Sunday, May 04, 2025

05/04 Links: The Houthi Strike on Ben-Gurion: A Joint U.S.-Israel Imperative to Confront Iran’s Proxy War; 77 imperatives for an Israeli victory; Hands across America for Hamas

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: 77 imperatives for an Israeli victory
This year, Israel marked Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut with an additional reminder of its enemies’ genocidal intentions. Before Memorial Day mourning made way for Independence Day celebrations, multiple wildfires spread across a large area between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Though an investigation into the initial blaze was inconclusive, with the conflagration being attributed to a combination of climate conditions and hikers’ negligence, there’s no question that arsonists stepped in to heighten the crisis. For one thing, some perpetrators were caught on video, and three suspects were arrested for questioning.

For another, Arab social media was abuzz with calls to go out and “burn Israel to the ground.” With jihad in the air, even the slightest desert breeze—certainly a dry heat wave with high winds—can wreak major havoc.

And as the country’s firefighters, with the help of police and soldiers, battled the flames, the Houthis spent the days launching missiles at Israel from Yemen. Thankfully, neither led to a loss of life.

The same can’t be said about 19-year-old Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Niv Dayag from Ramat Hasharon, however. He was killed on Thursday in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the IDF was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon; tackling hostile activities in Syria; preparing for a confrontation with Iran; taking out terrorists in Judea and Samaria; and amassing troops to step up military pressure on Hamas.

This is how Israel marked its 77th birthday. Not with quiet reflection followed by cheerful fanfare, but under attack on all fronts, including that involving civil strife.

The latter, as usual, was characterized by a media chorus, echoed by a certain vociferous sector of the public, demanding an end to the war and ridiculing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reiterating the goal of “victory.”

As a tribute to this bittersweet milestone, the following is a list of 77 reasons—one for each year since the establishment of the state—for the existential necessity of victory. Indeed, winning the war will:
Arsen Ostrovsky and John Spencer: The Houthi Strike on Ben-Gurion: A Joint U.S.-Israel Imperative to Confront Iran’s Proxy War
The United States, under President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also has a critical stake in this fight—not only as Israel’s closest ally, but because America’s own security, economic and maritime interests, and global credibility, are directly threatened by Iran’s expanding proxy network.

Since mid-March, the U.S. military has conducted over 1,000 precision strikes on Houthi targets, primarily aimed at protecting Red Sea maritime traffic, which has declined by 90% since late 2023 due to Houthi interference. President Trump’s March 15 announcement of “decisive and powerful” military action and “overwhelming lethal force”, along with his warning to Iran to cease support for the Houthis, signaled a robust posture, however, it may be time to reassess that, and up the ante, given it appears the message has not been received in Yemen, or Tehran.

Ultimately, whether it’s rocket fire from Hamas, missiles from Hezbollah, or drones from the Houthis, make no mistake: the common thread that weaves all this together, is the Iranian regime pulling the terror strings from Tehran.

In a subsequent March 17th statement, President Trump was unequivocal, when he stated: “Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthis … all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN” and that “every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible.”

Going forward, Washington, in close collaboration with Israel, and other regional allies, should intensify its strikes, particularly targeting Houthi leadership and the Iranian logistical supply chains that enable their missile program.

In the meantime, the United States should recalibrate its diplomatic approach to Iran, making clear that continued support for proxy attacks—like those by the Houthis—will carry real consequences. As President Trump warned on March 17, any further Houthi aggression will be viewed as an attack orchestrated by Iran itself, warranting direct and decisive response. The international community must stop pretending that the Houthis are a localized Yemeni movement. They are an expeditionary arm of the Islamic Republic’s war machine. Ultimately, without confronting Iran’s role, any response to the Houthis will be incomplete. Today’s strike on Ben-Gurion Airport is a wake-up call not just for Israel, but for the entire international community.

The time for half-measures is over. Israel must act decisively to eliminate the threat, and the United States must continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its ally in this mission.
Hands across America for Hamas
The blood hadn’t even dried before the barbarians had their apologists.

Across college campuses, students organized celebrations of the attack. Some of the leaders of these movements have included foreign students who are ostensibly here to study, not support U.S.-designated terrorist groups. Both then and now, many in the press would label these efforts as “protests” against Israeli “genocide” in Gaza, but this is disingenuous at best.

The so-called protests began before the Israel Defense Forces even commenced operations to root out Hamas. Later, to buttress the claim of “genocide,” the anti-Israel activists would rely on casualty figures supplied by Gaza’s “Health Ministry,” a Hamas-controlled entity. The terrorist group has a long history of inflating casualty statistics as part of an effort to influence world opinion against Israel and curtail its ability to defend itself.

Indeed, throughout the war that followed the attack, Hamas and its “Health Ministry” have been caught manipulating these figures. The press, however, has been unbothered. The Washington Post continues to treat the terrorist-controlled ministry as credible and has even uncritically quoted Hamas officials. They are what Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin would have called “useful idiots,” but some fall into a different category.

As the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis has revealed, several journalists, including some at The Washington Post, celebrated the Oct. 7 attacks on social media, and others have called for Israel’s destruction. Shortly after the attack, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah proudly retweeted “what did y’all think decolonization meant?” More recently, including during the Jewish holiday of Passover, The Post opened up its op-ed pages and column space in defense of foreign students deported for their role in the pro-Hamas demonstrations.

At a time when many Americans are struggling to pay bills, it is curious for the self-styled intelligentsia, whether privileged Ivy League students or the editorial boards of famous newspapers, to prioritize advocating for terrorists. It’s no accident. It’s part of a long-standing trend.

Thomas Paine and many other self-styled revolutionaries celebrated the French Revolution, only later to be engulfed in its excesses. More than a century later, liberal muckraking journalists such as Lincoln Steffens would cheer on the creation of the Soviet Union, exclaiming, “I have seen the future and it works!” Intellectuals would similarly support Lenin’s successor, Josef Stalin, as he purged his way through the 1930s. Journalists such as Walter Duranty of The New York Times helped cover up Stalin’s crimes and won a Pulitzer in the process. Others, notably influential reporters Edgar Snow and Herbert Matthews, would fete China’s Mao Zedong and Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Indeed, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in Iran in 1979, a bevy of journalists and intellectuals, including the influential philosopher Michel Foucault, applauded.

Duranty helped Stalin and his henchmen deny the Holodomor, the Soviet-created famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s. His modern-day descendants serve a different master, but their purpose is effectively the same: to aid and abet genocidal totalitarianism. From positions of privilege, they pretend to stand for the underdog while being mouthpieces for murderers. They write for fancy papers and attend fancy colleges. They cosplay as revolutionaries but are little more than apologists for terror. Their pretensions aside, none is our moral better. Far from it. History will record as much.


Josh Hammer: Why Israel and the US still need each other more than ever
In righteously eliminating so many high-ranking Hezbollah leaders in such a short span, the IDF performed a remarkable public service for the United States military and the American people—a just retribution for the terrible deeds of murderous arch-jihadists with tremendous American blood on their hands, decades in the making on all counts.

Nor was the IDF, during this crucial 2024 stretch, preoccupied with Hezbollah to the exclusion of other jihadist outfits. In a stunning but largely unrelated targeted assassination that followed the Fuad Shukr assassination in Beirut less than 12 hours later, Israel also eliminated Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023, massacre, in Tehran.

Israel did it again on October 16, 2024, eliminating Yahya Sinwar—the chief architect of the Simchat Torah Massacre and the longtime organizational leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip—during a chance encounter in Rafah, Hamas’s southernmost stronghold in the Gaza Strip.

Notably, Israel would not have been able to hunt down Sinwar if Prime Minister Netanyahu had listened to weak-minded Western leaders, such as President Biden, who adamantly opposed an IDF incursion into Rafah.

The overall message sent by Israel from these high-profile 2024 strikes could not have been clearer: We can, and we will, come after you—no matter where you try to hide.

Pure, unadulterated power is the lingua franca of Middle East geopolitics—a point often lost on many Americans and other holier-than-thou Westerners, but rarely lost on hardheaded Israelis.

And if America adopts a similar sober approach to Islamism, that would be yet another tremendous gift of the US-Israel relationship.

Happy independence day, Israel. Keep on fighting the bad guys. By doing so, you’re actually helping all of us.


Analyst Explains Why a Two-State Solution Between Israel and Palestine Won’t Work
For decades, many political leaders on the Left and Right alike have advocated for a two-state solution to solve the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, but such a plan is not a viable solution, says Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Eugene Kontorovich.

“The best thing about the two-state solution is its name because it has the word ‘solution’ in it,” said Kontorovich, who lives in Israel and works in Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. He joined Heritage this year as the Washington-based think tank’s first international-based senior research fellow in Jerusalem.

The two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine would have their own state side by side, is “a great branding move,” Kontorovich says, but it is “not a solution. It is an interim step to the destruction of Israel.”

“The minimum demands of the Palestinians are the ethnic cleansing of every single Jew in Judea and Samaria, every single Jew in the Old City of Jerusalem,” according to Kontorovich. “They want something no one has ever asked for before—they want an independent country, free of Jews, free of an ethnic minority.”

The two-state solution has been discussed for years, and Palestine has been offered statehood in the past. In 2000, the Palestinians were offered a deal that would have given them full control of most of the land in the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip. Important religious sites would have operated under dived control and sovereignty. The deal was on the table, but “the Palestinians let it slip away,” as David Brooks, an opinion columnist for The New York Times, wrote in 2023.

Instead of agreeing to a diplomatic solution, Kontorovich says, the Palestinians have chosen “war and jihad.”

Currently, Israel does not rule over the Palestinians, nor do the Palestinians pay taxes to Israel. The Palestinians’ lack of statehood prevents them from purchasing large weapons, such as tanks, on the international market. Possession of such weapons would pose a grave threat to Israel, Kontorovich contends.

Pressed on the issue of giving the Palestinians statehood, he said previous steps toward doing so have ultimately led to further conflict and the deaths of Jews and Palestinian civilians.


Can America & Israel fix corrupt international organizations? (w/Eugene Kontorovich) | Basic Law
Is the United Nations broken beyond repair? Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with renowned international law expert Professor Eugene Kontorovich to explore how international institutions like the UN, ICC, UNRWA and WHO have become politicized and weaponized against Israel and the West.

This episode unpacks how bodies originally designed to promote global peace have morphed into vehicles of bias, impunity and terror-enablement. Professor Kontorovich—Director of International Law at the Kohelet Policy Forum, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and law professor at George Mason University's Scalia Law School—offers a bold, strategic roadmap for how the United States and Israel can confront and realign their relationship with these institutions.

Key Topics Covered:
The structural flaws and politicization of UN agencies
How organizations like UNRWA and the WHO have been infiltrated or manipulated by Hamas
The legal doctrine of international organization immunity—and how it shields wrongdoing
U.S. legislative efforts like the LIABLE Act to hold international bodies accountable
The power of defunding, treaty withdrawals and targeted sanctions
Why the ICC’s anti-Israel posture must be countered with firm diplomatic and legal responses
Opportunities for Israel to coordinate with U.S. allies like Argentina, Hungary and Italy on UN reform


Concerts by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Israeli artist Dudu Tassa cancelled
Two UK concerts by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Israeli Dudu Tassa have been cancelled.

The pair have collaborated for more than a decade including on concerts in Tel Aviv that went head despite drawing the ire of the movement for a to cultural boycott the Jewish state.

But both the June gig at the Beacon in Bristol and London’s Hackney Church have now been cancelled. Neither venue or the artists have commented publicly.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel tweeted that the first cancellation that the event would have whitewashed the “genocide” of Gaza and the “underlying settler-colonial apartheid regime”.

Greenwood wrote last year amid controversy over the pair’s Israel dates: “I’ve been collaborating with Dudu and releasing music with him since 2008 – and working privately long before that. I think an artistic project that combines Arab and Jewish musicians is worthwhile. And one that reminds everyone that the Jewish cultural roots in countries like Iraq and Yemen go back for thousands of years, is also important.”

“Anyway, no art is as ‘important’ as stopping all the death and suffering around us. How can it be? But doing nothing seems a worse option. And silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel doesn’t seem like any way to reach an understanding between the two sides of this apparently endless conflict.”

In 2023, Greenwood partnered with Tassa for an album, along with Palestinian singer Freteikh, Egyptian singer Ahmed Doma and Moroccan Mohssine Salaheddine.
UK arrests 8, including 7 Iranians, over suspected terror plots
Britain’s counter-terrorism police arrested eight men, including seven Iranian nationals, on suspicion of terrorism offenses, the Metropolitan Police said on Sunday. The arrests were made in two separate operations.

On Saturday, five men, four of whom are Iranian nationals, were detained on suspicion of terrorism offenses over a plot to target specific premises.

The arrests were made in Swindon, west London, Stockport, Rochdale, and Manchester.

“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

The men aged between 29 and 46 were arrested on suspicion of “preparation of a terrorist act” and remain in custody, police said.

The nationality of one of the men is still being established, they said.

In a separate operation on the same day, three Iranian nationals were arrested in London as part of another counter-terrorism investigation, the Met said in a separate statement.

They are now in custody, with searches ongoing at the three addresses. The Met said the investigation was unrelated to the earlier arrests of the five men.

The police did not disclose details of the suspected plot, citing operational reasons.


In ‘massive failure,’ troops abandoned civilians at Zikim Beach on Oct. 7, IDF probe finds
A squad of Israeli soldiers stationed near the border with the Gaza Strip abandoned civilians sheltering on Zikim Beach as Hamas terrorists invaded the coast during the terror group’s onslaught on October 7, 2023, an Israel Defense Forces probe published on Sunday showed.

The troops of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion withdrew from the beach while failing to properly engage terrorists who arrived on speedboats, with the attackers going on to murder 17 civilians in the area. The terrorists then advanced on Kibbutz Zikim, whose civil defense squad successfully fought back, preventing an infiltration of the community.

The IDF probe into the attack on Zikim Beach also found that the bodies of seven murdered civilians were left inside a seaside bomb shelter for a week before being recovered by rescue services.

The findings published Sunday are the latest in a series of detailed investigations into some 40 battles and massacres that took place during Hamas’s October 7 attack, 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” civilians at Zikim Beach, mainly because the military had never prepared for such an event — a widespread attack on dozens of towns and army posts — alongside difficulty in putting together an accurate picture of ongoing situation due to the collapse of the Gaza Division’s command and control.

“The failure is expressed in the fact that the terrorists were able to infiltrate our territory in a short time and murder 17 civilians,” the probe stated.

The probe, carried out by Col. Tal Kuritsky — the commander of the 5th Reserve Infantry Brigade — covered all aspects of the attack on beach and the nearby kibbutz.

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

The Zikim Beach 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.

The probe stated that Golani soldiers who did not protect civilians acted wrongly both “professionally and ethically.” The troops should have rushed toward the terrorists upon seeing them, instead of trying to reposition themselves, the investigation said, describing their actions as a “massive failure.”


Two soldiers KIA in Gaza, bringing IDF wartime toll to 853
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed during clashes with Palestinian terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip, the military announced on Sunday morning.

The slain men were identified as Capt. Noam Ravid, 23, from Sha’arei Tikva in Samaria, and Staff Sgt. Yaly Seror, 20, from Omer, near Beersheva. Both served in the IDF Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom special operations unit.

According to an initial IDF investigation, the troops were struck by an explosion while inspecting the entrance to a tunnel located inside a building in Rafah.

A third soldier from the unit was seriously wounded in the incident, the military said.

In a separate incident in northern Gaza, a reservist from the 7007th Battalion of the 16th “Jerusalem” Brigade was critically wounded.

The families of the casualties have been notified.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement following the deaths:

“Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife, Sara, and I send our deepest condolences to the families of Captain Noam Ravid and Staff Sergeant Yahli Seror, of blessed memory, who fell in battle in Gaza.

“We share in the unbearable grief of the families who have lost what is most precious to them.

“We will forever remember our heroes, Noam and Yahli, who defended our country and its citizens. May their memory be a blessing.”

On Friday, an IDF soldier died in a car accident during operational activity in the Golan Heights.

Sgt. Niv Dayag, 19, from Ramat Hasharon, served in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion. During the crash, two additional soldiers in the 890th Battalion and a soldier from the 474th Brigade were lightly injured. The circumstances of the incident are under review.

Eight hundred fifty-three Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev. Sixty-seven Israel Police officers have been killed in the line of duty during the same period.


Houthi missile hits Ben-Gurion Airport, wounding six, disrupting flights
A ballistic missile fired from Yemen struck near Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday morning, lightly to moderately wounding six people and disrupting takeoffs and arrivals.

The attack triggered air-raid sirens across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Shfela/Judaean Foothills. Several attempts were made to intercept the missile, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The U.S.-made THAAD system attempted to intercept the missile but failed, as did Israel’s Arrow system, Channel 14 military correspondent Hillel Bitton Rosen reported. Authorities are investigating whether the blast near Terminal 3 was caused by a direct hit, missile fragments or interceptor debris. Police bomb squads and security forces remain on scene.

Magen David Adom updated its casualty figures on Sunday afternoon, reporting that six people were treated and transported to hospitals: a man in his 50s in light-to-moderate condition with limb injuries; two women, ages 54 and 38, in light condition due to blast-related trauma; a 64-year-old man lightly wounded by flying debris; and two women, aged 22 and 34, who were hurt while running for shelter.

The victims were evacuated to Shamir Medical Center (formerly known as Assaf Harofeh Medical Center) in Be’er Ya’akov, and Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan.

The incident sparked panic at Ben-Gurion Airport. Police and rescue personnel quickly cordoned off the impact area at Terminal 3 and dispatched fire teams to check for additional hazards.
‘There will be blows,’ says Netanyahu after Houthis hit Ben-Gurion Airport
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “there will be blows” in response to the Iranian-sponsored Houthi missile assault targeting Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday.

“We are acting against them,” Netanyahu said of previous IDF military operations against the Houthis in Yemen. “We have acted in the past and we will act in the future. I cannot detail everything.

“The U.S., in coordination with us, is also acting against them. It’s not a one-and-done—but there will be blows,” vowed the Israeli premier.

In a subsequent post on his official X account, Netanyahu said Israel “will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”

Sharing a March screenshot of U.S. President Donald Trump holding the Islamic Republic responsible for Houthi attacks across the region, Netanyahu said the American leader was “absolutely right.

“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” stressed the premier.

A ballistic missile fired from Yemen struck near the Jewish state’s main international airport on Sunday morning, lightly to moderately wounding six people and disrupting takeoffs and arrivals.

The attack triggered air-raid sirens across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Shfela/Judaean Foothills. Several attempts were made to intercept the missile, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed a forceful response to the Houthi attack. “Whoever harms us, we’ll harm them sevenfold,” he said.


Houthi missile interception failure due to technical error, IDF sources tell
The IDF's failure to shoot down the Houthi missile that struck the Ben-Gurion Airport area on Sunday morning was due to a technical error, IDF sources told The Jerusalem Post.

Further, this means that the error was not due to human error nor to any special new weapons which the Houthis might claim to have acquired.

The military said that since the beginning of the war, the Israel Air Force intercepted dozens of Houthi missiles at a success rate that exceeded 95%.

The statement comes after three people were mildly wounded on Sunday as a result of a Houthi missile that crashed in the area of Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3.

Houthi missile strike
Magen David Adom medics and paramedics provided medical treatment to a 50-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman who were lightly wounded due to the blast, and a 32-year-old woman who was wounded on the way to the shelter.

The access road to Terminal 3 suffered damage as a result of the crash. Although this is the first time a Houthi missile has hit Ben-Gurion Airport, this is not the first time one has struck Israeli territory.

Following the attack on Sunday morning, Defense Minister Israel Katz responded, saying, "Whoever harms us will be struck sevenfold in return."


Hamas-linked vessel marooned without flag after alleged drone strikes
A Gaza-bound ship that was reportedly hit by drones last week is unable make port after the Republic of Palau revoked its flag rights, the Hamas-linked Freedom Flotilla Coalition claimed on Saturday.

Authorities in Malta, Greece and Turkey have threatened to confiscate the vessel if it docks at their ports, Tighe Barry, a U.S.-based anti-Israel activist with the CodePink group, told the Associated Press.

“To get a new flag will take months, so they’re just stuck out there,” said Barry, an octogenarian who was supposed to board the vessel before it would attempt to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Barry said the Pacific island nation, which often votes with Israel at the U.N., revoked the flag of the ship, named Conscience, before the drone attack.

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela stressed on Sunday that while his country would not let the Conscience dock, “especially since it doesn’t have a flag and insurance,” his government was offering to repair the damage if it is truly carrying aid.

“We are offering to pay for the repairs after we confirm the ship is, indeed, carrying humanitarian aid,” Abela told reporters, the Times of Malta reported. “That’s another fact that must be established, as the crew is yet to provide a list of what is on board the vessel. The moment we confirm it’s humanitarian aid for Gaza, we will take care of the repairs.

“The captain is refusing to let the surveyor on board,” the Maltese prime minister said. “We also offered to take all crew and passengers in, but the offer was refused.”


Police sappers neutralize explosive wrapped in Israeli flag on Route 431
Police sappers neutralized an explosive device that had been found on Route 431, police said on Sunday.

The explosive, found on the shoulder of the road, had been wrapped in an Israeli flag.

Route blocked
Earlier, police said it had blocked part of Route 431 due to a suspicious object in the area.

Police added that the explosive device would be transferred for further investigation.


Dave Portnoy promises ‘consequences’ after antisemitic sign displayed in his Philadelphia nightclub
The Jewish owner of a nightclub in Philadelphia has promised to take action after members of his staff held up an antisemitic sign on the dance floor of his bar.

Footage posted on social media showed waitresses at the Barstool Sansom Street bar in Philadelphia holding an illuminated antisemitic statement on a giant board on the club’s dancefloor.

The video, which was originally posted to an Instagram story, was picked up by prominent Jewish social media accounts, including @StopAntisemitism, which has over 330,000 followers.

Dave Portnoy, the founder and owner of Barstool Sports, a social media company that owns several bars across the US, addressed the incident in a video on his X account.

In a three minute tirade, Portnoy, 48, said that the staff members who allowed a sign saying ‘f**k the Jews’ to be displayed had already been fired and that he was “shaking” with rage over the incident.

"I'm going to make it my life’s mission to ruin these people,” said Portnoy.

In the video, Portnoy also said: “You think I'm going to put up with this s**t at my bar? So I've been hunting down waitresses, the table who did it, and everything you can name because I want consequences for f***ing actions.”

Portnoy, who has been an advocate against antisemitism since October 7, said that he would find out who was responsible for the sign and force them to “do antisemitism classes” or “whatever it takes to make this right."

The Barstool Sports founder also said that he had spoken to the staff members responsible for the sign, calling them “one of the dumbest f***ing humans I've ever talked to.”

In an update posted two hours later, Portnoy said that he had tracked down the culprits and was sending them to Auschwitz to learn about the Holocaust.


Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ member Rashid Tlaib fundraises for Zohran Mamdani Super PAC
Radical Israel-bashing “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib is doing a text blast to raise funds for a super PAC backing Zohran Mamdani for mayor — but not everyone is pleased with the solicitation.

Tlaib’s pitch recently showed up on the mobile phones of prospective donors courtesy of the pro-Mamdani group New Yorkers for Lower Costs.

Mamdani, as with the Michigan congresswoman, is an ardent foe of Israel and supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Jewish state.

“Zohran, who’s led hunger strikes for a cease-fire [in Gaza] and workers’ rights, isn’t raising any more money for his campaign under New York City’s public financing system,” Tlaib said in the solicitation.
Britain May Recognise Palestine as a State This Year, Says Foreign Minister Lammy
The United Kingdom is talking with France and Saudi Arabia about recognising Palestine as a state later this year, the Foreign affairs minister of its left-wing government has revealed.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy told a House of Lords committee this week that the government is in discussions with France and Saudi Arabia to recognise Palestine as a state. The declaration would be part of a push to keep the notion of a two-state solution alive and would likely be made at a New York conference in June to be hosted by France and the Saudis, he said.

“No one has a veto on when the United Kingdom recognises that Palestinian state,” Lammy said according to The Guardian, but added that the intention of the move was not to make a symbolic gesture but rather to use British recognition as a tool to further the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“It’s unacceptable for any group of people to have lived without no state for longer than I’ve been alive,” Lammy said.

“The only option is two states and we will continue working with partners… particularly with France as we head towards their conference in New York, alongside the Saudi Arabians… to ensure we keep alive two states.”

Lammy lamented that the recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by some European nations, such as Spain, Norway, and Ireland, had failed to move the needle with the move.

“There are countries in Europe that have taken this step recently . . . Did it change much on the ground? The sad conclusion is it didn’t, and so we have always said recognition is not the end in [and] of itself, two states is the end”, he said per The Financial Times.

The left-wing lawmaker is further reported to have expressed the view that part of a two-state solution would be a demilitarisation process, and for Hamas to no longer be in government.
UKLFI: Europe Netball competition in Cardiff cancelled following threat of disruption
A Europe Netball tournament, due to be held in Cardiff from 7-11 May 2025, and targeted by anti-Israel boycotters, has been cancelled. The sports hall refused to hold the event, citing concerns about safety and wellbeing, despite Europe Netball agreeing to organize private security.

Now all participants, not just the Israelis, are equally devastated to lose the opportunity to play.

The tournament had been targeted by anti-Israel protestors including the Newport branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). A petition had been set up calling for a boycott of the Israeli team and they also threatened silent protests outside the tournament venue.

South Wales police considered that it was unnecessary for them to secure the event but would respond if called for any incidents. In addition to the usual security already planned for the event, Israel Netball was asked by Europe Netball, which was organizing the tournament, to meet the costs of engaging a private security team at the venue. Israel Netball was told that its team would not be permitted to participate unless it sent the sum required before the start of the tournament. Israel Netball contacted UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) for help.

UKLFI wrote to Europe Netball and World Netball pointing out that the decision to require the Israeli team to pay for all the security costs was a breach of section 29 of the UK’s Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination because of nationality in the provision of services.

It also conflicted with World Netball’s Equality and Diversity Policy, which states that “WN aims to ensure that there will be open access to all those who wish to participate in any aspect of netball activities at meetings and International Events …”

UKLFI noted that the UK legislation does not contain any exception permitting direct discrimination where the persons discriminated against are targeted by others. This was deliberate: the prohibition of discrimination was originally adopted in a context where discrimination against persons of colour was frequently excused on the ground that their admission to events would give rise to hostility and potentially “trouble”. The effect of the legislation is that if it is not practicable to hold an event without discrimination because of nationality or other protected characteristics, the event must be cancelled.

In response to this letter, a meeting was held for all participating countries, at which Europe Netball reported that a loan had been secured from World Netball towards the cost of private security and that the remaining cost would be shared equally between the countries participating in the tournament.

However, the Cardiff venue then announced it would no longer hold the event, citing concerns about safety and wellbeing.

Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UKLFI, commented: “I doubt that it was necessary for the venue to cancel the tournament, especially as arrangements had been made to provide additional security. I think the venue is probably in breach of its contractual obligations as well as the Equality Act. Europe Netball, teams and competitors may well have legal claims against the venue for wasted expenditure on travel and accommodation as well as for the distress caused.”
Australian Jews remind re-elected PM about antisemitism
Jewish Australian groups on Saturday congratulated Anthony Albanese on his re-election as prime minister, issuing statements that recalled the country’s antisemitism problem and his Labor Party’s critical stance toward Israel.

Labor has claimed 84 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, including that of Peter Dutton, leader of the center-right Liberal Party, who ran against Albanese.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-chief executive Peter Wertheim, too, congratulated the prime minister on leading the government to a “historic victory at the polls,” the Australian Jewish News reported.

“We will continue to urge the government to stand strong against antisemitism in both word and deed,” he said. “Where we have different views on the best way towards a sustainable two-state outcome to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, we will continue to put our case to the government in a constructive and reasoned manner.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also congratulated Albanese in a statement that did not reference the strains in the historically friendly Israeli-Australian relationship under Albanese.

“Israel extends its congratulations to the Australian people for its democratic process,” Sa’ar wrote, and to Albanese “for his victory in the elections. We value our close relationship with Australia and look forward to further strengthening the cooperation between our two democracies.”

Since taking office in 2022, Albanese has reversed long-standing pro-Israel policies, notably revoking recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and adopting a more critical tone in international forums. His government responded tepidly to the October 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel and abstained from a U.N. vote condemning Israel’s response, drawing criticism from pro-Israel supporters.

In December, Australia supported at the U.N. General Assembly a resolution that called on Israel to “bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” including eastern Jerusalem. Australia has traditionally opposed or abstained from voting on resolutions employing such language. The United States, Argentina, Hungary and Israel were among the eight countries that opposed the resolution.


Swiss cottage protestors remove hostage ribbons claiming they ‘represent Jewish supremacy’
Anti-Israel protestors in a heavily Jewish area of North London tore down hostage ribbons yesterday as they returned to weekly demonstrations following the end of a month-long police ban.

Activists organised by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) and the Jewish Network for Palestine (JNP), but featuring mostly non-Jewish participants, returned to hold their weekly protest in Swiss Cottage on May 2, just minutes away from Belsize Square Synagogue, Chabad Lubavitch of West Hampstead and close to South Hampstead United Synagogue.

One attendee, Latifa Abouchakra, was seen among a group taking down yellow hostage ribbons that had been tied to railings.

Abouchakra, a reporter for Iranian state-controlled Press TV, has previously called the October 7, 2023 massacres “a moment of triumph” and said that “Gaza will write it’s name in blood”.

In an interview during the demonstration, while still brandishing a handful of ribbons, she said: “We took it upon ourselves to remove these representations of Jewish supremacy.

"[They signify that] only Jewish hostages, Israeli hostages have value, whereas there are thousands of Palestinians who remain hostages.

"[Palestinians] who have been taken by the Zionist entity, who have been maimed and raped and killed and deprived of all human rights”.

The demonstrations, which have taken place every Friday since October 7, target the residence of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely but were temporarily forced by police order to relocate to Kings Cross in February following complaints from local residents.

Jews living nearby have said the “frightening” event causes significant disruption with some saying they are forced to change their route to synagogue on Shabbat or stop going to shul entirely.

In her interview, Abouchakra claimed that the demonstrations were organised by “very small, very local groups of men and women”, claiming that they are “always peaceful” and mostly attended by “very elderly...vulnerable groups of people”.

However, a JC investigation uncovered evidence of over 60 alleged criminal offences linked to the previous protests, including inviting support for Hamas – a proscribed terrorist organisation – as well as racially aggravated public order offences and physical assault.

After it emerged that the protest would be returning on Friday – following the expiration of the police order – Stop the Hate, a pro-Israel advocacy group, organised a counterdemonstration which received the backing of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.


NYPD shared a Palestinian protester’s info with ICE. Now it’s evidence in her deportation case
New York City’s police department provided federal immigration authorities with an internal record about a Palestinian woman who they arrested at a protest, which the Trump administration is now using as evidence in its bid to deport her, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The report — shared by the NYPD in March — includes a summary of information in the department’s files about Leqaa Kordia, a New Jersey resident who was arrested at a protest outside Columbia University last spring. It lists her home address, date of birth and an officer’s two-sentence account of the arrest.

Its distribution to federal authorities offers a glimpse into behind-the-scenes cooperation between the NYPD and the Trump administration, and raises questions about the city’s compliance with sanctuary laws that prohibit police from assisting with immigration enforcement efforts.

Kordia, 32, was among the earliest people jailed in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on noncitizens who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

She was detained during a voluntary check-in with immigration officials in Newark, New Jersey, on March 13, then flown to an immigration jail in Texas. Her arrest was announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the next day in a statement that cited an expired visa and her role in “pro-Hamas protests.”

It remains unclear how immigration authorities were able to learn about Kordia’s presence at the protest near Columbia last April. At the demonstration, police cited Kordia with disorderly conduct. But the charge was dismissed weeks later and the case sealed.


Nine Arrested as Swarthmore College Shuts Down Anti-Israel Encampment Citing FBI Scrutiny
Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania shut down an anti-Israel encampment this week with the aid of local law enforcement. The tents were set up by the usual suspects of ‘Students for Justice in Palestine’, and the school president alleged that the protest had been noticed by the FBI.

Nine people were arrested, and only two of them were Swarthmore students. Anti-Israel activity has been occurring at Swarthmore for months.

The New York Post reports:
Police arrest 9, break up pro-Palestinian encampment at Swarthmore — as college president cites FBI scrutiny

Police arrested nine protestors, including seven agitators, while breaking up a pro-Palestinian encampment on Swarthmore College’s campus in an ugly scene Saturday — a “terribly difficult” decision the school’s president says was in part prompted by FBI scrutiny.

One current and one former student of the private liberal arts school in the suburbs of Philadelphia were arrested, while the seven others were activists who were not affiliated with the college.

“The promotion of the protest on social media drew the attention of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, who urged us to bring the encampment to an end as quickly as possible,” Swarthmore President Valerie Smith said in a statement.

Smith said members of a suspended student organization repeatedly invited non-students to join the encampment through Instagram, and unknown individuals began to arrive on campus soon after.

“Many, if not all, of the protestors — both students and non-students — were fully masked and tried to remain unidentifiable,” Smith added.
Public Service Alliance Of Canada Press Release Pushes Anti-Israel Propaganda To Its 240,000 Members
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is one of the largest unions in the country with almost 240,000 workers, and promises its members that it “strives to enhance its members’ quality of life and has been at the front of a variety of significant and successful campaigns for workplace and human rights, including the struggle for equal pay, enhanced workplace health and safety and the rights of same sex spouses.”

Apparently falling within that mandate is to also spread vicious anti-Israel propaganda, as evidenced in an April 11 press release by the group entitled: “PSAC reiterates call for an immediate arms embargo on Israel,” which peddled dangerous and unfounded allegations against the Jewish State.

The press release began by claiming that “despite the January 19 ceasefire, the indiscriminate bombing of the civilian population of Gaza has resumed.” PSAC seems entirely unaware that the January 19 ceasefire ended on March 18, and did not continue precisely because – according to US negotiators – Hamas negotiated in bad faith.

Moreover, the accusation that Israel’s counter-terrorism operations are “indiscriminate” is simply ignorant. “Indiscriminate” means random, and Israel’s operations have been extraordinarily focused and precise, all the more remarkable given Hamas’ widespread use of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure for its terrorism.

Darkly, the PSAC statement continued by stating that it “urgently renews its call for the Government of Canada to impose an immediate arms embargo on Israel.” While Israel does not rely on weaponry shipped from Canada for its self-defence, the demand for an arms embargo on Israel, at its logical conclusion, calls for Israel to be stripped of its inalienable right to defend itself against genocidal terrorist groups like Hamas which seek the destruction of the Jewish State.

Despite PSAC’s concluding statement that it seeks the “safety for both Palestinians and Israelis,” the union made zero mention of Hamas or Palestinian terrorists, nor a word about the 59 hostages being kept by Hamas in Gaza, a silence so deafening that it makes a mockery of the group’s supposed concern about “both” peoples. Despite failing to advocate for the release of Israel’s hostages, PSAC peddled an egregious falsehood by claiming that Israel “abduct(s) Palestinian civilians” and therefore takes hostages.


BBC to launch review of Gaza coverage after anti-Semitism claims
The BBC is to appoint an independent figure to investigate its Arabic channel over repeated allegations of anti-Semitism exposed by The Telegraph.

On Saturday, Dr Samir Shah, the chairman of the BBC, said that the corporation’s wider handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict would also be examined.

The Telegraph has previously revealed a number of BBC Arabic’s contributors have posted anti-Jewish sentiments and expressed their apparent support for the terror group Hamas, both before and after the October 7 attacks.

The broadcaster has previously defended its Arabic channel, which is part of the World Service.

But speaking to Times Radio, Dr Shah said: “The Arabic service, we are looking at it, we’ve been examining it. I think this whole business of how we’ve covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we’re going to identify... we’re going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.”

BBC sources said that what they described as a “thematic review” of the standard of its reporting of the Middle East conflict will be “independent and published in full”, for presentation to the board.

Only last week, The Telegraph revealed that a journalist who appears prominently on BBC Arabic to report from Gaza had previously called for Jews to be burned “as Hitler did”.

Samer Elzaenen, who has appeared on BBC Arabic more than a dozen times since the conflict erupted, has posted on social media many times singling out Jews for condemnation, and even appearing to call for violence against them.

In one post he wrote: “My message to the Zionist Jews: We are going to take our land back, we love death for Allah’s sake the same way you love life. We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.”
HRC Prompts Toronto Star Correction: Israeli Attacks On Hamas-Exploited Hospitals Not A War Crime
Far too often, pundits present themselves as experts in international law and authorities on the laws of armed conflict and in so doing, mislead the public.

Recently on April 16, Toronto Star contributing columnist Justin Ling erroneously stated the following in his post about the French-language leaders’ debates:
“Poilievre gets asked a pointed question: What do you say about the fact that Israeli politicians talk about emptying and erasing Gaza? Poilievre says he “rejects the approach that Mr. Singh has taken” and says he’s against Hamas. But the reporter, Christopher Curtis from The Rover, a local Montreal news outlet, presses Poilievre about Israel’s bombing of hospitals and universities. “A nation’s only option is to defend itself,” Poilievre says. He goes on to say attacks on civilian infrastructure are bad, but says everything is ultimately Hamas’ fault. This response makes a mockery of international humanitarian law. Nothing excuses attacks on hospitals, which is a war crime under international law.”

While Mr. Ling is entitled to his own views, he’s not entitled to his own facts.

The Geneva Conventions, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, strongly protect civilian hospitals during armed conflict. Article 18 of the convention prohibits attacks on hospitals that provide care to the wounded, sick, infirm, and maternity cases. However, hospitals can lose this protection if they are used for military purposes or to carry out acts harmful to the enemy, which Israel says Hamas has done by situating its fighters and weapons in hospital and medical facilities.

Article 19 says: “The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit, and after such warning has remained unheeded. The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in these hospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from such combatants which have not yet been handed to the proper service, shall not be considered to be acts harmful to the enemy.”

A hospital can lose its protection if it’s used for military purposes, such as a base for launching attacks, a weapons depot, or to shelter combatants.Accordingly, Mr. Ling’s egregious and false accusation that Israel is committing “war crimes” and violating international law deserved to be corrected, a matter which we relayed directly to the Star’s senior editorial team.

We are pleased to note that the Star upheld our complaint and took corrective action to set the record straight.


Morocco anti-Israel activists set sights on ports, alleging arms en route to Israel
More than a year of protests over Morocco’s decision to normalize ties with Israel has emboldened activists and widened a gap between the decisions of the government and the sentiments of the governed. The fury has spilled into the country’s strategic ports.

Amid shipping cranes and stacked containers, 34-year-old agricultural engineer Ismail Lghazaoui marched recently through a sea of Palestinian flags and joined protesters carrying signs that read “Reject the ship,” in reference to a vessel transporting fighter jet components from Houston, Texas.

Activists are urging Moroccan port officials to try to block ships carrying military cargo to Israel, much like Spain did last year.

Protests often target Danish shipping company Maersk, which helps transport components used to make Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as part of the US Defense Department’s Security Cooperative Participant Program that facilitates weapons sales to allies including Israel.

A similar boycott campaign landed Lghazaoui in prison last year, but that didn’t deter him from turning out again for resurgent protests last month, after his release. Lghazaoui is one of more than a dozen activists pursued by Moroccan authorities for criticizing the government’s ties with Israel.

During a rally in November in Casablanca where Lghazaoui spoke, plainclothes officers beat him and others to prevent them from advancing toward the US Consulate, he said.


Hamas pledges to execute, amputate Gazans accused of ‘treason,’ ‘theft’
Hamas’s “Arrow” unit (“Wahdat Sahm”) pledged to carry out on-site executions against three Gazans accused of collaborating with Israel by “slitting their throats.” In a statement circulating online, the unit added that images of the executions and their confessions “will be broadcast to the public in audio and video,” also claiming that “the limbs of 13 thieves and people who incite chaos and anarchy will be amputated and their legs will be shot."

Despite the fact that a similarly named unit operated in Gaza several years ago, the current “Arrow” unit appears to have been established by Hamas during the war last year. The unit describes itself as having been established by Hamas’s Ministry of Interior “to pursue and execute thieves, merchants, agents, and highwaymen.” According to Al-Mashhad channel, the unit is made up of policemen, members of Palestinian terror groups and others, and its members patrol the Gaza Strip in civilian clothing, rather than military or police attire.

They are also known for publishing graphic videos of public lynching and shooting those accused of theft or treason, as a means to stir fear in the hearts of Gazans.

Hamas deploys aggressive force in Gaza
The unit has been deployed in the past couple of days in a reinforced manner, plausibly on the backdrop of a series of criminal acts including armed looting, theft and burglary, directed against ordinary citizens, aid convoys and warehouses. The deployment of the aggressive force may signal a fear of social collapse from the part of Hamas, which the terrorist organization is looking to overcome.

Only yesterday the unit announced a daily curfew in Gaza starting at 21:00 pm, explaining that movement would be prohibited after the set time except in cases of extreme necessity, in order to “allow our deterrent units to pursue and hold mercenaries accountable.” The group, which has been acting as Hamas’s arm in the catching of what they deem “merchants, thieves and gangs” added that the decision would remain in effect “until further notice,” threatening to “treat anyone who moves without justification as a traitorous thief who assists the occupation.”


Trump says goal of Iran talks is ‘total dismantlement’ of nuclear program
President Donald Trump said the goal of U.S. negotiations with Iran is “total dismantlement” of its nuclear program, contradicting comments made by others in his administration that Iran may be allowed to retain some enrichment capabilities.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the president said total dismantlement is “all I’d accept” out of the negotiations and downplayed the suggestion that the U.S. is open to Iran maintaining a civilian enrichment program.

“Now, there’s a new theory going out there that Iran would be allowed to have civilian — meaning to make electricity and to — but I say, you know, they have so much oil, what do they need it for?” Trump said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated otherwise as recently as last month, when he told The Free Press, “If Iran wants a civil nuclear program, they can have one just like many other countries in the world have one.” Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has made similar comments suggesting Iran could be permitted to continue enrichment up to 3.67% as part of a civilian program, though he backtracked after receiving pushback from GOP lawmakers.

When host Kristen Welker referred to Rubio’s comments, Trump replied, “I didn’t say anything contradictory. I said that people are talking about that. And this is something that’s really pretty new in the dialogue. And I’d have to be, you know, my inclination is to say, ‘What do you need that for? You have a lot of oil.’”

He continued, “I think that I would be open to hearing it, you know? Civilian energy, it’s called. But you know, civilian energy often leads to military wars. And we don’t wanna have them have a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple deal. I want Iran to be really successful, really great, really fantastic. The only thing they can’t have is a nuclear weapon.”

On Mike Waltz’s reassignment from national security advisor to U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Trump said the move was not a “punishment” for including a journalist in a confidential group chat of national security principals discussing military actions against the Houthis , and dismissed rumors that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth might also be removed from his post, saying Hegseth’s job is “totally safe.”


Iran rocked by explosions in Mashhad and Karaj
An explosion was heard in the city of Mashhad in Iran, according to local social media reports.

According to Iran International, the incident occurred in a motorcycle production factory.

Shortly after, a fire was reported to have broken out in the city of Qom.

On Saturday night, a blast was heard at a power plant in the city of Karaj in Iran, according to footage shared on social media.

According to reports, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was felt in Karaj, located northwest of Tehran; however, it was unclear whether it was triggered by the explosion or vice versa.

Bandar Abbas blast
On April 26, an explosion occurred at the Port of Bandar Abbas, killing at least 70 and wounding over 1,000 people.

According to The Washington Post, the blast at the Islamic Republic's largest port was caused by a chemical fire that began in a shipping container, as confirmed by visual evidence and explosives experts.


'Führer's order': Historic Nazi recording confirms Hitler ordered Holocaust
Approximately 800 new digital recordings and transcripts of Nazi criminals from after World War II were revealed Saturday, including dramatic and disturbing testimonies that shed light both on Nazi methods during the war and Holocaust and on their escape routes.

Among the recordings, published on the Hoover Institution website, is one from SS officer Bruno Streckenbach in which he admits that Adolf Hitler indeed gave explicit instructions for implementing the Final Solution and the mass murder of Jews – a significant revelation, as until now there has been limited concrete evidence of this direct order.

Streckenbach was responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the Third Reich – from managing SS death squads that slaughtered thousands across Poland in 1939 to deploying the "Einsatzgruppen," which murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews. Prosecutors attempted to charge him with responsibility for the murder of at least one million people, but Streckenbach evaded all attempts to bring him to trial and didn't spend a single day in a German prison after the war.

For almost 80 years, historians have debated whether the Holocaust stemmed directly from Hitler's explicit orders or evolved through initiatives taken by German subordinates and field commanders implementing broader directives.

According to Streckenbach's account, the first time he heard about the plan was when he received a hint from an old friend named Erwin Schulz, a volunteer officer in the "Einsatzgruppen" who until that point had supervised executions of up to a hundred people in western Ukraine, but apparently felt uncomfortable witnessing the mass murders of Jews.

Streckenbach admitted, "Schulz trembled, trembled like I'm trembling now. He said, 'What are we doing?' and I said, 'We can't do anything, we can't leave everything. There was an order.'"

Streckenbach went directly to his immediate commander, Reinhard Heydrich, one of the main architects of the Holocaust. "Heydrich was very quiet, very businesslike. He sat at the edge of his large conference table and said, 'Be quiet now, Streckenbach. Now listen to me. Shut your mouth, don't interfere. We can't do anything about it. This is the order from the Führer. He chose the SS to carry out this order. Neither the Reichsführer [Heinrich Himmler, SS leader] nor I can do anything about it,'" Streckenbach recounted.

Thomas Weber, Professor of History at the University of Aberdeen, who discovered the recordings, said Streckenbach's claim that the first order came directly from Hitler is of historical significance.
Decades later, new suspect lead emerges in Munich 1970 antisemitic arson
After fifty-five years, German authorities have a "plausible" lead as to the identity of the arsonist behind an attack on a Jewish retirement home in Munich on February 13, 1970, the German newspaper Bild reported last week, citing public officials.

The male individual is believed to have been a right-wing extremist, known to German authorities for his criminal activities in the 1970s and overt antisemitism.

The Munich Public Prosecutor's Office reopened an investigation into the arson attack last week, after a witness came forward to the antisemitism commissioner for the Bavarian judiciary.

The suspect has since died, however, the investigation will seek to identify the motive behind the attack and whether any witnesses or accomplices are currently living.

A fatal attack
Seven people - including two Holocaust survivors - died in the attack after gasoline was spread throughout the hallway of the Israelite Religious Community's nursing home, and the escape routes were blocked off.

Those killed include Regina Rivka Becher, 59; David Jakubowicz, 59; Rosa Drucker, 59; Georg Eljakim Pfau, 63; Leopold Arie Leib Gimpel, 69; Siegfried Offenbacher, 71; and Meir Max Blum, 71.

Two of the victims, Jakubowicz and Pfau, were Holocaust survivors. While Jakukbowicz was originally from Czechoslovakia, Pfau held both German and Israeli citizenship, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Offenbacher also had Israeli citizenship.

An additional 13 people were wounded, and a synagogue was damaged.
'Zionists not welcome': Israeli family kicked out of Naples restaurant
An Israeli family was made to leave a Naples restaurant on Saturday after they were told, "Zionists are not welcome here."

The video of the incident, which quickly circulated on social media, depicts an exchange between the restaurant worker and an Israeli couple in which the worker can be heard blaming the customers for deaths in Gaza.

The couple claimed they were turned away solely because they are Jewish-Israelis, and called the incident an act of discrimination.

The video depicts the restaurant owner clearly telling them to leave without paying the bill.

Restaurant defends itself, condemns 'ongoing Palestinian genocide'

The restaurant – La Taverna di Santa Chiara – posted a statement on its Facebook page in defense of its actions.

It wrote that the customers had implied “support for the crimes of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.”

“As conscientious citizens, we condemn the ongoing Palestinian genocide as a crime against humanity,” the post read.

The statement also said that the tourists accused the restaurant of antisemitism and alleged that supporting Palestinians meant supporting terrorism.

It added that it had a responsibility to take a stand “within the campaign of free zones from Israeli apartheid against the ongoing Palestinian genocide.”


Ecuador opens diplomatic tech office in Jerusalem
President Isaac Herzog on Sunday welcomed Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa to Jerusalem, marking the South American leader’s first official visit to Israel and the historic opening of Ecuador’s Innovation Research and Development Center in the capital, with diplomatic status.

During the meeting, Herzog praised Noboa as “a great friend” and thanked Ecuador for its “bold step” in recognizing Jerusalem with the diplomatic office. “This is a huge step forward, and we are grateful,” said Herzog.

Noboa affirmed his country’s support for Israel, emphasizing the shared fight against terrorism. “Peace must sometimes be attained through strength,” he said, adding that Ecuador values Israeli expertise in defense and technology.

Both leaders called for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. “We cannot have a situation like this in the 21st century,” Noboa declared.

The Ecuadorian delegation includes the country’s Foreign Minster Gabriela Sommerfeld, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo and Interior Minister Mónica Palencia.
Battle for biblical archaeology intensifies as Israeli researchers face academic boycott
A leading archaeology journal has effectively barred submissions by Israelis on Judea and Samaria unless they "have cooperated with the relevant Palestinian authorities," in what analysts say is a microcosm of the harm caused by a global campaign to whitewash the Jewish people’s history in the Land of Israel.

According to a report recently published by The Press Service of Israel (TPS-IL), the Palestine Exploration Quarterly (PEQ)—a peer-reviewed journal of the London-based Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF)—is refusing to accept submissions from researchers affiliated with institutions operating in what it refers to as "occupied territory," citing concerns over alleged Israeli violations of international law.

"Publication in PEQ is guided by the PEF’s ethical policy. The main aspect of this is international law, by which many academic institutions and publications, including PEQ, are bound," Charlotte Whiting, the journal’s editor-in-chief, told TPS-IL.

The journal’s website states that it "does not collaborate with institutions founded by an occupying power based in any occupied territory, and will not support, encourage, fund, or publish research by any academic associated with such institutions."

Israeli archaeologists told TPS-IL that any cooperation with Palestinian authorities or colleagues was practically impossible, because they "would be treated as traitors for this." They also said that their work is in many instances shunned by the broader academic world and, as such, researchers are forgoing focus on the biblically significant areas of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to protect their careers.

"What we’re seeing is a deliberate attempt to undermine Jewish historical ties to the land," Yishai Fleisher, international spokesman for Hebron, the cradle of Jewish civilization located in Judea, told Fox News Digital. "There are three strategies at play: the Palestinians either acknowledge Jews were once here but argue they no longer belong, deny any Jewish connection at all, or destroy the evidence outright."

Fleisher noted ongoing efforts by Palestinian authorities and others to rename historical Jewish sites. "They call Hebron ‘Al-Khalil,’ and the Cave of the Patriarchs becomes the ‘Ibrahimi Mosque.’ The Temple Mount is now the ‘Al-Aqsa complex,’ and Rachel’s Tomb has been rebranded as the ‘Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque,’" he said.

To counter this, he says Israeli advocates are working to mark and preserve ancient Jewish landmarks. "We added an Israeli flag and a menorah to a building originally constructed by King Herod 2,000 years ago—which itself stands atop a tomb dating back 3,500 years—to make it unmistakably clear it’s a Jewish site, despite the later addition of three minarets by Muslim conquerors."

The Palestinian Authority, which gained non-member observer state status at the United Nations in 2012, has been spearheading the campaign to rewrite history in global forums that contain automatic anti-Israel majorities.




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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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