Tuesday, April 29, 2025

04/29 Links Pt1: The Death of Expertise; The Top 7 Lies About Israel and the IDF Pertaining to Gaza; Get the U.S. Out of UNESCO; When the chips are down, the Kneecaps can’t stand up

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: The Death of Expertise
The New Yorker has a fascinating essay on the relevance of Israel’s war against Hamas to U.S. military planners who have the unfortunate task of preparing for a possible hot war with China. Seen through the eyes of a former judge advocate general—a U.S. military figure who knows the realities of war and the laws that govern it, amounting to a unique level of expertise—Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza looks very different from the picture painted by NGOs and the media.

“At the Rafah border, I.D.F. intelligence officers showed [former U.S. JAG Geoffrey] Corn surveillance videos that he says demonstrated Hamas activity in the area before the I.D.F. offensive commenced,” Colin Jones writes. “The suggestion was that the destruction he saw was not the product of an indiscriminate assault and that the laws of war had been upheld. Hamas’s use of civilian buildings transformed those sites into ‘military objectives,’ Corn said. The civilians killed were not targets but ‘incidental deaths.’”

Corn and Jones go on to discuss the fact that the level of physical damage doesn’t tell you whether war crimes were committed. This is both important and self-evident. To wit: If one house in Gaza City were reduced to rubble, no one would assume that meant the law had been broken; anyone would say “tell me what happened there” before reaching a conclusion. If Hamas had been operating from that house, it would explain the destruction.

Now what if Hamas was operating from 10 houses in that Gaza City neighborhood? Does any one of those 10 houses become untouchable simply because there are a lot of houses with Hamas fighters?

Legal action does not become a war crime simply because that legal action happens repeatedly. Deep down, Israel’s critics simply have to know this. Thus, not only are war-crime accusations often wrong; they are delivered in bad faith.

That is the first lesson of the New Yorker story: that it is actually Israel’s critics who tend not to care about international law. They are not seeking to clearly apply international humanitarian law to the wars they observe. Israel has repeatedly found ways to defeat its enemies legally, and this frustrates them. They want Israel to restrict its engagement beyond what international law requires. The reason is that they want Israel to lose the war. That does not make it illegal for Israel to win the war.
John Spencer & Arsen Ostrovsky: The Top 7 Lies About Israel and the IDF Pertaining to Gaza
Israel today is not only fighting a terrorist regime that has weaponized civilians — it is fighting a second war: a war against lies. From false claims of genocide, to manipulated casualty statistics, to the cynical misuse of humanitarian law, nearly every accusation leveled against Israel and the IDF distorts reality, ignores law, and inverts morality.

In Gaza, Israel faces a battlefield unlike any other in modern history: a dense, fortified, civilian-dominated urban environment deliberately and methodically turned into a human shield by Hamas. Yet despite these impossible conditions, Israel has conducted its campaign with a level of restraint, precision, and adherence to law that is virtually unmatched in modern warfare. It has taken more precautions to protect civilians than the law requires — often at great operational risk to its own forces.

But facts alone are not enough. They must be defended — clearly, forcefully, and repeatedly — against the tide of weaponized disinformation. The IDF's conduct is not a violation of international law; it is a defense of it. It is not a stain on the laws of war; it is a case study in how democratic nations must fight even when facing enemies who recognize no law, no morality, and no distinction between civilians and soldiers.

In a just world, Israel’s efforts would be recognized for what they are: the very definition of lawful and moral warfare. In the world we live in, however, defending these truths is not optional — it is essential.
OPINION: I’m a non-Jewish soldier and I stand full square with Israel
As a non-Jewish career Australian Army officer, I never imagined that my service to country would one day lead me to the frontlines of an entirely different battle -a fight against the world’s oldest hatred. But the atrocities of October 7, 2023, and the chants of “Gas the Jews” outside the Sydney Opera House two days later compelled me to act.

It was morning in Israel -just after dawn – when Hamas launched its barbaric assault. At the same moment, it was Saturday evening in Australia. My 18-year-old daughter was at a music festival in Sydney, dancing in celebration of life. I had resided in Israel for more than two years. Close friends were personally involved. One dear friend still has a loved one held hostage in Gaza. It could have been my daughter. I could not be a bystander.

Planning began on what is now The 2023 Foundation, a nascent global charity dedicated to combatting antisemitism. Inspired by the Fulbright model of cultural exchange, our approach is rooted in first-hand experience. We identify, invite, and immerse non-Jewish influencers in Israeli society. We aim to build enduring cross-cultural understanding. But unlike Fulbright, we focus specifically on building connection to Israel for non-Jews in the silent majority who rarely engage with the issue.

Our immersive experiences in Israel provide a powerful hook – but the deeper purpose is to build empathy, understanding, and connection as the gateway to something much greater: our alumni programme. This long-term initiative is designed to cultivate a growing network of non-Jewish advocates who stand up for Jewish people and the values we share. Not because I want them to, but because they feel compelled to – after seeing Israel in all its perfect imperfections and realising they themselves have been victims of Orwellian levels of gaslighting and projection.
Human-Rights Bodies Corrupt Human Rights To Vilify Israel
While there are numerous, well-funded international organizations nominally dedicated to protecting human rights, don’t expect them to encourage the Trump administration to punish Iran for mistreating its subjects. They’re too busy condemning Israel for imagined crimes. Peter Berkowitz writes:

The Declaration of Independence holds that it is self-evidently true that human beings are endowed with “unalienable rights”—the 18th-century term for human rights. The Constitution aims to secure them. Much of the nation’s history revolves around the struggle to ensure that all Americans enjoy the rights that are theirs in virtue of their humanity.

In the 21st century, powerful human-rights organizations have played into dictators’ hands by politicizing human rights. While persisting in affirming human rights’ universality, these organizations equate them with a tendentious version of the progressive agenda. They wield human rights as a propaganda tool, inflating the claims of favored groups and disparaging the claims of the disfavored.

And no group is as disfavored as the citizens of Israel. In the view of the self-appointed guardians of human rights, Berkowitz writes,

Israel’s exercise of the most elemental of human rights, the right of self-defense, violates its enemies’ rights to perpetrate atrocities against the Jewish state.

In 2024, the UK chapter of Amnesty International—the world’s largest human-rights organization—went out of its way to promote a Palestinian demonstration in London commemorating the one-year anniversary of Iran-backed Hamas’s slaughter of some 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and kidnapping of approximately 250, mostly civilians. On the occasion, Amnesty International featured on its website a pro-Palestinian video indicating that Israel’s establishment in 1948 justified Hamas’s massacre in 2023.

At a 2022 Washington luncheon, Amnesty International USA’s director, Paul O’Brien, bluntly stated, “We are opposed to the idea—and this, I think, is an existential part of the debate—that Israel should be preserved as a state for the Jewish people.”


‘A light in the darkness’: Eli Sharabi shares his story of survival at first community event outside Israel
For 16 months, Eli Sharabi had no idea what had happened to his family on October 7. In captivity, he clung to the belief that they were alive and he had to survive long enough to see them again. "I will be back," he had told his daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, as he was dragged away by Hamas terrorists from their home on Kibbutz Be’eri.

It was only on the day of his release during a ceasefire deal in February 2025, that he learned the truth. Eli’s British-born wife Lianne and their two Israeli-British daughters were murdered the very day he was taken.

This was just one of the heartbreaking details Eli shared with an audience of 1,400 at St John’s Wood United Synagogue on Monday evening.

His conversation with Louise Jacobs, former chair of the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), which hosted the event, marked the first time Eli had spoken publicly to a Jewish community outside Israel.

Eli told the London audience about the horrors of the deadly Hamas tunnel network. Despite the conditions, Eli – who has Yemenite and Moroccan heritage – turned to prayer for strength.

Though not a religious man, he began reciting the Shema as he was smuggled out of Kibbutz Be’eri in a stolen car and into Gaza. Inside the tunnels, every Friday, he would make Kiddush over water and say Hamotzi over scraps of pitta saved by the hostages. It was one of many ways they tried to hold on to their humanity.

He had occasional pieces of information from his captors, but knew nothing of his family's fate.

He later learnt that his brother, Yossi, washad been murdered in captivity and is now fighting for his brother’s body to be returned to Israel.

Eli urged the world not to forget the hostages still trapped in Gaza and said those left behind were still waiting for the next stage of the deal. “It is very important to bring home the hostages that are alive and to bury those that are dead so that their families have a grave they can cry on.

"The darkness is everywhere," he told the audience. "But I am not going to give up. I will always try to find the light in the darkness."

His reason for living, he said, is for those still left. "I will not see my wife and my daughters anymore," he said. "But I still have family and friends."

Introducing Eli was Steve Brisley, Lianne’s brother and Eli’s brother-in-law, who had stood on the same bimah back in January when Eli’s fate was still unknown.

“In a time of unbearable loss, Eli’s return has given us something to hold onto – a flicker of light," he said. "Grief is simply love that has no home. With Eli’s return, we have found that home."

“Sharing this evening with Eli reminded me of the everlasting bond between us, between our families, between our nations. Listening to him speak about his experiences, about the lessons we can all learn and about the importance of bringing every one of the remaining 59 hostages home, reminded me why his voice leaves such a lasting mark. Some moments feel bigger than words – and this was one of them.”


At Israeli Summit, Gaza Ceasefire Rejection Sparks Broad Support for Continued Pressure on Hamas
Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer vowed at a policy summit on Monday that Israel would defeat Hamas and bring home the hostages still being held by the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza.

His remarks came amid reports that Israeli officials had formally rejected an Egyptian-brokered proposal for a five-year truce between Israel and Hamas in exchange for the release of 59 hostages still held in Gaza.

“We are going to dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities and end its rule in Gaza. We will ensure that Gaza can never again pose a threat to the State of Israel. And we are committed to bringing all our hostages home. These are the goals we have set, and we fully intend to achieve them,” Dermer vowed.

An Israeli senior official was cited earlier in the day as saying that Jerusalem had rebuffed a five-year truce that would see Hamas able to “rearm, recover, and continue its war against the State of Israel with greater intensity.”

The sentiment was echoed by several civil society leaders at the Jewish News Syndicate policy summit in Jerusalem, which brought together largely conservative policymakers, diplomats, academics, and journalists.

“There is absolutely no way that Hamas will give over every piece of its leverage. Even if there is a ceasefire, it will look more like [the one with] Hezbollah, which is not actually a ceasefire,” political commentator Meira Kolatch said, referring to the truce repeatedly violated by the Iran-backed terrorist group.

“The soldiers won’t agree to this,” Kolatch told The Algemeiner.

American influencer and PragerU host Xaviaer DuRousseau warned against “over-negotiating” with a terrorist organization such as Hamas. “Five years is far too long for Hamas to exist. Five days is too long. We need to be much more direct and forceful in doing everything to bring the hostages home and make sure Hamas is wiped off the planet.”

Beyond the Gaza war, a major focus of the gathering was Iran.

In his address at the summit a day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out a framework for countering Iranian nuclear ambitions. Noting strong US-Israel alignment on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Netanyahu called for a deal that would fully dismantle Iran’s enrichment infrastructure and curb its production of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

“A bad deal is worse than no deal,” Netanyahu warned, emphasizing that only the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would eliminate the threat.

“The only good deal that works is a deal like the one that was made with Libya that removed all [nuclear] infrastructure,” he said.
Netanyahu: "Without Our Help, Assad's Regime Wouldn't Have Fallen"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Sunday that Israel moved up its pager operation against Hizbullah by several weeks after intelligence indicated that three pagers sent from Lebanon were being scanned in Iran. "We launched the campaign in Lebanon three weeks earlier than planned," he told the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) conference in Jerusalem on Sunday. "Within six to seven hours, we destroyed most of the weapons Nasrallah had stockpiled over 30 years."

Netanyahu also disclosed that Israeli F-16 fighter jets were deployed to intercept Iranian aircraft en route to Damascus to prevent the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime. "Without our help, Assad's regime wouldn't have fallen," he said, adding that Israel destroyed 90% of the Iranian weaponry transferred to Syria to ensure Assad's survival.

Turning to Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu noted that Israeli operations had delayed Iran's progress toward a nuclear bomb by about a decade. He warned that Iran had made significant advances in uranium enrichment and weaponization. "It's not enough to prevent enrichment - they must lose the capability altogether," he said, stressing the need to destroy centrifuges and remove enriched uranium from Iranian territory.

He rejected the idea of establishing a Palestinian state, saying, "We tried that already" in Gaza. "Hamas won't be there. But we're not putting the PA there either," he said. "Why replace one regime sworn to destroy us with another regime sworn to destroy us?" He added that Israel would continue to maintain military control over Gaza after the fighting ends.
Any Deal with Iran Should Consider Terrorism as Well as Nuclear Proliferation
In 2015, even some who favored the nuclear agreement with Iran worried that it did nothing to counter Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and sowing of havoc throughout the Middle East. Now, writes Matthew Levitt, the same problem remains:

[A]ddressing Iran’s support for terrorism—which includes its involvement in the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel by Hamas and its stoking of regional turmoil by the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hizballah in Lebanon—has apparently not factored into the current negotiations with Iran. It should.

[M]inutes of Hamas meetings seized in Gaza now reveal that a senior Hamas official traveled to Iran, where he discussed planning for “the big project” that became the October 7 attack and sought Iranian funding and support for the attack. U.S. officials concluded that Iran was “broadly complicit” in the attack by virtue of its longstanding financial and material support of Hamas.

And how did Iran have the capacity to lend that support? The 2015 nuclear deal, which, as the first Trump administration made clear in 2018, gave Tehran access to millions of dollars in funds. Levitt concludes:

The moment is right . . . for the Trump administration to use all the leverage it has to pressure Iran to give up both its nuclear program and its terrorist program. That leverage consists mainly of sanctions imposed on Iran not only because of its nuclear-enrichment program, but also because of its human-rights abuses and support of terrorist groups.
Rep. Greg Landsman: Ending Iran’s nuclear program, terrorism would transform the Middle East
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told Jewish Insider following a visit to Israel and Jordan last week that there is a “unique, potentially generational opportunity” to change the Middle East if the U.S. can help put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and its support for regional terrorism.

Landsman also told JI he’s working on legislation to create a bipartisan select committee focused on Middle East peace, an initiative he said would help elevate the issue and find bipartisan solutions.

As the Trump administration proceeds in talks with Iran, Landsman said U.S. lawmakers should insist on four key components in any potential nuclear deal: stringent monitoring and verification; an Iranian commitment to an exclusively civilian nuclear program; an end to all Iranian domestic enrichment and the removal of all enriched uranium from the country; and an end to Iran’s support for regional terrorism.

He said that eliminating Iran’s support for regional terrorism would radically change the lives of the Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian, Yemeni, Iraqi and Israeli people — ”let these people go, leave them alone,” Landsman said.

“Everyone wins. Literally — everyone wins,” Landsman added. “That’s the key, and probably one of the most important things to Middle East peace. If [Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff and the administration have those in play, and they’re willing to pull the right coalition together to get that done, that would be a game changer.”

He added that “anything short of that leaves the Middle East insecure and constantly in this cycle of violence. The suffering has to end.”

Landsman called on American, Israeli, Jordanian, Egyptian and Saudi leaders to make clear that any deal must include all four of those elements. He said he heard a consistent message to that effect from Israeli and Jordanian leaders he spoke with during his trip. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who also visited the Middle East during the recent congressional recess, delivered a similar readout.

“If [a deal is] short of any of those things, that’s a big problem,” Landsman continued, adding that the only way to compel Iran to agree to such a formulation is if it knows that the alternative is an Israeli or joint Israeli, American and allied strike on its nuclear program.

“There has to be that sense of urgency for them,” Landsman said.
Israeli convicted of plotting assassinations for Iran sentenced to 10 years
The Beersheba District Court on Tuesday handed a 10-year prison sentence to Moti Maman, an Israeli man convicted in December of contacts with Iranian agents, some of them inside Iran, and discussing with them a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Maman, 73, of Ashdod, was convicted on charges of contact with a foreign agent and entering an enemy state without authorization, after he visited Iran twice and met with Iranian intelligence officials to discuss assassinating senior Israeli public figures including Netanyahu, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, or then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.

“The sentence should reflect a significant element of deterrence and convey a clear and distinct message regarding the punitive price that should be attached to holding illicit and unlawful ties between Israeli citizens and our enemies,” wrote Judge Benny Sagi, president of the court.

It was necessary to give considerable weight to the timing of Maman’s offenses “during a war when Iran is a significant enemy of Israel, and while soldiers are fighting on many fronts,” the court said.

Maman’s interactions with Iranian agents came when Israel was battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip in a war triggered by the Iran-backed terror group’s devastating October, 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.

In the wake of the Hamas attack, other Iranian proxies including Hezbollah in Lebanon and groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen began to launch drone and rocket attacks at Israel in support of Hamas.

Sagi said the fact that Maman showed up for a second meeting in Iran, knowing that it would be similar to the first, during which working for Iran was discussed, showed his “persistence in the improper relationship, even if it was for financial gain.”

On the other hand, Sagi said, he took into consideration the fact that Maman admitted to the crimes and expressed regret.
Eugene Kontorovich: Get the U.S. Out of UNESCO
President Trump's Feb. 4 executive order mandated a review of U.S. membership in the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A decision is due by May 5.

UNESCO's executive board meeting in Paris in April demonstrates that the organization is beyond reform.

This year, three of the 11 "program issues" on the agenda related to criticism of Israel.

Two of the three "general matters" items revolved around "occupied Palestine" and "the occupied Arab territories."

Ukraine and Syria merited only one item each at the entire two-week conference.

In 1984 Ronald Reagan withdrew the U.S. from UNESCO over the organization's politicization.

George W. Bush rejoined in 2003, but in the years that followed, UNESCO admitted the "State of Palestine" as a full member, passed resolutions denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, and designated Jewish holy places as "Palestinian World Heritage sites."

This led Mr. Trump to pull the U.S. out of UNESCO in 2018, only for President Biden to reverse the move five years later.
Take it from a moderate, Islamist extremism is still the biggest threat we face
“If the British public knew about the scale of cases coming into the courts around Islamist extremism, maybe then they would realise the risk that we all face”. This is a comment I made to a few friends recently. As a British Muslim, I have long questioned why some within parts of my community have sought to downplay the cancerous extremism that has taken hold of the minds of some young Muslims.

Given the sheer number of Islamist extremist cases that have gone through our courts, and which I am going to list, it is patently obvious that the scale and the depth of Islamist extremism continues to pose a real and ongoing danger to our society and our national values. A deep dive into them will show the frightening nature of some of the planning, intent and hate for our society that some of the defendants have shown.

So let’s take a snapshot over the last two months and look at the types of cases that have entered our courts, and which demonstrate the scale and level of the problem that some seek to brush under the carpet in the ill-placed intention of maintaining “social cohesion.”

On March 7 a 20-year old Kazakh born UK resident, Dzhamilya Timaeva, was sentenced to a two-year community order after being convicted of possessing a terrorist video called “incite the believers” which she had downloaded around October 2022.

On April 2 2025, a teenager pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State videos and propaganda on Telegram and Tiktok. 19-year-old Leo Walby admitted the six charges of dissemination of a terrorist publication between July and August 2024. On April 7 2025, an Islamist extremist born in Turkey and who arrived in the UK on a small boat was jailed for 45 months for supporting the Islamic State.
When Recognition Becomes Evasion: Europe's Palestinian Statehood Campaign
The European countries currently leading the move to recognize a Palestinian state - France, Spain, Ireland, Norway - are not doing so in a rational political process, but due to domestic political pressure: tumultuous demonstrations, a public arena dominated by Muslim voices, and militant campuses.

France has 6.8 million Muslims (10% of the population); 2.5-3 million Muslims live in Spain; Germany's Muslim population is 5.5 million.

Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state has become an act of domestic appeasement. It is motivated by the need to appear moral, but ignores the destructive consequences – for Israel's security, regional stability, and for the future of the Palestinians themselves.

The Western attempt to differentiate between the "jihadist terrorist" and the PLO-type "nationalist fighter" reflects a fundamental failure to understand the conflict. Both have the same underlying strategy: an ongoing struggle whose ultimate goal is not an accord but the destruction of the Zionist enemy.

Even if Hamas temporarily disarms, is exiled, or is "distanced from the arena," its ethos will continue to thrive: in the mosques, the textbooks, the local police force, the discourse of the street. The struggle will not end.

The budgets of both the PA and Hamas are based mainly on external aid. There is no effective taxation, independent central bank, or orderly economic policy. A state that is established in such a condition will be a completely dependent entity - not an independent, sovereign one.

It will be both a terror state and an institutionally failed state that will soon become a plaything of external or internal forces. As long as the Palestinian educational, religious, and media systems propagate a discourse of hate, supremacy, and victimhood, no society can be built when its language is one of perpetual conflict.
Macron Fights for a Palestinian State
The process adopted by President Emmanuel Macron and French parliamentarians to end hostilities in the Middle East is unsuitable and unfeasible after the terrible event of Oct. 7, 2023. Since that horrific pogrom, the overwhelming majority of Israelis are fiercely opposed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Israelis reject diktat, unnecessary risks, and suicide.

The cancellation of the visit to Israel by 17 French parliamentarians exposes trickery. Their intentions were not to engage in dialogue, but to provoke and sow discord, and to demonstrate violently against Israeli policy. We deplore the role of the French Consulate General in Jerusalem, which for several years has transformed itself into a veritable "diplomatic representation to Palestine."

Without prior and serious consultation with the Israeli government, Macron launched a peace plan that clearly defines the final status before even being able to negotiate all the issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict. How dare Macron imagine the creation of a Palestinian state without a single legal-political attribute?

Who will lead this new state? Hamas, which already has a strong presence in Jenin and Hebron? Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, 89 years old? How can we not first condemn a Palestinian leader who continues to support incitement to hatred and terrorist acts by paying salaries to the perpetrators and their families? How can we not expose human rights violations, torture in Palestinian prisons, corruption, and the lack of transparency within Abbas's government?

It is clear that the creation of a Palestinian state is becoming a dangerous solution and an existential threat to Israel. It will encourage Islamist organizations to continue terrorist and antisemitic acts in Europe, particularly in France. Macron demonstrates France's disconnection from the realities of the Middle East.
Turkey's Expanding Military Footprint Threatens Israel
In recent years, Turkey has emerged as one of the most active military powers in the Middle East and Africa, establishing bases, deploying troops, and forging new military alliances from Cyprus, northern Iraq, and Syria to Somalia and Qatar, and from Libya to Chad. However, these moves bring Turkish forces potentially into conflict with other regional players, including Egypt and Israel.

Turkey maintains a strong and expanding military presence in northern Iraq in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Moreover, Turkey maintains tank battalions and special forces in northeast Iraq. In Syria, Turkey controls parts of the north and Turkey has posed itself as the protector of the new regime against Iranian subversion. In Qatar, Turkey has deployed 4,000 troops to the Tariq bin Ziyad base near Doha as an assertion of its role as a protector of its ideological ally.

Turkey operates its largest overseas military base in Somalia at Camp TURKSOM, near Mogadishu. Turkish troops are also deployed in the two mains cities of eastern Chad, Abeche and Faya Largeau, along the border with Sudan. Turkey maintains over 30,000 troops in Northern Cyprus, a symbol of the unresolved conflict since the 1974 division of the island.

Turkey's support for Hamas, its criticism of Israeli policies in Gaza and Jerusalem, and its ambitions in Syria are significant flashpoints in the Israel-Turkey equation. Israeli air operations in Syria - primarily targeting Iranian assets - frequently occur in airspace close to Turkish-controlled areas.

As Turkey deepens its entrenchment in Syria through new military outposts and intelligence activities, the risk of accidental or intentional encounters rises. Moreover, Turkish cooperation with anti-Israel actors could draw Israeli responses. Yet, a direct military clash between the two is unlikely in the short term. Both Ankara and Jerusalem are skilled at managing tensions through diplomatic channels.
Who Will Rule Gaza After the War? Ex-IDF Spokesman Sees Just One Option
If Hamas is dismantled and the war between Israel and the terrorist group comes to an end, Israel will need to step in and “rule Gaza” for a time, a former international spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces says.

“I think in [an] interim period, Israel will apply a military occupation of it and rule Gaza to make sure that Hamas is indeed defeated, that there [are] no pockets of resistance and terrorism and guerrilla [warfare], etc.,” Jonathan Conricus, the ex-IDF spokesman, told The Daily Signal at the Jewish News Syndicate International Policy Summit in Jerusalem.

Once Hamas and its sympathizers are completely defeated in Gaza, “Israel will move out, and then it will transition,” said Conricus, who is also a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It has to transition to local self-governance by Palestinians, not by Hamas, and not by corrupt Palestinian Authority officials, but by local, vetted, non-terror-aligned Palestinians that have local standing in Gaza and that show that their trajectory, what they value, is the present and the future, and that they want to build a different Gaza.”

This plan will require patience, according to the former IDF spokesman, adding, “I don’t think that we have any other options.”

Conricus estimates it will take about five years to see positive change in Gaza, providing a “good plan” is in place with proper funding.

“To think that this is a quick fix that can be done quickly would be naive and misleading. That is not the situation,” he said. “There is a very bad situation that has been going on for many years and, as such, it will take many years to undo.”

In the meantime, Conricus says Egypt needs to allow the people of Gaza to flee the war-torn region they are living in.




Trump dismisses at least 7 Biden appointees to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
The Trump administration has dismissed multiple members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by former President Joe Biden, Jewish Insider has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation told JI that those fired from the board overseeing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and other Holocaust commemoration activities include former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former Ambassador Susan Rice, former Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, former presidential senior advisor Tom Perez and Mary Zients (an activist and wife of former White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients) and former Ambassador Alan Solomont.

Emhoff, Klain, Rice and Finer did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Perez and Zients could not be reached.

“He’s talking all about fighting antisemitism, but he chooses to make a divisive call on the official arm of the federal government that was created to remember the Holocaust,” Solomont told JI.

The New York Times also reported that Emhoff, Klain, Perez and Rice had been dismissed, as well as Anthony Bernal, a senior advisor to former First Lady Jill Biden.
Arkansas becomes first state to ban agencies from saying ‘West Bank’
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, signed legislation on Monday to prohibit the state’s agencies from using the term “West Bank.”

The bill, which passed in the Arkansas General Assembly earlier this month, is considered to be the first time that a U.S. state has required its documents to call the area that Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria.

“It is the intent of the General Assembly to: (1) Refer to the land controlled by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War by its historical name of ‘Judea and Samaria’, with the land south of Jerusalem being considered ‘Judea’ and the land north of Jerusalem being considered ‘Samaria’; and (2) No longer use the term ‘West Bank’ in official government materials.”

Proponents of the phrasing contend that the names better reflect Israeli terminology. They also say the use recognizes the historic and biblical connection of Jews to the kingdoms of Judea and Samaria, while the phrase “West Bank” was popularized by Jordan after it occupied the area in 1948 to imply continuity between the east and west banks of the Jordan River.

Sanders’s father, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and a former governor of Arkansas, has previously argued that the Jewish state has a biblical “title deed” to Judea and Samaria.

“There are certain words I refuse to use,” Huckabee said in 2017. “There is no such thing as a ‘West Bank.’ It’s Judea and Samaria.”

Similar legislation, which has been proposed at the federal level, is pending in the House and Senate.
CUFI leader: ‘No government contracts for Israel-haters’
Sandra Hagee Parker, chairwoman of the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Action Fund, called on Monday to prevent U.S. taxpayer-funded contracts going to those supporting boycotts against Israel.

“We are not here to try and change the hearts and minds of people who hate Israel,” Hagee Parker, the daughter of CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. “What they are not entitled to do is weaponize taxpayer dollars. Nobody has a right to gain a government contract while hating on our closest ally.”

CUFI, which claims more than 10 million members, works to mobilize American Christians in support of Israel and the Jewish people, and to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel activism, including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“I might be patient zero when it comes to the Jewish-Christian alliance,” said Hagee Parker. “Pastor Hagee started ‘A Night to Honor Israel’ the year I was born, 44 years ago. I was raised knowing no other way than to be a born evangelical Christian Zionist.”

She recalled the backlash her father faced in the early years. “In my father’s generation, he was a pioneer in the Christian camp. He was called a heretic. But today, thanks to more than four decades of work, support for Israel has become second nature among evangelical Christians.”

Hagee Parker emphasized the biblical foundation for CUFI’s mission: “From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is clear about the centrality of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. If you don’t believe Christians should stand with Israel, you don’t believe the Bible,” she said.

“Faith without works is dead,” she continued. “It’s one thing to believe, but until you act on that faith, you haven’t exercised it.”

CUFI and John Hagee Ministries have donated more than $180 million to support Jewish and Israeli causes.
ICC restricts prosecutor over Israel arrest warrant moves
The International Criminal Court has imposed new restrictions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, following reports on Monday that he is seeking additional arrest warrants against Israeli officials, according to The Guardian.

Sources within the court told the British newspaper that Khan recently submitted or is preparing to submit new warrant requests, at least one of which has either been approved or is close to approval. The identity of the warrant’s target is reportedly being kept confidential, reflecting a growing rift between Khan and ICC judges over his approach—particularly his public announcements regarding sensitive investigations.

The prosecutor’s office declined to confirm or deny the existence of any new, unpublished arrest warrants. In a statement, Khan’s office emphasized that any warrant request is based on a “thorough, independent, and objective investigation.”

This development comes just days after ICC judges agreed to re-examine the court’s jurisdiction in the arrest warrant proceedings concerning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The decision is seen as a procedural win for Israel, potentially delaying any enforcement of arrest warrants until the jurisdiction question is resolved by a smaller panel of judges. Khan has repeatedly asserted both he and the court have jurisdiction over Israel, a claim Jerusalem, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the court, consistently and vehemently denies.

According to court sources, the new warrants reportedly focus on alleged crimes committed in Judea and Samaria. The tension between Khan and ICC judges appears to stem from his pattern of publicly announcing his intentions to pursue arrest warrants—a sharp departure from the discretion exercised by his predecessors. The judges have expressed concern that these announcements may harm the court’s credibility and interfere with its work.


Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to resign over Oct. 7 failures
Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar announced on Monday that he will step down on June 15, citing personal responsibility for the agency’s failure to prevent the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

“After years on many fronts, in one night on the southern front, the sky fell. All systems collapsed. The Shin Bet also failed to provide early warning,” Bar said during a memorial for fallen Shin Bet personnel. “As the head of the organization, I took the responsibility.”

The Oct. 7 massacre left approximately 1,200 people dead and saw 251 hostages taken into Gaza. Israeli officials have described the attack as the greatest intelligence failure in the country’s history.

Bar’s resignation comes amid broader criticism of Israel’s pre-Oct. 7 strategic assumptions vis a vis Hamas. As JNS has reported, these flawed assessments contributed significantly to Israel’s unpreparedness for the assault.

Appointed in 2021, Bar served nearly three decades in the Shin Bet, including in senior counterterrorism roles. In recent months, under his leadership, the agency has been heavily involved in dismantling Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.
IDF eliminates Hamas terrorist involved in Oct. 7 Kissufim massacre

Israeli forces arrest 24 terror suspects in Judea and Samaria
Israeli forces in Gaza have killed Sa’id Abu Hasnan, a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated southern Israel and took part in the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre at Kissufim, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced on Tuesday.

In coordinated strikes, the IDF and Shin Bet also killed Ali Naddal Husni Sarfiti, a senior Palestinian Popular Front operative. Sarfiti, who served a prison sentence in Israel from 2002 to 2015 for planning terrorist attacks, continued to orchestrate attacks and transfer millions of shekels to terror networks after his release, according to the statement.

Additionally, Israeli forces eliminated Mustafa al-Mutawwak, an operations officer in Hamas‘ Jabalia Brigade who directed attacks on IDF troops inside Gaza.

The IDF and Shin Bet vowed to continue dismantling terrorist infrastructure and removing threats to Israeli civilians.
IDF intercepts drone smuggling assault rifles from Egypt
The Israel Defense Forces intercepted a drone attempting to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Israeli territory late on Monday night.

IDF surveillance teams identified the UAV entering Israeli airspace. Israeli forces promptly downed the drone and, upon examination, discovered it was transporting 10 M-16 assault rifles, as well as ammunition. The seized arms were handed over to security personnel for further investigation.

This event is part of a broader pattern of recent smuggling attempts along the Israeli-Egyptian border using UAVs. Over the past several months, the IDF has intercepted multiple drones carrying firearms and munitions across the border. For instance, in January, a drone carrying 13 rifles was shot down by Paran Brigade troops. Similar interceptions occurred in November and October of the previous year, illustrating an ongoing trend.

The Sinai Peninsula, long known for smuggling activity due to its rugged landscape and limited security presence, remains a challenging region. Despite Egyptian efforts to disrupt smuggling routes and bolster border security, smugglers have increasingly turned to drones to bypass traditional barriers.

The IDF reaffirmed its vigilance in safeguarding Israel’s borders and its determination to prevent the influx of illegal weapons that could endanger civilian lives.


School of War: Ep 193: Douglas Murray on Israel’s War and its Global Consequences
Douglas Murray, journalist and author of On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, joins the show for a wide ranging conversation that covers Death Cults, anti-Semitism, and recent shifts in the Right.

Times
• 01:42 Introduction
• 03:00 9/11 origins
• 09:50 It’s not 1939
• 13:45 Death cults
• 19:16 “I’m not a fascist, I’m an idealist.”
• 23:51 Vasily Grossman
• 37:05 What’s going on with the Right?
• 49:07 Nostalgia for the absolute
• 54:10 Regaining balance
Orthodox Conundrum PodCast: Inside the Real Rules of War: Colonel John Spencer vs. Media Myths About Israel and Hamas (246)
Colonel John Spencer, one of the world's leading experts on urban warfare, joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about Israel’s war against Hamas. We dive deep into the realities of modern combat, the strict standards of international law, and the false accusations of "genocide" being leveled against Israel. Colonel Spencer also shares insights from his recent high-profile debate alongside Dave Smith on Piers Morgan Uncensored, where he pushed back against the misinformation dominating media narratives.

We talk about the dangers of influencer-driven disinformation, the moral challenges Israel faces on the battlefield, and what the world gets wrong about the rules of war. We also discuss whether Israel is succeeding in its stated goals, and how the war can conclude without turning into an endless quagmire.
Uncovering Hamas's Gruesome Human Sacrifice Agenda 🪂🤸‍♀️ Premature Evacuation
Welcome to the A Paratrooper and a Yogi Walk Into a Bar... Podcast, where veteran paratrooper Andrew Fox and expert yogi Shana Meyerson discuss the most interesting events relating to Israel, war in the Middle East, and antisemitism in the past week. 🥂

JUMPING IN WITH ANDREW: Andrew gives a sneak preview into his upcoming report on Hamas's Human Shield Strategy in Gaza and challenges the findings of NGOs who claim to defend human rights. 🪂

YOGI YADA-YADA WITH SHANA: Shana discusses the folly of hostage negotiations with Hamas and the brilliance of Israeli strategy that may just allow them to accomplish all of their war aims.




When the chips are down, the Kneecaps can’t stand up
The idiot band “Kneecap” are finding it a bit hot in the kitchen and have retreated to the living room for a sit-down. When the chips were down, it turns out that the didn’t have it in their ideologically arthritic knees to stand up. So what are the chips?

Well, owing to their poorly-considered political rantings – the swaggering bravado of which probably seemed like a good idea for some headline-grabbing publicity at the time – they are now facing contracts rescinded, cancelled concerts, visas revoked, criminal prosecution, and scrutiny by anti-terror police.

When Kemi Badenoch was Business Secretary, she wisely blocked public funding for the band, concerned about their radical politics. The new Labour government reversed her decision. But now Downing Street have realised Badenoch was right and have condemned the band for inflammatory comments apparently calling for the murder of Members of Parliament. The police are now investigating.

What’s more, the rappers appear to have given support proscribed terrorist groups from the stage. Footage from a gig in London shows them apparently waving a Hezbollah flag while a group member shouts “Up Hamas! Up Hezbollah!” and leads the crowd in a chant supporting the terror group. At the Coachella festival in the US, they alleged that Israel was committing “genocide” and shouted “Fuck Israel! Free Palestine!”. In an interview with former Labour Leader (and now ‘independent’) Jeremy Corbyn, they characterise Hamas as “The Resistance”, while reciting the trope that the conflict “did not start on October the 7th”.

At first they appeared to double-down when criticised, but now – as the consequences are more clear – they are frantically back-pedalling.

They issued a statement on X claiming that “the establishment” was trying to silence them over their opposition to the “genocide” in Gaza where they say millions are being “starved to death”. But here’s where their knees go weak. They claim:
“Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.”
“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual.”

Then follows the usual “taken out of context” allegations that you will be familiar with by now as the stock denial of anyone caught saying anything which later proved inconvenient. They have also apologised to the Cox and Amess families of murdered MPs. I doubt that it will help.

To make matters worse (for them), there are signs – if the X backlash is anything to go by – that their fans have now turned on them for their lack of having the courage of their convictions.


No.10 slams ‘half-hearted’ Kneecap apology over terrorism remarks
Downing Street has condemned as “half-hearted” an apology by Irish rappers Kneecap to past comments in support of Hamas and Hezbollah, and a call to “kill” MPs .

Responding to an overnight statement by the group, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “It is half-hearted. “We completely reject in the strongest possible terms the comments that they’ve made, particularly in relation to MPs and intimidation as well as obviously the situation in the Middle East. It’s right that police are looking into these videos.”

The No.10 aide said Starmer found comments by the Irish trio “completely unacceptable” and that there “no place in our society for intimidation or abuse.”

Asked about Kneecap’s inclusion on the line-up at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, Starmer’s spokesperson said this was not the decision of government, but one taken by the organisers.

In the Commons on Tuesday, Security Minister Dan Jarvis said he would not use the band’s name, as this would only offer them the publicity they craved.

His comments came in response to an urgent question granted to the Conservative MP Mark Francois.

Jarvis told MPs : “It’s not for Government ministers to say who is going to appear at Glastonbury, it’s for the organisers of the festival.

“But there is … an ongoing, live police investigation, so the Government would urge organisers of the Glastonbury Festival to think very carefully about who is invited to perform there later this year.”
Home Secretary condemns Kneecap as calls mount for group to be barred from Glastonbury
A senior minister has joined calls for controversial rap group Kneecap to be barred from Glastonbury as the group sought to claim it has “never supported Hamas or Hezbollah”.

With political pressure mounting on the Irish trio, they also issued an apology to the families of the murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox after footage emerged of one of the band urging the crowd at a gig to “kill” Tory parliamentarians.

“To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt,” the statement said.

But referencing comments made about Israel and Palestine – including footage of one Kneecap member shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a November 2024 concert in London, the band claimed: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.”

But then referencing the war in Gaza, Kneecap alleged: “All two million Palestinian people in Gaza are currently being starved to death by Israel. At least 20,000 children in Gaza have been killed. The British government continues to supply arms to Israel, even after scores of NHS doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that children were being systematically executed with sniper shots to the head.

“Instead of defending innocent people or the principles of international law, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine. “This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards. ”

They claimed the outrage over the band’s comments came after “establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria. ”

Scotland Yard is looking into the alleged call to kill MPs, and the apparent support for the proscribed terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah at gigs.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for police to prosecute the band over their comments, while Keir Starmer’s spokesperson has also condemned them.


Corbyn urged to apologise for being pictured with Kneecap
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been called on to apologise for being pictured with Kneecap by Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead David Taylor.

Mr Taylor told MPs: “I wrote to Glastonbury Festival urging them to remove this music group from their line-up. The reason I did this is because they have allegedly called for the murder of Conservative colleagues in this House, and because we’ve seen the footage of them appearing to show support for Hezbollah and Hamas, including the waving of a flag of a proscribed organisation.

“Words, as others have said, have tragic consequences and beloved colleagues Jo Cox and Sir David Amess were tragically murdered, and June 16 2016 remains one of the worst days of my life and I know many colleagues in this House feel the same, and we all have a duty to prevent this from ever happening again.”

He added: “I also note the absence of the member for Islington North (Mr Corbyn), who is not present and not involved in this discussion, and will he join me in condemning his appearance in a photograph with that group, and will he join me in calling for him to apologise for appearing in the photo?”

After the Deputy Speaker noted Corbyn was not in the House to answer Home Office minister Dan Jarvis replied: “Let me agree with his remarks about words having consequences. He is absolutely right about that and he is absolutely right that we all have a duty in this House to do everything that we possibly can to conduct our politics in a responsible and reasonable way as do others.”


The Handsome Face of Terror Apologia
On Sunday, The New York Times ran a bouncy profile of an online influencer who has made millions telling Gen Z that socialism rocks. His name is Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker, and he has 2.8 million followers on the livestream platform Twitch, where he broadcasts live from his West Hollywood home for eight hours every day, commenting on everything from the latest Supreme Court ruling to his workout regimen. The Times’ headline initially described him as “A Progressive Mind in a MAGA body”—it later changed to “A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for the ‘Manosphere’ ”—and spilled much ink analyzing his sex appeal.

Buried in the prose is a passing acknowledgement of a far darker side of Piker’s appeal.

“His diatribes against the Zionist movement have led many supporters of Israel . . . to call Mr. Piker antisemitic,” the Times observes. It then quotes Piker’s response to this allegation—“I find the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism to be very dangerous”—before moving swiftly on to Piker’s use of “expletives” and “vulgarities.”

What, exactly, are Piker’s “diatribes against the Zionist movement”? The glowing Times profile doesn’t say. Perhaps readers will conclude he’s simply fierce in his criticism of the current Israeli government.

That’s not at all the case. Because Piker records for up to 10 hours a day, and has done so for five years, it is hard to paint a comprehensive picture of his views. But even a cursory look at his work reveals a person who dismisses violence against Israelis, celebrates Islamist terrorists, and advocates for treating pro-Israel Americans as neo-Nazis.

“It doesn’t matter if rapes happened on October 7th,” Piker said while livestreaming on May 22, 2024. “It doesn’t change the dynamic for me.” Apparently, not even the most brutal, inhumane crimes committed during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel could justify the Israeli military response—which he repeatedly refers to as an “ethnic cleansing campaign.” Just this week, he claimed on Twitch that “in a totally just world, regardless of your background, any kind of fucking Zionist tendency should be treated in the same way as being a fucking rabid neo-Nazi.” (The vast majority of Jews identify as Zionists.) He went on: “You shouldn’t even let someone be the fucking local dog catcher . . . if they have exhibited any sort of positive feelings about the state of Israel.”

At the same time, Piker implies that acts of violence committed by Islamists are justified. On November 29, 2023, he described the attacks of October 7 as “a retaliation for an ongoing apartheid.”

Piker doesn’t only justify terrorism. Sometimes, he glorifies it:
On December 20, 2023, Piker played a Hamas propaganda video on his livestream for an audience of 25,000. In it, dramatic music plays as members of the terrorist group forge and demo guns. The title card reads: “We will continue Killing your Soldiers by our locally manufactured Snipers.” Piker reads it aloud, then says: “Wow, there’s a little message for the Americans out there as well!”
In January 2024, Houthi pirates seized a commercial ship in the Red Sea, and took the crew hostage. Among the rebels was 19-year-old Rashid Al-Haddad, who went viral in the U.S. for posting videos of himself from the vessel. (Al-Haddad later denied affiliation with the Houthis.) Piker tracked down Al-Haddad via social media and interviewed him on his stream with the help of a translator. In the interview, Piker compared Al-Haddad to the pirate hero from a popular anime called One Piece.
In a later stream on October 14, 2024, Piker likened Al-Haddad, who grew up in Yemen, to a victim of the Holocaust: “For most of his life, he has withstood genocide,” Piker said, before saying that speaking to Al-Haddad was like “talking to fucking Anne Frank, basically.” (Later, in a now-deleted tweet, Al-Haddad posted this image of a man impaled on a stake with the caption: “The execution that we will carry out on all Zionists.”)
On September 28, 2024, Piker shared what he called a “music video,” which was actually a Houthi propaganda clip. In it, gun-toting Islamists sing a rallying cry to “defeat the masses of infidels.” They march over burning American and Israeli flags and wave banners emblazoned with the Houthi credo—which translates to “God is Great. Death to America! Death to Israel! Damn the Jews! Victory to Islam!”
“When the beat drops, it’s like jihad drops in your heart,” Piker said to an audience of nearly 30,000. Of the Houthis, he said: “They’re very musical people.”


Media Blames Jews After Muslim Mobs Attack 2 New York Synagogues
The poster urged terrorist supporters to “flood” the Jewish neighborhood of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York to drive out the “Zionists”.

The term “flood” was a reference to Oct 7 which Hamas called ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’.

The Hamas supporters tried to assail the main synagogue in Crown Heights which is the home of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish movement.

Then the terrorist supporters assailed a Brooklyn synagogue used by Syrian Jewish refugees from Muslim terror.

Had Jewish protesters shown up outside a mosque, no matter who was speaking, the media would have treated it as a hate crime, but when Hamas supporters show up outside a synagogue, it’s the fault of the Jews who were walking around their own neighborhood.

The media’s takeaway all about “pro-Israel mobs”. No mention of the fellow with the “Avenge every martyr” sign.

Rep. Jerry Nadler also reacted to the Hamas rally by… condemning the Jews. “Violence is never the answer— whether by counter protesters in Brooklyn or by settlers in the West Bank.”

But violence is always the answer for terrorist supporters who can invade Jewish neighborhoods and still play the victim.


NYC Radicals threaten to 'flood' Crown Heights and 'rise up' against Chabad
Protests by anti-Israel activists broke out in Crown Heights, with even more aggressive action threatened in the future.

The Monday protests came as the New York Police Department investigated counter-demonstrators for violence at a Thursday Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters demonstration against visiting National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

After the Crown Heights Tenant Union activist group threatened to “Flood the streets of Crown Heights to inform them Zionism is not welcome here,” the NYPD deployed to prevent protesters with Palestinian flags and keffiyehs from overwhelming the neighborhood on Monday.

Calls to “flood” are used by anti-Israel activists to evoke the October 7 massacre, which is known by Hamas and its supporters as “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Chabad-Lubavitch spokesperson Rabbi Motti Seligson said on social media that the protesters never made it to the neighborhood due to the NYPD deployments and had instead wandered Brooklyn for three hours.

Seligson said on X/Twitter that the heavy police presence was reminiscent of the 1991 anti-Jewish Crown Heights riots but was distinct because of the presence of counter-protesters in front of the Chabad HQ and at strategic street corners.

“It was heartening to see scores of people, some Jewish and some not, who came to Crown Heights to protect the residents,” Seligson wrote. “These people weren’t looking for a fight.”

Jewish community watch groups from around the New York City area joined patrols in Crown Heights, according to Crown Heights Shomrim. The group said that the “pro-terror gathering” ended without incident.

Crown Heights Bites Back [CHBB] and four other radical groups called for a Tuesday night meeting to discuss the Thursday clashes at Chabad HQ, decrying protest organizers for not preparing for confrontations and for supporters to train for “defensive and offensive tactics.”




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

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