2024: The Biden Administration’s wasted year
If Israel had listened to Biden and Harris, Hamas’ battalions would have survived and been rebuilt. Most of the hostages who have been rescued would not have been rescued. Yahya Sinwar and other October 7 masterminds would still be alive. Hezbollah would be just as powerful now as it was a year ago. Bashar al-Assad would still rule Syria. And the Ayatollahs would not be in decline in Iran. The world would be a worse and far more dangerous place.John Spencer: Peace in Israel isn't possible until Palestinians stop paying terrorists to kill
President-Elect Donald Trump has warned Hamas that if the hostages are not released by the time of his inauguration in less than two weeks, there will be “hell to pay.” Those statements have created more hope that the end of the hostage crisis and the war itself may be close than everything that came out of the mouths of the Biden Administration in the entirety of 2024.
The idea that “daylight” between the US and Israel would magically lead to peace was always a fantasy that ignored reality. When Barack Obama came into office with that idea guiding his Middle East policies, he pretended that the 2005 Disengagement, which happened thanks to the good relationship between Ariel Sharon and George W. Bush, never existed. The result was that the Palestinian Authority refused to even pretend to negotiate and hardened its positions and no progress was made until Obama and his fantasies left the White House.
Blinken’s acknowledgement that this daylight between the US and Israel caused Hamas to refuse deals to release the hostages is too little, far too late. This was a lesson that should have been learned at least 15 years ago. Had the lesson been internalized even a year ago, the war might have ended and all the hostages might have been freed months ago.
Had the Biden Administration done the right thing and made the hostage and the defeat of Hamas its priority, had it stood up to the antisemites in America and the Democratic Party, had it demonstrated courage instead of cowardice, it could have had a foreign policy success to present to the American people in November. An administration that stood by its ally through thick and thin and played a constructive role in ending the conflict and bringing home the hostages might have gotten a few more thousand votes in many of the swing states, especially Michigan.
And even if Biden and Harris still would have lost in November, their legacies would be very different and much better if they had done the right thing and not wasted the entirety of 2024 prolonging the war and the suffering of the hostages.
An 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, Ludmila Lipovsky, was brutally murdered last month in Israel while waiting for her daughter to take her to a doctor’s appointment. A 28-year-old Palestinian man from the West Bank is accused of stabbing her to death.Arsen Ostrovsky and John Spencer: Don’t blame Israel — it’s Hamas that has put every Gaza hospital in danger
This horrific act is yet another example of the violence incentivized by a multimillion dollar program known as “pay to slay," which is written into Palestinian law and governed by the Palestinian Authority.
Some view it as simply a system that rewards Palestinians for committing acts of terrorism against Jewish Israelis. In reality, it is a deeply ingrained economic structure and societal program in the West Bank and Gaza that incentivizes violence, thus undermining any chance of a sustainable peace deal.
The program provides monthly payments to Palestinians convicted of violent acts against Israelis and imprisoned for their crimes. Crucially, these payments are not extended to those convicted of non-terror-related crimes. The payments increase with the length of the prison sentence, which perversely rewards perpetrators of the worse crimes.
For example, as of 2017, a prisoner sentenced to up to three years receives $400 monthly, while someone sentenced to 10 to 15 years earns more than $1,500 monthly. During incarceration, the Palestinian Authority also pays the individual’s social security and pension fees. The payments to prisoners are adjusted to account for increases in the cost of living.
Upon release, the benefits continue. Released prisoners receive a lump-sum grant ranging from $1,500 to $25,000, depending on the duration of their imprisonment. Employment in government institutions is guaranteed, with job placements prioritized based on years spent in prison. Those who cannot secure jobs receive unemployment stipends − provided they served at least five years for men or two years for women.
Moreover, released prisoners enjoy free college education and lifelong health care. A male prisoner who has spent at least one year in an Israeli prison is exempt from tuition fees at Palestinian universities and professional training programs, as well as from health insurance payments.
If a terrorist is killed during an attack or by Israeli forces, their family is supported through the “martyrs” fund. Families receive monthly payments − spouses for life and children until they reach adulthood − ranging from $100 to $1,200.
Hamas, a ruthless terrorist organization, operates without any regard to the norms of international law or value of human life, with a longstanding practice of systematically embedding their operations in hospitals, using civilians as human shields and building military tunnels underneath hospitals.
Fifteen months into the war initiated by Hamas, there is hardly a hospital or medical facility in Gaza the terror group has not turned into a military command center, including the Kamal Adwan Hospital. There, Israel has detained over 240 Hamas terrorists, including some disguised as patients, and found caches of weapons, including guns and explosives. Each of these acts is an undisputed violation of the law of armed conflict.
Among the suspects taken for questioning was the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, who is suspected of being a Hamas terrorist leader, in addition to approximately 15 terrorists who infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7 Massacre. In these circumstances, during which Hamas turned Kamal Adwan Hospital into a terrorist staging ground, the hospital lost its protected status under international law and become a legitimate target for military operations.
Israel’s military objective is clear and defined: to eliminate the military capabilities of Hamas, which continues to use hospitals and other civilian areas in Gaza to plan and execute acts of terror against Israel, as well as the rescue of the remaining 100 hostages that the terror group is holding captive.
However, merely because Hamas has seized hospitals as its own personal launching pads and terrorist command centers does not provide carte blanche to conduct military operations. Nor does it mean that patients and staff inside the hospital immediately lose their civilian status. Under humanitarian law, Israel must still abide by fundamental rules such as distinction, proportionality and precaution. In each case, it has acted in accordance with its obligation.
Based on clear intelligence, Israel targeted a military objective used by Hamas terrorists, as evinced by the approximately 240 operatives arrested. There were hardly any civilian injuries in the operation, indicating that the expected incidental damage was not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the operation.
Israel also took ample precaution, including providing advanced warning, evacuating civilians and providing additional medical supplies to the hospital. Prior to the beginning of the targeted operation, as well as the process during, some 450 patients, as well as caregivers and medical personnel, were evacuated, while tens of thousands of liters of fuel, food and medical supplies for the essential functioning of the hospital were also delivered to Kamal Adwan during this period.
Quite simply, Israel has gone to unprecedented lengths to comply with its obligations pursuant to the law of armed conflict, whereas Hamas is doing everything possible in order to maximize casualties.
In the wake of the targeted counterterrorism operation at Kamal Adwan Hospital, the World Health Organization said that “The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care.”
To date, the World Health Organization has not condemned Hamas for the systematic use of hospitals in Gaza for military purposes. The global call to Hamas should be stop putting hospitals in danger. Many ignore that Hamas has systematically dismantled the health system in Gaza, with the acquiescence of an international community that refuses to call it out.
The World Health Organization also fails to acknowledge that Israel is trying to bolster the health system in Gaza, working with many groups to supply the five active hospitals in Northern Gaza and almost 20 field hospitals.
Those who truly care about the wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, and who are rightfully aghast at the scenes coming out of Kamal Adwan Hospital would be well advised to direct their outrage at Hamas, which continues to unconscionably and illegally turn hospitals into their personal control and command centers and severely risk the lives of innocent civilians.
It's not worth saving the hostages at the cost of releasing terrorists
Let us remember that this terrible war that has already taken 2,000 lives, wreaking havoc on our society, began precisely because we did not hold firm during the Gilad Schalit fiasco 13 years ago. Capitulating to public pressure and mass-media provocation, we – members of this present government – set loose more than 1,000 barbarians in a grossly disproportionate deal, called by Israeli analyst Prof. Dan Schueftan “the greatest significant victory for terrorism that Israel has made possible since its establishment.” And whom did we free? Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and hundreds of his fellow villains, who immediately set out to devise and execute a plan to wipe out the Jewish state – a plan that, but for the grace of God and our magnificent armed forces – came all too close to fruition.Katz orders IDF: Plan for Hamas defeat if hostage talks fail
I know that there are many who will counter that “we will know how to contain these beasts,” that we will better monitor them and track them down if they attempt to stage yet another Oct. 7. Would that this were true; but history has shown that these are idle threats, just as Ariel Sharon’s vow to massively retaliate if Hamas launched even one rocket out of “liberated” Gaza proved to be an empty promise.
And the recent declaration by certain rabbis – including those who, in bitter irony, preach against their students serving in the army – suggesting that Jewish law allows for the payment of any price to save a hostage is simply false. There are certain demands that are halachicly forbidden to accept.
After speaking to members of the Knesset during the Schalit negotiations and writing a column about the danger of giving in to terrorism (“Too High a Price,“ The Jerusalem Post, July 13, 2006), an angry mother called me, saying no price was too high to pay for the soldier’s release. I asked her if she had any children of her own, and she replied that she had two sons. “Perfect!” I said. “Hamas has announced that it will free Schalit in return for your two boys. Will you agree to it?!” “Of course not,” she was forced to reply.
Nor would anyone agree to trade Haifa for the captives’ release or give Hamas a nuclear weapon. Every intelligent, caring person knows that there comes a time to draw a line, that the safety and security of the public outweighs that of the individual, cruel as that may sometimes seem.
HAMAS SET out on Oct. 7 with two central objectives: kill as many Jews as possible, in the hope that all of Israel will be exterminated; and free hundreds, if not thousands, of the brutal murderers that we succeeded – often at great loss – in capturing and incarcerating (perhaps including one of the currently jailed terrorists involved in the fatal attack that killed our own son two decades ago).
This second goal would ensure that the terror war against us would continue for generations to come, resulting in an untold number of future victims. If we succumb once again to the pressure and give in to their demands, then Hamas will have won this war, regardless of our successes until now.
The operative slogan of the protesters is “Bring home our hostages – now!” But that little word “now” is, of course, a code word for “even if we have to capitulate to the worst demands of Hamas.” I say, instead, “Bring our hostages home,” but no – not if it places our nation in greater danger. Looking back, we foolishly handed Gaza over to Hamas in 1994, only to have them turn it into the planet’s largest terror base. We even supplied the terrorists with many of their weapons, in the disastrous Oslo Accords. Now, hopefully wiser with experience, the time has come for us to stand firm and Just say no to any proposal that will invariably come back to haunt us.
May our prayers for all the martyrs of our history be answered, our enemies vanquished, and the hostages returned speedily and safely.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to urgently develop a plan for a decisive victory over Hamas in Gaza if a hostage deal is not finalized before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20.Hamas says most Israeli hostages in north Gaza missing, blames IDF pressure
“If the hostage deal does not materialize by the time President Trump takes office, Hamas in Gaza must face complete defeat,” Katz stated in a release issued by his office on Friday.
The statement emphasized that Israel must avoid being drawn into a prolonged war of attrition, which would be costly and fail to deliver a strategic victory or end the conflict in Gaza. Katz called for a plan ensuring Hamas’s total defeat, which the IDF is expected to present during upcoming security assessments.
During a meeting on Thursday night attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other senior officials, Katz reiterated that securing the release of the hostages remains the top priority of the defense establishment. “Everything must be done to bring them home,” he said.
Katz also instructed the IDF to identify potential challenges to implementing the plan, such as humanitarian concerns, and to leave those decisions to the political leadership. He emphasized that discussions on Gaza’s political future are irrelevant to the current military strategy, saying that no Arab or other party would assume responsibility for Gaza’s civilian affairs while Hamas remains intact.
Hamas has lost track of the majority of the hostages held in captivity in northern Gaza due to Israel's military activities in the area, a source in the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, told Qatari state-run media giant Al Jazeera on Friday.18,000 terrorist attacks in Israel in 2024
"Most of the enemy's prisoners in the northern Gaza Brigade are now missing due to the Zionist aggression," the source told Al Jazeera.
Hamas has previously repeatedly stated that in order to compile a list of hostages it has been holding, it would need several days to at least a week a week, in order to locate them.
The Hamas official said that the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades had warned a number of times of the potentiality of hostages going missing in areas where the IDF was operating.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF are "fully responsible for the lives and fate of their prisoners," the source added.
A message to the hostage families
Also on Friday, the terror organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad published a propaganda video directed at the hostages' families.
"To the families of the enemy prisoners," PIJ captioned the video in Hebrew and Arabic. The video featured clips of Netanyahu speaking to the hostages' families.
"Your leadership is killing your children with persistence and insistence," PIJ wrote in Hebrew and Arabic at the end of the video.
Terrorists attacked the Jewish state no fewer than 18,000 times in 2024, killing 134 innocent people and wounding another 1,277, according to data the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office released on Thursday.
Israeli civilians were attacked from seven fronts—Iran, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Iraq, Yemen and from within Israeli territory—18,365 times last year, revealed the report, which combined data from all security agencies and the country’s emergency response groups.
Some 16,400 rockets and missiles were fired into Israel, of which approximately 15,400 were launched by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and 700 from the Gaza Strip. October saw the most launches, with more than 6,900 attacks reported.
At the same time, terrorists sent at least 399 drones toward Israeli territory, the vast majority of which came from Lebanon.
Seventy-one people, including 14 children, were murdered in aerial assaults, and 892 more people sustained wounds. In addition, the rocket, missile and drone attacks sparked more than 600 wildfires, burning 92,417 acres managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and more than 42,749 acres of grazing land.
Alon Bondarchuk, granddaughter of 83-year-old Ludmila Lipovsky, who was murdered in a terror attack in Herzliya last month, shared the story of her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor whose life ended in tragedy.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) January 10, 2025
“She was born during World War II in 1941 in Crimea. When the Nazis… pic.twitter.com/0ABYd1HXYm
MEMRI: Palestinian Journalist: Hamas' October 7 Attack Was The Most Well-Considered Move In The History Of the Conflict And Greatly Benefited The Palestinian Cause
In a series of columns from September 2024 in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam,[1] Abd Al-Majid Sweilem, a journalist and political analyst from Ramallah, defended Hamas and its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which Hamas calls the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. According to Sweilem, Hamas carried out the attack in order to thwart Israeli and American efforts to eliminate the Palestinian national cause. Hamas was motivated by national considerations and by an awareness of the grave threat facing this cause, he said, and that is why it enjoys so much popular support today.MEMRI: The PFLP Gets a Hollywood Makeover: Once Known for Hijackings, Assassinations, Suicide Attacks, Participation In The October 7 Massacre, And Recent Threats Against The U.S. and Canada – It Is Now Accepted As Mainstream
Sweilem rejected the claim made by some Palestinians, that the October 7 attack was a reckless and disastrous adventure.[2] As for the enormous death toll of the war in Gaza, he said that national liberation comes at a steep price, and that the magnitude of the losses is not due to any "miscalculation" on the part of Hamas but rather to Israel's character. In the closing article of the series, he wrote that the attack was "the most well-considered" and effective operation in the entire history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He explained that "the proponents of the adventure theory" (i.e., Hamas' critics who call the attack a reckless adventure) confine their assessment of the attack to a single parameter – the number of Palestinian casualties – instead of considering other parameters as well, mainly the significant political and psychological damage inflicted on Israel.
Sweilem concluded that the war triggered by the Hamas attack has brought the Palestinian national cause "to the highest phase of political success" while plunging Israel into a deep internal crisis and even casting doubt on its continued existence as a state.
It should be noted that Sweilem's claims are very similar to the narrative that has been promoted by Hamas itself since the beginning of the war.
The following are translated excerpts from the last column in the series.[3]
The Palestinian Death Toll Is Not The Only Criterion In Assessing The Outcomes OF The Attack
"In all the previous installments [of this series of articles], I tried to explain that the Al-Aqsa Flood was definitely a calculated strategic move, rather than an impulsive, reckless adventure... I noted that the proponents of the 'adventure' theory – who believe that it was a improvised action based on confused or delusional considerations, and perhaps even on narrow or personal interests – used to argue, and some still argue, that this action provided the occupation state with what it needed in order to decide the conflict [in its favor]... [But] this perspective is essentially short-sighted, confused and false, because it reduces the entire issue to just one aspect – albeit a very important one – namely the magnitude of the [Palestinian] losses and sacrifices. This aspect should not be the sole criterion for assessing [the outcomes of the attack], unless it is a direct cause of what the proponents of the adventure theory call a Nakba or catastrophe, and only if they can prove through logical deduction... that we are inevitably heading toward a Nakba or catastrophe, and that the occupation state has already achieved a complete and final victory.
"[The proponents of this theory] must prove that these sacrifices were in vain; that [Israel's] strategic position is better than it was before the Flood; that this state has removed all the threats that once faced it, as well as those that arose in the context of the Flood; that after [this attack] and after the Nakba it caused, [Israel] has become a hegemonic state that controls the region and has achieved maximum deterrence; that its military and security institutions have restored their prestige and that its society is united around the state... and that, even though the war continues full force and by every means, [Israel] has tightened its control, and will therefore be able to expel [all] the Palestinians or most of them... Without [proving] this, nobody can speak of a catastrophe or a national Nakba..."
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was one of several Palestinian terrorist organizations that took part in the Hamas-led October 7 attack. It posted real-time videos of its members participating in, celebrating, and taking credit for the attack, on social media as it happened. In a recent interview, a top PFLP media official acknowledged: "The PFLP was one of the factions that participated in the 7 October operation and is still performing well in the battle. It remains present on the battlefield..." Last month, the PFLP and its affiliates were also named in a lawsuit by families of Canadian October 7victims who are suing Iran.Hillel Neuer on Fox News Radio: “UNRWA is not the firefighter. UNRWA is the arsonist.”
Established In 1967 As A Secular Marxist-Leninist And Virulently Anti-Capitalist Organization, The PFLP Ideology Also Incorporates Jihad And Martyrdom
The PFLP was established in 1967 by George Habash, and designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department, Japan, Canada, and the EU. It has carried out numerous terror attacks, beginning with passenger airplane hijackings in the 1970s and since moved on to suicide attacks, shootings, and assassinations. It is currently based in Damascus, Syria and, like Hizbullah and Hamas, financed by Iran. Recently, it has called, multiple times, for terror attacks inside the U.S. and against U.S. Embassies and military bases, as well as at its rallies calls for "Death to Canada." Despite its secular Marxist-Leninist origins and its virulent anticapitalism, its ideology also incorporates elements of jihad and martyrdom.
PFLP Arch-Terrorists Reaping The Fruits Of A Hollywood Makeover In Hopes Of Inspiring A New Era Of Gen-Z Students
In addition to Habash, the PFLP's general secretary who adapted modern terrorist tactics as a weapon, the organization's other founders include terrorist operations chief Wadi Haddad, organizer of the 1976 Entebbe hijacking; the first woman hijacker in history, Leila Khaled; Abu Ali Mustafa, responsible for nearly a dozen car-bomb attacks; assassination mastermind and imprisoned PFLP secretary general Ahmad Sa'adat. These arch-terrorists are enjoying the fruits of a Hollywood makeover in hopes of inspiring a new era of Gen-Z students.
Johannesburg, South Africa Set To Name A Street After Laila Khaled, One Of The PFLP's Most Notorious Terrorists
A perennially popular and frequently interviewed PFLP figure whose image, speeches, and talks regularly appear on campus is hijacker and terrorist Leila Khaled. She is regularly invoked by pro-Palestinian and other protestors – much like Che Guevara, whose famous photo continues to appear on T-shirts, posters, and radical literature. It was recently announced that South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, would be naming a street after her.
Hillel Neuer's appearance on the Fox News Rundown with Eben Brown to discuss why UNRWA must be dismantled.
Sen. Cruz calls on airlines to ‘resume flights to and from Israel’
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) urged for flights from the United States to Israel to resume, suspecting that politics, rather than safety motivated certain airline companies’ choice to put them on hold.
“I think it is time for American airlines to resume flights to and from Israel. At this point, with every day that goes on, it appears more and more to be a politically motivated boycott instead of a genuine safety concern,” he said on an episode of the “Nothing but the Truth” podcast. “It was one thing right at the outset of the war when it was unclear what was going to happen. It was one thing to take a step potentially in terms of preserving safety. It’s another thing now.”
Cruz, who serves as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said “you have regional airlines in Europe that are flying regularly to Israel,” using the United Arab Emirates as an example. “Every indication is that this is a politically motivated boycott.”
In December, he charged U.S. President Joe Biden with turning a blind eye to the stopped flights.
Wow.
— Kosher🎗🧡 (@koshercockney) January 10, 2025
Randy Weber gives some STRONG words supporting the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (genius name)
“Their (the ICC) actions signal a DANGEROUS complicity with terrorist groups like Hamas and others”
Thank you @TXRandy14 - and nice tie!pic.twitter.com/uavn8ISto2
BREAKING: Trump has nominated Leo Terrell for senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 10, 2025
“There’s a pro-Palestinian base that is basically preventing Jewish students from being protected.” pic.twitter.com/AvsHqIVnXo
A fake genocide meets a real one
Since the outbreak of Sudan’s latest civil war in 2023, the Biden administration has placed the issue at the bottom of its foreign-policy pile. But one of the last acts of outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to issue a Jan. 7 statement concluding that “members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.” Too little, too late, certainly, but not wholly useless.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are an outgrowth of the feared Janjaweed paramilitaries that carried out a genocide in the western region of Darfur 20 years ago. The latest fighting followed the decision of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” to split with the military government that took power in a 2021 coup in Khartoum. As Blinken correctly pointed out, both the military regime and the RSF “bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan.” But the RSF and its allies have, to quote Blinken again, “systematically murdered men and boys, even infants, on an ethnic basis, and deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”
The overall humanitarian cost is staggering. More than 11 million human beings have been internally displaced, and another 3.1 million have fled across Sudan’s borders—about 30% of the country’s population. Nearly 640,000 are suffering from one of the worst famines in Sudan’s history. More than 30 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The number of dead lies in the tens of thousands. The number of demonstrations, rallies and performative protests stands at zero.
Included in the raft of sanctions that accompanied Blinken’s announcement are seven companies based in the United Arab Emirates—a U.S. ally and partner in the broader Middle East peace process—that have helped the RSF purchase weapons and smuggle gold from Sudan’s lucrative mines through Dubai. The UAE operates an embassy and three consulates here in the United States, whose addresses are easily available with a quick online search. A demonstration outside one of these, under the slogan “UAE: Stop Funding Genocide in Sudan,” would be perfectly feasible and eminently laudable. But those organizations that might be in the position to organize one—like Black Lives Matter, a sentiment that clearly doesn’t apply to Black Lives in Africa when Arabs are doing the killing—are absent.
This brings me back to the point I made earlier about the impact of this present surge of antisemitism. I’ve never been a fan of the oft-made assertion that Jews are the canary in the coal mine and that what starts with them won’t end there, because it assumes a much greater degree of overlap between antisemitism and other forms of bigotry than is actually the case.
However, a more salient point is that the obsession with Jews and Israel diverts column inches and airtime away from those humanitarian crises that are far more dire than Gaza and far more intractable, given that the war in the Strip would be over as soon as Hamas releases the remaining hostages it kidnapped on Oct. 7 and lays down its weapons, as growing numbers of Palestinians—as distinct from their Western cheerleaders—are exhaustedly urging.
As long as the outside world continues to indulge the Palestinian strategy of being the only victims worth the name, we are abetting the genocides that don’t get talked about.
Many media outlets are buzzing about a new @TheLancet study claiming Gaza deaths are undercounted by 41%.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
I'll leave the number-crunching to others, but it's worth noting that most of the study’s authors are radically anti-Israel—which is already cause to doubt their analysis 🧵 pic.twitter.com/F45XcZvYIh
Then we have Hanan Abukmail, who has the most history of anti-Israel activism.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
In fact, she already accused Israel of perpetrating a genocide in Gaza back in 2021. pic.twitter.com/8JJI6dPOZU
She even appears sometimes as a "representative" of the organization pic.twitter.com/DGzZBGIDhd
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
And at events with the Iranian government-linked JVP pic.twitter.com/eik0JX3A5w
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
She was already calling for Israel to be excluded from the international community back in 2022. pic.twitter.com/WQoUNaVnPN
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
As I mentioned, experts will likely debunk the authors' exaggerated death toll. But at the very least, their backgrounds should raise serious doubts about the credibility of their findings.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
END (for now....? Dun dun dun)
Hamas sells aid to Gazans, uses profits to pay operatives
Hamas continues to pay its operatives regular salaries 15 months into its war with Israel, despite Israeli Cabinet efforts to dismantle its governing infrastructure, Israeli security sources confirmed this week.Gaza 70-Degree ‘Cold’ Chills Media Curiosity as New York Times Depicts Israel as Baby Killer
The organization has established a systematic operation for intercepting humanitarian aid shipments destined for Gaza residents. Armed operatives commandeer supply trucks carrying internationally funded cargo transported by the Israel Defense Forces, then resell essential supplies at premium prices to the local population.
“The resale of international aid has become their dominant revenue stream,” a senior security official told Israel Hayom. These proceeds finance both current salaries and new recruitment efforts targeting Gaza youth.
While the closure of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border and suspension of private commerce has eliminated major funding channels, the official noted that “Hamas maintains its recruitment capabilities through aid-generated revenue.”
The Israeli political establishment, while broadly aligned on the need to revise current aid policies in Gaza, has yet to develop concrete plans for implementation following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who championed the initial Gaza blockade following Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault, declared at the time, “For years we provided Gaza with electricity, water and fuel, and instead of gratitude, they dispatched thousands of human animals to slaughter, murder, rape and kidnap babies, women and elderly. We’ve halted these supplies, and their local power plant has failed. We’ll maintain pressure until the Hamas threat is eliminated.”
The “cold” temperatures in Gaza have been a staple of New York Times and other news coverage — and of anti-Israel activism in the US — in recent weeks. But just how cold is it, actually, in Gaza?
“At Least 5 Babies Are Dead From Cold as Winter Grips Gaza,” was a Dec. 31, 2024 headline in the New York Times. “Dead From Cold” was something of a euphemism, as the real baby-killers, the Times made clear with echoes of classical libels against Jews, were the “Israeli military’s bombardment and attacks.”
Toward the end of the article came a mention of “more heavy rain expected in the coming days, and lows in the mid-40s Fahrenheit.”
The Times doubled down on this with a follow-up piece in its Jan. 2, 2024 edition headlined, “No Respite for Gazans as the War Grinds On.”
“Over the past few days, Gazans have endured chilly winter rainstorms; Gazan officials say some infants have died from the cold,” the article said, with no mention of any temperature readings.
Such claims were widespread. “Born at war, dying in the cold,” was an NBC News headline. “Babies are dying in the cold,” said a Washington Post article published on Jan. 6, about “at least seven infants in Gaza who have died in the cold in recent weeks, according to relatives, doctors, and the enclave’s Health Ministry.” The Post, too, made clear who the real baby-killers were — the Jews — referring to “ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid convoys.”
So, how cold has it been in Gaza? According to TimeAndDate.com, which seems reasonably reliable, the coldest it got in Gaza City for the entire month of December 2024 was 45 degrees Fahrenheit. On Dec. 25 the temperature hit 70 degrees. According to Google, the weather in Rafah, Gaza on Jan. 7, 2025 was sunny with a high of 69, a low of 51, and zero precipitation. Not exactly the Yukon permafrost.
Any infant’s death is tragic. It is indeed possible to die of hypothermia in wet conditions in the 40s, especially without adequate shelter and clothing. Yet it’s also possible to survive in even lower temperatures, even without a fire.
Freezing temperatures.... Heavy rains..
— David Collier (@mishtal) January 9, 2025
Anti Israel propaganda doesn't even try to make sense. Antisemites will believe it all anyway.https://t.co/Wl1kEiiwTe pic.twitter.com/W8rxRkp9A7
Palestinian Authority's Jenin crackdown raises concerns over its potential collapse
As the Palestinian Authority escalates its crackdown on Islamist fighters in Jenin, there are growing warnings about the imminent collapse of the PA and the instability this could bring to the region. This marks a critical turning point not only for Palestinian politics but also for Israel’s security.
With Mahmoud Abbas’s leadership in decline and the PA losing its legitimacy among its people, Israel must prepare for the aftermath of Abbas’s era. In a post-Abbas world, the fragile balance of power in Judea and Samaria could collapse, creating a dangerous power vacuum with far-reaching implications for Israel and the broader region.
The PA’s military operation in Jenin, which began in December 2024, aims to suppress the growing influence of Islamist militants in the area. This crackdown has intensified resentment among the Palestinian population, further undermining the PA’s authority. The authority is now facing increasing pressure to balance its cooperation with Israel’s security needs and maintain its standing among its own people.
The PA’s failure to secure lasting peace or stability in the region has contributed to growing dissatisfaction among Palestinians, making it more difficult for them to view the PA as a legitimate governing body.
For Israel, the implications of this situation are profound. While the Israeli government has supported the PA’s operations to curb rising violence and contain Islamist militancy, there are significant concerns about the PA’s ability to continue functioning as a reliable security partner.
The fact that the PA’s efforts in Jenin have been unable to decisively dismantle armed groups in the region highlights the fragile nature of its governance. This growing weakness opens the door for more radical groups, including Hamas, to exploit the situation and fill the void left by a weakening PA.
Should the PA’s power continue to fade, Israel could face a situation where radical groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad gain strength and influence in Judea and Samaria. This would create a direct security threat to Israel, as these groups are committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.
Should the PA collapse entirely, the created power vacuum would be ripe for exploitation by Hamas or other militant factions, threatening to further destabilize the region and pose a direct challenge to Israel’s security.
Inside IDF's West Bank operations: Nablus, Huwara and the new security reality
The Palestinian terrorist attack that occurred on Monday, killing three Israelis and wounding eight, was on Highway 55, almost on the line between the IDF’s Efraim region and its Samaria region of the northern West Bank, though slightly inside the Efraim side.
When much of the public hears of such attacks, it struggles to understand where they occurred and is rarely on top of which IDF regional brigade is handling the chase after the terrorists.
Given how close the terrorist attack was to the IDF regional lines, IDF forces in both the Efraim and Samaria regions were activated to scour their areas on the chance that the Palestinian terrorists might be hiding nearby.
The Jerusalem Post took a tour through the Samaria region on Tuesday, only one day after the attack and as IDF and other security forces were still engaged in a high-stakes manhunt for the terrorists, and felt some additional tension in the air at various guard booths and key intersections, where there was some increased security forces buildup.
The terrorists have not yet been caught, and there have been no hints of an imminent arrest, but the Post understands that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has made locating the perpetrators its highest priority.
Besides the Monday attack, which was reported on by the media across-the-board, almost none of the media reported on the wounding of an IDF soldier from Battalion 7037 during a raid on Monday night to arrest suspected terrorists in the Talluza area near Nablus.
Similarly, few media outlets reported on the three Palestinian terrorist suspects who were killed and 18 arrested across the West Bank on Monday night, including a bunch near Nablus.
This is helmet cam footage from a Duvdevan soldier during the counterterrorism operation in the Jordan Valley Brigade. pic.twitter.com/wWLMgQUY7s
— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) January 10, 2025
IDF confirms Hamza Ziyadne killed in Hamas captivity
The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) confirmed on Friday morning that Israeli civilian Hamza Ziyadne, 22, was killed in Hamas captivity.
His family was notified following the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police.
The IDF recovered the remains of Ziyadne and his father, Youssef, 53, from a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Tuesday night.
The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed on Wednesday that Youssef’s remains were found. The statement did not immediately confirm Hamza’s death, though it said that the findings in the tunnel raised “serious concerns” for his life.
They were taken hostage alive during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, along with two of Youssef’s other children, Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17.
Terrorists abducted the residents of the Israeli Bedouin community of Rahat while they were working in Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza border.
Bilal and Aisha were released as part of the November 2023 ceasefire agreement between Jerusalem and Hamas after 55 days in captivity.
Some 25 residents of Rahat—the largest Muslim Bedouin city in Israel, located in the Negev Desert—headed to the Gaza-border kibbutzim Holit and Sufa on Oct. 7 to work and did not return.
🚨BREAKING: We are heartbroken to report that the IDF has confirmed that the body of Hamza Ziyadne was recovered along with his father Youssef Hamis Ziyadne. They were both kidnapped alive on October 7th, 2023 by Hamas terrorists from southern Israel and murdered while captive.… pic.twitter.com/lhOpnG62jl
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) January 10, 2025
Chilling footage from October 7th! This is how the al-Ziyadne family was kidnapped to Gaza, where Youssef also was met with his murder after many months in Hamas tunnels!@N12News pic.twitter.com/Q5V8mMNPc4
— יוסף חדאד - Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) January 9, 2025
IDF: Tomer Eliaz Arava and Dikla Arava likely killed by IDF fire on Oct. 7
Tomer Eliaz Arava and Dikla Arava, from Nahal Oz were likely killed by IDF fire during the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, the military said on Friday following an investigation into the events.
The results of the investigation were presented to the family on Thursday.
The military concluded that after terrorists broke into Arava-Elyakim home and fired onto the safe room where the family was taking shelter, Tomer, who managed to get out of the house.
He was then shot at by security forces on the kibbutz, who likely mistook him for a suspicious figure after his initial escape, according to the investigation. Dikla was likely killed by IDF gunfire targeting the car in which terrorists had abducted her as they were heading toward the Gaza Strip.
The terrorists subsequently left her body in the car, the IDF noted in its investigation. Noam was also left in the car.
It then said that the car Dikla was in during her kidnapping also held her partner, Noam Elyakim, and his two daughters, Ella and Dafna. Both daughters were taken by terrorists in Gaza before being released during the November 2023 ceasefire.
"On October 7th, the IDF failed in its mission. Nevertheless, Israeli security forces, reservists, rapid response teams, and civilians fought bravely throughout the Gaza Strip border area," the IDF stated, adding its condolences to the Arava-Eliaz-Elyakim family as well as the Nahal Oz community.
Dikla's phone was stolen by the terrorists and used it to broadcast a live video on Facebook. The footage showed her son Tomer calling for residents of the kibbutz to come outside, and forced to do so under Hamas's orders before his escape. The IDF misidentified Tomer as a terrorists and mistakenly shot him.
"Tomer Eliaz-Arava acted heroically until the moment he was shot," the IDF said.
An IDF investigation into the deaths of Dikla Arava, 51, and her son Tomer Arava Eliaz, 17, in Kibbutz Nahal Oz during Hamas's October 7, 2023, onslaught, has found that the pair were likely killed by Israeli fire.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 10, 2025
The probe, carried out by Col. (res.) Yaron Sitbon -- who is… pic.twitter.com/ql4q9EWIaU
In the mourners tent in Eli for fallen IDF hero Captain Eitan Israel Shiknazi, who was killed in Gaza https://t.co/d0ai9PBUTC pic.twitter.com/fmk6fksBV7
— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) January 9, 2025
Israel, US, UK launch coordinated airstrikes on Houthi stronghold
Israel's air force, in coordination with the United States and Britain, conducted airstrikes in Yemen targeting a Houthi power station and two ports used by the Iran-backed group, the military confirmed on Friday.‘Heavy price’ for Houthis, Netanyahu says after Israeli strikes
The targets included military infrastructure sites at Hezyaz power station, and military infrastructure in the Hodeidah and Ras Issa ports on the Western coast. IAF fighter jets refueling during strikes on military targets in Yemen on January 10, 2025.
An informed source told The Jerusalem Post, that during US Central Command (CENTCOM) deputy commander Brad Cooper's most recent visit to Israel, it was discussed that Jerusalem and Washington would coordinate efforts in handling the Houthi threat.
Another source confirmed the strike was coordinated with the American-British coalition, which attacked certain targets - and at the same time, Israel attacked other targets. There was no cooperation in the attack on the targets themselves, but each party struck different targets. The attacks were the largest coordinated Israeli-US-British attack on the Houthis since the start of the war. More than 20 Israeli aircraft partook in the strikes, with around 50 munitions being dropped on terror targets in Yemen, Israeli media reported. IAF fighter jets in the skies of the Middle East on January 10, 2025.
Airstrikes on Yemen's port of Ras Issa on Friday targeted oil storage facilities in the vicinity of the shipping berths, and no merchant vessels were reported to have been damaged, British security firm Ambrey said.
According to the source, the "work" will be "split" between Israel and the coalition is relatively clear. The coalition will allegedly attack weapons facilities, control and command bases, and underground places, while Israel strikes the Houthi's economic facilities - which have military and civilian use such as ports, airports, power plants, etc.
Israeli fighter jets hit Houthi terror targets on Yemen’s western coast and inland in the country on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces stated.
“The Houthi terrorist regime has repeatedly attacked the State of Israel, its citizens and civilian infrastructure in Israel,” including using drones and surface-to-surface missiles, the Israeli military stated. “The State of Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Friday afternoon that “just as we promised, the Houthis are paying, and will continue to pay, a heavy price for their aggression against us,” according to an English translation of his remarks provided by his office.
“Today, we attacked terrorist targets of the Houthi terrorist regime along the western coastal strip and deep in Yemen. The Houthis are a proxy of Iran, and they serve the terrorist objectives of the Iranian axis in the Middle East,” he stated. “They constitute a danger to Israel and the entire region, including global freedom of navigation.”
The Israeli prime minister added that the Jewish state won’t abide attacks on the country and its citizens.
“We will take determined and forceful action against anyone who threatens the State of Israel wherever and whenever necessary,” Netanyahu stated.
The Israeli military said that “military infrastructure sites” in the Hizaz power station were among the targets it struck. That site “serves as a central source of energy for the Houthi terrorist regime in its military activities,” the IDF stated.
Israel also hit “military infrastructure” in the ports of Al Hudaydah and Ras Isa on Yemen’s western coast. “The targets struck are examples of the Houthis’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure for its terrorist activities,” the IDF said.
The Israeli military stated that Houthi “attacks on international shipping vessels and routes continue to destabilize the region and the wider world.”
“While the Houthi terrorist regime operates as an independent terrorist organization, it relies on Iranian cooperation and funding to attack the State of Israel and its citizens,” it added. “The IDF will continue to operate at any distance against any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Coordinated Israeli, American, and British airstrikes in Yemen a while ago in Sanaa, Yemen, against Houthi targets. pic.twitter.com/t0lUoavplM
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) January 10, 2025
Here’s footage on the scene: pic.twitter.com/QOMfVpyKeB
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) January 10, 2025
IDF: Hezbollah arms, launchers, missiles confiscated
The IDF’s 769th “Hiram” Brigade discovered and confiscated a significant cache of Hezbollah weapons during operations in Southern Lebanon, the army said on Friday.
Rocket launchers, mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-launched missiles and explosive devices were located, along with anti-tank firing positions and hidden weapons.
Troops also found a weapons storage facility containing dozens of shoulder-launched missiles, explosive charges and extensive military equipment.
“The IDF continues to expand its achievements, operating in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon while maintaining the terms of the ceasefire,” the statement said. “IDF troops are deployed across Southern Lebanon and will act against any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Friday that the Lebanese Army will initiate efforts to disarm Hezbollah, focusing on the southern Litani region. He emphasized that this marks a new phase of the army’s deployment and authority across Lebanon.
On Thursday, the parliament in Beirut elected Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun as president, eliciting a congratulatory response from U.S. President Joe Biden.
“President Aoun has my confidence,” Biden said on Thursday. “I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time.”
Noting that Aoun’s election “comes just six weeks after the United States secured an end to the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel,” Biden said the new head of state “will provide critical leadership as Lebanon and Israel fully implement that cessation of hostilities and as hundreds of thousands of people return to their homes and Lebanon recovers and rebuilds.”
2/2:
— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) January 10, 2025
This is footage of the weapons located in southern Lebanon by the IDF pic.twitter.com/FtRnXxP6qE
IDF strikes vehicle suspected of carrying arms in Southern Lebanon
The Israeli Air Force on Thursday attacked a vehicle in Southern Lebanon suspected of carrying weapons in violation of the ceasefire, the military said.
“Earlier today, a number of suspects who loaded weapons on a vehicle in Southern Lebanon from military facilities that belonged to the Hezbollah terrorist organization were detected,” the IDF spokesperson said in a statement.
“Aircraft of the [Israeli] Air Force opened fire at the weapons on the vehicle to remove the threat.
“The IDF continues to be committed to the understandings regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon, is deployed in Southern Lebanon, and will act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement concluded.
On Tuesday, U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers and French Brig. Gen. Guillaume Ponchin viewed confiscated Hezbollah weapons during a visit to the Lebanese Armed Forces’ 5th Brigade headquarters in southwestern Lebanon.
According to statements from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, the weapons stockpiles, which they referred to as belonging to “unauthorized armed groups,” will be destroyed in the coming days.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein told reporters on Monday during a visit to Beirut that Israeli forces began withdrawing from the south Lebanon border town of Naqura.
The attached vehicles in southern Lebanon wasn’t so innocent… rockets were loaded into it as you can see. pic.twitter.com/pLDLn35MZ1
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) January 10, 2025
‘Compel Syrian government to comply with agreement,’ Israeli envoy tells UN
In a Jan. 9 letter to the U.N. Security Council, Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, detailed more than 500 instances in which Syria violated its 1974 disengagement agreement with the Jewish state between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, 2024.
The Bashar Assad regime collapsed on Dec. 8 during an offensive by opposition forces led by Sunni jihadi-linked revolutionary Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Abu Mohammad al-Julani), head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and supported mainly by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army as part of the ongoing Syrian civil war that began in 2011. He is currently the de facto ruler.
“Israel is fully committed to implementing the disengagement of forces agreement and all relevant Security Council resolutions, as demonstrated by the Israel Defense Force’s consistent reporting to the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force,” he wrote in the 44-page letter.
“Despite their clear visibility, and the fact that the IDF informs of them regularly to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, these violations continue to be excluded from the secretariat’s reports,” the Israeli envoy wrote. “I should be grateful if you would have this letter distributed as an official document of the Security Council.”
In a statement provided to JNS, Danon said “we demand that the council compel the Syrian government to comply with the agreement, in order to prevent Syrian violations that will increase tensions and instability in the region.”
Nasrallah had plans too. https://t.co/wPlFwipmdp
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) January 10, 2025
Jonny Gould: Erin Molan: "Point out what I've said ever that's controversial. Ever!"
Erin Molan’s moral clarity, critical thought and searing conviction has elevated her voice to a world stage.
Tasked with making testy opinion pieces straight down the barrel at Sky News Australia, Erin was removed rather abruptly from her starring role towards the end of 2024.
Aside from her forthright journalism, it's her background which also makes her so compelling. Moving around the world as a child, her father Jim Molan was a Major General in the Australian Army and later a liberal senator in Parliament. What he taught her and what it means to her looms large here.
A fluent speaker of Indonesian, Erin grew up in the world's largest Muslim nation.
TV journalism has a new world star and you'll hear why when you listen to my interview with Erin Molan.
“Well if Christians were going around right now quoting passages from the New Testament and committing 46000 plus terror attacks in nearly 70 countries since 9/11 alone, then I would say we need to worry about those texts.” - @GadSaad
— Mish 🎗️ (@Mish_K_) January 9, 2025
You sir are a legend. pic.twitter.com/leoNO29xTo
Petitioning a Brooklyn movie theater not to show a movie about the Munich Massacre because it doesn’t glorify the perpetrators. What an absolutely deranged movement. https://t.co/33HpeiZyt2
— Tablet Magazine (@tabletmag) January 10, 2025
Synagogue in South Sydney targeted in antisemitic attack
A synagogue in Allawah, South Sydney, was defaced with swastikas and hateful graffiti, including messages glorifying Adolf Hitler.Cops release CCTV image amid Sydney synagogue vandalism probe
Additional slogans, such as “Hitler on top,” the Arabic phrase “Allah hu Akbar,” “Free Palestine,” “F**k Israel” and “Jew dogs,” were spray-painted on the building’s exterior walls.
Local police discovered the vandalism during a routine patrol early Friday and have opened a hate crime investigation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack, stating, “There is no place in Australia, our tolerant multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity.”
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns described the incident as a “monstrous act” committed by individuals “determined to divide our community.” He emphasized the need to address such acts of hatred.
New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna assured the public that the investigation includes counter-terrorism detectives, and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice. He called the incident “disgusting” and warned those responsible that they would face prosecution.
Security camera footage revealed two individuals, both masked and dressed in black hoodies, committing the crime.
David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, and Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, urged the community to reject antisemitism and called for swift arrests.
Dr. George Foster, president of the synagogue and the son of Holocaust survivors, voiced his shock and distress, comparing the incident to the Nazi economic boycott of 1933, when antisemitic graffiti defaced Jewish-owned shops and businesses.
He also reflected on the synagogue’s troubled history, recalling a firebombing in 1991 and a graffiti attack in 2002.
A new CCTV image has been released by police amid an investigation into how a synagogue in Sydney’s south was defaced with vile, antisemitic graffiti in the early hours of Friday morning.
The incident is believed to have occurred around 4.10am at the Southern Sydney Synagogue on Railway Parade in the suburb of Allawah.
Large swastikas sprayed on the outside walls in red were accompanied by scrawled antisemitic phrases.
The horrendous attack was immediately condemned by an array of politicians and community leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip and Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin.
NSW Premier Chris Minns described the vandalism as “horrifying”.
"In my own electorate of Kogarah, in the suburb of Hurstville, the South Sydney Synagogue was vandalised in a horrifying hate-filled attack by individuals who have hate in their heart," he said, speaking from the scene on Friday.
"The painting of a Swastika on a Jewish building shows how appalling these individuals are ... We have lived with the southern Sydney synagogue for many, many years, it's been in our community for decades, it's much loved and much revered by members of the local community.
"The government will continue to strengthen the laws, we'll continue to throw resources at this crime prevention, we'll continue to put police resourcing into preventing these kinds of acts of hate-filled vandalism, these hate crimes.
"There's unfortunately some bastards out there determined to rip our community in two."
NSW Police on Friday afternoon released a CCTV image of a man they wish to speak to who may be able to assist them with their inquiries.
“He is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, of medium build, and with a long brown beard,” the statement said.
“The man was last seen wearing a black hooded jumper, black pants with a white stripe on the side, and aviator-style sunglasses.”
A synagogue in Australia was vandalized with graffiti reading “Hitler on top,” “Allahu Akbar,” and “Free Palestine” on the Southern Sydney Synagogue, reportedly by pro-Palestine thugs. pic.twitter.com/KK8ZLPCy3W
— Awesome Jew (@JewsAreTheGOAT) January 10, 2025
Liberal Senator ‘appalled’ over latest antisemitic incident in Sydney
Liberal Senator Dave Sharma has slammed the latest antisemitic incident where the Southern Sydney Synagogue was graffitied with swastikas and antisemitic phrases.
“I’m appalled by this latest attack,” Mr Sharma told Sky News host James Morrow.
“They’re happening with such alarming regularity and frequency that it’s almost becoming a part of daily life in Australia.”
Kosher food items targeted by antisemites.
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) January 10, 2025
AJA received this report about Coles Flinders Square, Yokine, Perth
If Coles is serious about preventing tampering with food, they should be able to identify the perpetrators and expose them. pic.twitter.com/uS1lrI01ZR
Here I Am With Shai Davidai: From Orthodox Roots to the #Gays of #Zion | EP 24 Roniel Tessler
Welcome to the 24st episode of "Here I Am with Shai Davidai," a podcast that delves into the rising tide of antisemitism through insightful discussions with top Jewish advocates.
In this episode of "Here I Am with Shai Davidai," host Shai Davidai engages in a heartfelt and insightful conversation with guest Roniel Tessler, a screenwriter, Jewish educator, and founder of a gay Jewish Zionist group in New York City. The episode delves into Roniel's personal journey, exploring his experiences as a gay Jewish man navigating identity, community, and activism.
Roniel shares his story of growing up in an Orthodox Jewish family, his coming out journey, and the challenges and triumphs he faced in reconciling his Jewish and gay identities. The discussion touches on the importance of community support, the power of activism, and the role of education in fostering understanding and acceptance.
The conversation also explores broader themes such as the impact of recent events on Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities, the significance of Theodor Herzl's vision for a Jewish state, and the challenges of confronting anti-Semitism and homophobia. Roniel emphasizes the need for solidarity and action, highlighting his efforts to create spaces for queer Jews to connect and support one another.
Throughout the episode, Shai and Roniel discuss the complexities of identity, the importance of standing up for one's beliefs, and the power of community in overcoming adversity. This episode is a compelling exploration of identity, resilience, and the ongoing fight for acceptance and equality.
Join Shai Davidai and Roniel Tessler for an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation that sheds light on the intersection of Jewish and LGBTQ+ identities and the importance of community and activism in today's world.
I wonder if Mark knows the Hulk was created by Jewish writers to symbolize the State of Israel….🤔 https://t.co/xN5rl0cOoh
— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) January 9, 2025
The pro-Hamas Delegation at Jimmy Carter's funeral was the perfect touch. Anti-Israel Carter would have loved it. https://t.co/5iDMVefGaI
— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) January 10, 2025
9.Claim: Anti-BDS laws and restrictions on speech violate the First Amendment.
— Awesome Jew (@JewsAreTheGOAT) January 10, 2025
•DEBUNKED: Anti-BDS laws do not restrict free speech but prevent taxpayer dollars from supporting discriminatory practices against Israel. States have every right to ensure their funds are not used…
Nothing about the Bibas hostages. Shame on you, @AmerAcadPeds. https://t.co/nvZIT5lMnv pic.twitter.com/YXGpyOjgH4
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
Referring to this ⬇️https://t.co/peox8J7NnH
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 10, 2025
BREAKING: Congo joins a growing list of countries who have banned Al Jazeera after they interviewed and pushed propaganda of a violent rebel group.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 10, 2025
The West needs to wake up to the cancer that Al Jazeera is. pic.twitter.com/RP42LvW5Uy
Filthy Santa is upset the Houthi are experiencing the FO of FAFO. pic.twitter.com/yMOD8kYbdg
— Joo🎗️ (@JoosyJew) January 10, 2025
Met confirms using legal powers to prevent Palestine protest gathering close to synagogue
The Metroplitan Police has used its powers under the Public Order Act to prevent the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) forming up in the vicinity of a synagogue ahead of its planned protest on January 18th.
Jewish News had previously reported on how anti-Israel group had asked protest participants to gather in Portland Place, outside the BBC, from noon, ahead of a march to Whitehall.Police tell protesters to move location of next Gaza demo over shul disruption
But conditions that have been imposed prevent any such gathering in Portland Place and the surrounding area.
In a statement, the PSC claimed the route for the march on Saturday “was confirmed with the police nearly two months ago.”
Jewish News understands that this claim is disputed by several sources who have been involved in discussions.
Meanwhile the Guardian columnist Owen Jones also wrongly suggested UK police had issued a “ban” on the protest, as he broadcast an angry interview with the PSC’s Ben Jamal online.
In actual fact the Met had offered the PSC the opportunity to come up with “an alternative proposal” for the route.
The Met stressed in a press statement that they had taken the decision over the route prior to them receiving a letter sent to us from MPs and Peers raising concerns about this protest.
“We police without fear or favour and this decision was taken based on a detailed consideration of the evidence, not any outside influence,” they said.
Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation in London for the next PSC march confirmed:”On Tuesday, I wrote to the PSC to inform them that we have reached the view that a protest forming up so close to a synagogue on a Saturday – the Jewish holy day – when congregants will be attending Shabbat services, risks causing serious disruption.
We have used our powers to prevent the Palestine Solidarity Campaign forming up in the vicinity of a synagogue ahead of its planned protest on Saturday, 18 January.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 9, 2025
The conditions that have been imposed prevent anyone gathering in Portland Place and the surrounding area.
These MPs back the antisemitic hatred movement for terrorists even as it is finally stopped from protesting near synagogues.
— habibi (@habibi_uk) January 10, 2025
The Labour party won't care. It has a very firm policy on its MPs backing haters: look away, say nothing. https://t.co/FHmF2F15MI pic.twitter.com/9kOZcOPVQN
Here's Adnan Hmidan on 7 October 2023.
— habibi (@habibi_uk) January 10, 2025
“What is happening now is a legitimate right to self-defence.” “Occupation is the legitimisation of resistance.” He's interviewed with Majed al-Zeer, a key Hamas Europe leader.
You will normally find him at the head of London hate marches. https://t.co/yjZLwvaEj5 pic.twitter.com/YcGwewIUJW
At the same time that Owen Jones claims “no evidence” that pro-Palestinian protests are a “threat or menace to Jewish people”, the YouTube video he uploaded yesterday shows footage of him speaking at a rally in 2014 where there was a placard that had a massive swastika on it… https://t.co/GcbU4MPlG7 pic.twitter.com/87pkitUPhM
— Danny Morris (@DannyMMorris) January 9, 2025
For the record, here are examples of explicitly antisemitic placards from the pro-Palestinian protest Owen Jones spoke at on the 26 July 2014 in London📸 pic.twitter.com/buxdUR1HQ8
— Danny Morris (@DannyMMorris) January 9, 2025
Hey @Zoom: your platform (yet again) is being used by a radical pro-terror group.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) January 10, 2025
Palestine Action is hosting several online workshops to train terror supporters to carry out violent activity targeting Jewish and Israel-linked companies.
Pretty sure that violates your T&Cs. pic.twitter.com/PBddwNKko0
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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