Monday, December 30, 2024

12/30 Links Pt2: The Gray Lady’s latest anti-Israel hit job; Ireland has a serious case of ‘keffiyeh brain’; 2024 Dishonest Reporter of the Year Awards

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: The Gray Lady’s latest anti-Israel hit job
The Times hastened to explain what it referred to as a change in IDF rules of engagement by citing a “senior military officer” saying that the army “believed that Israel faced an existential threat.”

Believed. Lucky the authors found a nameless, faceless source to confirm the IDF’s “belief” that the country was in particular danger on that Black Sabbath nearly 15 months ago.

Not to hold this against the journalists, however, who assured us that they’d reviewed “dozens of military records,” and interviewed “more than 100 soldiers and officials, including more than 25 people who helped vet, approve or strike targets.”

That most of said interviewees weren’t at liberty to reveal their identities wasn’t the fault of the NYT; it was due to the “sensitivity” of the subject.

This delicacy didn’t prevent the Times from declaring its findings: “that Israel severely weakened its system of safeguards meant to protect civilians; adopted flawed methods to find targets and assess the risk of civilian casualties; routinely failed to conduct post-strike reviews of civilian harm or punish officers for wrongdoing; and ignored warnings from within its own ranks and from senior U.S. military officials about these failings.”

Never mind that this list could have been written by Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry and honed by the United Nations for the purpose of depicting Israel as the culprit in the ongoing, multi-front effort to wipe the Jewish state off the map. It also happens to be false, as a multitude of IDF soldiers and officers can and do testify—at least those who are still alive to tell the tales of what they’ve been enduring on the battlefield.

Ditto for many military experts from abroad. Take Col. Richard Kemp, for instance.

Criticizing what he called the “slanted” nature of the NYT piece, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan told Israel National News, “In my experience of observing the IDF in action, they scrupulously stick to the laws of war in their targeting policies and actions. Of course, errors will be made and lessons learnt and procedures modified accordingly, … and I know that no other army has had such sophisticated or effective means of mitigating harm to civilians.”

John Spencer, chairman of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, has repeatedly made similar points. As he reiterated at a recent Zionist Federation of Australia event in Melbourne, “There’s never been a war in the history of war … where any nation has been asked, ‘But what’s your civilian-to-combat ratio?’ Because that’s not how war works—just not how the law of war works.”

Meanwhile, lest the Times be accused of basing its entire screed on nameless individuals, it made sure to include a quote from—you guessed it—a Gazan.

“Blood was splattered all over the neighbor’s wall—as though some sheep had just been slaughtered,” said the brother of Shaldan al-Najjar, “a senior commander in a militia allied with Hamas that joined the Oct. 7 attacks,” whose family members “were among the first casualties of Israel’s loosened standards.”

To explain why anyone should care, let alone be appalled, the story clarified, “When the military struck his home in a war nine years earlier, it took several precautions to avoid civilian harm—and no one was killed, including Mr. al-Najjar. When it targeted him in this war, it killed not just him but also 20 members of his extended family, including a 2-month-old baby. … Some relatives were blown from the building. His niece’s severed hand was found in the rubble.”

The piece ended with an abrupt indictment.

“The military said that a panel appointed by the military chief of staff was investigating the circumstances of hundreds of strikes,” it concluded. “No one has been charged.”

It’s a wonder that the Times hasn’t been charged with changing its banner to depict the drivel in its pages as “All the news that’s unfit to print.”
Institute that studies antisemitism hosts another Israel-basher
One of Great Britain’s most prominent institutes for the study of antisemitism is quickly turning into a home for extreme Israel-bashers.

When the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism was created at the University of London in 2010, there was great hope that it would live up to its declared mission of promoting research and teaching to combat “antisemitism, racialization and religious intolerance.” The public had no reason to doubt the institute, which was originally named after its founder, the Pears Foundation, would live up to its mission “to promote genuine advances in the understanding of complex issues.”

Instead, sadly, speakers who have been featured at Birkbeck in recent months—and one who is slated to talk in January—have fostered misunderstanding and worse by promoting anti-Israel libels.

On Jan. 14, Birkbeck will host professor Omer Bartov of Brown University. Bartov has become infamous in recent months for claiming that Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. His announcement for the Bartov lecture says he will speak about how Zionism has become “an ideology of ethno-nationalism, exclusion and domination of Palestinians.”

Let’s be clear: Bartov’s problem is not what is happening in Gaza. His problem is Israel’s very existence. He has been bashing Israel long before the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7. Back in August 2023—more than two months before Israeli troops even entered Gaza—he was one of the organizers of a protest letter accusing Israel of conspiring to “ethnically cleanse all territories under Israeli rule of their Palestinian population.” The letter was featured by anti-Israel publications throughout the world. And he has a long record of similar pronouncements.

Another recent speaker at the Birkbeck Institute was Harvard professor Derek Penslar. In an interview with the London Jewish Chronicle on March 14, 2013, Penslar asserted: “What happened to the Palestinians [in 1948] wasn’t genocide. It was ethnic cleansing.” Writing in Fathom in April 2021, Penslar accused Israel of “perpetuat[ing] oppression, resistance, and hatred.”
Ireland has a serious case of ‘keffiyeh brain’
It is, of course, understandable to lament the destruction in Gaza. But affiliating with figures like Abbas, just a week after Israel withdrew its embassy from Dublin over Ireland’s extreme ‘anti-Israel’ stance, crossed another line. Uncritically repeating Hamas death tolls, as Harris did on Monday, further cemented Dublin’s status as an anti-Israel mouthpiece.

So, what was achieved by the call? Admirable as it sounds, Dublin’s bid to set the world’s agenda didn’t move the dial: the war rages on, undaunted by Harris’s proclamation.

Indeed, global events are exposing the limits of this kind of fluffy diplomacy. It wasn’t solemn words from Dublin but two events – both abhorred by the Irish government – that have brought peace closer than ever. First, Israel pummelled Hamas and Hezbollah into the rubble, despite Dublin’s protests. Second, Donald Trump was re-elected. Soon after, he warned Hamas – and reiterated last week – that if the hostages aren’t returned when he assumes office, ‘all hell is going to break out.’

This is language Hamas and their Tehran backers understand. Counting on global outrage, amplified by countries such as Ireland, to erode US support for Israel, they pressed on, believing there was light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, Trump’s silhouette now greets them, and they’re scrambling to cut deals.

For all their controversies, Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu instinctively grasp that some forces yield only to hard power. Both leaders have shouldered life-and-death decisions, making them more realistic operators in this increasingly perilous world than politicians in Ireland, which relies on the RAF to guard its skies. Perched safely on the edge of western Europe, it remains insulated from the dangers baked into Israeli life.

From this position of comfort – much like that of elite western university campuses – what we might call ‘keffiyeh brain’ sets in. It’s easy to play the radical, cry ‘justice’ from the soapbox, and admonish those grappling with real-world problems. But this isn’t diplomacy; it’s performance art, unbecoming of a serious country.


Switzerland’s turning point: Why Hamas was finally declared a terror organization
The ruthless atrocities of October 7—the largest assault against the Jewish people since the Holocaust—laid bare the naïveté of Switzerland’s approach.

At this point, things finally began to change in Switzerland. In November 2023, the Swiss government announced that it was canceling contracts with three of the most virulent Palestinian NGOs.

And more recently, on December 11, 2024, Swiss parliamentarians overwhelmingly voted to declare Hamas a terrorist organization.

One cannot help but marvel at the tragedy: it took a massacre of historic proportions for Switzerland to acknowledge what most democracies had long understood—that Hamas is, and always has been, a violent, despicable, heinous terrorist organization.

The decision in Switzerland to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, which should have been obvious, was too many years in the making. Discussions first emerged in the Swiss parliament in 2017, when numerous parliamentarians called for Hamas’ designation. Yet the Department of Foreign Affairs repeatedly resisted, claiming that Switzerland’s unique role as a neutral mediator required keeping channels open, even with groups openly committed to violence. “We talk to everyone” was the unofficial hallmark of Swiss diplomacy, as though engaging with terrorists was a badge of moral superiority rather than a superfluous folly.

When Swiss parliamentarians finally acted following the Oct 7 attacks, the process was straightforward. On November 22, 2023, the Federal Council proposed a Parliamentary act banning Hamas in Switzerland. It was discussed in committee in February 2024 and debated in the full parliament in May. On December 11, members overwhelmingly supported the move with a vote of 168-6. Now, the Federal Council is tasked with implementing the change, including freezing Hamas’ assets, prohibiting any support for the group, and aligning Switzerland with international efforts to combat terrorism.

The vote marked a decisive shift in Switzerland’s foreign policy.

By recognizing the undeniable reality, the country has taken a firm stance against terror. This decision not only aligns Switzerland with much of the Western democratic community but also paves the way for future action. As the focus now turns to Hezbollah, which the Swiss only designated last week, there is hope that Switzerland will continue to prioritize integrity over the illusion of diplomatic neutrality. The Swiss parliament’s courage and clarity in the face of difficult truths offer a promising vision for the future, where terror is unequivocally condemned, and justice prevails.
How a Pro-Palestinian American Kidnapped in Lebanon Became a Jew
Debra’s account reads like a thriller novel. After years of silence, she’s finally telling her story.

In her young twenties, Debra Balson* was an idealistic pro-Palestinian American who moved to Lebanon to fight for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). She didn’t realize what she had actually signed up for until it was too late. Debra has made the difficult decision to share her story now “because the world has to know the truth.”

Debra was born in France to an American Christian military family, the oldest girl of five children. In the 1960s, when Debra was nine years old, the family moved to Libya.

Her family lived off-base on the far side of Tripoli in an international neighborhood where they were one of the few Christian American families. The neighbors consisted mostly of Arab Muslims. Debra played in the streets with Muslim children.

While they went to church each Sunday, Debra was always bored and hated going, and didn’t connect to this watered-down version of religion. But she did wear a cross around her neck at all times.

One day, a Muslim child in the street grabbed the cross from around her neck and threw it to the ground while calling her an Air Force brat. “I had to learn how to fight, especially because I was a girl,” Debra explains. “As an American girl, I was viewed as promiscuous and less than, simply because I was American.”

A gang of notorious boys always roamed the neighborhood. They ranged in age from 7 to 20 and would search for girls to violate in the streets. There were no cops around to call for help. Debra learned to protect herself by using branches to ward off these attackers.

“If you don’t fight back, it’s a sign of weakness and they will attack stronger. You must fight back. Even if you lost, they respected the fact that you tried, and often would not attack again. After I fought back a couple of times, they started to leave me alone. That’s how it goes when you are an American kid in a Muslim country.”

There were other American kids who lived across the street from Debra but they never went outside the walls of their house because they feared for their safety.
Incoming West Hollywood mayor involved with radical NGO, founded SJP
The incoming West Hollywood mayor, who was elected by the Californian City Council on December 16, was the founder of a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter and is a leading member of an anti-Israel and radical activist guidance group.

Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers, who was elected to serve as mayor as part of the City Council members’ annual rotation of positions and will be sworn in on January 13, is listed as a member of Beautiful Trouble, which provides materials and education on protest and activist tactics and best practices to create a world without “capitalism and classism; racism, white supremacy, Zionism, and colonialism; patriarchy, sexism, and heterosexism; ableism, ageism, sizeism, and other forms of oppression.”

Byer’s old West Hollywood city biography describes her as a “core team member with Beautiful Trouble,” but by December 18, mention of the group was removed from the official background. Beautiful Trouble lists Byers as a former director of operations and as a current editor of its study guides and strategy card deck.

According to an independent search by The Jerusalem Post on the Internet Archive, Byers continued to be listed as director on the website until at least September. Byers was elected to West Hollywood City Council in 2022 and became Vice Mayor in January.

“As a facilitator, Chelsea has led hundreds of hours of training and curated countless professional and leadership development programs,” reads her current Beautiful Trouble biography.

Incorporated anti-Israel activity
The activist tactics taught by Beautiful Trouble often incorporate anti-Israel activity as an example or use stories of pro-Palestinian protest to highlight strategies. One such story, shared on the day after the October 7 massacre, explained how activists would fly to Ben-Gurion Airport and unfurl “Welcome to Palestine” to draw attention to Israeli denial of entries to anti-Israel actors.

Beautiful Trouble recommends the tactic of flotillas like the one involved in the MV Mavi Marmara incident, in which activists attacked naval commandos when they were boarded. Nine activists were killed and several IDF soldiers were wounded in the clash. In another tactic, Beautiful Trouble advocated for activists to engage in “currency hacking” using the example of anti-Israel activists defacing Israeli currency with the slogan “free Palestine.”

On October 19 and 23, 2023, the group shared on Instagram insights to guide action by anti-Israel activists. In February, it advised seeking divestment as a long-term campaign strategy in the vein of the BDS movement.

In May, it shared a “guide for lawful encampments” as a resource for activists who wished to start their own campus protest encampments. The group said that it drew upon its own experience from encampments in front of the Israeli embassy.


2024 Dishonest Reporter of the Year Awards
Following the horrific events of October 7, 2023, news and analysis related to Israel’s war against Hamas dominated the headlines around the world for months on end. But instead of rising to the challenge of covering the fast-moving, multi-front battle accurately and impartially, media outlets did their viewers and readers a great disservice by producing a plethora of skewed coverage.

And with the alarming spike in antisemitism, fueled by the warp-speed dissemination of baseless accusations against Israel and its motives for fighting Hamas, the negative impact of dishonest reporters in 2024 was felt more acutely than at any other time in recent memory.

Some of this year’s nominees for the Dishonest Reporter of the Year Award are old favorites — outlets that incessantly delegitimize Israel by distorting the truth, not providing relevant context, using loaded language, publishing misleading headlines, as well as other sleights of hand that are part of the biased journalist’s bag of tricks.

And then there are the influencers with massive online followings who contributed to the wave of anti-Israel bias that swept through the media in 2024. By perpetrating a distinct narrative, that of unbridled Israeli aggression in contrast to perpetual Palestinian victimhood, these online activists have had an impact on the public discourse over the last year.

Our hope is that by tracking and spotlighting the most egregious examples of journalistic malfeasance and presenting our findings, the serial offenders will be held to account for their spreading of malicious untruths about Israel.

Before we reveal the winner of the 2024 Dishonest Reporter Award, here are all the nominees, those publications and individuals who excelled in getting it totally wrong about Israel…

The People’s Choice: BBC News
Last year’s Dishonest Reporter Award winner has had a stellar year for anti-Israel bias and that was reflected in a vote held on X (formerly Twitter) that demonstrated just how poorly BBC News is thought of around the globe. Despite coming up against The New York Times in the final round of voting, the BBC delivered a knockout blow to take the people’s choice for the worst coverage of Israel this year.

A damning report exposed the full extent of the BBC’s anti-Israel bias during the Israel-Hamas war. The analysis, spanning four months of the broadcaster’s coverage starting on October 7, uncovered a staggering 1,500 breaches of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and highlighted systemic failures to maintain its commitment to impartiality and accuracy during a conflict that has fueled a troubling rise of antisemitic bigotry worldwide.

The Asserson Report reveals not just isolated errors, but a consistent pattern of bias that undermines the BBC’s journalistic integrity. But how can the BBC begin to address its failings when it refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem?

2024 Dishonest Reporter of the Year: The New York Times
In a disturbingly crowded field, The New York Times stood out in 2024. One of America’s leading publications, the Gray Lady repeatedly played fast and loose with news about the Israel-Hamas conflict. While there were notable instances where the newspaper of record for the United States distinguished itself with compelling fact-driven articles and investigations, even earning a Pulitzer Prize for its Israel-Hamas war coverage, such examples of journalistic excellence, unfortunately, proved to be the exception.

Instead, people around the world looking for clear and sober reporting and reasoned analysis about Israel were generally treated to a steady diet of advocacy journalism that put a premium on pushing a certain narrative.

Below, are but a few of the ways the NYT’s readership was thoroughly misled:

Doctors Plot
In October, The New York Times opinion essay “65 Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gaza” blew up, as weapons and forensic ballistic experts debunked and questioned X-ray images featured in the piece claiming to be 5.56 caliber bullets inside the skulls of Gazan children.

Despite The New York Times’ vigorous defense of the essay, the mounting evidence that discredited both the accounts and the purported evidence within the piece raises serious questions about how thoroughly The Times vetted the doctors involved.
Media Favor Hamas’ Narrative in Coverage of Gaza Hospital Raid
Hiding or Distorting Israel’s Statement
This is precisely what might explain another disturbing issue: The fact that media outlets have buried or distorted Israel’s detailed statement.

That statement included the following points:
240 terrorists were apprehended inside the hospital, along with munitions and weapons.
Hundreds of patients and medical staff were safely evacuated to an alternative hospital.
Some of the terrorists posed as patients or tried to flee in ambulances.
The hospital director, who is a suspected Hamas operative, was taken for questioning.
Hamas terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and RPGs at IDF troops.

Reuters called the 240 suspects simply “Palestinians,” and omitted the claim about terrorists posing as patients, fleeing in ambulances or firing at Israeli soldiers. It also presented Israel’s statement only in the third paragraph.

Similarly, The Guardian addressed Israel’s side only in the 5th paragraph, without mentioning any details about the terrorists’ activity.

And CNN buried some of Israel’s claims in the 7th paragraph.

Relying on a Suspected Terrorist
Meanwhile, the claims media chose to highlight were based on the social media accounts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital — who has been detained by the army as a suspected Hamas operative.

That alone should have been enough to automatically compromise Abu Safia’s reliability. Instead, a post shared on his accounts was widely quoted, saying that: “Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital” — which may have led to the libelous headlines mentioned above.

Anyone knows that fire can erupt during urban warfare, especially if Hamas operatives fire RPGs and anti-tank missiles at IDF troops (which was barely reported).

But journalists seem to lack common sense when it comes to Gaza coverage.

They ignore the truth, which is simple and clear: Israel does not target hospitals. Hamas hides in them.

No media outlet should be favoring the latter’s narrative.


Israeli who apparently spied for Iran accused of arson, graffiti, photographing near Gantz’s home
A resident of the central city of Petah Tikva has been arrested for carrying out missions on behalf of “foreign elements,” the Shin Bet security agency and police say, the latest in a series of plots involving civilians apparently recruited by Iran that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months.

Alexander Granovsky, 29, was detained over suspicions he was “committing security offenses after he was suspected of being involved in several vehicle arsons on behalf of foreign elements,” the Shin Bet and police say.

According to the investigation, since November, Granovsky was in contact with “terror elements” from abroad, and carried out “a large number of different security tasks for them,” for monetary gain.

The Shin Bet says Granovsky knew that the tasks had “potential to harm the security of the state.”

The agency does not explicitly say that Iran was behind the plot, but the tasks bear similarity to previous alleged Iranian attempts.

The tasks that Granovsky carried out, according to the Shin Bet, included: setting fire to eight vehicles across Israel; graffitiing “Children of Ruhollah,” referring to Ruhollah Khomeini, the former supreme leader of Iran; photographing a state-owned facility in central Israel; photographing the entrance to the neighborhood where former defense minister and MK Benny Gantz lives and sending it to his handlers; sending his handlers information about an Israeli civilian for the purpose of examining his recruitment for various tasks; purchasing military uniforms for a video in which he would burn them; and more.
Indian workers slowly replacing Palestinians in Israeli construction industry
Wearing a safety belt, helmet and work boots, Raju Nishad navigates the scaffolding, hammering blocks that will form part of a building in a new neighborhood in central Israel’s town of Beer Yaakov.

While he and other Indians working alongside him do not look out of place on the expansive construction site, they are relative newcomers to Israel’s building industry.

They are part of an Israeli government effort to fill a void left by tens of thousands of Palestinian construction workers barred from entering Israel since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.

If that attack had not happened, this site, with its slowly emerging high-rise towers, homes, roads and pavements, would have teemed with laborer’s speaking Arabic — unlike the Hindi, Hebrew and even Mandarin of today.

The Hamas attack, which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and take 251 hostages, triggered the deadliest war yet between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.

It later spread to include other Iran-backed groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen, and even direct confrontation with the Islamic Republic itself.


Anti-Israel protesters disrupt Israeli player’s tennis match in New Zealand
Anti-Israel protesters disrupted a tennis match between Israeli player Lina Glushko and Japanese champion Naomi Osaka in New Zealand on Monday, forcing the match to be paused twice in the first set.

The chants of “Free Palestine,” “Israel is a terror state,” and “Israel out” from outside the tennis court could be heard inside, as the demonstrators used microphones.

Organizers were unable to move the protesters, however, as they were on a public street.

Monday’s disruptions of the match came after Glushko saw incitement against her on social media in New Zealand over the last few days, according to the Ynet news site. The online attacks included references to pro-Israel posts she has made.

In the lead-up to the match, New Zealand’s media referred to it as a face-off between “Naomi Osaka and a former IDF soldier,” Channel 12 News reported on Monday.

Glushko told the Kan public broadcaster that the experience was scary and that she had to be given a bodyguard.

“I started hearing anti-Israel chants, and then they got closer to the court. They shouted ‘Lina murders children.’ This has never happened to me,” she said.

“I’m continuing my hasbara (public diplomacy) work. I go to many places around the world, and I see people who don’t understand what they’re protesting about. They have no knowledge of what is happening [in Israel], and they do what they do to tell themselves that they’re doing something for peace,” she added.


Illinois city councilman apologizes after claiming Jewish group controls media, food, music
An Illinois city councilman apologized last Tuesday for a council meeting speech he gave, in which he accused a cabal of Jews of controlling food, media, and music. He also claimed that elements of the Jewish faith informed a supposed genocide in Gaza.

Champaign District One Councilman Davion Williams apologized to Jewish leaders, according to a Friday statement from Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation, Illini Chabad, Illini Hillel, and Sinai Temple. Williams’s comments were made at the end of a December 17 City Council meeting.

In response to a series of public comments demanding the city call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Williams said, “There’s Jews, they’re gentiles, who believe in peace, but there’s a small group of people of have a lot of control over a whole lot. Over music, over our food, over media, over a whole lot of things.

“I love Pringles. They’re Kosher. I just found that out. I stopped eating them,” Williams said of the potato chip snack.

Williams assured that he didn’t have anything against Jews or Israelis, but was commenting about an “element” in their population. He explained that the Jewish religion is against genocide because unlike Christianity, Jews are waiting for a Messiah. Those who “proclaim to be Jewish” and “follow along with this… genocide” are “out of order,” he said.

He continued, “The occupation of Israel and Palestine has been going on for a long time, since 1948,” and proceeded to compare Palestinian indigeneity to that of Native Americans and South Africans, and that Black Americans are Native Americans because they have hybridized with them.


Largest menorah lighting ever in Bricket Wood after Chanukiah smashed by vandals
Hundreds of people have come together to celebrate Chanukkah after a menorah was vandalised in the Hertfordshire suburb of Bricket Wood.

More than 250 Jews and non-Jews attended the event after a menorah was smashed in a show of solidarity that “overwhelmed” the local Chabad rabbi.

Rabbi Eliezer Tunk, director of Chabad Bricket Wood, was alerted to the vandalism early on Sunday morning and immediately rushed to inspect the damage, which he suspects was premeditated.

He told the JC: “Every branch of the menorah had been forcibly bent out of place. The support structure was completely broken, and in the process, the culprit also found time to throw a pot of blue paint all over the structure.

“Someone took the time to cause this damage, it was not done on a whim. The whole thing was completely wrecked.”

He said the vandalism is believed to have occurred on Saturday night after a member of the community spotted it while driving past at around 11pm but had no way of alerting Chabad to it at the time.

It is the third year running that Bricket Wood Chabad has arranged for a menorah and a sign wishing passersby a happy Chanukah to be displayed in the village, which Tunk says is one of the safest in the country.

“Of all the hundreds of [public] menorahs put up around the country at this time of year, never, ever did I expect for ours to be vandalised,” he said.

“Our village has never had any fear of antisemitism. We are not really on the radar to be honest; most people don’t even know where we are on the map. It has left us in shock to be honest with you, and in total disbelief.”


US chipmaking giant Nvidia announces it has acquired Israeli startup Run:ai
US gaming and computer graphics giant Nvidia announces the completion of the acquisition of Israeli startup Run:ai, after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.

The closure of the deal that was first announced in April comes after the US Department of Justice and the European Commission granted approvals for the acquisition of Run:ai, which has built software to help developers and businesses manage complex AI workloads and computing resources on a single platform.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the value is said to be around $700 million, according to reports in the Hebrew press. The deal is estimated to be Nvidia’s biggest acquisition in Israel since the US chipmaker bought Mellanox Technologies Ltd. in 2020 for $6.9 billion.

“As part of Nvidia, we are eager to build on the achievements we’ve obtained until now, expand our talented team, and grow our product and market reach,” said Run:ai.

Run:ai’s employees will be joining Nvidia’s growing operations in Israel, where the chipmaker employs about 4,000 workers in seven R&D centers, including Yokne’am where Mellanox is headquartered, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ra’anana, and Beersheba in the south.


David Mamet: The promise of Hanukkah Trust will eradicate fear
To make sense of the meaning of Hanukkah, David Mamet turns to the splitting of the Red Sea, understood in rabbinic literature as the paradigmatic miracle:

The escapees from Egypt found themselves wedged between Pharaoh’s murderers and the Red Sea. They cried to God, and cried out against Moses: “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die? It would have been better to be slaves in Egypt than to die in the desert.”

Moses told them to stand firm and see what God would do to rescue them. He continued in what, to me, has been a most instructive verse: “The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.”

I’ve found this a reliable comfort in a life with a sufficiency of both challenges and failures. I understand it thus: not that trust in God will bring about a foreseen resolution, but that although it may not, it will bring about God’s intended ends, which are finally unknowable, save that we should trust.

The rededication of the Temple in 165 BCE required oil sufficient for eight days of purification. The Maccabees only had enough for one day. They did not, however, wish that God would perform a miracle, but listened to God, who told them to proceed in any case. They did so, preferring God’s understanding to their own—an event worthy of consideration.


Noa Tishby: Cindy Crawford and Noa Tishby Light Candles for the Sixth Night of Hanukkah
It’s the sixth night of Hanukkah, and I’m joined by the iconic ‪@CindyCrawford‬. 🕎✨ Together, we light candles and talk about allyship, family, and the beauty of sharing traditions.




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



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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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