Sunday, September 15, 2024

09/15 Links: The Falsehoods and Culpable Demonisation Office; Deradicalizing Gaza; How Hamas Uses Brutality to Maintain Power

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The Falsehoods and Culpable Demonisation Office
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, intoned: “Israel’s actions in Gaza continue to lead to immense loss of civilian life, widespread destruction to civilian infrastructure, and immense suffering”.

An American diplomatic official complained to The Times about the “relentlessness and ferocity” of Israel’s war and said it was a “head-scratcher” why Israel thought “this scorched-earth policy” was the best way to fight its enemies.

This was all drivel. If Israel’s war had really been “ferocious” and “scorched- earth”, the population of Gaza would have been decimated. Instead, the IDF has been regularly moving the entire population out of harm’s way — while Hamas has been using those civilians as cannon fodder and human shields.

The only people claiming “immense loss of civilian life” are Hamas, its UN patsies and other fellow-travellers. The number of civilians killed in Gaza according to Hamas statistics is ludicrous, since not one terrorist is acknowledged among the total. Given the number of terrorists whom Israel says it has killed in this war, the ratio of civilians to combatants killed in Gaza is unprecedentedly low and a fraction of the proportion of civilians killed in British and American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Of course, this hallucinatory anti-Israel derangement is now widespread. But how does one explain its grip amongst officials in government departments that actually deal daily with foreign affairs?

The British foreign service has a history of vicious opposition to the Jewish homeland, going back to the Palestine Mandate in the 1920s. Foreign Office diplomats were entranced by an entirely romantic view of the Arab world combined with an entirely cynical estimation of its value to British interests.

This older “camel corps” has been superseded by a new breed of Israel-hating officials, the “progressive” leftists who subscribe to the brain-dead myth that Israel is a colonialist interloper that has oppressed the “indigenous” Palestinians and deprived them of a state of their own.

Precisely because they specialise in world affairs, western diplomats are the supreme worshippers at the shrine of universalism, the doctrine that fetishises transnational courts where international law has been turned into a weapon of Israel’s destruction.

In addition, the one-time intellectual powerhouse of the Foreign Office has become dismayingly dumbed down. In the London Review of Books in 2016, a despairing letter from a former Foreign Office official lamented that, from 2007 onwards, it had become a “hollowed-out shell”, with “a cult of managerialism that seemed to regard foreign policy as an inconvenient side-issue” — and was now known to the general public only for its travel advice.

It was bad enough under the (mostly) Israel-friendly Conservatives. Now that Israel-bashing Labour is in the government stables, Foreign Office bigotry is free to gallop out of control.
BHL: "I Cannot Let People Say that Israel Is Targeting Civilians, because That Is Wrong"
Bernard-Henri Levy interviewed by Celia Walden
French philosopher, war reporter and documentary-maker Bernard-Henri Levy described the scene at what was left of Kibbutz Kfar Aza in Israel on Oct. 10. "The bodies of the victims had been buried by that point, but there were still pieces of bodies that hadn't been assigned yet. They were stacked in a corner of a vegetable shed that was being used to house unidentified body parts. And that image? There is not a day or a night when I do not see it in my head. It follows me around constantly."

We're speaking on Zoom. For the past year, he has been living in an undisclosed location under very heavy police protection, after intelligence officials discovered that the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had paid an Iranian drug dealer $150,000 to assassinate Levy, who has been critical of the country's leadership.

He says that after Oct. 7, "there's a realization not just that things will never be the same again, but that things were not what we thought they were before....Hours after the attack, there were...actual, veritable explosions of joy. Professors at U.S. universities with huge online followings recorded and broadcast messages of absolute joy. This, when the bodies of the dead had not even all been buried." He points out that even many of those who did offer early support began to fall away within the ensuing weeks and months.

Asked if he still believes Israel's response has been just, he doesn't have to think about it for a second: "Yes. I still don't think the response has been disproportionate." When filming the liberation of Mosul in 2016, he says, "I saw what indiscriminate hits looked like, what the desire to destroy a place from top to toe looks like, and let me tell you: that is not what is happening in Gaza."

He also stands by the assertion that Israel "has done everything to avoid civilian casualties....I've been covering wars for 40 years, and it's the first time in my life that I've ever seen an army open up a corridor every day between 6 a.m. and noon in order to warn civilians that they are going to hit an area where they are. The Israeli army is the first army in the world that I have seen say: 'We're going to hit here - please move'."

"I cannot let people say that the hits are indiscriminate and targeting civilians, because that is wrong. And I cannot allow it to be said that there has been a genocide, because that is wrong."
Deradicalizing Gaza
After World War II, there was no postwar insurgency. After the Nazis and imperial Japanese surrendered, groups of disaffected soldiers did not lead violent campaigns to restore the defeated regimes. The occupations of Germany and Japan were peaceful. Both countries became reliable American allies. Hundreds of thousands of the defeated regimes' supporters - including senior officials, including war criminals - escaped serious punishment, rejoined society, and sometimes gained political influence. And still the peace was kept. How did the populations that had supported and fought for the Axis regimes get moderated?

Politically speaking, ideas can certainly be destroyed, just as they can be weakened, or die peacefully, or be resurrected. Imperialism was destroyed in Japan. Baathism was destroyed in Iraq. Communism died (without war) in Russia. Nazism was destroyed in Germany. Hamas's bellicose Islamism might be destroyed in Gaza, not necessarily because Gazans stop believing, deep down, that Hamas has noble ideals. Rather, because Hamas's ideals are deprived of the instruments of political power - armed militants.

Military losses and urban destruction can improve political cultures. Populations can abandon the aims that motivated them very recently to support aggressive wars and the regimes that start them. Deradicalization begins as civilians are persuaded of the futility and costliness of the aims of those who rule them. The German and Japanese peoples lost their homes, their streets, and their comfort, brought on by their regimes' failed wars. Military defeats showed the Axis projects to be futile. In great measure, the German and Japanese peoples were deradicalized by the war itself.

Since Oct. 7, Israel has undertaken a war of Palestinian regime change and is doing a remarkable job given its political constraints. Hamas's Gaza leadership is hiding or dead. The majority of Hamas battalions have disintegrated into gangs. More than 17,000 fighters have been killed. Israel's current campaign makes a moderate Gaza more likely, not less. Destroying Hamas not only deprives Islamists of the ability to rule - it proves the futility of armed resistance to Israel, a condition for peace.

A noteworthy obstacle to moderate Palestinian governance is the lack of much precedent for it. For a hundred years, Palestinians have been led either by out-and-out Islamists like Hajj Amin al-Husseini - a wartime guest of the Third Reich - and like Hamas, or by better-marketed militants like Palestinian Authority chiefs Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinian leaders have shared certain broad commitments: to brutalizing their domestic opponents and to terrorizing Jews.

A long-term Israeli military presence will be needed to protect non-Hamas Palestinian leaders after main hostilities calm down. The Palestinians are now suffering as never before for their leaders' viciousness. The leaders themselves are in dire condition, with more killed every week. The Hamas movement looks like a losing, destructive, and pathetic cause. Palestinians know it, more or more each day.


Peace Requires Genuine Partners
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is again negotiating with the Palestinians. His partner is former PA foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa, Arafat's nephew, who, in 2004, launched the campaign against Israel in the International Court of Justice for building the security fence as a means of tackling terrorism.

The plan is similar to the one drawn up between Abbas and Olmert in 2008, with 4% of the total territory of the West Bank annexed by Israel, with Israeli territory being swapped in its place, including a corridor linking Gaza and the West Bank. Having a Palestinian corridor cutting across Israel will not improve its security.

The plans for Jerusalem would make all Arab neighborhoods that were not part of Israel before 1967 part of Palestinian Jerusalem. The plan also calls for the involvement of five countries in control of the redivided Israeli capital. The idea is to push Israelis tired of the war, and the West enmeshed in its own socio-economic and political problems, to agree to something - anything - that would theoretically make the century-old problem disappear.

The Knesset in July passed a declaration - supported by members of the opposition - against establishing a Palestinian state, saying it would present an existential threat to Israel and, if created now, would be perceived as rewarding terrorism and would strengthen Hamas, encouraging further massacres like Oct. 7 and furthering Islamist jihadist control in the Middle East.

The Middle East doesn't need another "peace process." It needs peace. And that requires genuine partners, not people who continue to incite, pray for, and pay for the destruction of the sovereign Jewish state.
Caroline Glick: As Oslo turns 31, the left must abandon its hatred
Sure, Israelis want peace. But they don’t think they are the reason peace has eluded the Jewish state and people. They refuse to blame themselves for the aggression and hatred directed against their people and country.

The problem with politics of hate is that hate is a hard habit to break. If you have been conditioned to believe that your future is dependent on defeating the object of your hate, the only way your opinion is likely to change is if you stop hating. Since 1993, the PLO proved over and over that it is Israel’s enemy, not its peace partner. But accepting the truth meant accepting that the left had brought disaster on the country, and the objects of its hatred—the Jews who refused to renounce any aspect of their identity—had been right all along.

In other words, accepting failure required them to either redefine their class identity or abandon it. The left opted to reinvent itself. It embraced the concept of “Start-Up Nation” as a way to secure its economic and cultural power while maintaining its detachment from the rest of society. By seizing control over the new elixir of high-tech, the left joined the global elite, with its capitals in Davos and Silicon Valley.

But you have to pay to enter the realm of the new globalist elite. The overlords aspire to a post-nationalist, internationalist form of governance. Their ideological roots are not American capitalism. Rather, schooled in elite universities drenched in Soviet-rooted anti-Westernism, the leaders of the new global ruling class are post-nationalist and fully on board with the Soviet view that Zionism, the apotheosis of nationalist aspirations, is illegitimate. To join their club, Israel’s tech titans have been required to disavow their allegiance to their “violent settler” and “ultra-Orthodox” countrymen.

In other words, even when they tried to walk away from the PLO elixir that brought about the disaster of the Palestinian terror state in Israel’s heartland, they were faced with the same choice.

It worked, more or less, until Oct. 7. On that day, two things happened. First, Palestinian terrorists, with their paragliders, Toyota pick-up trucks, RPGs and sadistic blood lust exploded the myth that technology will free Israel of our need to defend ourselves with the brothers the left desperately hoped to abandon. All the military applications of the Start-Up Nation—the high-tech sensors, signals intelligence, the smart fence, the air force—failed completely on Oct. 7. The only thing that worked that day was the raw heroism and patriotism of the Jews—civilian and security forces who rushed to the south unbidden to save the families and communities being overrun.

The second thing that happened is that the international jet set, the global elite, dropped all distinction between “good” and “bad” Jews. The photos of the hostages from Be’eri and Kfar Azza were torn down with the same hatred that had long been directed toward “violent settlers” or “identifiable Jews” alone. The Jew haters on campuses no longer felt the need to pretend that some Israelis were acceptable.

For the past 11 months, members of the post-Zionist sector have been struggling to get their heads around the shattering of their delusions. Their leaders are trying to double down. But their insistence that the problems lay with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or the haredim, or messianic settlers, or imbecile yokels who get teary-eyed at songs about Am Yisrael, has fewer and fewer takers. Every protest fizzles after a few days. The thrill is gone. With no “peace” or “Start Up Nation” fig leaves to hide behind, the hatred is all that is left.

Thirty-one years since the left embraced the PLO and hate, it must finally abandon it. Israel’s survival depends on it.
Bassam Tawil: The Only Deal Hamas Wants: Israel's Surrender
Abandoning the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt would enable Hamas to carry on with its decades-long practice of smuggling weapons into the enclave. It would also allow the new head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, to escape – along with many of the hostages with whom he is thought to be surrounding himself for protection -- through the tunnels into Egypt's Sinai Desert.

The most recent statement from Hamas makes it clear that the terror group wants Israel to leave the Gaza Strip before any hostages are freed.

According to some reports, Hamas has stated that it is willing to free the hostages in stages. It undoubtedly wants to hold on to as many hostages as possible as an "insurance policy" that Israel will not resume the war against the terror group and that the terrorist group will be able to have a free hand to attack Israel in the future. This implies that a large number of the hostages remain captive in the hands of the terror group for years. It is important to note that for the past 10 years, Hamas has been holding hostage two Israeli civilians who are believed to be still alive, as well as the remains of two IDF soldiers.

Hamas is willing to fight to the last Palestinian. The terror group does not care if tens of thousands of its own people lose their lives as a result of the war it began. Its No. 1 priority is to hold on to power after the war. Hamas is evidently hoping that a ceasefire-hostage deal will help it achieve its goal of retaining control over the Gaza Strip.

If the Biden-Harris administration wants to understand the real intentions and aims of Hamas, it just needs to look at what the terror group is saying in Arabic. Hamas and its allies are saying in Arabic that the only deal they would accept is one that results in Israel raising a white flag.

If Hamas is permitted to win the war, Iran and its other terror proxies, such as Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis, will gain confidence and feel more empowered. In addition, this will convey to Muslim Jihadis worldwide that Israel and the West are too weak to protect their people and values against Islamist terror organizations. This weakness will lead to more terrorism not only against Israel, but also the US and most Western nations.

Instead of applying pressure on Israel to end the war, the Biden-Harris administration needs to demand firmly that the Hamas murderers and rapists totally surrender, disarm, cede control over the Gaza Strip, and release all the hostages unconditionally.

All this needs urgently needs to take place before Iran breaks out its nuclear weapons and sets about attacking its oil-rich neighbors, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, again.
Israel and the Coming Long War
From the outset, "the Gaza war" was a misnomer. In some ways, this wider regional war is already at hand. Ever since Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, Israel has faced not one but numerous antagonists in what is already one of the longest wars since its founding. The day after Hamas's assault from Gaza, Hizbullah began attacking Israel from Lebanon. Shortly thereafter, the Houthis in Yemen also joined in.

Meanwhile, Shiite militias in Iraq, and sometimes Syria, have also menaced Israel with drones and rockets. And in mid-April, Iran launched 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel, creating a new precedent for direct and open combat between the two countries. At the same time, Iran has been flooding the West Bank with funds and weapons to encourage terrorist attacks against Israel.

Just as it took several wars and many decades for Israel to vanquish the threat of Arab coalitions, victory over the Iranian axis will require a prolonged struggle. The current war must be seen in relation to Iran's larger, long-term project to bleed out and destroy Israel.

Sooner or later, Israel will have to address the Hizbullah threat in Lebanon. Optimally, it would do this by means of a carefully planned, preventive attack at a time of its choosing. If it becomes clear that Hizbullah is preparing for a major attack on Israel, it would be wise for Israel to consider another preemptive strike, but this time with much stronger signaling, including lethal force against a broader range of targets.

To truly end the threat posed by the Houthis to international interests will require a collective approach that addresses the supply chain that is funneling Iranian support and weapons technology to the Houthis and by weakening the Houthis' power in Yemen by reinforcing their competitors.
Situation in North can’t continue, Netanyahu says ahead of Hochstein visit
The cross-border violence between the IDF and Hezbollah in the North of the country “cannot continue,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ahead of a meeting with US special envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday.

What is needed, Netanyahu said at the weekly government meeting, is “a change in the balance of forces on our northern border.” He also pledged to restore safety to that area so that the more than 60,000 residents of the border communities evacuated in October can return home.

“I am attentive to the residents of the North. I speak with them and with the heads of local authorities in the North. I see their distress. I hear their anguish,” he said.

“I am committed to this. The government is committed to this and we will not suffice with less than this,” he stated.

Hochstein, who is also expected to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, is pushing to find a diplomatic solution to the contained IDF-Hezbollah war to prevent it from breaking out into a more wide-scale conflict.

Gallant has argued that Netanyahu has to prioritize the North over the South, making it the primary focal point of the IDF’s efforts rather than the South. Prioritized fronts and potential new borders proposed

Netanyahu, however, has continued to invest in the southern front with Hamas as the main military objective.

Hochstein, according to KAN, is expected to propose a slight redrawing of the map along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

It had also been hoped that a Gaza hostage deal would open the door to a diplomatic resolution along Israel’s northern border, but no such agreement has been forthcoming.

Hezbollah increased its attacks against Israel on October 8, in support of Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel.
Ruthie Blum: Hochstein and Hezbollah
Public sentiment has come to alternate between “We’ll believe it when we see it” and “Don’t talk: shoot already.”

“I visited the north,” Netanyahu continued. “I am attentive to the residents of the north. I am talking to them and with local authorities in the north. I see the distress. I hear the cries. The current situation will not continue. It requires a change in the balance of power at our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to safely return our residents to their homes. I am committed to this. The government is committed to this. And we will not settle for less.”

This will be achieved, he said, “thanks to the bravery of our fighters and from the unity within us, as a united people rising against our enemies to ensure our future.”

One encouraging sign was the report in the Lebanese media that the Israeli Air Force dropped leaflets over Wazani, near the border, urging villagers to evacuate the area by 4 p.m., because “Hezbollah is firing from your area.” Though the IDF subsequently stated that the fliers hadn’t been approved by the top brass—but were the initiative of Battalion 769—the move would suggest that Israel really is gearing up for the very conflict that Hochstein fears, certainly before the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.

Indeed, if there’s one thing that Vice President (and Democratic candidate) Kamala Harris doesn’t want before voters go to the polls in seven weeks, it’s another full-fledged war against an Iranian proxy bent on Israel’s destruction—particularly on the fourth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, historic peace treaties between Israel and its anti-Islamic Republic Arab neighbors, brokered by Biden’s predecessor and possible successor.

Whether the uptick in rocket-and-drone fire from every direction will cause Hochstein to stay home remains to be seen. Even he ought to realize that his shuttling is an exercise in futility, since whatever he has to say about “de-escalation” can be conveyed over the phone.
NYTs: How Hamas Uses Brutality to Maintain Power
The bodies of six Israeli hostages recovered last month provided a visceral reminder of Hamas's brutality. Each had been shot in the head. But Hamas also uses violence to maintain its control over Gaza's population. In July, Amin Abed, a Palestinian activist who has spoken out publicly about Hamas, was attacked by Hamas security operatives, who covered his head and dragged him away before repeatedly striking him with hammers and metal bars. In a phone interview from his hospital bed, referring to Hamas, he said, "They almost killed me, those killers and criminals."

In September, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate blasted the "policy of intimidation and threat" facing some journalists in Gaza after a group of gunmen stormed the home of Ehab Fasfous, a reporter and social media activist. Fasfous, a well-known critic of Hamas, has long been targeted by the group's general security service, a secret police force in Gaza that has conducted surveillance on everyday Palestinians.

On Wednesday, Abed left Gaza, one of dozens of wounded and ill people whom Israel permitted to travel to the UAE for treatment. "I feel safe for the first time in 17 years," he said from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi. "There's no one that wants to kill, arrest or follow me."
From ally to Hamas apologist: Australia has lost its moral compass
Aside from a few statements condemning antisemitism by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Labour government has remained largely silent, seemingly seeking to appease the Muslim community, which holds significant influence in some electorates and is threatening to field candidates to stand for election to Parliament on the single issue of Gaza.

The government, largely through its foreign minister, Penny Wong, has reinstated funding for UNWRA despite its history of employing and supporting Hamas terrorists. Wong has also been quick to criticize Israel for incidents reported by Hamas sources, often without retracting her statements when the facts later emerge.

Wong has consistently called for a cease-fire and Israeli restraint, which critics argue would allow Hamas to remain in control of Gaza. Most concerning was Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, signaling the Labour Party’s shift away from supporting Israel, likely to appease the Muslim vote.

What has horrified me the most and demonstrated the Australian government’s disregard for the safety and well-being of the Jewish community and the fabric of tolerance in society was its decision to allow 3,000 Gazan refugees to migrate to Australia without the usual strict checks to ensure they are not connected to Hamas or pose a security risk.

Several weeks ago, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), Mike Burgess, stated that immigrants who express rhetorical support for Hamas should not be excluded unless they support violence. This elicited incredulous responses from the opposition Liberal Party and much of the mainstream media. The government responded by labeling critics of this decision as racists.

After being pilloried for his comments, the head of ASIO issued a retraction this week, clarifying that those who support Hamas are not acceptable.

Meanwhile, the government has maintained its position and has already allowed 750 Gazans to enter on tourist visas, knowing they will never leave.

The fact that no Arab country has accepted Gaza refugees and only a few other nations have, has exposed the Australian government's lack of responsibility and accountability. While no one is advocating for a blanket refusal of Gaza refugees, proper and extensive screening has historically been conducted for refugees entering Australia.

As a further slap in the face for the Jewish community, it has been revealed that members of the fanatical Islamist movement Hizb ut-Tahrir, which advocates for a global Muslim caliphate, have participated in demonstrations and have been active on some university campuses. Despite being banned in the UK and Germany, calls to ban the group in Australia have gone unanswered by the government.

Following the execution of six hostages last Saturday, the Australian government stated on X that “every innocent life matters.” This mealy-mouthed response seemed to draw a moral equivalence between the barbarism of Hamas and the unintended deaths of innocent Gazans, who died after being used as human shields by Hamas. For me, this epitomized a deeper issue—the Australia that I loved and cherished has lost its moral compass.
Do Donald Trump and Kamala Harris identify as ‘Zionist’? Here’s what their campaigns told us.
For decades, President Joe Biden has called himself a “Zionist.” But in the waning days of his reelection campaign, he wondered aloud if anyone knew what the term means anymore.

Speedy Morman, a podcaster, had asked Biden in a July 12 whether he was a Zionist. Biden answered that yes, he was.

“Now, you’ll be able to make a lot out of that because people don’t know what a Zionist is,” Biden said.

Nine days later, Biden dropped out of the presidential race — and he may have been onto something in the interview with Morman, one of the last of his campaign. Neither of the people running to replace him — both avowed supporters of Israel — will say they are a Zionist.

Asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency if Vice President Kamala Harris considers herself a Zionist, a campaign aide replied:

“The Vice President and Governor [Tim] Walz have been strong and longstanding supporters of Israel as a secure, democratic homeland for the Jewish people. They will always ensure Israel can defend itself from threats, including from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Told that the first sentence of that response would meet perhaps the most common definition of “Zionist,” the aide replied that beyond the statement she relayed, she had “nothing for you.”

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s spokeswoman, also returned a lengthy reply without the Z-word:

“President Trump did more for Israel than any American President in history,” she said, and proceeded to enumerate Trump’s record on Israel as president, from brokering normalization deals between Israel and several of its neighbors to moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.

“All of the progress made by President Trump in the region has been unraveled by Kamala Harris’s weakness and America Last policies,” Leavitt continued. “When President Trump is back in the Oval Office, Israel will once again be protected, Iran will go back to being broke, terrorists will be hunted down, and the bloodshed will end.”
Celebrating the 4th anniversary of the Abraham Accords
The Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7 was the product of an Islamist extremist ideology of hate and destruction, the same ideology that gave us the September 11, 2001, attacks. In both cases, terrorism on a vast scale triggered wars that continue to shake the international order. The extremist project aimed at radicalizing the region’s youth threatens peace and stability across the world.

The Abraham Accords represent the antithesis to this fanatical nihilism, an antithesis in which Israel is an accepted part of a Middle East. This is the vision in which Jews, Muslims, and Christians all contribute constructively to the phenomenal economic growth of a region that represents the world’s highest concentration of capital, energy, and transportation connections. Linking in India, as outlined in the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative, offers the further possibility of transportation, energy, shipping, and railroad connectivity stretching from India to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, on through Jordan and Israel, and finally Europe, to create a thriving commercial and logistical network that will benefit millions of people.

The Iranian regime’s obsessive pursuit of Israel’s destruction is a threat to the achievement of this hopeful vision. In the past 20 years, Iran has steadily developed its network of proxies and clients throughout the region. Its goals are to tighten a “ring of fire” around Israel, to undermine the security and stability of key Arab neighbors, and to raise the pressure on the United States to withdraw from the Middle East. Iran’s pursuit of Israel’s annihilation is not rhetorical excess, as some claim, but a centerpiece of the regime’s ideology. Israel deserves the support and understanding of the international community as it fights to regain the security of its borders and its airspace. An encouraging development, the result of years of effort by the United States Central Command, is a new regional network of early warning, intelligence sharing, and counter-ballistic missile and counter-drone capabilities. This network, including several Arab countries, contributed significantly to the failure of Iran’s launch of a multi-pronged attack of more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel on the night of April 13 and into the early morning hours of April 14. As Iran moves ever closer to becoming a nuclear-armed power, it is essential that we further develop this regional network, while backing Israel’s efforts to push back the Iranian threat.

As we talk about this cooperation and this new vision for the region, we must also speak about Israeli-Palestinian peace. Before October 7, I believed that the Palestinians would gain a lot if they embraced the Abraham Accords and the regional peace and prosperity that they promised. Now, it will take time to rebuild that sense of hope and opportunity that existed one year ago, but with the support of the emerging networks of regional partners, this work must resume once the fighting ends, the hostages are released, and Hamas’s catastrophic reign of terror in Gaza has ended.


Netanyahu to address UN General Assembly
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to the United States later this month to deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 27, his office announced on Sunday.

The Israeli premier is slated to leave for New York on Sept. 24 for meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the event, according to the statement.

Netanyahu is to address the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly three days later, on Friday afternoon, and fly back that Sunday.

Israel is girding for a high-stakes diplomatic confrontation at the United Nations, as the Palestinian Authority pushes for sweeping measures against the Jewish state, including calls for an arms embargo and sanctions.

Jerusalem has reportedly crafted a series of escalating countermeasures, from freezing funds to cutting security ties with Ramallah, should the General Assembly vote to adopt the proposed anti-Israel resolutions.
Israel to Respond Against PA If Palestinians Win at UN
Israel is girding for a diplomatic confrontation at the UN as the Palestinian Authority pushes for a General Assembly resolution calling for an international arms embargo and sanctions. Israeli officials say the PA's moves violate the Oslo Accords and have crafted a series of countermoves, from halting fund transfers to severing security cooperation.

Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon blasted the move and urged democratic nations to reject a resolution that he says turns a blind eye to Palestinian terrorism. On Sep. 18, a vote on the Palestinian resolution is widely expected to pass by a comfortable margin.

"The Palestinians are waging diplomatic terror, and the UN is complicit - it's a new moral low," Danon told Israel Hayom. "It's a blatant politicization and misuse of UN resources, dedicating an entire week to Palestinian issues while turning a blind eye to 101 hostages languishing in Gaza without Red Cross access, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced by multi-front Iranian attacks. I urge UN member states to oppose these moves that effectively reward terrorism and the slaughter of innocent civilians."
UN's António Guterres only shows that he's the Secretary-General of the Arab world
This past week found UN Secretary-General António Guterres deeply concerned but not over the Russia-Ukraine war, which has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced tens of millions. He’s not concerned about Iran’s nuclear buildup – or the oppression of women there and in various Arab countries. The 700,000 Sudanese children expected to die of starvation this year don’t bother him. Guterres is also at peace with the climate crisis, the dictatorship in Eritrea, civil wars in Venezuela, and tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What truly concerns him is Israel. “Latest developments in the occupied West Bank, including Israel’s launch of large-scale military operations, are deeply concerning,” he wrote on social media.

This latest condemnation doesn’t come in a vacuum. Guterres has positioned himself as one of the greatest antisemites of our time. It’s odd that this title belongs to a man heading an organization tasked with global stability and harmony. Odd? Well, maybe not really, considering that 57 of the UN’s member states are part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); thus a man who holds the position of UN Secretary-General needs to show positive results for an antisemitism check every couple of weeks.

Guterres’s choice to condemn Israel’s fight against terrorism in the battle to prevent the establishment of Hamastan 2, especially on a week following multiple terrorist attacks and attempted attacks, can only be interpreted one way: antisemitism.

The fact that Israel defending itself bothers the UN Secretary-General more than the terrorism that necessitates its actions illustrates the failure of the United Nations. Drawing an equivalence between a soverign state and a terrorist organization

To appear as the responsible, balanced, and objective adult in the room, Guterres tries to draw an equivalence between Hamas and Israel, portraying both sides as equally violent. But this transparent tactic only makes him more dangerous and malevolent.

After attempting to justify Hamas’s crimes; initiating a UN Security Council vote to prevent Israel from taking military action in Gaza; and condemning Israel every time it tries to counter regional terrorism; this week Guterres adds another gem to his collection, condemning Israel for its operations against the terrorist cells being established in Judea and Samaria, which aim to complete a stranglehold around Israel.

But in his antisemitic tweet, Guterres doesn’t answer one obvious question: If the IDF doesn’t act against the terrorists, who will stop the seeds of terror from growing into an army on Hezbollah’s scale? Moreover, who will protect the daughters of Israel from another pogrom the UN won’t see? Who will prevent the next October 7 that the UN won’t condemn? Who will return our hostages, whom the UN doesn’t recognize? Who will give us an alternative state when this one is destroyed? Until he answers that, perhaps he should spend less time lecturing and advising and more time helping the starving Sudanese children. They didn’t come from a vacuum either.


IDF: ‘UNRWA not telling full story’ about staffer killed in Samaria
A Palestinian terrorist shot and killed by Israeli troops last week northeast of Nablus in Samaria was a United Nations employee, the Israel Defense Forces said on Friday.

“During an IDF counterterrorism operation in the Far’a area, a terrorist was identified hurling explosive devices that posed a threat to the forces operating in the area,” IDF International Spokesperson Nadav Shoshani tweeted.

Shoshani confirmed that the terrorist, later identified as U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) “sanitation laborer” Sufyan Jaber Abed Jawwad, was killed by IDF troops.

Shoshani criticized an UNRWA post on X that mentioned the incident without “telling the full story.”

He went on to write that “after receiving his details, it was found that the terrorist was known to Israeli security forces and he had been complicit in additional terrorist activities.

“This is yet another example of an UNRWA employee taking active part in terrorist activities against Israel, as has been proven in several other cases in the past, including employees who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.”

Earlier, the U.N. agency released an official statement “mourning” the death of Jawwad, without addressing his alleged terrorist activities.

“Sufyan worked as a sanitation laborer in El Far’a Camp and is survived by his wife and five children,” the statement read.

“This marks the first time an UNRWA staff member has been killed in the West Bank in more than ten years. It comes as the West Bank is experiencing unprecedented levels of violence, placing communities at risk,” the statement added, lamenting the consequences felt by Palestinian civilians.


Houthi missile explodes over central Israel
Israeli air defenses on Sunday morning intercepted fragments of a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen that exploded over central Israel.

The attack triggered sirens in central Israel and the Tel Aviv area at around 6:30 a.m.

According to the Magen David Adom emergency service, five individuals suffered light injuries while running for shelters. They were treated on the scene before being referred to hospitals, according to MDA.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the attack was launched from Yemen, after correcting an initial report that a missile had been launched from the east.

“The explosive sounds heard in the last few minutes are from the interceptors. The result of the interception is under review,” according to the IDF.
How did a Houthi missile evade Israeli and American hi-tech radar?
From northern Yemen, the missile requires only 12-15 minutes to reach central Israel. Its pre-launch weight is estimated at 15-17 tons, but the warhead itself weighs about 650 kg., a significant explosive charge that, combined with its impact speed, can cause severe damage to civilian and also lightly protected military structures.

There are detection stages for such a missile, which appear to have malfunctioned this morning. When the missile is erected for launch, it is in an open area visible to Israeli and American reconnaissance satellites, which are supposed to monitor potential launch sites.

When the missile is launched, the intense heat generated by its engine is detected by the American missile warning satellite network, and the information is supposed to be relayed to the IDF.

Several radar systems are supposed to detect and track the missile when it is on its trajectory toward Israel.

These include radar from the American and Israeli navy in the Red Sea, the long-range X-band radar produced by Raytheon and located in the Negev, operated by American troops, and finally, the Arrow system radar.

It is still unclear whether the missile was detected in time and why it was not intercepted by the Arrow system as planned.
PM: Yemen’s Houthis to pay ‘heavy price’ for attacking Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to “exact a heavy price” from the Houthis in Yemen and “change the balance of power” along Israel’s northern border following rocket attacks from Yemen and Lebanon.

“The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us. Those who need a reminder are invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” said Netanyahu at the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting.

In July, a Houthi drone killed a man in central Tel Aviv, in response to which Israel struck Yemen’s Hodeidah port. The Iranian terrorist proxy has launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7.

On Sunday morning, the Houthis fired a surface-to-surface missile at Israel that detonated over the center of the country.

Hezbollah also launched dozens of rockets and a drone into northern Israel on Sunday, sparking several fires but causing no injuries.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday night that the Israeli Air Force had struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the Beqaa and Baalbek areas, deep inside Lebanon.

Hezbollah has attacked Israel hundreds of times since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023. In October, Israel evacuated some 60,000 residents of communities near the Lebanese border, who remain in state-subsidized accommodations.

“I’m attentive to the residents of the north,” Netanyahu told ministers on Sunday. “I’m talking with them and with community leaders in the north. I see their distress, I hear their cries,” he said, adding, “The status quo will not continue.”

This, he said, “requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border. We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homes. I am committed to this, the government is committed to it and we will not settle for less than that.”
Seth Frantzman: Five key challenges for Israel after latest Houthi missile attack
The attack on Israel on September 15 by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen is another example of how Israel faces new and numerous threats during this long war that Hamas launched on October 7.

Following the Houthi attack, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets on northern Israel.

Deterring enemies
The biggest challenge for Israel today is finding a way to deter Israel’s multiple Iranian-backed adversaries. Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and other groups are all attacking Israel.

Currently, none of these groups fears consequences. Before October 7, it was believed that Hamas had been afraid to attack. Furthermore, Hezbollah was largely deterred after 2006 from launching new attacks on Israel.

However, the deterrence has rapidly eroded. While militias in Iraq might have been worried at one time about launching drone attacks on Israel, they now brag about it.

The Houthis may have once been focused on a war against Saudi Arabia. However, seeing how the West abandoned Riyadh during that war, they realized that they could get away with broader attacks. In October and November 2023, they also quickly learned that they could target Eilat and ships in the Red Sea without facing a major retaliation.

Hezbollah has learned that it can rain down rockets on northern Israel and force Israelis from their homes, and the response is mostly proportional and precise.

As such, Hezbollah doesn’t suffer much pain. It lost over 400 men in the war, but this is not a game changer. People can be replaced.

Overall, the Iranian-backed axis is not deterred. It chooses the time and place of attacks and feels like it has all the time in the world to prepare for more complex attacks.

Changing the equation and deterring enemies from attacking is undoubtedly an important issue for Israel in this war. Israel has historically relied on its ability to use superior capabilities to deter numerous enemies who frequently surround Israel.
Seth Frantzman: Houthi missile attack on Israel: Iranian axis is not deterred
Tel Aviv has also been threatened in the past, for instance, the Egyptians bombed Tel Aviv in 1948. However, when one adds up all the attacks on Israel over the past 11 months, the Iranian adversary has broken through a number of historic norms and spread the threats to a new level.

The attack on September 15 now joins this list. The real story here is that Iran and its proxies are undeterred. Israel has largely been on the defensive since October 7. After Israel was surprised by the massive Hamas attack, it had to mobilize troops and respond.

Today, Hamas has lost thousands of fighters in Gaza, and the IDF controls the Philadelphi corridor and a corridor across central Gaza. However, Hamas controls most of Gaza. Hamas attempted to target Ashkelon on September 14 by firing a rocket from northern Gaza. This shows that Hamas still has rockets and is still active in northern Gaza despite 11 months of fighting.

With Hamas still active in Gaza, there are also escalations by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and other groups in the West Bank. These groups have rapidly expanded their threats in the last two years.

They have stockpiled arms smuggled to the West Bank, and are well-armed with M-4 and AR-type rifles. The groups are also using more explosives and are even beginning to build tunnels. They have expanded their operations to areas such as Tubas, from Jenin. This has caused the IDF to launch an unprecedentedly large operation against terror in the West Bank in August. The IDF now uses drones to carry out strikes in the West Bank, yet another new norm. None of this would have been normal two years ago.

Along with Iran’s role in the West Bank and Gaza, Hezbollah has also expanded its attacks on Israel in August. The group killed 12 teens and children in Majdal Shams in July. When Israel retaliated, Hezbollah claimed it would also retaliate. It chose August 25 to carry out a large attack, which Israel preempted part of.

However, Hezbollah has continued to increase its attacks in September, often launching around 100 rockets a day. This has kept 60,000 Israelis evacuated from their homes in the North and left cities like Kiryat Shmona completely abandoned. This is unprecedented as well; never in Israel’s history has the country evacuated cities and dozens of small communities for 11 months. Hezbollah appears dauntlessly empowered.

Meanwhile, the Houthis and Iraqi-based militias are undeterred. Iran is also active in Syria. After the Houthis attacked Israel in July using a drone, the IDF retaliated with an attack on Hodeidah. These kinds of attacks ostensibly send a message of Israel’s capabilities.

However, the Iranian Axis is resolute. Iran sees Israel’s capabilities and is aware of them.

Pro-Iran media makes this clear. Iran’s Al-Mayadeen said on September 15 that the August attack by Hezbollah was successful. This could be read as saving face, but it also shows Hezbollah is prepared to deliver more attacks. Iran’s IRNA media boasted on the same day about Iran’s ties with Russia, a new satellite Iran has sent into orbit, and fresh Hezbollah attacks.

The overall message from Iran and its proxies is that it is undeterred and that it continues to wage a multifront war against Israel.

Israel is reacting while Iran is keying in its proxies to decide when and where to attack. Iran wants it this way. It wants to push its pawns closer to Israel’s center, and throughout 2024, it has repeatedly accomplished this strategy.
Houthi missile attack highlights what holds Abraham Accords together despite war
A common threat
The Abraham Accords are a result of a realization by the Arab signatories to that agreement that their biggest threat is not from Israel but rather from Iran and its proxies – like the Houthis, for instance – and that normalized ties with Israel can help them counter those threats. The UAE and Bahrain have both been attacked in the past by Houthi drones and missiles.

The Houthi threat to the UAE and Bahrain, as well as to Saudi Arabia, remains as acute today – if not more so – as when the accords were signed in 2020.

Why is the threat more acute today? Because if the perception is that Iran and its proxies are able to defeat Israel, then they will be emboldened to challenge others in the region. The hegemonic designs of Iran, the Houthis’ paymaster, do not begin and end with Israel but also extend to the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the region.

The threat posed by Iran and its proxies, a threat concretized on Sunday by the ballistic missile from Yemen, is the powerful glue holding these accords together, despite the war – a cataclysmic event in the Middle East that could have disrupted the accords.

On the fourth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, it is important to highlight the good news: none of the signatories have withdrawn from the accord. Both the UAE and Bahrain, which have embassies in Israel, have kept them working, and Morocco continues to run its liaison office.

This continuation reflects shifting security alliances in the region, which have not changed despite the war. That the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco remain committed to the accords shows they have determined that the benefits of maintaining the relationship with Israel outweigh the potential downsides – and they are willing to endure criticism from within their countries and from other Arab and Muslim nations.

The bad news, however, is that Hamas, with its attack, successfully derailed plans to expand the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia – an agreement that seemed tantalizingly close last September when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a Fox News interview that “every day we get closer” to an agreement.

That type of agreement, which would have meant game-changing integration for Israel in the region despite the Palestinian issue remaining unresolved, was a nightmare scenario for Hamas and its patron, Iran.

Scuttling such an agreement was one of the primary objectives of Hamas’s October 7 attack, and in that regard, the terrorist organization succeeded, at least temporarily.

Nonetheless, the Saudis have made it clear – even during the war – that they are still interested in normalizing ties, although they insist on a pathway to a Palestinian state as part of the process. Why are the Saudis still interested, even 11 months into a war that many in the Arab world view as Israeli aggression? The reason is the same as for Morocco, Bahrain, and the UAE: These relationships, as the Houthi missile attack starkly reminded everyone, are crucial for their shared security interest in confronting Iran and its proxies and preventing them from dominating the region.


Special IDF Unit Handles Imprisoned Hamas Nukhba Terrorists
Force 100 is the IDF unit responsible for handling unusual incidents involving Hamas's Nukhba terrorists imprisoned at the Sde Teiman base. The Nukhba led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Recently, some of the unit's soldiers were investigated after a complaint by a Nukhba terrorist. Five other fighters of the unit have provided a rare glimpse into what they do inside the terrorist detention facility.

There are between 100 and 120 terrorists in each of the detention cells. Gideon (alias) said, "People don't get it. If it wasn't for us, the Nukhba terrorists would have surely raped soldiers - female and male - at Sde Teiman by now. Or the terrorists altogether would have risen up and hurt them, let alone kidnap and take them hostage for bargaining purposes." Yossi (alias) said, "It is possible that without us being here, there would have been a mass escape of hundreds of Nukhba terrorists to the area that borders Gaza."

After Oct. 7, thousands of terrorists were captured in Israel. The Israel Prison Service was not equipped to house the overwhelming number of detainees, so a detention facility was opened at Sde Teiman, as had been done in previous wars with Hamas. The guarding and treatment of terrorists in Sde Teiman falls mainly on Military Police soldiers, who are not trained to deal with dangerous terrorists.

The IDF feared - and rightly so - that extreme scenarios would develop in Sde Teiman, such as a mass escape, an uprising or the kidnapping of soldiers and taking them hostage. That is why it was necessary to establish a special force, trained for such scenarios.

Yossi explained, "We are all fighters coming from special units, we went through tests and sorting, then intensive training for a month." Gideon said, "When we accept fighters into the unit, we instruct them to use reasonable force according to the regulations and laws, explaining what is allowed and what is not."

Oren (alias) explains what they find while doing searches of prisoners: "We found steel, screws, pieces that they take apart from the showers, or pieces of thin plastic, which they sharpen to be used as weapons." Moshe (alias) added: "We also find thin pipes that they make from the wire fence they dismantle, transforming them into weapons, or steel with which they cut their own [zip-tie] handcuffs or create some kind of spikes."

Gideon said, "We fear that at the moment of truth, the terrorists will take advantage of our weaknesses and slaughter the Military Police officers and everyone who happens to be in the area. And if they have not done it until today, it is only thanks to Force 100 and our deterrence....Everyone there has blood on their hands, they are well-trained terrorists who have undergone grueling training in the terrorist organizations specifically to perform these kinds of missions."
British expert: Tunnels key to understanding the Hamas war
“It’s all about the tunnels. This war from a military perspective is all about the tunnels, British Army Maj. (ret.) Andrew Fox tells JNS.

“They are used for weapons manufacturing, they are used for storage and they are used for maneuver. The golden rule for any military is your maneuverability,” Fox continued.

We spoke about the vast damage to neighborhoods in Gaza that has outraged many in the international community.

Images of the damage has been used in information warfare, always guaranteed to elicit a robust response from the international community, but to fully understand what is happening above ground, you need to look below ground, Fox said.

“The tunnels are a weapons system of their own,” he said. “People think of them as hidey-holes, a way to avoid IDF airstrikes—and they are. But they are much more than that. To destroy the tunnels, you must destroy what is above.”

Fox said Hamas was able to weaponize this to get the international community to get Israel to stop. It has worked before. “Every tunnel is connected to every mosque, every hospital, every school, so above ground is where damage is done.

Fox completed three tours in Afghanistan, including one attached to the U.S. Army Special Forces. He also served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Middle East, is a senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and currently serves as a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society focusing on defense, the Middle East and disinformation.

He has visited Israel numerous times since the start of the war with Hamas following the atrocities of Oct. 7 and has spent a considerable amount of time with the IDF in Gaza.

In recent weeks, Fox visited Gaza with a cohort from the High Level Military Group. The HLMG “is an independent body of former chiefs of staff, senior military officers and cabinet ministers from NATO countries with many decades of expertise at the highest level of land, air and sea conflict and the legality thereof.”

The HLMG has filed a counter-claim at the International Criminal Court following the request by Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan for the court to issue warrants of arrest for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Fox elaborated of what the HLMG has observed, that before an airstrike, “The IDF look at rules of engagement, they look at collateral damage, they look at civilian presence, they look at sites of a protected nature, they look at what munition needs to be used and the target and then prosecute it. This is all stuff we use as well.”


IDF publicizes probe confirming it mistakenly killed three hostages in Gaza bombing
The IDF on Sunday published its probe, which confirms that it mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages along with Hamas northern Gaza brigade chief Ahmed Ghandour during an airstrike on November 10.

The wording of the probe is that it was "highly likely" that the air strike caused their deaths, though the probe says that it cannot know 100% certainty the cause of their deaths.

That said, the probe says that the place where the bodies were found and their condition, along with the pathological report, a further report by the state's forensic institute, and operations research into the battlefield situation and activities, all pointed strongly in the direction of the IDF having been responsible for the mistaken killing.

Trying to lessen the blame it might receive for admitting to causing the death, the IDF claimed that its intelligence in real-time in November not only suggested that Ghandour had no hostages around him but even suggested that these specific hostages were in another location.

The IDF did not seriously address allegations that it intentionally slo-walked an admission it could have made in December-January; it claimed that its probe results were not fully ready until now.

On September 10, IDF officials and hostage families started to leak the results of the probe, though the full results were not made public.

Even before September 10, it was known among military reporters and some others that the three hostages had overwhelmingly likely been killed mistakenly by the IDF, but this was mostly based on hints. Back in December, the IDF revealed finding five hostage bodies, three of which related to the incident in question.


Israeli wounded in terror stabbing outside Jerusalem’s Old City
An Israeli Border Police officer was lightly wounded in a terrorist stabbing attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday night.

Magen David Adom personnel treated a fully conscious 20-year-old male in mild condition before evacuating him to the hospital.

Israeli authorities confirmed the victim was attacked at the Damascus Gate in the eastern part of the capital.

“Large police and Border Police forces are on the scene. The terrorist tried to escape into the Old City and was neutralized,” added the authorities. The terrorist’s condition was not immediately clear.


Israel employing 'scorched earth' policy in Lebanon to paralyze Hezbollah - Arab sources
Israel is allegedly focusing its strikes on Lebanese areas that support Hezbollah but are not regularly involved with the terror group, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nashra reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous security sources. Because of this, these areas do not receive aid or compensation from Hezbollah. The goal is to apply pressure and encourage internal opposition to the group within Lebanon.

"They cannot bear the burden of confronting Israel, neither financially nor logistically, as they struggle to find new housing and maintain daily life," the sources said.

According to the Lebanese newspaper, the IDF is targeting villages located further behind those near the border to increase pressure on the Lebanese government and fuel opposition to Hezbollah by destroying homes and displacing residents, thereby causing them to blame Hezbollah for supporting a decision made unilaterally in Gaza.

The Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Anba reported that a prominent source told the newspaper, "There is no doubt that we are facing a long war with no end in sight. It continues in Gaza despite the violent destruction and the growing number of massacres and casualties, with small local wars spreading to the West Bank to prevent any movement."

Turning areas into 'scorched earth'
The source continued, "In Lebanon, the situation is different. It is clear that in recent weeks, Israel has adopted a new approach by carrying out raids aimed at creating a buffer zone near the border by turning areas that could serve as potential military targets for the resistance into scorched earth. This was done by launching dozens of large missiles simultaneously, as happened yesterday at dawn in the forests of the Zibqin area, located about eight kilometers from the border, with 18 raids conducted within minutes. Before that, strikes were carried out in the Froun area and in the Wadi al-Hujeir region, where Israel retreated during the 2006 war."

The source claimed, "The goal of these raids is to completely uproot the population and turn these areas into uninhabited zones, thereby creating a buffer zone through the destruction that paralyzes Hezbollah and its ability to launch missiles."
Hezbollah fires 40 rockets, drone at northern Israel
Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle and Golan Heights on Sunday morning. There were no reports of injuries.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, some 40 rockets were launched, some of which were downed by Israel’s aerial defense network, with the rest falling in open areas. Some of the rocket impacts sparked fires.

The Golan Regional Council said that fire crews were working to put out the blazes.

The Iranian-backed terror army claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had targeted an Israeli military base with dozens of Katyusha rockets in response to IDF strikes in Lebanon, including an alleged drone strike on Saturday near Sidon.

An armed drone from Lebanon also fell near Metula, the IDF confirmed, causing no casualties or damage.

The Upper Galilee Regional Council postponed the opening of educational institutions until 11 a.m. local time and residents were instructed to stay near protected areas.

“The alarm this morning in the center of the country is a small example of what the lives of thousands in the north look like every day, even today,” said Golan Regional Council head Uri Kellner, according to Channel 12.

Kellner was referring to a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen that detonated in the air above central Israel on Sunday morning.

“The State of Israel needs political and operational courage, we must restore deterrence and cut off the arms of the Iranian octopus,” he continued.


BBC to air Nova music festival documentary ahead of one year anniversary of Israel-Hamas war
The BBC is to broadcast a documentary about the Nova music festival massacre later this month as part of a series of programming to mark the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war.

The 90-minute film, Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again will air on BBC Two and iPlayer on September 26, and also air around the world on Paramount+ in the US, Hot Channel 8 in Israel, and Nine Network in Australia.

BBC Storyville describes the film as a “powerful film providing a harrowing glimpse into the assault on partygoers”, including a minute-by-minute account showing how a music festival filled with young, peace-loving, partygoers just wanting to celebrate life, love and music, turned into a massacre.”

The documentary combines CCTV, GoPro, dashcam and mobile phone footage spliced with recordings of emergency calls made by partygoers and testimony from survivors to show how on that morning “confusion turned into fear, and then chaos when Hamas arrived and began to slaughter anyone in sight.”

It forms part of a group of programmes marking the October 7 anniversary and the war between Israel and Hamas. Other programming includes the BBC Storyville documentary, Life and Death in Gaza, produced by BBC Eye, shown on October 15, as well as a Panorama special debuting on October 7 on BBC One.

The film’s director, Yariv Mozer, also known for The Devil's Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes, said he see it as his “duty as a documentary filmmaker to bring to the world the testimonies and horrific stories of the survivors of this slaughter, those who are no longer with us, and the countless who are still captured in Gaza,”

He added it was a story that “needs to be told to honour the victims’ memory, challenge the darkness with light, and reaffirm our unwavering belief in hope, unity, and the enduring human spirit.”

Lucie Kon, commissioning editor at BBC Storyville, said: “I am grateful to the young survivors of the Nova Music Festival who have trusted us to share their experiences of that terrible day, so that BBC viewers can get a sense of some of what they experienced. This is an important film. Director Yariv Mozer and the team have done an extraordinary job in telling this harrowing story.”


‘They are in the Holocaust’: Noa Tishby on the experience of Israeli hostages
Israeli author and activist Noa Tishby discusses the horrific conditions Israeli hostages face as they remain held in Gazan tunnels.

“These places are horrific – they are tiny, they are full of humidity, the people that have been there have reported dehydration, suffocation, it’s claustrophobic,” Ms Tishby said.

“I was at an event a few weeks ago and somebody asked me in the audience, where do I think the hostages are and I looked at him and said: I don’t know where they are but I can tell you that right now, they are in the Holocaust.”


THE LAWFARE PROJECT: PROTECTING JEWS IN COURTS
The woke classification of victimhood and oppression has put Jews on the wrong side of the divide, and so put many of them on the defensive. Not Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project. The project was created in order to fight against Jew hatred in courts, based on a solid civil rights agenda. It is a fight many more should be taking part in. Gadi spoke with Brooke about Qatari money that flows into American universities, campus antisemitism, and the growing risk to Jews of physical violence. Yes, there are things to do in order to fight back.




Man who set himself afire in Boston reportedly was anti-Israel protester
A man set himself ablaze in downtown Boston, not far from the Boylston Street entrance to the Public Garden shortly after 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

It wasn’t clear what the man’s motives were, but the incident occurred at 19 Columbus Avenue, according to a report that the Boston Police Department provided to JNS. That address is in the vicinity of the Consulate General of Israel to New England.

The man was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with “severe burn wounds,” per the police report. The report stated that the incident wasn’t a suspected hate crime.

Video that circulated on social media purported to be from the man. In the video, a man who identified himself as Matt Nelson said that he would engage in “an extreme act of protest,” and that “we are all culpable in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

The man also spoke in the video of everyone being “slaves to capitalism and the military industrial complex,” and said that Washington must stop supporting the Jewish state and must back the (proposed) International Criminal Court indictment against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Free Palestine,” the man in the video added. (JNS sought comment from the Israeli consulate.)


SDUSD Ethnic Studies Worsens Pain of Jewish Community After Hostage Murders
For the San Diego Jewish community, the anguish over the Hamas massacre in Israel has not ebbed since terrorists slaughtered 1,200 men, women, children, and babies on Oct. 7 last year.

So, when word came on Aug. 31 that six hostages — Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American born and raised in the Bay Area — were executed at point blank range by Hamas, it was a gut punch from which many of us are still reeling.

In this moment of intense pain for the Jewish community, one would hope that the San Diego Unified School District would make decisions with heightened sensitivity and empathy.

However, empathy is nowhere to be found in the district’s Equity and Belonging and Ethnic Studies departments. In its latest newsletter to educators, ethnic studies promotes an upcoming screening of “The Teacher,” a film from Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi, which essentially glorifies hostage-taking.

The film touts that it was “inspired by true events.” It tells the story of a man in the West Bank who lives the life of a teacher but whose past is revealed to be tied to a Palestinian resistance group holding an American soldier hostage.

It is not the screening of “The Teacher” — which received middling reviews when it was released last year — that is the issue. It is the prerogative of the San Diego Arab Film Festival to show the film, even if the timing of the screening is dubious at best. But why is it being promoted by SDUSD? That its ethnic studies team would promote this film at any time is offensive, but it is especially galling to do so mere days after six hostages were executed and with 101 remaining captive in Gaza.
Controversial deal with anti-Israel protesters has big donors deserting University of Windsor
Large donors are abandoning the University of Windsor following its controversial deal with pro-Palestinian protesters — including business magnate and philanthropist Barry Zekelman, who withdrew a $1-million gift and future support.

The Star has learned that once-faithful donors have withdrawn pledges to help, or stopped donating to, various initiatives, ranging from addressing the housing crisis to renovating the university’s law school.

Jay Kellerman, a prominent Toronto lawyer and UWindsor alumnus, has withdrawn a pledge to donate “tens of thousands of dollars” over time to the law school.

“I have become disenchanted and uncomfortable, and appalled, by the direction on this matter by the University of Windsor. And significantly concerned by the direction of the law school and the experience of the Jewish students in the faculty of law.”

Kellerman, who earned undergraduate and law degrees at UWindsor, added that, “while there might be a notion of academic freedom, I have a personal notion of my financial freedom to give and donate money to causes that I believe in.”

In an email responding to the Star’s request for comment, the university did not address questions about how losing such donations will affect the institution or specific projects.

“The University of Windsor upholds the highest standards of respect and confidentiality for our valued donors,” UWindsor said. “We do not disclose information about their contributions, support for research contracts, or investments unless explicitly directed to do so.”

The university said these are “challenging times, with complex global issues affecting communities everywhere, including ours.”

“Our country, province, community, and university are made up of people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives,” UWindsor stated. “Understandably, responses to global events and university decisions differ widely among individuals and groups.

“The University of Windsor is focused on providing an inclusive, safe, and respectful environment for all. We are dedicated to serving our students, advancing our educational mission, and driving impactful research both locally and globally. Support from donors remains deeply appreciated and integral to helping us achieve these goals.”

UWindsor signed an agreement July 10 to meet multiple demands from pro-Palestinian protesters to end the “Liberation Zone” encampment they set up on campus on May 9. Similar protests appeared at universities across Canada with rising tensions as the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas escalated.


Jordan's King Abdullah to appoint US-educated technocrat as new PM, sources say
Jordan's King Abdullah has designated key palace aide Jafar Hassan as prime minister after the government resigned on Sunday, the royal court said, days after a parliamentary election in which the Islamist opposition made some gains in the US-allied kingdom.

Hassan, now head of King Abdullah's office and a former planning minister, replaces Bisher Khasawneh, a veteran diplomat and former palace adviser who was appointed nearly four years ago, a royal court statement said.

Khasawneh will stay on in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new cabinet, the statement said.

Harvard-educated Hassan, a widely respected technocrat, will face the challenges of mitigating the impact of the Gaza war on the kingdom's economy, hard-hit by curbs to investment and a sharp drop in tourism

In Hassan's appointment letter, the king said democracy should be strengthened in the country and that its economic future hinged on pushing ahead with donor-backed mega-infrastructure projects in energy and water.

The outgoing prime minister had sought to drive reforms pushed by King Abdullah to help reverse a decade of sluggish growth, hovering at around 2%, that was worsened by the pandemic and conflict in neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The traditional conservative establishment had long been blamed for obstructing a modernisation drive advocated by the Western-leaning monarch, fearing liberal reforms would erode their grip on power.
Hamas official says despite war losses, terror group has recruited ‘new generations’
A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group has ample resources to continue fighting Israel despite losses sustained over more than 11 months of war in Gaza.

“The resistance has a high ability to continue,” Osama Hamdan told AFP during an interview in Istanbul, without providing any evidence for his claim.

“There were martyrs and there were sacrifices… but in return, there was an accumulation of experiences and the recruitment of new generations into the resistance,” he said.

His comments came less than a week after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told journalists that Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war, “no longer exists” as a military formation in Gaza.

“The number of casualties… is much less than what is expected in a battle of this size, level and breadth,” Hamdan claimed on Sunday.

Israel says it has killed some 17,000 Hamas combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. On the eve of the war, Hamas had an estimated 30,000 fighters in its forces, according to the Israel Defense Forces.


Over 8,000 Iranian-made kamikaze drones were launched by Russia into Ukraine since
Russia has launched approximately 8,060 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at Ukrainian territory, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry posted to their X/Twitter account on Friday.

According to the ministry's statement, exactly two years ago, in 2022, Ukraine shot down the first Iranian Shahed-136 drones that were launched by Russia. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that the drone attacks resulted in lost homes and lost lives.

The US had previously warned Ukraine in 2022 that Iran was in the process of supplying Russia with drones, Iran International reported on Saturday.

Western media, cited by Iran International, stated that Russia began producing Iranian Shahed-136 drones at a factory in Tatarstan, in central Russia.

The WSJ reported in early September that Iran transported short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, citing American and European officials.

The US informed its allies of Iran's shipments to Russia, European officials said, and US officials reportedly confirmed that the Iranian missiles "have finally been delivered," the WSJ said in their report.

The same report by the WSJ noted that Iran denied that it delivered such missiles to Russia to use in the ongoing war.

International concern over Iranian-Russian arms deals
Foreign ministers of the G7 (Group of Seven), which comprises the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Great Britain, on Saturday condemned "in the strongest terms" Iran's export and Russia's procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles.

"Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly," the G7 ministers said in a statement.
Two years after Mahsa Amini protests, Iran restores order but not legitimacy
Persecution of bereaved relatives. Impunity for perpetrators. Rampant executions and infighting among the opposition.

A bleak picture confronts opponents of Iran’s clerical authorities two years after a protest movement erupted that they hoped would be a turning point in the four-and-a-half-decade history of the Islamic Republic.

Activists and exiles still hope that the protests sparked by the September 16, 2022, death in custody of Mahsa Amini — an Iranian Kurd arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women — left an indelible mark on Iran and that her tragic death aged 22 was not in vain.

The women-led protests that broke out after Amini’s death, challenging not only the rule of the obligatory headscarf that has been a key pillar of the regime but also the very existence of the clerical-based system, rattled Iran’s leadership over autumn and winter 2022-2023.

But the protests were crushed and defeated in a crackdown Amnesty International said saw security forces use assault rifles and shotguns against protesters.

Human rights groups say at least 551 people were killed. Thousands more were arrested, according to the United Nations.

Iran has executed 10 men in cases related to the protests, the latest being Gholamreza Rasaei who was hanged in August after being convicted of killing a Revolutionary Guard.

Activists said his confession was obtained under torture.

“Countless people in Iran are still reeling from the consequences of the authorities’ brutal crackdown,” said Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Diana Eltahawy.


France: Antisemitic tag at memorial for killed Jewish women
A memorial garden in Nogent-sur-Marne, France, dedicated to two victims of gruesome antisemitic murders in Paris in 2017 and 2018, respectively, was defaced with a swastika.

The city mayor, Jacques Martin, strongly condemned the act, describing it as “vandalism” and stating that “hatred has no place in Nogent.”

The municipality quickly removed the antisemitic tag and made available to investigators CCTV recordings of the area.

The garden, inaugurated in November 2022, is of particular importance to the community.

Sarah Halimi, born in Nogent-sur-Marne in November 1951, spent some 30 years of her life there as a nursery director before her tragic murder in Paris.

The mayor stressed that, until now, Nogent-sur-Marne had been spared by the upsurge in antisemitism seen nationwide in recent months.

He said he is determined not to let such behavior take root in his city, declaring that ignorance and hatred would not be tolerated. He affirmed the town’s determination to preserve the memory of Sarah Halimi and Mireille Knoll, refusing to see them “murdered a second time.”
Steady work: Comedy writers poke fun at antisemites on new X account
The day I was scheduled to interview the comedy writers behind the X/Twitter account, The Comedy Brigade (@Comedy_Brigade), they were extra busy – because Roger Waters had opened his mouth, or rather his X account, yet again.

The Comedy Brigade is the brainchild of a group of 13 top American comedy writers who have worked for such programs as The Daily Show, The Tonight Show, Conan, Frasier, Roseanne, and a couple of others. They have even won a few Emmys. But now they are devoting part of each day to fighting antisemitism, or, as their X bio puts it, “Fighting the world’s oldest prejudice one joke at a time.”

Waters, known more for his often-bizarre antisemitic rants than for his music in recent years, was ticked off at fellow musician Nick Cave, who had just spoken out against the BDS movement. Waters had just posted:

Hey @nickcave, It’s ok to be wrong mate. Obviously you not opposing Genocide is a biggy? But hey! Nobody’s perfect? Just say you’re sorry. Not to me and @brianeno, we don’t give a f***. No, say you’re sorry to the Palestinians. Join BDS and we’ll let bygones be bygones. Love, R.

The two Comedy Brigade writers I spoke to were in the midst of conducting what they called a “comedy war room” via an online chat group with the other writers to try to come up with a funny enough response.

Eventually, they went with: “@rogerwaters Fun fact: If you play “Triumph of the Will” with the sound off and read Roger Waters’s posts simultaneously, they sync up perfectly.” They added, “‘Roger Waters’ and ‘one-sided counterproductive sloganeering’ - two things that also seemed cool on my freshman year!” and “If I had to be in a band with you I’d become a reclusive acid dropout too.”

The way they work, one of the writers told me, is that, “We go back and forth and everyone gives us their jokes until we come up with something that works.”

One aspect of the Comedy Brigade that they aren’t crazy about is that these writers feel the need to work anonymously on the account. While opposing antisemitism might not seem like a controversial issue to most of us, in image-conscious Hollywood, taking any stance on politics or current events is fraught.

The need for anonymity is “a sign of the times,” one of the writers told me.
Jewish singer Matisyahu says 'antisemitism and morons' won't stop him
Despite facing significant backlash over the past year for his pro-Israel views, Jewish reggae star Matisyahu said he’s been busier than ever in an interview with The New York Post on Saturday.

In the past year, Matisyahu has been thrown out of festivals and even dropped by his manager over his support for Israel, but told the Post that this backlash hasn’t deterred him.

“The Jewish community has been really appreciative, and I’ve felt inspired by it,” Matisyahu, whose birth name is Matthew Miller, told the Post.

However, the singer admitted that it hasn’t all been positive. Several of his concerts – including ones in Arizona, New Mexico, and Chicago – had been canceled following threats from anti-Israel protesters to picket the venues.

Matisyahu also touched on his manager dropping him after he refused to change the lyrics to his song “Ascent,” which featured images from October 7 and lyrics about dancing on the graves of Hamas terrorists.

“We’re living in a time where I have to make decisions, like ‘do I need to bring security.’ … It’s a dangerous place, but luckily for me, it’s been a smooth run,” he said.

Young Hamas supporters
The star also told the Post that he's noticed the younger generation sees Hamas as "freedom fighters."

“It’s very sexy [to them] … these terrorists are ‘freedom fighters’ and whatever happens to ‘the oppressor.’ … they have it coming to them,” he said. “There’s something very tantalizing about it, the darkness of it, but the Jewish people are light.”

Despite this, Matisyahu expressed gratitude for the fans who have remained loyal to him over the past year since the October 7 attacks.

“I’ve always felt my music serves a purpose, but now more than ever,” he told the Post. “The protests have been difficult, but they usually fade.”

The singer acknowledged that his concerts have become a refuge for his Jewish followers.

“It can be frustrating dealing with antisemitism and morons. The music should be a refreshment for that. It feels good to be able to provide that for people. It feels like a responsibility as well. People are really in pain, really hurting.”

Ready to tour the West Coast with his new album, Matisyahu told the Post that he has 25 new songs waiting to be released, several of which reference the Hamas attacks.

He also said that the hostages still captive inside Gaza are on his mind “day and night.”

“Every Jew that has a Jewish soul inside of them is completely destroyed by this.”
Gal Gadot: The Jewish people 'will prevail, [only] by being united'
“We will prevail, but the only way is by being united,” declared Israeli actress Gal Gadot during an emotional virtual symposium on Sunday, where she joined President Isaac Herzog to launch the "Voice of the People" initiative.

Reflecting on the recent rise in global antisemitism following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Gadot emphasized the resilience of the Jewish people. “There’s life before October 7 and life after,” she said.

“No one thought something so horrific could happen in 2023, but through all the horror, there’s something amazing about our people—no revenge, just hope, light, and love.”

The actress, known for her pride in her Israeli and Jewish heritage, spoke candidly about the emotional toll the events have taken on her. “Not a day goes by without me thinking about the hostages still in Gaza,” Gadot shared.

“It breaks my heart. Words cannot describe the horror, but I’ve been so inspired by the families I’ve spoken to—they’re going through the most horrifying experience, yet they remain full of hope, light, and love.”

In her conversation with Herzog, Gadot underscored the importance of Israel as a beacon for Jews around the world. “Israel is the insurance policy for Jewish people everywhere,” she said. “It was born after the Holocaust, and we must ensure it remains strong and stable. Hopefully, one day—soon—we will live in peace with all our neighbors. But for now, we have to stand united.”

Launching a global Jewish council
President Herzog echoed Gadot’s call for unity, announcing the formation of a new global Jewish council as part of the "Voice of the People" initiative. The council, which will consist of 150 Jewish leaders from around the world, aims to address issues such as antisemitism, Israel-Diaspora relations, and security concerns. “We are a small nation, but in unity, there is strength,” Herzog said. “We have always overcome when we stand together. That is the essence of this initiative: to bring us together, to have dialogue, and to shape our future.”

Israeli footballer Daniel Lifshitz, whose grandparents were taken hostage during the October 7 attacks, also spoke at the event. His story of personal loss and resilience moved the audience. “My grandfather fought in four wars to protect Israel, and now he’s being held hostage in Gaza,” Lifshitz said. “I feel it’s my mission to bring everyone home. Peace itself is being held hostage.”




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

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