later posted about the incident on Instagram.

The Muslim suspect, who was arrested on Thursday evening in a nearby city where he lives, is a German national whose parents are from Lebanon.

He remains under arrest this weekend after failing to post a €10,000 bail.

The suspect told police that he was “bothered” by the woman’s T-shirt.


Days of protest action to bring Melbourne to a standstill | 7NEWS
Melbourne's week of protest chaos is underway as the State Government defends bringing a global military expo to our city.

Activists have already clashed with police and it's only the beginning, with back-up officers being brought in from interstate to join the ultra-tight security operation.




'F***ing Jews': Australian Jewish teen left 'bruised' after 'unprovoked' antisemitic attack
Two students at Australia’s Yesodei HaTorah College High School were reportedly attacked while waiting for a train at the Caulfield train station in late August, according to Australian Jewish News (AJN) citing an email that was sent to parents from the school dated September 1.

“An incident took place today with two of our high school students where one was punched in the face after unprovoked antisemitic slurs directed at them," Deputy Menahel (principal) Rabbi Yosi Fromer told parents. “As our students are visibly Jewish, the school will endeavor to get professional awareness and safety training on how the students should deal with these situations.”

The students reportedly did not need medical treatment after the incident.

The school’s interim educational director, Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler, told AJN, “We are very upset that two of our students were verbally and physically accosted and assaulted, unprovoked, whilst going about their business on a Sunday afternoon in a public space here in Melbourne.

“Victoria Police have been informed. We would like to thank the CSG for their support and proactive approach in ensuring that the issue is being dealt with appropriately and for working with the relevant authorities to ensure that issues like this don’t continue to happen in the future.”

Police investigate the incident
Senior Sergeant Alasdair Farrell, commander of Caulfield Police Station, confirmed to AJN that the incident was being investigated, telling the source, "It is understood a 15-year-old boy was approached by a group of youths on Sir John Monash Drive about 1:45 p.m. Police were told one of the male offenders assaulted the boy whilst another member of the group filmed the incident.

“The boy sustained minor injuries which did not require hospital treatment. The group fled the scene on foot.”


Man charged in attack on Jewish students at Pitt now accused in earlier assault
A man who officials say threw a glass bottle at two Jewish students on the University of Pittsburgh campus last week is now accused of carrying out a similar attack on people associated with a different university just one day earlier.

Jarrett Buba, 52, was caught on surveillance video hitting the students with the bottle around 6 p.m. on Aug. 30, police said in a criminal complaint. He was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault and related crimes.

On Friday, new details emerged about a similar attack reported by two people associated with Carnegie Mellon University that allegedly unfolded on Aug. 29.

The two individuals told police that a man threw a bottle at them around 3:20 p.m. near Craig and Winthrop streets, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported, citing court papers.

Authorities said the suspect made eye contact with the two people before throwing the bottle at them. However, he missed the two individuals and the bottle hit a parked car instead.

Carnegie Mellon authorities identified the alleged attacker
Carnegie Mellon authorities were able to identify the alleged attacker as Buba after obtaining his arrest photo, taken after the incident at Pitt, according to the criminal complaint.

He’s now facing additional charges of attempted aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.

Buba, who’s currently being held in Allegheny County Jail, awaits a Sept. 12 preliminary hearing on charges related to the Aug. 30 attack. A preliminary hearing on the additional charges has not been set.
Harvard: Pro-Palestinian protesters rally, demand Israel boycott
Harvard students rallied for a pro-Palestinian protest on Friday, only three days after the college’s fall semester began.

“I don’t know what you guys did this summer, but I stayed angry,” one protester shouted in the university’s Science Center Plaza, according to the Boston Globe.

Keffiyeh-wearing students responded by yelling pro-Palestinian slogans and chants of “Free, free, free Palestine, from the river to the sea.”

The demonstration was led by a student group named Harvard Out of Palestine, which held a meeting with Harvard President Alan Garber, Harvard Corporation Fellow Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar and Harvard Management Company staff in the Smith Campus Center, the Harvard Crimson reported.

The group raised the issue of Harvard’s endowment, demanding it divest from Israeli companies or organizations that cooperate with the Jewish state.

Harvard officials stressed that the fact of the meeting does not imply that concessions would be made. The university’s administration held a meeting on Thursday with a Jewish group of students.

Garber was appointed to lead the university until at least 2027, after filling in as the interim president following Claudine Gay’s resignation in January.

Gay presided over the Ivy League institution during seething tensions on campus over the war in Gaza.

She submitted her resignation following her remarks on antisemitism that caused a public fury. Testifying in front of Congress, the former president said that whether calls to commit genocide against Jews violated Harvard conduct were “context dependent.”

Shortly after she stepped down in January, Garber announced the formation of a university task force to tackle bias and hate against Jews and Israelis, coupled with a task force to combat “Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias.”


Terrorist freed in November accused of attacking mother, sister
A Hamas terrorist released in the November hostage deal with Israel was accused on Sunday of attacking his mother and sister with a knife at their home in eastern Jerusalem a week ago, Kan News reported.

According to the indictment, he threatened to slaughter his sister and cut off her head, and broke her nose and his mother’s hand.

An interrogation after his arrest revealed that during a family dispute that began in the city’s Silwan neighborhood, the suspect attacked his mother and sister with two broken glasses.

“He approached his little sister and threatened to slaughter her, cut off her head, bring a knife and a gun and kill her, while slapping her and hitting her in all parts of her body,” police said.

He then came back armed with a knife and entered his sister’s room through the window. His sister defended herself with a fan and he dropped the knife, attacking his mother when she tried to intervene, pushing and choking her, according to police.

The terrorist was sentenced in June 2023 to two and a half years in prison for throwing fire bombs at Jews’ cars in eastern Jerusalem. It was defined as an act of terrorism. He was 16 at the time.
Top Abbas adviser calls terrorism ‘resistance’
Mahmoud al-Habbash, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas adviser on religious and Islamic affairs, recently hailed terrorist attacks against Israelis as “resistance” in an interview with Egypt’s state-linked Al Qahera News television channel.

“What happened in Tubas, Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus and Hebron is an Israeli continuation of the war of annihilation and expulsion against the Palestinian people and an attempt to empty the Palestinian homeland,” al-Habbash said in the interview, which aired on Sept. 3 but was discovered by the Palestinian Media Watch NGO on Thursday.

Al-Habbash’s comments referred to ongoing Israel Defense Forces’ counterterrorism operations throughout Palestinian Authority-controlled cities in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

“Is there fighting in the literal and traditional sense of the word? Not at all,” he said. “Yes, there is Palestinian resistance, and this is our right, and it is the right of every Palestinian to defend himself. There is a unilateral war against the Palestinian people, and there are Palestinian attempts to respond and carry out self-defense.”

Al-Habbash, the Palestinian Authority’s top Sharia judge and a former minister of awqaf (“endowment”) and religious affairs, spoke days after terrorists linked to Abbas’s Fatah movement carried out a twin car bombing in the Gush Etzion area of Judea, wounding two Israeli soldiers and a security guard.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a “military” arm of the Fatah party, also claimed responsibility on Sept. 2 for a terrorist drive-by shooting that killed three Israeli police officers near the city of Hebron in Judea.

The IDF has confirmed that terrorist Muhannad al-Aswad had links to the Palestinian Authority and had served in Abbas’s presidential guard.

The U.S. State Department told JNS last week that Fatah and Abbas have “consistently” proven their commitment to peace with the Jewish state.

“The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which the U.S. designated as a terrorist organization decades ago, has claimed responsibility for these attacks,” a State Department spokesperson stated. “Despite some historical linkages in the past, it is important to note that this group is separate from the Fatah party,” the spokesperson claimed.

Arab media routinely describe the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as Fatah’s “military wing,” and the ruling Palestinian faction has long expressed support for the terrorist organization, which Ramallah pledged to disband under an agreement with Israel brokered in July 2007.


Ex-con, girlfriend on trial in France for targeting Israelis for Iran
A French-Algerian dual citizen and his significant other are standing trial in Paris following their arrest in May for allegedly plotting to murder at Iran’s behest at least seven people with ties to Israel.

Identified in the French media only as Abdelkrim S. and Sabrina B., both in their early 30s, the couple has been in police custody for the past four months as a criminal court reviewed the allegations against them. The trial involves a significant amount of intelligence material gathered by the DGSI (General Directorate for Internal Security) intelligence agency, whose details remain classified, according to a report by the news site Mediapart.

Security officials told Agence France-Presse that the defendants, who denied the allegations, had been working for the Iranian intelligence apparatus and had identified in France and Germany at least seven people with ties to Israel as targets of assassination.

The couple’s alleged actions were part of an attempt by Tehran to “strike targeted civilians” to “create insecurity for the opposition” to Iran’s regime “from within the Jewish/Israeli community,” reads a report by the DGSI obtained by AFP.
Daniel Greenfield: Tucker Carlson’s Mistake is That the Opposite of Lies Isn’t Truth
Tucker Carlson’s recent dive into amplifying and legitimizing the idea that America and the Allies were the bad guys in WWII, and that the Nazis weren’t actually guilty of a Holocaust can be seen in the context of antisemitism. Tucker had tried to take the side of Islamic terrorists against Israel after Oct 7.

But it can also be seen in the context of Tucker’s attempts to argue that America was also the bad guy in the war with Japan and bizarre claims that dropping atomic bombs on Japan was a plot against Christians.

If America was the villain in WWII in the war with Japan, it stands to reason that it was also the villain in the war with Nazi Germany. And that’s the way leftists tend to see America. They start with the premise that everything about America is rotten and then rationalize the premise by defending our enemies whether it’s Islamic terrorists, Nazis, or criminals.

The larger context though is that after FOX, Tucker let his freak flag fly and embraced every kind of insanity promoted by some social media influencer with a platform.


JForce and Magen Herut: The Jewish safety patrols protecting Toronto
Two Jewish safety patrols called JForce and Magen Herut Canada have been brought in to protect Jewish students at the University of Toronto, according to multiple social media posts and Canadian Jewish News (CJN).

Videos circulating on X/Twitter show four men wearing what appear to be protective gear with a JForce logo. The woman recording refers to them as a "vigilante group," however, social media users have said the patrol was brought in to protect Jewish students from pro-Palestine protesters and encampments, which have led to assaults and harassment.

During a pro-Palestine protest on Friday, safety patrol teams were sent to accompany Jewish students through UoT's campus, according to CJN. The patrol was run by a volunteer team called Magen Herut Canada.

Aaron Hadida, the founder of Magen Herut, said “We’re just here to maintain as much order as we can and make sure the Jewish community is safe."

Hadida, alongside other volunteer team members, wore black shirts with the words “Surveillance team” on the back and situated themselves at the entrance to the campus along with a team of Toronto police officers.

Hadida, who is trained in multiple combat and martial arts, began recruiting volunteers for his patrol team following the October 7 massacre, which triggered a worldwide uptick in antisemitic incidents, including in Toronto.
Israel celebrates its best Paralympic showing in 20 years with 10-medal haul
Israel wrapped up its time at the 2024 Paris Paralympics on Sunday with 10 medals, including four gold, its best showing at the Games in 20 years.

Its 2024 medal haul just edged out its performance at the Tokyo Games three years ago, when the delegation brought home nine medals, and it marks Israel’s best showing since the 2004 Athens Paralympics, when it won 13 medals.

Israel also made history in Paris with its first Paralympic medals in both taekwondo and goalball — its first medal in a team sport in 36 years.

At Sunday evening’s closing ceremony, Israel’s delegation will be led by flag bearers Ami Dadaon, who won four swimming medals, and Gal Hamrani, the captain of the women’s goalball team.

“In our view, Ami and Gal — like the rest of the delegation — moved an entire nation and brought great honor to Paralympic sports and sports in general, and to the entire State of Israel,” Moshe Matalon, the chairman of the Israeli Paralympic Committee, said in a statement.

Like at the Olympics earlier this summer, Israel’s delegation, which came with a strong security detail, was faced with a number of threats as well as boycott efforts and anti-Israel provocations. Twice during the Paralympics, athletes refused to face Israeli competitors — Tunisia’s Achraf Tayahi refused to show up to a match against boccia player Nadav Levi, and Iran’s Saeid Sadeghianpour backed out rather than face Arab Israeli taekwondo athlete Adnan Milad.

The state will pay out more than NIS 5 million to the medal winners, after the Culture Ministry announced that its expanded grants will apply equally to Olympians and Paralympics — NIS 1 million for gold, NIS 500,000 for silver and NIS 250,000 for bronze. Athletes who won more than one medal win 50% of the amount for each subsequent medal.

Israel’s most decorated Paralympian is swimmer Dadaon, who returns home with four medals: two gold — in the 100m and 200m freestyle — silver in the 150m individual medley and bronze in the 50m freestyle in the S4 disability class. Dadaon, 23, was born with cerebral palsy and began swimming as a child for physiotherapy.




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