Saturday, December 21, 2024

12/21 Links: Israel is winning the war, while the West retreats; 16 hurt as Houthi missile from Yemen hits Tel Aviv; Violent Anti-Semitism As a Campus Recruiting Tool

From Ian:

Israel is winning the war, while the West retreats
Every act of betrayal of Israel has been accompanied by the constant barrage of international media coverage that works on the principle of blame Israel first, and ask questions later. In this Gaza-through-the-looking-glass version of events, Israel’s just war against the genocidal death cult responsible for the 7 October pogrom is somehow twisted into an act of genocide.

In reality, the IDF has gone to greater lengths than any army in history to reduce civilian casualties, while making clear that Hamas is responsible for every death. Yet many in the West are too blinded by anti-Israeli hatred to see the truth. As a top US military strategist asked in Newsweek in March: ‘Israel has created a new standard for urban warfare. Why will no one admit it?’ The only answer appears to be – because it’s Israel that has set that remarkably humane standard of warfare.

The double standards by which the world judges Israel were starkly displayed after the fall of the Assad regime. Faced with dangerous uncertainty, Israel sent troops into a previously demilitarised zone to secure its border with Syria, and launched air strikes to prevent chemical weapons falling into the hands of Islamists. The United Nations and states including France immediately condemned these reasonable defensive actions for allegedly breaking international law. Yet when the Turkish government launched a fresh offensive against the Kurdish minority within Syria, there was not a word of condemnation from the ‘international community’.

The desertion of Israel is a travesty not only for Israelis and Jews worldwide forced to face a wave of anti-Semitism alone, but for the West itself, too. The Israelis are fighting for the principles on which our civilised societies were built: democracy, national sovereignty and freedom. We should be supporting them as the front line in the global war against barbarism and slavery.

Yet the globalist elites of Western society have abandoned those foundational principles, and they now fear and loathe the Israelis who dare to stand up for them. That is why since 7 October, we have seen the consolidation of an unholy anti-Israeli alliance in the West, between Jew-hating Islamists and self-loathing left-liberals. Through 2024, everything that is rotten in our societies has continued to congeal around the banners of the anti-Israel crusade.

To its eternal credit, Israel continues to ignore the Western naysayers and fight its corner. Yet as the old order in the Middle East falls apart, with the Western powers losing their grip on events, the future remains uncertain.

It is time, as Israeli prime minister Netanyahu told the hostile UN a few months ago, to make a choice: will we bequeath future generations the ‘blessing’ of a Middle East shaped by Israel and its pro-democracy allies, or the ‘curse’ of a region dominated by Islamists, with all the implications of that worldwide?

In 2024, the West made the wrong choices. In 2025, there is still time to put that right and get behind the Israelis who are fighting for us all.
Thank You, Israel, for Saving the World, Defending Freedom and Reshaping the Middle East
When it comes to national security, appeasement is not an option. Bribing aggressors only finances their militaries for attacks on the West in the future. Israel's approach to combating terrorism has always been characterized by thoroughness and determination -- for which is usually put through the tortures of hell by the very countries it is working to save.

With a vision of ultimately fostering peace, harmony, security and prosperity throughout the region, as in the Abraham Accords, Israel expanded its military operations beyond Hamas... reshaping the Middle East into a region free of the grip of terror... Make Persia Great Again!

So long as Iran's regime remains in power, brutalizing its people and making plans for global expansion, there can be no chance for peace in the region.

Removing the regime... would bring lasting security and prosperity to the Middle East and beyond.... One could then set about subduing Turkey and its terrorist proxies in Syria.
Gestures won't remedy antisemitism, actions will
Respecting an office of state when its holder is controversial or perceived as undeserving presents a profound moral and practical dilemma, particularly in moments of crisis.

This issue came sharply into focus last Shabbat, when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made an unannounced visit to the Perth Hebrew Congregation, offering solidarity after the suspected arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.

The visit, arranged with only half an hour’s notice, sparked a storm of debate within the Jewish community and raised broader questions about the interplay between respect for institutions, personal convictions, and the challenges posed by social media discourse.

The backdrop to Albanese’s visit was a tragedy: The Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne had been targeted in what police have described as a likely terror attack. This occurred amidst a surge in antisemitism across Australia, exacerbated by the Israel-Hamas War following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Albanese, who was in Perth at the time, likely saw the synagogue visit as an opportunity to demonstrate solidarity with Jewish Australians during a deeply unsettling moment for the community.

However, the prime minister’s relationship with the Jewish community is fraught. Many Australian Jews view him as, at best, unsympathetic to Israel and, at worst, indifferent to the rise of antisemitism. His recent appearance at a protest against antisemitism in Sydney was marred by boos, reflecting widespread frustration and distrust. These sentiments complicated his reception at the Perth synagogue and placed the synagogue’s rabbi in an unenviable position.

Respect for the office vs distrust of the individual
The core of the dilemma lay in balancing respect for the office of prime minister with the community’s grievances against the individual holding that office.

In Jewish tradition, the Shabbat service includes a prayer for the welfare of the government, underscoring a recognition of the importance of civic authority and communal responsibility.

Rejecting a sitting prime minister from attending such a service, particularly in the context of a solidarity visit, would have been a profound statement – arguably one of disrespect not just to Albanese as a person but to the institution he represents. Yet, for many congregants, Albanese’s presence felt incongruous, even offensive.

This tension highlights a broader issue faced by faith communities and civic groups worldwide: how to engage with political leaders whose actions or policies are viewed as antithetical to their values. Can one separate the office from its holder? And should respect for the office override personal or communal grievances?

The rabbi of the Perth Hebrew Congregation ultimately chose to welcome Albanese, inviting him to address the congregation briefly and say the prayer for the government.

This decision demonstrated an adherence to the principle of respecting the office while providing the Jewish community an opportunity to receive a gesture of solidarity in a moment of fear and vulnerability. It was a difficult, nuanced decision that placed communal unity and decorum above personal grievances – a stance rooted in the Jewish value of being a mensch (a person of integrity and honor).


PM: Iran ‘dumbfounded’ by Israeli strikes, saw investment in proxies go ‘down the tubes’
Iran was “dumbfounded” by Israel’s major retaliatory attack on the Islamic Republic in October and currently wishes to avoid conflict with the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.

The Iranians “were dumbfounded when we took out their critical air defenses,” Netanyahu told the Journal, “which means they now have to calculate how much ammo they have, because it’ll take them several years to resuscitate [their ballistic-missile production effort] — assuming we don’t hit it again.”

The wave of Israeli airstrikes on October 26 targeted Iranian air defenses as well as its ballistic missile program, striking factories, storage sites, launchers, and research facilities, and targeting one facility believed to be used for the regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

The attack came weeks after Iran fired some 200 ballistic missiles directly at Israel in early October, in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran months earlier. (Israel was widely blamed for the latter’s assassination, though it did not claim responsibility.)

Israel’s air defenses intercepted the vast majority of the missiles in that attack. Some caused limited damage to airbases, but the Israel Defense Forces said operations were not compromised.

Israel’s counterattack did not include major strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities, apart from the one research center.

When asked about Iran’s alleged pursuit of a bomb — the country has surged its enrichment of uranium — and a possible Israeli strike, Netanyahu was reserved.

“I’m not going to talk about that,” the prime minister said, adding, “I’ve always said the jury’s out, still out on all of us [on the Iranian nuclear issue], and I don’t exclude myself.”
Israel requests 34 hostages in first phase of deal, including 11 off-limits by Hamas
Israel reportedly presented Hamas with a list of 34 hostages that it insists must be released as part of the first phase of a deal, including 11 names that do not meet Hamas's criteria for a deal, Egyptian news channel Al-Ghad reported, citing official sources, on Saturday night.

Al-Ghad's sources said that some of the names on Israel's list include hostages that Hamas considers to be soldiers, whereas Hamas says it will only release the sick, the elderly, and children.

The sources added that the first phase of the deal would include the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages.

The two parties are also reportedly discussing the key sticking points, such as the Rafah crossing, the withdrawal of the IDF from the Netzarim axis, and the return of displaced Gazans to the north of the Strip.

However, it is worth noting that Israeli officials denied that any officials were in Egypt to discuss a deal, stating on Saturday, "There is no Israeli delegation on the way to Cairo, nor is one planned."

Hamas and Israel are also debating the terms of a gradual IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor.

Al-Ghad also said that an Israeli delegation had arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the deal and that the delegates had met with key Egyptian officials.

From the Egyptian side, the discussions allegedly focused on the management of the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes.

The Al-Ghad correspondent added that "there are arrangements to hold an Egyptian-Qatari-American-Israeli meeting in Cairo to discuss the truce agreement in Gaza."


NYPost Editorial: Syria’s mass grave: What do you expect when you ignore REAL evil and bash Israel instead?
Even by the horrifying standards of Middle East savagery, the mass grave discovered in Syria with 100,000-plus bodies stands out for its hideousness.

Indeed, the world hasn’t seen anything like it since the days of Hitler and Stalin.

And it’s just one of several such graves, courtesy of the country’s recently ousted barbaric strongman, Bashar al-Assad.

Since 2012, Assad is suspected of torturing and killing possibly hundreds of thousands of his own citizens and foes.

It’s a testament to his depravity, following in the footsteps of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who similarly slayed dissenters with abandon.

“We really haven’t seen anything quite like this since the Nazis,” marvels former US war crimes ambassador at large Stephen Rapp.

How’d Bashar Assad get away with it?

Simple: The world let him.

It closed its eyes to his evil, preferring to focus on pet targets like . . . Israel.

Those “enlightened” stooges setting up encampments on college campuses? They weren’t protesting Assad’s murder machine; they wanted to stop Israel.

Democrats like President Biden, Veep Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez weren’t outraged by the long-running Assad death factory but by an imaginary “genocide” the Jewish state is supposedly waging against Palestinians.

No, it didn’t start with them: Who can forget President Barack Obama’s “red line,” threatening a US military response if Assad deployed chemical weapons against his enemies?

Yet when the Syrian Army fired missiles laced with sarin gas into neighborhoods controlled by the opposition, killing more than 1,400 civilians, Obama did . . . nothing.

Actually, he and then-Secretary of State John Kerry invited in Vladimir Putin — asking Russia to help “resolve” the crisis (well, end Obama’s embarrassment) by coming in and saying it had collected Syria’s chems.

Moscow had been pushed out of the Middle East decades before; now it became a key ally of Assad, and proceeded to back him mercilessly in the civil war, bombing civilians (especially hospitals) with abandon.

With nary a peep on US campuses, nor at the United Nations, International Criminal Court and so on.
The last days of Bashar al-Assad
On the eve of his capital’s fall, Bashar al-Assad climbed into a Russian armoured vehicle with his eldest son Hafez and drove away, leaving relatives, friends and loyalists frantically searching for the man who had promised to protect them.

Not long after, at around 11pm on December 7, longtime associates driving past his home in the upscale Damascus neighbourhood of Malki found abandoned guardposts and largely empty buildings: lights still flickering, coffee cups half-drunk and military uniforms scattered on the street.

By midnight, the then Syrian president was already on his way with Hafez to Russia’s Hmeimim air base on Syria’s north-west coast, according to a rebel military commander, an ex-intelligence officer and people familiar with the Assad family’s escape.

Not until he was outside Damascus did Assad tell his army to fold, giving them orders to burn down offices and documents, according to a member of the rebel military council and a person with knowledge of the events. Russia, one of Assad’s main foreign backers during the 13-year-civil war, had promised safe passage to Hmeimim. An HTS commander denied the group had negotiated Assad’s exit. 

Despite helping the Assads flee the capital, Moscow nonetheless made the father and son wait until 4am on December 8, when they were granted refuge on humanitarian grounds. They soon took off for Russia, bringing the family’s brutal five-decade rule to an abrupt end.

The Financial Times pieced together Assad’s final days and hours in power from more than a dozen interviews, including with regime insiders and people familiar with the family’s movements. The sources requested anonymity to speak freely to discuss sensitive matters. Efforts to reach Assad and his family members in Moscow were unsuccessful.

Very few saw the rebel offensive coming — not least the president, who thought he had won the civil war triggered by his brutal crackdown on protesters in 2011. Assad felt he was finally on his way to global rehabilitation. Following the Arab world’s lead, some European countries had also begun to make overtures.

But in the end it took rebels, led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, just 10 days to seize the capital after launching their lightning offensive.
Revealed: the insider story of Assad’s flight and Sharaa’s arrival
In absolute secrecy, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) prepared for a battle unlike any before, one designed to bring fundamental change to Syria for the first time in two generations.

Turkish involvement in this was significant—though not as extensive as people think—and contrary to speculation, there were no regional or international agreements in-place before HTS and others launched Operation Deterrence of Aggression at dawn on Wednesday 27 November, setting out from Idlib to free Aleppo.

At the time, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in Moscow, attending his son’s graduation ceremony. As the news broke, Assad was forced to skip the ceremony, isolating himself in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel to follow events. By Friday, with Aleppo having fallen, Assad was on a plane heading back to Damascus.

Once there, he began preparing for his escape from Syria by smuggling critical documents and items on a civilian plane at Mezzeh military airport. At the same time, he was speaking to his Iranian and Russian allies about launching a counter-offensive, while holding emergency meetings with his security and military leaders.

Lightning offensive
The speed of HTS’s advance shocked everyone. Moscow urged Assad to leave, to avoid bloodshed in the capital, but he resisted the advice. All the while, the armed factions were entering cities with remarkable ease, as the regime’s military collapsed. Soldiers refused to fight and surrendered en masse. Others crossed into Iraq.

Arrangements for Assad’s escape and the opposition’s entry into Damascus were finalised after foreign ministers met in Astana at night on 7 December, the meeting rolling into the early hours. After a “last-minute” call, Assad fled to the Russian-controlled Hmeimim Airbase outside Damascus, then flew to Moscow, where some of his children were already waiting.

His departure was hurried and secretive. He did not even tell his brother, nephew, guards, or senior aides that he was going, and notably refused to bring Maj. Gen. Fayez Jumaa, head of his guard convoy. He only took two senior officials with him: Presidential Affairs Minister Mansour Azzam (whose brother is a businessman in Russia), and Brig. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed, plus a small contingent of personnel.

As advisors and relatives learned that he had gone, chaos ensued, and most fled in haste to the coast, Lebanon, or Iraq, all eventually dispersing to other countries.

The events outlined above are a summary of the former Syrian president's departure, pieced together through a series of discussions with armed and political opposition figures, officials in Damascus, and Arab and Western contacts. The following is a more detailed description of the stunning end to the Assad family legacy.
Seth Mandel: Violent Anti-Semitism As a Campus Recruiting Tool
In October, I asked what the next mutation of campus anti-Semitism was going to be, warning against the classic mistake of “fighting the last war.” Well, we have our answer: terrorism.

A freshman at George Mason University in Virginia has been arrested and charged with plotting to bomb the Israeli consulate in New York.

By all accounts, the suspect, Abdullah Hassan of Egypt, was serious about his mission.

“Hassan floated different options such as assault rifles, a suicide vest or a backpack stuffed with a homemade acetone-peroxide bomb — for which he sent the informant a detailed instructional video stamped with the Islamic State logo, according to charging documents,” the Washington Post reports.

Hassan went through the relative merits of explosives vs. shooting sprees. Lest anyone try to argue this was some kind of purely political act of anti-Zionism and not anti-Semitism, Hassan had explained that he was targeting New York City because of how easy it was there to find targets who were “Yahud”—Arabic for “Jews.” He was immersed in the intricacies of the plan, “micromanag[ing] details such as the size of ball bearings to be used as shrapnel for a bomb.”

Hassan had been interviewed but not charged by the FBI two years ago for spreading ISIS propaganda, so we can say he was on their radar, as officials often admit when someone escalates their threat to society.

It has not been GMU’s strongest semester. In November, the president of the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and her sister were barred from campus. A day earlier, police had searched their home and found guns, ammunition, anti-Semitic literature, and “death to Jews” paraphernalia. This was in connection with an investigation into an act of anti-Semitic vandalism on campus.

The worst part is that these two cases are not connected. We’re not dealing with a specific, extreme student group or a particular clique of activists under the influence of a radical professor or network. We’re just seeing an atmosphere on campus conducive to violent Jew-hatred.
He Brought Down NASDAQ's DEI Policies. Then He Went to the Gaza Border.
On December 11, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down NASDAQ's diversity rules for corporate boards. The rules, which had been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), required boards to have at least one member who identifies as a minority or LGBTQ.

The decision was another high-profile victory for Edward Blum, the activist behind 2023's landmark Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned race-based college admissions.

Born to Yiddish-speaking cobblers in Benton Harbor, Mich., Blum has cited his Jewish upbringing as a formative influence on his values. At the time that the NASDAQ decision came down, he was in Israel on a moshav, or farmer's co-op, pruning tomatoes about three miles from the Gaza border.

The Washington Free Beacon spoke to Blum about his recent victory and his time in the Jewish state. During the interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Blum discussed the significance of the NASDAQ ruling, the next stage of the fight against racial preferences, the mood in Israel after Donald Trump's election, and the joys of Israeli farmwork.

AS: Higher education experienced two big shocks last year. The first was your landmark Supreme Court victory that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions. And the second were the campus upheavals after the October 7 terrorist attacks, which sparked a lot of discussion about DEI and anti-Semitism. How, if at all, do you think the post-October 7 controversies have affected your work or changed the debate about racial preferences?

EB: Those are two really big topics, Aaron. Let me see if I can unpack this just a little bit. It is my belief that that opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard is one of the most popular Supreme Court opinions in the last generation. I cannot think of another Supreme Court case in which 70 percent of Americans agreed with what the Supreme Court did. So that opinion, I think, not only energized the legal endeavors against race-based policies, but also provided a shield for those who have been reluctant to talk about the unfairness of using race in our public policies. If the Supreme Court strikes down race in higher education, and everyone applauds that, then all of a sudden, people who have been subject to discrimination in employment and contracting feel like if race is wrong in education, it must also be wrong in all of these other areas too.

Between the growth of anti-Semitism on college campuses and the end of racial preferences in higher education, I think Americans feel more emboldened to say, yes, we've got to do something differently. We can't continue using race in our public lives. And I think the embrace of Hamas by campus radicals has shocked not only American Jews but non-Jews as well. Many of us see that there's always been an undercurrent of anti-Semitism just waiting to come out, and October 7 exposed it.

AS: What brought you to the Gaza border?

EB: I volunteered here last year before the IDF launched its attack into Gaza. It was a war zone then, with dozens of Hamas rockets still being launched into Israel daily. I helped to prepare meals for the IDF soldiers who were stationed here (all 800 residents were evacuated), picked fruit since all the Arabs and Thai employees were gone, and worked with the security team in patrolling the community.

AS: How is Israel reacting to the U.S. presidential election?

EB: Joyfully.

AS: Elaborate. How do Israelis think Trump's election will affect life on the ground?

EB: I've been volunteering on a moshav that is three-and-a-half miles from Gaza. A couple of days ago, I was walking back from the tomato hothouse, where I've been pruning tomatoes, and a guy on a tractor and an older guy in a little golf cart stopped me. They wanted to know, "Who are you? Why are you here?" And then the next question was, "Who did you vote for?" I said, "Trump." And they high-fived me.

Then I told them that according to some polls, it looks like about 35 percent of American Jews voted for Trump, and they could not believe it was that low. They thought I was making it up. They just could not believe that 65 percent voted for Harris.

Afterwards I read that 65 percent of Israelis supported Trump, and only 35 percent supported Harris. It was just the opposite. Sixty-five percent of Israelis are for Trump. Thirty-five percent of American Jews were for Trump.

I have been here a little over two weeks. I'm constantly being asked about the election: "What do you think," "Were you happy?" I think Israelis are greatly relieved that Trump won the election, and I think the polling data supports that.


Jake Wallis Simons: Owen Jones’s obsession with Israel shows why it’s so hard to be a Jew at the BBC
Ever since the atrocities of October 7, the Guardianista enfant terrible Owen Jones has harboured a singular preoccupation with the Jewish state. Fourteen months on, scroll through his X account – with its million followers – and you’ll find it hard to see a mention of anything else.

Of course, Jones has no problem with Jews. Perish the thought! Just their inexplicable affection for their homeland. His is a righteous anger – a crusade, if you will – against those nasty, scheming, ethnic cleansing, apartheid-loving, white supremacist, baby-killing, genocidal (whisper it) Zionists. In fact, in November, Jones even christened his crusade with a name: “BattleLines”. But the Jews? Oh, the Jews are fine. So long as they denounce their own country.

This week, the BattleLines cause propelled our intrepid crusader straight through the gates of Broadcasting House, where he pillaged and marauded and came up with cast-iron evidence that the BBC is – wait for it – infested with horrible Zionists who are infusing its coverage with pro-Israel bias. At which I, for one, breathed a sigh of relief.

Only recently, the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust, the three main voices of Anglo-Jewry, warned that the BBC’s reporting had “led many British Jews to conclude that the BBC has become institutionally hostile to Israel”. But they had nothing to worry about.

Brave Owen Jones has revealed that the corporation is actually the broadcasting equivalent of Theodor Herzl, Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Moshe Dayan rolled into one. Phew! How typical of those cunning Jews to make everyone believe the opposite.

The results of this so-called “investigation” were published on the obscure alternative news website Drop Site News (presumably, the reviled “mainstream media” wouldn’t touch it). In summary – I read all 9,200 words so that you don’t have to – the conclusions were fourfold. First: thirteen BBC journalists think the corporation is far too pro-Israel for their tastes.

Who were these “whistleblowers”? We don’t know, as they were anonymous; but one can’t help but wonder if they might work for BBC Arabic, perhaps, which averaged more than one correction per week between January 2021 and July 2023, including the use of inflammatory anti-Israel terminology and parroting Hamas narratives?

Second, Raffi Berg – the mild-mannered Middle East editor of the BBC website, whom I know to be a journalist of rare standards of integrity, as honest as the day is long (though to be fair, he is Jewish) – is apparently some kind of Zionist puppet-master, putting his thumb on the scales of the corporation’s coverage to take a pro-genocide line at every turn.

Evidence of Berg’s supposed pro-Israel bias includes articles with headlines like “thousands call for Mid-East peace”. That story in particular opened thus: “Thousands of pro-Israel supporters have gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square to call for an end to the violence in the Middle East. Organisers said they wanted people in Gaza and Israel to live in peace, but argued that Hamas must accept responsibility for the conflict”. Disturbing, no? The story wasn’t even written by Berg. Jones objected to the fact that he was merely there and had filed a single line of description.


It’s time for the Hausdorff perspective - interview
We in Israel watch aghast at the rise of antisemitism worldwide. London is infested with thousands who come to its center every Saturday shouting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” – a euphemism for the elimination of the one Jewish state.

The United Kingdom’s Trade Union Congress – the largest umbrella group, embracing 48 trade unions – recently gave a work attire directive to its members, stating: “Wear something red, green, black, or a Palestinian keffiyeh to show solidarity.”

Being Jewish in the Diaspora today is a challenge – even more so for the Jewish students at university.

The UK media has much to answer for with its twisted reporting on Israel – too often omitting to state that the Israel-Hamas war was initiated by Hamas on October 7, 2023, when the terror group carried out a barbaric massacre of 1,200 Israelis plus the abduction of 251 Israeli men, women, and children.

117 were returned alive, while 100 (alive or dead) are still in captivity.

At this disturbing time in the history of Israel and the Jewish people, we especially value articulate spokespersons.

One such is barrister Natasha Hausdorff. Based in the UK, she presents Israel’s position with fortitude and clarity, together with the vital legal perspective.

Hausdorff has law degrees from the universities of Oxford and Tel Aviv and appears frequently on BBC and Sky, as well as numerous other international TV channels. She is a sought-after keynote speaker on international law, foreign affairs, and national security policy, focusing specifically on countering false narratives that have become widespread in current times.

Hausdorff regularly briefs politicians and international organizations and has spoken at European parliaments, as well as the UN.

The Magazine recently had the opportunity to interview her.
UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff discusses Houthi attacks on Israel and Israel's response with Guy Lambert on Fox
Natasha Hausdorff, barrister and UKLFI Charitable Trust Legal Director, interviewed by Guy Lambert on Fox 5 Live Zone, discusses Houthi attacks on Israel and international shipping, Israel's response, Israel's successes in the wider war against Iran and its proxies, and the need for Israel to retain control over the "Philadelphi corridor" between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.


Death toll in German Christmas market attack reaches 5, with at least 200 wounded
Germans on Saturday mourned both the victims and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people, including a small child, and injuring at least 200 others.

Authorities arrested a 50-year-old man at the site of the attack in Magdeburg on Friday evening and took him into custody for questioning.

He has lived in Germany for nearly two decades, practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg. officials said.

The governor of the surrounding state of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters that the death toll rose from two to five and that more than 200 people in total were injured.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that nearly 40 of them “are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”

Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Mourners lit candles and placed flowers outside a church near the market on the cold and gloomy day. Several people stopped and cried. A Berlin church choir whose members witnessed a previous Christmas market attack in 2016 sang “Amazing Grace,” a hymn about God’s mercy, offering their prayers and solidarity with the victims.


Saudi Arabia warned Germany ahead of Christmas market ramming, source claims
The death toll in a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has risen to five people, and more than 200 have been injured, many of them seriously, state premier Reiner Haseloff said on Saturday.

Those killed were a nine-year-old child and four adults, Magdeburg city official Ronni Krug said, adding that some 41 of the injured had either serious or critical injuries.

The BBC reported that the Magdeburg Municipal Hospital's medical director said that over 80 people were treated yesterday.

"Some patients had to undergo emergency surgery, some are now in intensive care,” he said, as reported by the BBC.

The driver has since been arrested, according to multiple German media reports. Police said the driver drove "at least 400 meters across the Christmas market" through the crowds in three minutes.

Prosecutors expect to charge the suspect with murder and attempted murder, the head of the local prosecutor's office said on Saturday.

Details of the attack
German newspaper Welt published that the driver was a doctor from Saudi Arabia and is approximately 50 years old. He is a psychiatrist who has lived in Germany for 18 years, Reuters reported.

Welt also claimed the driver had a number of suitcases with him, and police were searching to see if any contained explosive materials. No explosives were found in the driver's belongings.

A video posted on social media from a position above the market shows a car driving at speed through a crowd walking between two rows of market stalls. People can be seen knocked to the ground and running away. Reuters was able to verify the location, with the trees, outline and design of the buildings matching file and satellite imagery of the area.


FDD Morning Brief | feat. Andrew Fox (Dec. 20)
FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Major (Ret.) Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.


Seth Frantzman: Long battle ahead: 'Last man standing' Houthis have not been deterred by allies' fall
The Iranian-backed Houthis launched a missile attack targeting Tel Aviv in the early morning hours of Saturday. It came two days after another similar long-range missile attack had led to Israeli retaliation against the Houthis. There was also an attack on December 16 by the Houthis.

This group is now posing as the “last man standing” in Iran’s axis of “resistance” groups that have been attacking Israel. However, it does not appear to be deterred by Israeli attacks on various types of infrastructure.

It’s important to understand that Israel has carried out three rounds of retaliatory strikes on the Houthis, one in July, then in September and now in December. However, the group continues to attack.

Struggles Israel faces
In fact, it is increasing its attacks, using long range missiles and drones. Yemen is more than 2,000 kilometers away from Israel, making retaliation difficult. Warplanes have to fly a long mission, with refuelers to accomplish the strikes on the enemy.

The Houthis know this. They also know that Hezbollah has been weakened, Hamas is weakened and that Iran has been pushed out of Syria by the fall of the Assad regime. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq appear to have also stepped back from attacks on Israel.

This leaves the Houthis as one of the main fronts Iran can use in attacks, which is why they are increasing the strikes. In the Thursday attack debris from a missile fell on a school, collapsing part of it. The attack took place early in the morning, so no one was harmed.

However the attack on Saturday morning did injure people. The IDF said that “overnight, a missile was fired from Yemen into central Israel, and a fallen projectile was identified in the Tel Aviv-Yafo area. IDF Home Front Command teams and additional rescue forces were dispatched to the scene and began searching the area along with additional security forces, local officials, and emergency services to investigate the scene of the fallen projectile.”

Several civilians were injured. The missile impacted a site near Jaffa. This is a dangerous escalation and shows that Israel cannot sit back and just let the Houthis attack, as has been the case for a year and two months. Israel has focused on other fronts.
16 hurt as Houthi missile from Yemen hits Tel Aviv
Sixteen were lightly wounded overnight Friday when a ballistic missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen struck a residential area in Tel Aviv’s Jaffa neighborhood at 3:44 a.m. A crater was created in a playground.

Magen David Adom paramedics treated at least 14 people hurt, mainly by shards of glass created by the impact. They were evacuated to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon and Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) in Tel Aviv.

Another 14 people were injured on the way to a protected area and seven others suffered from anxiety. Millions of residents in the greater Tel Aviv area entered protected spaces after hearing air-raid sirens.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the missile hit following “unsuccessful interception attempts.”

The military was probing the circumstances of the attack.

The Israeli Air Force struck terror targets in Yemen before dawn on Thursday, after a Houthi missile hit an elementary school in Ramat Gan, just east of Tel Aviv.

The IDF said that there was only “a partial interception of the missile launched from Yemen and that the warhead [likely] exploded and damaged the school.” The IAF and Home Front Command were conducting a more in-depth probe.

The Israeli strikes against the Houthis were carried out in two waves by 14 fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes, which were already en route to Yemen when the enemy fired its ballistic missile at Ramat Gan around 2:35 a.m. on Thursday.

The first IAF strikes hit at 3:15 a.m., targeting the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea as well as the Hodeidah and Salif ports. Eight tugboats, used for guiding ships into the ports, were also destroyed. At 4:30 a.m., the second wave targeted the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, hitting the Haziz and D’Habban power stations, according to reports.

“Over the past year, the Houthi terrorist regime has been operating with the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias, in order to attack the State of Israel and Israeli civilians,” the IDF said following the IAF operation.

“The conducted strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region,” the statement continued. “The IDF is determined to continue operating against all threats posed to the citizens of the State of Israel, wherever necessary.”


A gap in Israel's defense: The reasons behind failure to intercept Houthi missile
Several reasons may explain the IDF’s failure Saturday overnight to intercept the ballistic missile launched by the Houthis, which struck a playground and caused extensive damage in the area. This incident follows the "partial interception" of another missile that hit a school in Ramat Efal and the drone that infiltrated Israeli airspace and struck a building in Yavne.

These incidents might expose a critical vulnerability in the IDF’s air defense system protecting Israel’s civilian and military home front. The military’s Iron Beam laser interception system is expected to address the challenges posed by such launches, but until operational, Israel must gather intelligence on the missiles’ launch and production sites and target them. The Houthis, operating under their patron Iran, reportedly only own several dozens of them.

Two main reasons might explain Saturday’s interception failure. The first is that the missile was launched in a "flattened" ballistic trajectory, possibly from an unexpected direction. As a result, Israeli or U.S. detection systems in Saudi Arabia may not have identified it in time, leading to its late discovery and insufficient time for interceptors to operate.

The second, and more likely scenario is that Iran has developed a maneuverable warhead. Such a warhead separates from the missile during the final third of its trajectory and maneuvers mid-flight—executing pre-programmed course changes—to hit its designated target.

The warhead of any ballistic missile is hypersonic. Once it re-enters the atmosphere, it uses small rocket engines or fins for navigation during its maneuvering phase. This maneuvering, conducted at speeds of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound), poses a significant challenge for air defense systems. This could explain why the warhead of Thursday morning’s missile struck a building in Ramat Efal.

It’s known that Iran possesses missiles with maneuvering warheads, such as the Khaibar-Shekan and Emad 4. According to foreign reports, several of these missiles struck Israeli air bases at Tel Nof and Nevatim in Iran's latest attack.

It seems that Iran, in collaboration with the Houthis, has developed a method to launch these missiles in low ballistic trajectories, complicating their interception.

The pressing question now is why none of the other of Israel’s air defense layers managed to intercept the warhead. The likely explanation is the late detection and the flat trajectory, which prevented the operation of all available defense apparatuses.

The threat posed by maneuvering warheads on Iran's heavy, long-range missiles would become existential for Israel should Iran succeed in developing nuclear warheads for these missiles. A single nuclear-maneuvering warhead breaching Israel's air defense system could cause catastrophic destruction and loss of life.


CENTCOM conducting strikes on Houthi military facilities in Yemen's Sana'a
The US began conducting strikes on Iran-backed Houthi missile storage and command facilities in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, on Saturday night, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported.

CENTCOM reported it was carrying out precision airstrikes in order to "disrupt and degrade Houthi operations."

The Houthis have carried out multiple attacks on international maritime vessels, disrupting trade routes since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

CENTCOM added that the attacks on US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden were the reasons for their strikes on December 21.

During the operation, CENTCOM forces reportedly also shot down multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.

The operation comprised of US Air Force and US Navy, including F/A-18s.

"The strike reflects CENTCOM's ongoing commitment to protect US and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping," the report added.

False attribution to Israel
Initially, reports attributed the attack to Israel but then shifted to the US.

This marks the fourth time the US has struck Yemen this week. The attacks renewed after the US aircraft carrier "Harry Truman" returned to the region.


US dropping terrorism bounty on Syrian leader after first diplomatic visit since 2012
U.S. diplomats carried out their first visit to the Syrian capital of Damascus in more than a decade on Friday for meetings with the new government following the fall of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told reporters that she had informed Abu Mohammad al-Julani, leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led Assad’s overthrow, that the United States would not pursue a $10 million terrorism bounty on him for his role as the head of a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group.

Julani, whose real name is Ahmad al-Sharaa, told Leaf that he “committed” to not allowing terrorist groups to pose a threat within Syria or externally to the United States and its regional partners.

“Based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years,” Leaf said.

HTS emerged as a splinter organization from al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, the Nusrah Front, which was founded in 2012 as an extension of the Iraqi insurgency amid Syria’s burgeoning civil war.

A Syrian national, Julani joined al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2003 shortly before the U.S. invasion and was arrested by American forces in 2006 and imprisoned for five years.

The U.S. State Department first designated the Nusra Front as a terrorist organization in 2012 as an alias of al-Qaeda in Iraq and labeled HTS a terrorist group in 2018 following repeated splits, reorganizations and renamings.

Julani has been a U.S. “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” since 2013 and has been repeatedly accused of carrying out attacks on civilians.


Slovenia urges EBU to disqualify Israel from Eurovision 2025 over Gaza war
The management of RTV SLO, Slovenia’s national public broadcaster, called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Friday to disqualify Israel from participating in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest over the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.

The contest is set to take place in Basel, Switzerland.

This is not the first time Israel has faced challenges regarding the European song competition.

RTV SLO’s Broadcasting Council passed a resolution addressing Israel’s participation, proposing that “RTV SLO’s board of directors should immediately request the organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, to exclude Israel from the upcoming contest in Basel.”

The council stated that RTV SLO must “keep both the council and the public updated on their efforts.”

The resolution, motivated by the ongoing conflict, is symbolic but could spark a domino effect of similar calls to disqualify Israel. Notably, Slovenia itself has no plans to withdraw if Israel competes.

During the council meeting, more severe measures against Israel were debated but ultimately rejected. These included a proposal to blackout the broadcast during Israel’s performance. A similar stance was once taken by Lebanon’s public broadcaster, which was barred from joining Eurovision after declaring it would not air Israel’s performance.


‘This is cruelty, this is not war’: Pope cites Hamas death claims in latest
Pope Francis on Saturday decried the alleged deaths of seven children in Gaza, claiming, “this is cruelty, this is not war,” citing Hamas’s civil defense rescue agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Hamas’s civil defense claimed 10 members of a family were killed in an Israeli airstrike, including seven children.

“I want to say it because it touches my heart,” Francis said.

The IDF confirmed to AFP that they had targeted “several terrorists who were operating in a military structure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization and posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.”

The IDF also asserted that the number of casualties listed by Hamas “does not align with the information held by the IDF.”

The figures provided by Hamas on civilian deaths have long drawn skepticism, as the terror organization fails to distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.

Last week, a study published by the Henry Jackson Society also found Hamas had changed the genders and ages of those killed as part of a coordinated effort to draw condemnation to Israel.

Francis also complained that “yesterday they [Israel] did not allow the Patriarch [of Jerusalem] into Gaza as promised.”

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, has previously offered to be exchanged to Hamas in place of some of the children the terror group abducted on October 7.

The cardinal previously claimed, “You can’t talk to Hamas. It is very difficult.”
Israel hits back at Pope for criticizing Gaza airstrikes, says he’s ignoring Hamas cruelty
The Foreign Ministry hits back at Pope Francis who condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza again earlier today.

Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that medics said killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.

“Yesterday, children were bombed,” says the pope. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”

“Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them,” the Foreign Ministry says in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the pope has chosen to ignore all of this, as well as the fact that Israel’s actions have targeted terrorists who used children as human shields.”

“The pope’s remarks are particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism — a multi-front war that was forced upon it starting on October 7.”

“The death of any innocent person in a war is a tragedy. Israel makes extraordinary efforts to prevent harm to innocents, while Hamas makes extraordinary efforts to increase harm to Palestinian civilians.

“The blame should be directed solely at the terrorists, not at the democracy defending itself against them. Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people,” the Foreign Ministry adds.


Eight convicted in France over murder of teacher who showed Prophet caricature
A French court sentenced eight people to prison terms ranging from one to 16 years for their roles in a hate campaign that culminated in the murder of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in class, local media reported.

Days after Samuel Paty, 47, showed his pupils the caricatures in October 2020, an 18-year-old Chechen assailant stabbed and beheaded him outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris. The assailant was shot dead by police moments after.

Among those convicted on Friday was the father of a student whose false account of Paty's use of the caricatures triggered a wave of social media posts targeting the middle-school teacher. The sentencing

The court sentenced Brahim Chnina to 13 years in prison for criminal terrorist association, according to broadcaster Franceinfo. Chnina had published videos falsely accusing the teacher of disciplining his daughter for complaining about the class, naming Paty and identifying his school.

Abdelhakim Sefrioui, the founder of a hardline Islamist organization, received a 15-year sentence. Both Sefrioui and Chnina were found guilty of inciting hatred against Paty.

Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet Mohammad to be blasphemous. Sefrioui's lawyer said his client would appeal the decision, according to French media.

Two associates of Paty's killer, Abdullakh Anzorov, were also convicted. Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov were sentenced to 16 years in prison for complicity in a terrorist killing. Both had denied wrongdoing, according to Franceinfo.

Last year, a court found Chnina's daughter and five other adolescents guilty of participating in a premeditated conspiracy and helping prepare an ambush.

Chnina's daughter, who was not in Paty's class when the caricatures were shown, was convicted of making false accusations and slanderous comments.

French media reported that the 13-year-old made the allegations after her parents questioned why she had been suspended from school for two days.


Anti-Israel QR codes in NYC offer ‘free’ McDonald’s, Starbucks — but link to horrific ‘war crimes’ videos
Phony stickers offering deals and giveaways are popping up across New York City, but instead of freebies, users are exposed to horrifying videos of injured and bloodied children and anti-Israel propaganda, The Post has learned.

The twisted tactic is the latest in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for boycotts of corporations seen as supporting Israel.

Stickers were seen being put up at various Midtown chain restaurants and stores this week, The Post found.

A QR code at a Sixth Avenue McDonald’s led to a flyer accusing the fast food chain of “war crimes” and “McGenocide” for providing meals to Israel Defense Forces.

“Hitting BDS targets including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Zara across 68 storefronts in Manhattan neighborhoods, activists enticed shoppers with coupon codes offering discounts and freebies,” a video from the group NJ PalAction explained.

Stickers in Bryant Park also claimed to offer the cult-favorite Stanley tumblers for free.


NYC Jewish school leaders boycott, call for resignations after ‘antisemitic’ conference
After a recent National Association of Independent Schools conference devolved into a “festival of Jew hate,” Jewish leaders are boycotting future events and calling on its board to resign.

Earlier this month, the NAIS — an organization of 1,300 private schools that includes the posh Dalton, Brearley and Collegiate schools in NYC as well as 60 Jewish day schools — held its annual People of Color Conference for educators, alongside its Student Diversity Leadership Conference.

Approximately 8,000 adults and adults from schools across the country attended.

Dalton sent a delegation of 48 administrators, faculty and staff, according to its website, some of whom even led workshops there.

But keynote speakers Dr. Suzanne Barakat and Ruha Benjamin were accused of using their platform to spew antisemitism, accusing Israel of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and downplaying the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.

OESIS, a network of teachers from over 600 independent schools, is now calling for the POCC to be canceled.

“It’s a breeding ground for hate and division,” its president, Sanje Ratnavale, wrote in a scathing letter to NAIS President Debra Wilson.

He also called for the NAIS board to resign after keynote speakers gave tirades accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

“They deserve to be called to account in front of Congress just like the College Presidents,” he said.
What the #&%@? A Hamas Advocate on the VMI Faculty?
For several years, I, along with other concerned alumni, diligently worked to restore the “Old Corps” leadership and ideals to the management of the Virginia Military Institute Alumni Association. Our efforts faced resistance from those in charge, and now we find ourselves also grappling with issues far beyond governance of the Alumni Agency (VMIAA) and its affiliated organizations, including the Alumni Association.

A particularly troubling matter involves the selection of Philip Crane as a Visiting Professor under VMIAA’s Peay Endowment, whose public involvement in antisemitic activities and support for Hamas raises serious questions about the Institute’s stance on crucial moral issues. This matter requires immediate attention and full transparency from VMI, its Board of Visitors (BOV) and the VMIAA to preserve the integrity of the Institute and its alumni body.

For years, our group of alumni worked diligently to ensure the concerns of VMI graduates are heard and acted upon. One of our key goals was to reinstate proxy voting for the VMIAA Board members, to ensure those selected truly represent the alumni body and not just the interests of a small group. We also pushed for better access to alumni contact information to foster meaningful communication and ensure that all viewpoints are considered when important decisions are being made.

Unfortunately, our efforts were thwarted at every turn. The VMIAA has repeatedly denied us access to critical resources, including alumni contact lists, citing unfounded concerns about personal data usage. We await a ruling from the Virginia Supreme Court on this matter, but a much graver issue demands immediate action: the hiring of Crane, a VMI graduate himself, as a visiting professor.

Crane’s background as a leader of the Palestine Working Group (PWG) while a graduate student at Columbia University from 2022 to 2024 is deeply troubling. That group issued a public statement endorsing Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization. His hiring after his endorsement of violence, especially following the brutal October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israeli civilians, raises alarming questions about VMI’s commitment to upholding its core values. This is not a minor issue—it demands scrutiny. We must ask: Does VMI stand with those who condone violence, or will it take a firm stand against hatred and terrorism?
University of California settles six antisemitism, three Islamophobia complaints
The US Department of Education announced it had resolved nine antisemitism- and Islamophobia-related civil rights complaints made against five campuses inside the University of California system on Friday, including some involving a prominent pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel encampment in Los Angeles that had descended into violence in the spring.

The sweeping resolution comes in the final weeks of US President Joe Biden’s term, and as US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to eliminate the department altogether, which could potentially move antisemitism investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to the Justice Department.

The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, which handles Title VI cases, wrote in an open letter to Michael Drake, president of the UC system, that it had “identified compliance concerns that the Universities appear not to have responded promptly or effectively” to allegations of harassment. In addition, OCR said, three of the schools “appear to have engaged in different treatment of students based on actual or perceived national origin.”

Four of the resolved cases involved the University of California, Los Angeles, where an unruly spring encampment ended in violence and arrests. UCLA received complaints on behalf of both Jewish and pro-Palestinian students that the school had failed to protect them during the encampments, which also recently earned the campus a legal rebuke based on accusations that protesters blocked Jewish students’ access to parts of campus.

An internal antisemitism task force at UCLA also recently found that the school had fostered an antisemitic environment, including as a result of the encampments.

At rallies, protesters chanted “death to Israel” and “no peace until they’re dead,” the department said. At the encampment, protesters maintained checkpoints that excluded Jewish students from the protest area and parts of the campus, prompting the school’s chancellor to issue a statement saying Jewish students on campus, among others, felt “a state of anxiety and fear.” Faculty join pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel students at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, on April 24, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP)

Two more complaints involved UC Davis, where a faculty member in October 2023 posted threats to “Zionist journalists” on social media, and where Muslim and Palestinian students alleged they had been doxxed and stalked. It is unclear whether they were involved in the anti-Israel protests or were targeted merely because of their identities.


Hamas publishes never before seen footage of slain leaders visiting Gaza weapons depot
Hamas’s military wing publishes never-before-seen footage of since-slain Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Saleh al-Arouri visiting weapons manufacturing sites in Gaza and scribbling messages on the rockets.

It is unclear when exactly the footage took place, but Haniyeh and Arouri had been based outside of Gaza for many years before they were killed by Israel in Iran and Lebanon respectively.

In one clip from the compilation, Sinwar can be heard pledging to come at Israel with a “roaring flood.” The name Hamas used for its October 7 onslaught was the “al-Aqsa Flood.”

“We will come at you with countless missiles. We will come at you with an unlimited flood of soldiers. We will come to you with millions of our nation,” Sinwar can be heard saying in the clip, which shows scenes of missiles being launched at Israel on October 7.

Sinwar was killed by IDF soldiers in Gaza in October.

Later in the clip, lyrics of a song declare, “They kill, but we live. Martyrs do not die… We are a flood for Al-Aqsa where the prophets have roamed.”


Iran hires minors to attack Israeli, Jewish targets in Europe
Iranian-linked operatives have been recruiting minors for attacks on Israeli and Jewish institutions across Europe, according to a Bloomberg report on Saturday.

A troubling pattern of incidents in Sweden, Belgium, and Norway has exposed a covert campaign by Tehran to expand its proxy war against Israel into European territories. In Stockholm, a 15-year-old boy boarded a taxi in May with a loaded gun and asked to be taken to the Israeli embassy. However, the teenager, unaware of the embassy’s exact location, had to call an associate for directions. Swedish police, who had been monitoring the boy, stopped the cab before it reached the destination.

In Gothenburg, a 13-year-old was caught firing shots at the headquarters of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company. A separate attack at the same facility involved a 16-year-old who, alongside a 23-year-old accomplice, placed homemade explosives near the building’s main entrance. The bombs were concealed in thermos flasks, and while the investigation could not establish who issued their instructions, prosecutors believe the attackers were acting on behalf of a larger network.

These incidents underscore Iran’s broader effort to expand its conflict with Israel beyond the Middle East by exploiting local vulnerabilities in Europe. In Brussels, Belgian authorities thwarted a planned attack on the Israeli embassy in May involving minors as young as 14. Norway, meanwhile, temporarily heightened its terror alert to high in October after reports of Iranian-linked threats. Both Sweden and Norway have issued warnings about Tehran’s growing use of organized crime networks to target Israeli interests.

The aftermath of a failed attack in Stockholm provides further evidence of these operations. On October 1, shots were fired at the Israeli embassy building, prompting a police response. By the time officers arrived, the suspect had already fled on a southbound train to Copenhagen. Later that night, two loud explosions were reported near the Israeli mission in the Danish capital. Security officials suspect that the same individual, also linked to Iran, was behind these incidents.


FBI arrests suspect who threatened Jewish family that runs NY hotel: 'Sent pictures of guns and a knife'
The FBI has arrested a 34-year-old Arizona resident on suspicion that he sent more than 1,000 antisemitic messages and death threats to a Jewish family that owns the Blue Moon Hotel in Manhattan. The American family became the target of threats since the start of the Gaza war after photos and videos of their son, Bram, who served as a lone soldier in the IDF, were posted on social media.

According to the indictment, Donovan Hall threatened to harm the family and hotel staff. He made threatening phone calls and sent text messages and pictures that included a loaded gun and a machete. One message read: “This knife is for child molesters like your son,” and another showed pictures of guns with the message: “For the Zionist cowards.”

The arrest followed a five-month investigation that revealed Hall had sent more than 1,000 explicit threats to the family. A search of his home turned up the weapons documented in the threatening messages and another loaded handgun. Hall was charged with two counts of making interstate threats and one count of interstate stalking, offenses that could carry a total sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

The hotel's owners, the Settenbrino family, described months of "personal and business terrorism" that began after a social media storm. Photos and videos posted by Bram, in which he was filmed boasting about bombing a mosque in Gaza and tearing through the rubble, sparked outrage among pro-Palestinian activists, leading to calls for a boycott of the hotel, daily protests and further threats online. The family claims that the footage was taken out of context and that Bram had made "a congratulatory video in which he dedicated the bombing to a friend's new marriage."


‘The Jews must go’: Neo-Nazis protest outside Victoria’s Parliament
While shouting “race traitor” toward those who took issue with their demonstration, a group of neo-Nazis holding a sign reading “Jews hate freedom” demonstrated outside Victoria’s Parliament House in Australia on Friday night, according to police, Australian media reports, and footage circulating online.

The group chanted, “The Jews must go” and “Freedom for the white man,” and the leader of the group claimed that Jews were trying to remove the freedom to protest in the country.

The group’s leader also claimed that the Jewish community may have attacked their own synagogue in Melbourne - a reference to the devastating fire that destroyed Melbourne’s Adass synagogue in early December.

Condemnations and investigations
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Kelly Walker said it appeared the men were having "some type of photoshoot."

"They showed up with their own photographer," she said at a press conference.

Walker added that police arrived five minutes after they were called, but the men were quick to disperse themselves, although one man has since been identified. Police are currently searching for the identified man and are working to identify the others.

Looking to ID the men is our priority, so we'll be looking through the extensive CBD network of footage that exists and we'll seek advice under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act," Walker said. "The behaviour was disgusting and the members of the public were outraged."

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the incident, according to Australian media.

“Masked Nazis on the front steps of our democracy with a mission to make Jews in our state feel unsafe,” she said. “Antisemitism is rising around the world. I refuse to let Victoria succumb to it.

“We want to make it impossible for Nazis to function in this state – not just by banning their symbols and salutes of hate, but by putting their vilifying threats and incitements in the crimes act, where they belong.”


Israel’s war with Hamas has resulted in some cutting-edge, astonishing medical advancements
After being shot in both legs by a Hamas sniper in Gaza, Israeli reservist and New York native Aaron Bours is among the many soldiers pioneering the use of cutting-edge rehabilitative technologies that have been a result of Israel’s war with Hamas.

Bours, now 34, moved from Long Island to Israel as a teenager to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and ended up staying in the country.

He describes his first entry into Gaza — weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel — as stepping into a Tolkien-esque apocalyptic landscape. “It’s like Mordor or the Upside Down of ‘Stranger Things,’ ” he told The Post.

Just two weeks into his service, Bours was shot while trying to rescue his commanding officer, who was killed at the scene.

He barely survived, crawling to safety while dragging his smashed leg.

From the initial fear of amputation to transitioning to a wheelchair and then crutches and now to a cane, Bours credits Israel’s medical professionals and technology for his recovery and saving his legs.

In fact, Israel’s war in Gaza has spurred a wave of healthcare innovations that are reshaping both mental and physical recovery for soldiers and civilians.

From surgical robots that remove bullets and shrapnel to 3D-printed prosthetics tailored for rapid deployment, to a battlefield burn treatment developed from pineapples, these technologies are redefining modern medicine and saving lives.

The need is dire: Since the war began,12,000 soldiers have entered the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation department, with 40% sustaining limb trauma and a third facing psychological injuries such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis.




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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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