Friday, April 25, 2025

04/25 Links Pt1: Trump administration strips UNRWA of legal immunity; Biden team eyed Netanyahu’s ouster early in Gaza war; HonestReporting Interactive Map of Gaza Tunnels

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Groundhog day with Iran
President Trump’s attitude towards Iran is causing many to scratch their heads.

He has threatened the Iranian regime that unless it verifiably dismantles its nuclear programme, America and Israel will destroy it.

He has backed this up by moving more US warships to the region and deploying around one third of America’s B-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia.

Trump’s commitment to safeguard Israel is not in doubt. He’s also the man who, in his first term, took America out of the disastrous 2015 nuclear deal brokered by former President Barack Obama and imposed instead a punishing sanctions regime to weaken Iran.

Yet now the US is negotiating with the regime over its nuclear programme, and both sides say this is going well. On Truth Social, Trump said he would much prefer a negotiated agreement to military action.

But the regime is run by religious fanatics of the Shia “Twelver” sect, who believe that an apocalypse will bring to earth the “Twelfth Imam” or Shia messiah. And as the regime repeatedly tells us, it intends to destroy first Israel and then America and the West.

There can be no meaningful negotiation with a regime that has such a non-negotiable and apocalyptic agenda. When Iran says the current negotiations are “positive,” that means it’s confident it has the upper hand.

The Iranians are the most skilful and manipulative negotiators in the world. They play multi-dimensional chess in which they identify the weaknesses of their opponents and then mercilessly play on them.

Dismayingly, Trump’s chief negotiator Steven Witkoff seems to have fallen for the Iranians’ wiles. In an interview with the podcaster and Trump “whisperer” Tucker Carlson, Witkoff said the conflict over Tehran's nuclear programme had “a real possibility of being solved diplomatically, not because I’ve talked to anybody in Iran but because logically, it makes sense…I think anything can be solved with dialogue by clearing up misconception and miscommunication and disconnects between people”.

But this isn’t an argument involving muddled messages. This is a crisis in which the world’s most aggressive terrorist state and declared enemy of Israel and the west is poised to arm itself with nuclear weapons.

Trump has now dialled down his aim from destroying Iran’s nuclear programme to ensuring that it isn’t used to produce nuclear weapons.

This was precisely the formula arrived at in the 2015 Obama deal, and it’s as worthless now as it was then. For it would enable Iran to retain a substantial nuclear infrastructure, which it could ramp up to weaponisation at any time.

Witkoff appears to be placing all his faith in “verification” that Iran would keep its side of the bargain. But given that the regime ran rings round the inspection programme under the 2015 deal, the idea of verifying any commitment it makes is for the birds.

Iran has been militarily very much weakened by Israel’s decimation of Hezbollah and its neutralisation of Iranian air defences. This is therefore the opportunity to strike.
Trump Says He'll 'Very Willingly' Attack Iran Should Nuclear Talks Fail: 'If We Don't Make a Deal, I'll Be Leading the Pack'
The United States will "willingly" join Israel in launching a military operation against Iran if negotiations to dismantle Tehran's nuclear program collapse, President Donald Trump said in an interview this week.

"Are you worried Netanyahu will drag you into a war?" Time's Eric Cortellessa and Sam Jacobs asked Trump during a wide-ranging interview on his first 100 days back in office.

"No," Trump said. "By the way, he may go into a war. But we're not getting dragged in."

"The U.S. will stay out of it if Israel goes into it?" Cortellessa and Jacobs asked.

"No, I didn't say that," Trump responded. "You asked if he'd drag me in, like I'd go in unwillingly. No, I may go in very willingly if we can't get a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll be leading the pack."

"I think we can make a deal without the attack," Trump added. "I hope we can."

The comments come as Trump ramps up his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran to freeze its nuclear program. In late March, Trump also threatened the Islamic Republic with military action after Tehran rejected direct negotiations with Washington. "If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," Trump said at the time. "It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before."
Administration taps State Department’s Michael Anton as technical lead for Iran talks
The Trump administration tapped Michael Anton, the State Department’s director of policy planning, to lead a team of technical experts in negotiations with the Iranian regime about its nuclear program.

According to Politico, Anton will lead a team of around 12 mostly career officials in discussions set to begin this weekend.

Anton is a conservative essayist and speechwriter who served in the first Trump administration as a deputy assistant to the president for strategic communications on the National Security Council. He was subsequently a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute.

In a 2020 Fox News interview, Anton said that the original Iran deal was flawed in part because it provided significant up-front financial benefits to Iran before the provisions more favorable to the U.S. took effect, which Iran used to fuel terrorism. He said Trump was “right to object to that” and reimpose sanctions. He said that cutting off Iranian resources would de-escalate, rather than escalate conflict.

He also supported the U.S. strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Anton said on Fox and in a 2019 interview with NPR that he views Iran as generally cautious, retreating if it faces strong resistance.

“When and where Iran sees either weakness and/or a lack of vigilance — America not paying attention — it tends to try to exploit what it sees as gaps,” Anton said. “When it sees that we are being strong, that we are being vigilant, that we’re not leaving them opportunities to harm our interests, it tends to back down and turn its attentions elsewhere.”

He said that the U.S. and its allies can deter Iranian aggression by presenting a strong and united front. He also emphasized that all administration officials should ultimately defer to the president’s judgement on any issues to do with Iran or be fired.


Trump administration strips UNRWA of legal immunity in court filing
The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has been stripped of its legal immunity.

The decision was taken as part of a case filed last year in which families of victims of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sued UNRWA for its ties to terrorism. Israel has said that at least 18 UNRWA staff members took part directly in the assault across the Gaza border into southern Israel.

The plaintiffs also allege long-term fraud and corruption in handling financial aid routed through UNRWA into the Gaza Strip—$1 billion of which critics say has fallen into the hands of Hamas and other terror groups.

“The complaint in this case alleges atrocious crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, and its factual allegations, taken as true, detail how UNRWA played a significant role in those heinous offenses,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote to the U.S. district judge Analisa Torres.

“Previously, the government expressed the view that certain immunities shielded UNRWA from having to answer those allegations in American courts,” per the filing. “The government has since re-evaluated that position and now concludes that UNRWA is not immune from this litigation. Nor are the bulk of other defendants.”

The claim by the U.S. attorney’s office added that UNRWA is not legally considered an affiliated organ of the United Nations since it was formed and continues to hold its mandate as a result of a resolution by the U.N. General Assembly. The U.S. Justice Department said the General Assembly may have lacked the authority to create the agency.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration held that the United Nations and UNRWA were immune from the lawsuit.

If found not to have immunity, UNRWA, its leaders and employees—and perhaps the United Nations at large—could be ordered to pay large compensation to victims and their families.

Stripping diplomatic immunity from UNRWA might also call into question the future of U.N. headquarters in New York and could impact the Knesset’s decision, effective this past January, to ban UNRWA from operating within Israeli territory.


UKLFI: UKLFI and ELNET file submission on UNRWA at International Court of Justice
The ICJ has been asked by the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) to provide an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations in relation to the presence and activities of the UN, its agencies, and other international organisations and States in relation to “the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

The UNGA’s referral of this question to the ICJ was prompted by legislation passed by overwhelming majorities in Israel’s parliament to terminate the “provisional” agreement made between Israel and UNRWA in 1967. The new legislation bans any contact between Israeli public authorities and UNRWA, and prohibits any representation, services or activity of UNRWA on Israel’s territory.

UKLFI and ELNET also submit that Israel has a right not to allow the UN and other international organisations to operate on its territory, and freedom of choice as to the method and means by which it complies with its humanitarian obligations.

The UNGA resolution asking the question refers to a possible “difference” between the UN and the State of Israel. UKLFI and ELNET’s submission observes that this difference is essentially as to the facts, in particular: whether and to what extent UNRWA has been infiltrated by terrorists, and whether essential humanitarian relief can be provided to Palestinians by organisations or means other than UNRWA.

UKLFI and ELNET go on to show that the ICJ cannot determine these factual issues and should not express any opinion that might be affected by them
first, because the ICJ’s practices do not enable reliable determination of disputed facts in advisory opinion cases, particularly in cases relating to Israel where information provided by the UN Secretary General is unreliable;
second, because a number of the ICJ’s judges are apparently biased against Israel;
third, because the ICJ does not have sufficiently reliable information to provide a safe or judicial determination of the disputed facts; and
fourth, because the ICJ can answer the question asked by the UNGA without making findings on disputed facts.

UKLFI and ELNET submit that the ICJ should simply answer that Israel has
a right not to allow the UN and other international organisations to operate on its territory,
an obligation not to allow its territory to be used for terrorist activities, and
freedom of choice as to the method and means by which it complies with its humanitarian obligations.

UKLFI and ELNET highlight the problem discussed in their submission in the last advisory opinion case relating to Israel, that the UN’s extreme bias against Israel has resulted in material provided by the UN to the ICJ being highly unreliable and unbalanced.

Amongst other documents, they refer to the judgment of President Aharon Barak in Israel’s Supreme Court, which showed that the ICJ’s opinion on Israel’s security barrier was based on false and inadequate information provided by the UN.


Hamas’ Tunnels of Terror: HonestReporting Launches Interactive Map of Gaza
Images of the destruction in Gaza are shaping the narrative against Israel. But what if the world could see the terror tunnels under schools and hospitals?

What if they can see proof of the underground network that Hamas is using to evade capture, hide hostages, and put innocent people in harm’s way?

Now they can.

Using open-source data, HonestReporting has been mapping the terror tunnel network running under Gaza. Our new interactive tool brings the extent of this terror tunnel network to light and brings the stories of its use to life — for the public and the media. So when there is a bombing in Gaza, the media will be able to see that Israel is targeting the terror tunnels under schools, hospitals, and mosques, and not the civilians in the buildings above them.

You are invited to enter the first and only resource currently available for disseminating the enormity of Hamas’ tunnel system — the backbone of the Gaza Strip’s terrorist infrastructure — to get an unprecedented insight into how Hamas has turned Gaza into a full-scale terror hub.


Huckabee condemns Hamas's use of 'flesh dome' human shields, continued hostage holding
While Israel protects its citizens with the Iron Dome, Hamas uses Palestinians as a “flesh dome,” US Ambassador Mike Huckabee shared in a reflective X/Twitter post on Thursday after meeting with relatives of American hostages held by the terror group.

“I had the opportunity to sit down with a number of hostage families, all of whom are related to Americans still held in Gaza,” Huckabee wrote. “We want them home now. And the only reason they are not already home is because of Hamas.”

Huckabee shared that some of the families he sat with were aware their captive loved ones had been killed, while others were being kept as living hostages by the Gaza-based terror group.

“The only reason they’re not already home is because of Hamas,” he stressed.

The difference between Hamas and Israel
Highlighting the difference between Israel and the terror group, Huckabee spoke of Israel’s Iron Dome, “that Israel has used to protect its people” - a contrast from Hamas, which he said uses a “Flesh Dome.”

“They (Hamas) put their people in front of the military targets rather than protecting their people,” Huckabee said. “They put their people in the most vulnerable positions.

“That’s why we need to get our hostages home. They don’t care about the individuals and that is the reason this war needs to end, but first, and foremost, Hamas [needs to be] ...obliterated.”
Former Biden Aide: We Tried to Oust Netanyahu After October 7, Through Elections or ‘God Knows What’
Ilan Goldenberg, a former aide to President Joe Biden, told Israel’s Channel 13 that the Biden administration tried to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the October 7, 2023, terror attack by Hamas.

Channel 13 interviewed Goldenberg, noting that while Biden administration officials had been reluctant to speak in the early days of the Trump administration for fear of retribution, they are now telling their story.

Goldenberg, who led the Biden administration’s efforts to sanction right-wing Israelis, and who later was the Jewish outreach director for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, told Channel 13 that the Biden White House had hoped to use Biden’s temporary popularity in Israel, and Netanyahu’s post-October 7 unpopularity, to force political change in Israel, especially after Hamas broke an early hostage release deal.

Goldenberg suggested that the Biden administration was even willing to consider non-democratic means of removing Netanyahu:
There were a lot of people who were talking about, including in the Oval Office, at times, the idea of, like, the president going out and giving a speech. … [Opposition leader] Benny Gantz was at 37 [seats] and Bibi was at like 15 [in polls], right? Like, he was very weak. Joe Biden was still incredibly popular in Israel.

You can end the war, get all the hostages out, get a, get a deal that includes even, you know, maybe even trying to have elements of Hamas to leave — or you keep doing what you’re doing, and Israel’s in a forever war, you know, your sons and daughters are going to keep fighting, most of the hostages are going to come home dead. … The idea would be to either force Netanyahu to come on board with that, or scramble Israeli politics, and see if you can trigger elections, or God knows what. That’s what people were saying — like, let’s just break this up ’cause it’s not going anywhere good.

Goldenberg’s claims corroborate the historical record. In March last year, President Biden endorsed a bizarre call by then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for Israelis to oust Netanyahu in new elections.

But Netanyahu’s popularity recovered in Israel as he defied Biden and launched an offensive into Rafah, a town on Gaza’s border with Egypt, rescuing hostages and ultimately killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

There was no point at which the Biden administration had sufficient commitments from Hamas to know whether the deal Goldenberg describes would actually have taken place; Hamas refused almost every deal, and it never committed to releasing all of the Israeli hostages.


Jewish Agency funded group that praised Netanyahu arrest order
The Jewish Agency for Israel defended on Thursday its gifting of tens of thousands of dollars in 2023 to an organization that has accused Israel of practicing apartheid, blamed it for the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, and offered to help the International Criminal Court build a war crimes case against the Jewish state.

The donation of 160,000 shekels ($43,000) to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) “aligns with one of the Jewish Agency’s goals—supporting those in need,” a spokesperson told JNS in response to a query seeking a reaction to criticism about the donation, which the recipient group reported in a recent budget report.

Following the Oct. 7 murder of some 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 251 others to Gaza, PHR-I wrote in a statement: “These events can only be understood within the context of a brutal 15-year siege on two million Gazan residents, half of whom are children and most of whom are refugees or the children and grandchildren of refugees. The militants who infiltrated southern Israel yesterday were born into a reality of perpetual humanitarian crisis, air raids, deaths and injuries, and utter lack of hope. Pain breeds pain.” The NGO also condemned the attacks.

In 2022, PHR-I wrote with 10 other groups to Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, encouraging him to visit Judea and Samaria in preparation for legal action against Israel for alleged war crimes.

“Crimes, indeed, have been and are being committed,” the 2022 letter reads. “The court has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute; and, we are all committed to assisting.”


Gad Saad: Colonel John Spencer - Is Israel's Army the Most Moral in the World? (THE SAAD TRUTH_1844)

John Spencer: The Failed Logic in Dave Smith’s Morality of War
Dave Smith, a libertarian comic, has taken to the world’s biggest podcasts—including a recent debate with me on Piers Morgan Uncensored—to argue that war should be judged by the same moral logic as domestic murder. He claims “war” is just a word politicians use to seize power, not a meaningful shift in moral reality. Given the size of his audience and the intensity of public reaction, it’s worth answering his claims head-on.

On Joe Rogan’s podcast, Smith laid out what he called a “simple moral argument”:

“Let’s say somebody broke onto your property and killed your family members, and you want to go kill this guy. If he goes back to his apartment building and there’s women and children inside, and your move is to blow up the building—well, what you’d be charged with is murder in the first degree…You dropped a bomb knowing innocent people were going to die. That is by definition intentional.” The analogy might sound persuasive, especially in the age of gut-wrenching war footage on our smartphones: you did drop a bomb knowing innocents would die, after all. But this is a rhetorical sleight of hand. It confuses a linguistic truth—that harm was foreseeable—with a moral falsehood: that the act is inherently wrong, no matter the context.

Yes, at an obvious level, the actual pressing of the button while knowing innocents were in the vicinity is “intentional.” But as a profound point beyond linguistic tautology, the implied idea—that no matter what the surrounding circumstances, it is always immoral to press that button—is preposterous.

To see how absurd Smith’s logic is, simply flip the numbers: suppose you knew there were 98 ISIS operatives inside a building actively planning attacks, along with two innocent babies. Dropping a bomb on that building would still be intentional—and done with the full knowledge that those babies would die. Even in this reversed scenario, only a moral extremist could fail to see what’s wrong with Smith’s claim.

The central issue is the confusion of two entirely separate systems: civilian criminal law on the one hand, and the conduct of war on the other. These exist for different purposes, under different real-world constraints, and, by practical necessity, are governed by different rules. Not accounting for such different conditions is a kind of moral blindness.

Domestically, we rely on police and courts to uphold moral and legal order. If someone commits murder, the system investigates, arrests, and prosecutes. That model breaks down in war. You can’t arrest an invading army or call 911 when rockets are incoming, as your government no longer holds a monopoly on the use of force. Therefore, what would have been criminal violence is necessary to neutralize the threat. This is why the law of armed conflict (LOAC) exists, often referred to as international humanitarian law (IHL).
Sa’ar praises Paraguay for designating IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah as terror orgs.
Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar applauded Paraguayan President Santiago Peña’s decision to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations on Thursday.

“I applaud Paraguay and President Peña for this landmark move,” he wrote on X.

"Iran is the world’s leading exporter of terrorism and extremism, and together with its terror proxies, it threatens regional stability and global peace. More countries should follow suit and join the fight against Iranian aggression and terrorism," Sa'ar added.

The Presidential Office of Paraguay announced that Head of State Santiago Peña signed new decrees expanding the previous designations of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah.

“Our country reaffirms its firm and non-negotiable stance in the fight against terrorism, one of the most harmful threats to the civilized international community, the upholding of human rights, democracy, and the economic and social development of nations.”

The communication mentioned that the identification of entities that promote and carry out terrorist acts "represents a decisive step for the international community to act in a coordinated manner toward their permanent dismantling."

Peña emphasized that with these decisions, Paraguay reaffirmed its "unwavering commitment to peace, international security, and the unconditional respect for human rights, consolidating its position within the international community as a country firmly opposed to all forms of terrorism and strengthening its relations with allied countries in this fight.”


316 soldiers, 79 civilians killed since last Memorial Day
Three hundred and sixteen soldiers were killed during their military service since Israel’s last Memorial Day, according to figures released by the Defense Ministry on Friday, highlighting the devastating toll of the wars fought in Gaza and Lebanon over the last year.

Another 61 disabled veterans died due to complications from injuries sustained during their service, the ministry said.

The numbers brought the total to 25,417 of those who have died during service to the country since 1860, the year from which Israel, and before it the Jewish community in the region, began counting its fallen soldiers and defenders.

The annual figures include all soldiers, police officers, Shin Bet agents, and civilian security officers who died in the past year, whether in the line of duty or as a result of an accident, illness, or suicide.

The vast majority of the 316 were killed amid the ongoing war, during fighting in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and the West Bank.

Since the start of the war, which began on October 7, 2023, with the Hamas terror group’s onslaught in southern Israel, 925 soldiers and members of security forces have been killed. They include 807 IDF soldiers, 39 local security officers, 69 police officers, and 10 Shin Bet members.

Last Memorial Day marked the year with the highest fatalities among security forces since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Seventy-nine names were also added to the list of terror victims who perished in attacks in the past year, bringing the total to 5,229 since 1851, according to Israel’s National Insurance Institute.

This brought the total tally of casualties among security forces and civilians in terror attacks to 30,646.
IDF reservist killed, three wounded during fighting in northern Gaza
An Israeli reserve soldier was killed and three others were wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the military announced.

The Israel Defense Forces later named the slain soldier as Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, 26, a tank driver in the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 79th Battalion, from Beit Hashmonai.

In the same incident, a reservist in the 79th Battalion and an officer in the elite Yahalom combat engineering were seriously wounded. Another reservist, in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade’s 8239th Battalion, was moderately hurt.

According to an initial IDF probe, Cafri, who was outside his tank, was hit by sniper fire in the Beit Hanoun area, close to one of the military’s posts in the Israeli-held buffer zone.

The other troops next to him were hit by anti-tank fire launched by the terror operatives, according to the initial investigation.

The cell behind the attack apparently managed to flee.

Cafri’s great-grandmother, 96-year-old Holocaust survivor Magda Baratz, was attending a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany at the time of his death, Cafri’s aunt Hadas told the Ynet news site.

The Israel-based Baratz, who survived the infamous Nazi camp in her youth, was visiting as a guest of honor. She traveled there with her grandson Hagai, Cafri’s father.

According to Ynet, Hagai only learned of his son’s death upon his return to Israel.

“Asaf fell when his great-grandmother and family flew to the ceremony,” said Hadas. “She said that visiting the camp where she almost died was her victory. She managed to survive, came to Israel, and started a family and legacy.”
New F-35 fighter jets arrive at Israel’s Nevatim Airbase
The Israeli Air Force received three more F-35i “Adir” fighter aircraft on Thursday night, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The U.S.-produced Lockheed Martin fifth-generation stealth fighter jets landed at the Nevatim Air Force Base near Beersheva, the military said in a statement published on Friday.

Since the beginning of the Swords of Iron war on Oct. 7, 2023, the 140th “Golden Eagle” Squadron has operated “under unprecedented pressure, participating in both defense and attack missions across various arenas,” the IDF stated.

“The addition of the new aircraft strengthens operational continuity and expands the Air Force’s ability to handle a wide range of threats—with precision, speed and depth,” the military said.

The new fighter jets will join the IAF’s 140th Squadron and bring the country’s F-35 fleet to 45. The three aircraft are part of Jerusalem’s initial order of 50 F-35 jets. Another 25 were ordered in June 2024.

The delivery of the 25 additional F-35s to the IAF is expected to start in 2028 at a rate of 3 to 5 jets per year, Israel’s Defense Ministry has said.
Israel Eyes Military 'Escalation' in Gaza After Hamas Rebuffs Fresh Ceasefire Deal
Israel is preparing a significant expansion of its military activity in Gaza over the next several days, according to Israeli media reports, a move that comes days after Hamas rejected Israel's proposal for a temporary truce.

The IDF's goal is to penetrate deeper into Gaza by targeting Hamas's strongholds and seizing territory still held by the terror group, particularly in Rafah, the southern Gaza city near the border with Egypt, according to Israel's Hebrew-language N12 news network, which said it expects "an escalation in IDF activity in the Gaza Strip" in "the coming days."

The IDF late Thursday advised Israel's security cabinet to approve the new operations, arguing that the current war push in Gaza has not succeeded in bringing Hamas back to the negotiating table for a revamped hostage deal.

Israel reentered the strip in March, after Hamas rejected U.S.-brokered efforts to extend a tumultuous hostage-ceasefire deal. Last week, Hamas rejected another proposal, this time from Israel, to cease fire for 45 days in exchange for the release of 10 hostages.

A more intense period of fighting in Gaza, Israel says, could spur a change in negotiations. President Donald Trump is broadly supportive of the revamped war effort, though in remarks made Friday afternoon he did encourage Israel to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza. Hamas is known to generate funds for its terrorism by stealing and selling such aid. Israel cut off the entry of food and other goods into the war-torn strip last month.

Israel has achieved "significant operational gains" since it restarted military operations in Gaza, according to IDF spokesman Effie Defrin, who briefed reporters during a Thursday webinar hosted by the Jewish Institute for the National Security of America think tank. During that time, Defrin said, the Jewish state has eliminated at least 35 "senior and mid-level" Hamas soldiers and commanders and destroyed more than 1,700 "targets and terrorist infrastructure sites."
Nir Yitzhak security team resisted terrorists on Oct. 7, preventing murderous rampage
Despite being vastly outnumbered, Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s well-armed civil defense squad fought off dozens of Hamas-led terrorists, largely preventing them from rampaging through the community on October 7, 2023, according to an Israel Defense Forces probe published Friday.

The community avoided the worst of the day’s massacres, with no civilians murdered. Still, the terrorists managed to abduct five civilians, along with the bodies of three local security officers who were killed in battle.

In all, six members of Nir Yitzhak’s 13-strong local security team were killed, including its chief, Yaron Shahar, 51, and members Tal Haimi, 41, Oren Goldin, 33, Boaz Abraham, 61, Lior Rudaeff, 61, and Ofek Arazi, 28.

The bodies of Goldin, Rudaeff, and Haimi were taken by the terrorists to Gaza. The IDF recovered Goldin’s body in July 2024.

Hostages Gabriela Leimberg, 59, her daughter Mia, 17, and her sister Clara Marman, 62, were released in a November 2023 ceasefire with Hamas.

Marmans’s partner Norberto Louis Har, 70, and her and Leimberg’s brother Fernando Marman, 60, were rescued from Hamas captivity by Israeli special forces in February 2024.

The IDF probe into the attack on Nir Yitzhak found that the army showed up to secure the community far too late, after the last terrorists had already left and returned to the Gaza Strip.

The findings published Friday are the latest in a series of detailed investigations into some 40 battles and massacres that took place during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, when about 5,600 terrorists stormed across the border, killed some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages into Gaza, where dozens remain captive.

Similar to other investigations, the probe concluded that the IDF “failed in its mission to protect” the residents of Nir Yitzhak, mainly because the military never prepared for such an event: an Israeli community being attacked by terrorists, as well as a widespread attack on numerous towns and army bases simultaneously by thousands of terrorists. The military also lacked an intelligence warning, and therefore, troops were unprepared for Hamas’s attack.

The probe into what happened at Nir Yitzhak, carried out by Col. Eylon Peretz — commander of the Yoav Regional Brigade — covered all aspects of the fighting in the kibbutz and surrounding area.

The IDF said the investigators made visits to the scene and reviewed every possible source of information, including footage taken by terrorists with body-mounted cameras, residents’ text messages, surveillance videos, army radio communications and interviews with survivors.

Peretz and his team spent hundreds of hours investigating the attack on Nir Yitzhak, a community of around 600.

The Nir Yitzhak probe was aimed at drawing specific operational conclusions for the military. It did not examine the wider picture of the military’s perception of Gaza and Hamas in recent years, which has been covered in separate, larger investigations into the IDF’s intelligence and defenses.
Hamas terror cell fires RPG rocket at IDF soldiers - and is swiftly eliminated
In an ongoing operation in the Daraj Tuffah area of the Gaza Strip, the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade, under the command of the 252nd Division, successfully neutralized a terrorist cell and destroyed several rocket launchers intended for attacks on Israeli territory, the military announced on Friday.

Earlier this week, during one of the operations, a terrorist cell fired an anti-tank missile at IDF troops from a window of a building where they had been hiding.

The IDF responded swiftly, and an IAF aircraft eliminated the threat, neutralizing the terrorist cell. The operation concluded without any IDF casualties.

Additionally, IDF troops located and destroyed multiple launchers in the region, which had been positioned for use in attacks targeting Israeli territory.

The ongoing operations continue to focus on ensuring the safety and security of Israeli civilians while preventing militant groups from carrying out further attacks, the IDF noted.


Israeli forces arrest PIJ terrorist in Samaria, foiling imminent attack
Israeli security forces overnight Thursday arrested an armed terrorist in western Samaria affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad who was allegedly planning an imminent attack.

The suspect, a PIJ terrorist from Qalqilya known to operate alongside Hamas gunmen in the area, was apprehended by officers from the Israel Police’s Gideonim undercover unit (Unit 33), working in coordination with Israel Defense Forces troops and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

The suspect was en route to carry out an “operational mission” when he was captured, the security forces said in a joint statement on Friday. During a search that followed his arrest, assault rifles believed to be intended for use by the terrorist cell were seized.

The statement noted that, in recent days, multiple suspects have been detained and are currently under investigation for suspected involvement in the Qalqilya-based cell affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The three security bodies emphasized that the overnight operation was conducted without any injuries to Israeli forces. A video released by the Israel Police’s Spokesperson’s Unit showed footage from the arrest raid.

“The Israel Police, Shin Bet and IDF will continue to act resolutely and responsibly to thwart any threat to the security of Israeli citizens, anywhere and at any time,” Friday’s statement concluded.


Why Douglas Murray won the debate with Dave Smith and Joe Rogan & Why You May Not Have Realized It.
The bad comments went up within minutes of posting a 2-hour conversation - that should tell you something. Keep an open mind!

A discussion of the Murray/Smith debate on the Joe Rogan show. Our call: A Murray victory that was somewhat obscured by Dave Smith's talented and agile performance.

00:00:00 Intro - Comedy Cellar Podcast Setup
00:00:51 Debate Overview - Rogan, Smith, Murray
00:02:00 Rise of Conspiracies on the Right
00:04:36 Tucker Carlson and Respectability
00:10:00 Dave Smith vs Douglas Murray - First Impressions
00:11:43 Smith Downplays Visiting Gaza
00:22:00 Expertise vs Populism
00:24:00 Smith Defends Churchill "Chief Villain" Revisionism
00:27:00 Misuses Operation Unthinkable
00:30:30 Ignoring Churchill Antisemitism Smear
00:38:00 Smith Mistake 1: Falsely describes Baker's "Not One Inch" NATO Promise
00:43:30 Smith Mistake 2: Misrepresents Nuland Ukraine Call as a "coup" plan
00:48:37 Smith Mistake 3: Distorts William Perry's resignation regrets and NATO expansion opinions
00:51:35 Smith Mistake 4: Misunderstands Churchill's "Unnecessary War" meaning
00:56:36 How Debates Collapse - Conceding (But Not Really)
01:10:00 Final Reflections - Mainstreaming Conspiracies
01:20:00 Reconciling Dave's positions on Ukraine and Israel.




Call me Back Podcast : Is Israeli Society Descending into Madness? - with Ari Shavit
Today’s Conversation: On Tuesday, ​Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar submitted a newsmaking affidavit to Israel’s Supreme Court, claiming he was dismissed by Prime Minister Netanyahu for refusing to carry out politically motivated orders. Bar also provided a 31-page affidavit to the court which is classified. Prime Minister Netanyhau has responded in the press to Bar’s charges and has until Thursday to submit his own affidavit to the high court.

In this episode, we discuss a number of the charges, explanations, and counter-charges. But the stakes here go well beyond politics. To understand the forces shaping this highly divisive debate, we are joined by journalist and author Ari Shavit, whose work has long examined the fault lines of Israeli society—most recently in his book, The Third Temple.

00:00 Introduction
04:20 Ronen Bar affidavit and Israel’s history
21:37 Relationship between the PM and Shin Bet
26:31 Monitoring the protest movement
31:18 Non-constitutional mess
36:35 Ari’s book: The Third Temple
49:12 The role of the diaspora


THIS Happened At Yale On Holocaust Remembrance Day
Ben Shapiro reacts to the pro-Palestinian Yale protesters targeting Jewish students on Holocaust Remembrance Day, urging federal action and calling out campus antisemitism. He also discusses the disparate impact liability executive order from the Trump administration.


Ink Stained Wretches: The Interview: Lahav Harkov on News Coverage of the Israel-Gaza War
This week, Eliana flies solo and sits down with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov for a conversation about her path through Israeli and American media — and what the press got wrong and (less often) right about the Israel-Gaza war.




Israel Advocacy Movement: Egyptian Told Israeli “Don’t Run”… Then Got Schooled So Bad He Ran Mid-Debate



Jonathan Sacerdoti: It's a literal WAR! Writer turned activist Lee Kern on Israel, Islam, and the West
Oscar nominated screenwriter, WGA best screenwriter winner, Golden Globe winning film writer and triple Emmy nominated show writer Lee Kern talks to Jonathan Sacerdoti about his move to Israel, his move from comedy to activism, and what the future holds for him and all of Western civilisation


Jonathan Sacerdoti: Islam, Israel, communism: comedian warns of DANGERS facing us all. Daniel-Ryan Spaulding speaks out
Daniel-Ryan Spaulding is a comedian and writer who has performed stand-up live in over 50 countries, establishing himself in the European comedy circuit. After a decade building an international profile, his content has been shared by many celebrities, featured on news programmes internationally, and has garnered him a huge fan base online.

He moved to New York City in October 2023 after a year long struggle overcoming obesity. He got sober and lost over 100kg, only to experience the full force of the unhinged, pro-terrorism movement in response to the horrific events of October 7th in Israel.

He shares his analysis and thoughts of how his life, and the world, changed since that dark day, and explains just how comedy can play a vital part in the awakening of the West.


‘Outrageous’ says Chicago Jewish Alliance of city’s mayor wearing keffiyeh
The Chicago Jewish Alliance denounced Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday after the local chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations posted a photo of him wearing a keffiyeh to celebrate Arab Heritage Month.

“This is outrageous,” the alliance wrote. “For the mayor of Chicago to stand there—cloaked in a symbol now synonymous with Jewish bloodshed, flanked by an organization that justifies it—is more than tone-deaf. It’s a betrayal.”

“It tells Jewish Chicagoans: Your pain doesn’t matter. Your dead don’t count. Your safety is negotiable,” it continued, adding that the garment is “not neutral. It’s a flag of war.”

“The keffiyeh isn’t just a cultural symbol. Not anymore. In today’s world, it’s worn at Hamas rallies. It’s paraded in the streets when mobs chant ‘From the river to the sea,’ a call for the eradication of Israel. It’s the uniform of those who cheered on the Oct. 7 massacre — where babies were burned, women raped, and over 1,200 Jews slaughtered.”

The statement went further to call out CAIR, stating the organization is a “co-conspirator in the largest terror-financing trial in U.S. history.”

CAIR blamed Israel for the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and was removed from the White House national strategy on antisemitism under the Biden administration. Its executive director, Nihad Awad, said that Israel does not have the right to self-defense.


French left demands Paris concert ban for Israeli singer
France’s far-left political party La France Insoumise (LFI) is demanding the cancellation of Israeli singer Eyal Golan’s concert in Paris, scheduled for May 20 at the Dôme de Paris.

LFI lawmaker Thomas Portes called the sold-out show a “concert of shame,” citing Golan’s public comments related to the war in Gaza.

The party also referenced Golan’s earlier removal from the Eilat Women’s Festival lineup amid renewed attention to past allegations of misconduct, which he has denied.

Golan, 54, is one of Israel’s most prominent performers, known for his fusion of Mizrahi and pop music. The Paris concert marks part of his European tour.

As of press time, French authorities had not responded to LFI’s request, and Golan’s representatives have not commented on the controversy
Will Australia succumb to anti-Israel populism as elections near?
Reflected in recent polling, this translates into a scenario where neither party will achieve a majority, meaning that either party will need to seek the support of minority parties, such as the Greens and the Teals, to form a government.

Australia’s electoral process is based on preferences, as opposed to a simple first-past-the-post system. This makes voters’ second and or third preferred selection critical in deciding the outcome of an election for a seat. It also results in deals made between parties to secure majorities based on the allocation of such preferences.

To the chagrin of the Jewish community, in many hotly contested seats, including the seat held by Labor’s Jewish attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, the Labor party is entering into deals with the Greens party to exchange preferences, thereby demonstrating its pursuit of power at all costs.

In the likely event that no party achieves an outright majority, it is expected that the Labor party will form a minority government with the support of the Greens. This will involve Labor making concessions on economic policy, which will cause major damage. In addition, the Greens’ obsession with Israel, where they have called for boycotts and embargoes, may also be used to leverage their support.

Reminiscent of what occurred in the recent UK elections, there is the emergence of the Muslim vote where radical Muslims are challenging the incumbent Labor members in six electorates in western Sydney, where Muslims comprise up to 30% of the said electorates. Notwithstanding that the incumbent Labor MPs have been among the vociferous supporters of the Labor party’s shift away from its support of Israel, the campaign by the Muslim extremists is based on the singular issue of Palestine, where they are demanding that Australia sever all ties with the Jewish state.

The prospect of a minority Labor government supported by the Greens is causing extreme consternation and foreboding within the Jewish community and will generate much discussion as to whether Jews have a long-term future in Australia. The same kind of fear that Jews face in the UK, France, and Canada is evident in Australia, too.

Australia’s foreign policy will never influence events in the Middle East. However, its shift away from its traditional support for Israel serves as a major bellwether for Israel’s standing on the international stage.

If countries like Australia can succumb to the moral abyss of the global campaign to delegitimise Israel, who is next?

The United States? It came close under the previous Democratic administration, and current indications are that the Democrats’ trajectory to the left is continuing. Elections now hold huge importance in determining the future of Western civilization.
'Surprising' that antisemitism debate isn't more central in election campaign
Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Daniel Aghion KC discusses the lack of debate over the rise of antisemitism within Australia.

“The Jewish community, all it wants to see is its right to be safe and to participate equally in Australian society,” he told Sky News host Steve Price.

“We are entitled to have our synagogues, not firebombed, we are entitled not to be the subject of death threats.

“I am surprised it hasn’t occupied more of the debate on the campaign trail and I’m also surprised and disappointed that we haven’t had bipartisan support."




‘Outrageous’: Anti-Zionist group targets Ben-Gvir, Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn, NY
Hundreds of people, including anti-Israel, anti-Zionist protesters, gathered outside 770 Eastern Parkway, the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Thursday night to demonstrate the presence of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, who was attending a Jewish celebration there.

The New York City Police Department told JNS that it responded to an unscheduled demonstration at around 9:30 p.m., which lasted for about two hours.

“In total, six individuals were taken into custody,” the NYPD said. “Five of the individuals were issued criminal court summonses, and one was arrested.”

Oscar Vidal, 28, from Bayonne, N.J., was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, third-degree assault and criminal mischief, according to the NYPD.

The protest was organized by the self-described anti-Zionist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL).

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, a community leader in Crown Heights, condemned the protests in a statement on Thursday.

“What happened tonight in Crown Heights was outrageous and deeply disturbing,” he stated. “A group of antisemitic protesters gathered at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue—the very heart of this heavily populated Jewish neighborhood—spewing hateful, inflammatory rhetoric at innocent passersby, myself included.”

The anti-Israel protesters shouted, “We don’t want Zionists here” and “Resistance is justified,” according to Behrman.

“How dare you come into my neighborhood, where I’ve lived for over 40 years, and tell me I don’t belong?” he asked rhetorically. “I absolutely belong here. My family, my neighbors and my community belong here.”




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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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