Tuesday, May 20, 2025

05/20 Links Pt1: Gazans and Israelis Want Hamas Gone. Why Doesn’t the West?; ‘Mandate ended 77 years ago’: Israel reacts furiously to UK sanctions; Fetterman: Israel ‘deserves much better from my party’

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Gazans and Israelis Want Hamas Gone. Why Doesn’t the West?
How Hamas came to dominate the supposedly “pro-Palestinian” movement in the West is its own story, but now that that is undeniably the case, we have to deal with the ramifications of it.

And the ramifications are such that there is no moral dimension to the concerted pressure campaign against Israel.

Consider the Wall Street Journal revelation from Sunday:
“Top leaders of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel aiming to torpedo peace negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to minutes of a high-level meeting in Gaza that Israel’s military said it discovered in a tunnel beneath the enclave.

“Days before the assault that left nearly 1,200 dead, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s Gaza chief, told fellow militants that an ‘extraordinary act’ was required to derail the normalization talks that he said risked marginalizing the Palestinian cause, the document, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said.”

Now, the normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia only threaten to marginalize “the Palestinian cause” if you define “the Palestinian cause” the way Hamas does: a permanent genocidal campaign against Israel. If you define “the Palestinian cause” as a quest for self-determination and ultimately statehood alongside the state of Israel, then normalization between Israel and the Saudis is exactly what you want.

In other words, the two definitions of “the Palestinian cause” can be boiled down to: war and peace. Hamas understood that regional normalization with Israel threatens the forever war to eradicate the Jewish people from their homeland. They aren’t wrong: Since Israel’s normalization with Egypt and Jordan, the people of all three countries have been safer and more prosperous. Thus, what Hamas sought to torpedo on Oct. 7 was peace.

What do you suppose the Gazan protesters desire, war or peace? Well, it’s definitely not war. And they do not want to be governed by Hamas, which exists to torpedo regional peace and normalization. So Hamas thugs are finding various protesters and shooting them, cheered on by throngs of campus activists and street demonstrators in the West.

And those activists and demonstrators in the West, in turn, are influencing their governments to ignore the will of the Gazans suffering under Hamas.

To elevate Hamas is to prevent any chance at a two-state solution. It is the sole reason the terror group exists. If Western governments were smart, they would do everything in their power to tip the scales in favor of the Palestinian Authority over Hamas. The PA is no great institution of statesmanship, but it is not Hamas, and its increased political sovereignty over the years probably could not withstand the survival and rebounding of Hamas.

The U.S. diplomatic corps and the foreign ministries of our allies in Western Europe don’t like Israel; we get it. So if you grow a spine and push back against the Hamasniks in your streets, don’t do it for Israel. Do it for the people you are claiming to help. And if you won’t help the people of Gaza and the IDF get rid of Hamas, the least you can do is get out of their way.
Richard Kemp: International ‘do-gooders’ aren’t helping the people of Gaza
It is hard to escape the conclusion that António Guterres and others inside the UN simply do not want Israel to continue with its defeat of Hamas terrorists in Gaza. They have previous form on this. Right at the beginning of the conflict, I’m told, the Israeli government appealed to the UN to set up a humanitarian zone in the south of Gaza to house refugees driven away from danger in active combat zones further north. The UN refused to do so, arguing they would be abetting the displacement of civilians.

I know of no other conflict in which the UN has not actively encouraged the removal of populations from a dangerous combat zone. The same applies to the failure of the UN or any major power to pressure Egypt into opening its borders to allow temporary refuge. Again, there have been few other conflicts worldwide where neighbouring countries have not opened their borders to let civilians escape to safety.

Hamas is well known for using human shields as a crucial element of its military strategy against Israel. Can it really be that the UN and others in the international community are also using Gazan civilians as a different kind of shield?

Refusing to co-operate in proposals to get civilians to safety so that Hamas terrorists can be killed while minimising the prospects of collateral damage, and rejecting an initiative to supply them with humanitarian aid while denying it to the terrorists, certainly help frustrate Israel’s war efforts.

These international do-gooders may be doing good to Hamas, but they aren’t doing any good to the civilian population of Gaza. After more than 18 months of vicious fighting, the best way to end this war and get the hostages out is the rapid and efficient defeat of Hamas, and that depends to a very large extent on the success of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food-distribution project. All responsible governments and humanitarian bodies have a duty to support it. Those who do not are exposing their concerns for Gaza as empty words. Or worse.
Richard Kemp: Britain, France and Canada’s Hamas lifeline is a dangerous blunder
Of course no statement by Britain, France or Canada would be complete without the standard litany of delusions about supposedly illegal settlements and a “two state solution”. Can serious politicians really believe another two state solution is possible in the aftermath of the horrifically failed two state solution experiment in Gaza? Certainly Israeli support for such a thing could only — if ever — follow the total crushing of Hamas with the message that would send to any gangsters contemplating a similar endeavour. But that outcome is exactly what these three countries oppose.

Along similar lines, Starmer, Macron and Carney don’t seem to understand the consequences for their own countries of the survival of Hamas. They each have their ever-growing jihadist problems. Last week alone in Britain a number of Iranian men were arrested while plotting terrorist attacks in the UK. An Israeli defeat by Hamas — which is what they are advocating — could only inspire and encourage global jihadists.

Most damning of all, this statement has been welcomed by Hamas itself. Surely even these three amigos can comprehend that that alone means you’re on the wrong side?

But this joint statement is not only ill-judged; it is also extremely dangerous. It strengthens Hamas, it gives them hope at a time when that commodity is ebbing fast. It could lead to them digging in their heels to inflict even greater bloodshed on Israeli soldiers as well as their own people. If these were serious political leaders they would have confined their threats against an ally at war to the realms of secret diplomacy. But no, they must indulge in public virtue signalling. Appease the Jew hating mobs that paraded the streets of their capitals only last weekend and damn the consequences.

The statement concludes with the dark threat of recognising a Palestinian state. As Prime Minister Netanyahu pointed out in his response, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7th while inviting more such atrocities”.

If Starmer, Macron and Carney actually wanted to make a real contribution to peace in the region they would have told Hamas to release the hostages and lay down their arms. That above all is needed to save lives in Gaza and begin the process of rebuilding a decent life for the civilian population. But that would be too much to expect from bewildered leaders who cannot even defend their own borders or protect their own population from ever-increasing threats against them.
Brendan O'Neill: How the cowardly West is emboldening Hamas
There’s a surefire way to know you’re on the wrong side of history: you get praised by Hamas. This ignominious fate befell Britain, France and Canada this week. The three big hitters of the West’s liberal conscience issued a statement condemning Israel and guess who loved it? Yes, the army of anti-Semites devoted to Israel’s destruction. The neo-fascist militia that killed more Jews in one day on 7 October 2023 than anyone has since the Nazis. These nations have taken ‘a significant step in the right direction’, gushed the Jew-killers.

Give yourselves a pat on the back, Starmer, Carney and Macron: you’ve made a gang of racist mass murderers very happy. Their statement called on Israel to ‘stop its military operations’ in Gaza and ‘allow humanitarian aid to enter’. If Israel fails to cease its ‘egregious’ ops, we will take ‘further concrete actions’, they imperiously threatened. It was music to the ears of Hamas. Of course it was: you don’t need a PhD in war studies to know that international condemnation of one side in a war tends to comfort and rouse the other. Britain, France and Canada have taken a ‘principled stance against the Israeli occupation’s policy of siege and starvation’, Hamas said.

The seriousness of this cannot be overstated. The leaders of Western nations have essentially given credence to the Hamas view of Israel’s war in Gaza – namely, that it is a criminal campaign of starvation masquerading as a war on terror. It is ‘egregious’ and ‘disproportionate’ and must stop, said Britain, France and Canada; it is a crusade of ‘forced displacement’ that is ruthlessly ‘targeting Palestinians’, said Hamas in its approving response. Different words, same sentiment: Israel’s behaviour is villainous and the world must stand against it.

Worse, both sides threaten consequences if Israel refuses to lay down arms. Hamas promises to keep fighting ‘the Zionist entity’. Britain, France and Canada promise ‘concrete’ punishments if Israel doesn’t immediately halt Operation Gideon’s Chariots, its latest ground push against Hamas’s remaining strongholds in Gaza. This reportedly includes France threatening to put the kibosh on the EU-Israel trade pact, which could have serious consequences for Israel’s economic health. So Hamas holds a gun to the head of the Jewish State and Europe holds a knife to its purse strings – a pincer movement of neo-fascists and haughty liberals devoted to halting Israel’s war on the barbarous authors of the 7 October pogrom. What a shameful day for what remains of Western civilisation.

It might be unwitting, it might be indirect, but we now have a horrifying situation where Britain, France and Canada are on the same page as Hamas. Morally if not politically, objectively if not intentionally. All think Israel’s intensified pursuit of the Hamas terror organisation is unacceptable. The United Nations too, it seems. It has slammed Israel’s latest efforts to crush the army of bigots that attacked it as a reckless campaign that will cause the deaths of thousands of children. A UN spokesman warns that 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if Israel doesn’t immediately lift its siege of Gaza. How the UN arrived at such a figure, and such a timeframe, is a mystery. But the message is clear: if Israel doesn’t down arms, children will perish. It’s a kind of moral blackmail that will give moral succour to Hamas and its lie that Israel is fighting a war not against jihadism but against children.
Eitan Fischberger: The New Director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Military Hospital Loves Terrorism — and the Press Doesn’t Care
In recent days, media headlines have once again sounded the alarm over Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital:
“Kamal Adwan Hospital Overwhelmed”
“Kamal Adwan Facing Severe Shortages”

These stories often cite the hospital’s current director, Dr. Sakher Hamad, as a source of information. But there’s just one problem: Dr. Hamad has a long, public record of supporting Hamas terrorists and glorifying jihad. And this isn’t a one-off.

In December 2024, I revealed that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital’s previous director, was not just a physician — he was also a Colonel in Hamas. Less than 24 hours after my exposé, Abu Safiya was arrested by the Israel Defense Forces and has remained in custody ever since.

That investigation also uncovered that Kamal Adwan was not simply a civilian hospital as portrayed by international media, but a military hospital — referred to as such by Hamas itself in Arabic-language news reports and even on the hospital’s own Facebook page.

And it didn’t end there.

I discovered that multiple hospital directors and deputy directors in Gaza were either active members of Hamas or openly praised the group and celebrated the murder of Jews on social media. The conclusion was inescapable: Gaza’s medical infrastructure is operated by Hamas — which anyone paying attention would realize, since Hamas is/was the totalitarian government ruling the strip.

Now, as Israel renews its ground offensive under Operation Gideon’s Chariots, Kamal Adwan Hospital is back in the spotlight — with Dr. Sakher Hamad cast as its sympathetic, credible face. But Hamad is anything but neutral.

Who is Dr. Sakher Hamad?
While I haven’t yet found evidence tying Dr. Hamad to a formal Hamas rank like his predecessor, Dr. Abu Safiya, his social media history reads like a jihadist recruitment brochure.

In 2017, Hamad glorified slain Hamas commander Mazen Faqha, writing:
“May God have mercy on you, Mazen… congratulations on Paradise. I believe that silence is sometimes better than promises and pledges, and acting in silence is better, more beautiful, and more powerful… What matters is action.”

That same year, he posted an image of Jerusalem stylized as the hilt of a sword, alongside the slogan—and I kid you not:
“We have come to slaughter you.”

In 2018, he posted photos of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades fighters with the caption:
“May God protect you and grant you victory.”

In 2019, he shared a photo of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists embracing, rebuking anyone who wished for their separation and writing:
“They are brothers united on the highest path of Islam: jihad in the name of Allah.”

In 2020, Hamad posted a cartoon depicting a Hamas naval commando fishing a rocket out of the sea, captioned with a Quranic verse describing it as a divinely granted “treasure” — implying that weapons of war were a mercy from God.

This is the man Western media outlets are treating as a reliable source on humanitarian conditions in Gaza.


Why American Middle East Policy Needs Human Rights to Succeed
While the president’s Middle East tour might not have been a snub to Israel, that doesn’t place it beyond criticism. One disturbing point was his speech in Riyadh on Tuesday, in which he seemed to argue that the U.S. should cease paying attention to human rights or to the forms of government of the various states in the region. Not only, writes Elliott Abrams, did the speech present a false picture of the past several decades of American Middle East policy, but it also failed to understand the realities of the region. Take, for instance, President Trump’s claim that the “great transformation” in the Persian Gulf and “gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi” owe nothing to American busybodies:
This is wrong in very many ways, but one might start with the UAE—whose success stems from a highly successful combination of embracing both their heritage and modernity. Trump himself visited their Abrahamic House, where a mosque, church, and synagogue share quarters, and had he visited their beaches he’d have seen some very fashionable and quite tiny bikinis. And that is a model of balancing heritage and change that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman seems to be trying to follow.

And there is much at stake here:
President Trump, Vice-President Vance, and others in the administration may believe that unconditionally embracing rulers who repress human rights has no effect on our country’s reputation and believe that even if it does, that does not matter. That is certainly not the view of our enemies, who have built vast propaganda machines to blacken the reputation of the United States every day. They wish to destroy that association with liberty and substitute a picture of the United States as an aggressor whose policies create human misery across the globe. They think it matters. It is a mystery why officials in the Trump administration are blind to this.

The support of the United States for liberty and human rights isn’t a problem that needs to be solved or a weakness in our relations with other nations. It’s an asset, and so understood by our enemies as well as our friends.
Israel agrees to Witkoff deal but Hamas rebuffs proposal, PMO says
Hamas is refusing to agree to a deal based on the Witkoff proposal, despite Israel's agreement to the deal, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Tuesday evening. For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

"Israel agrees to the American proposal for the return of the hostages, which is based on the Witkoff framework," the statement read. "This proposal was recently conveyed to Hamas through the mediators, but so far it continues to cling to its refusal."

The statement confirmed that senior-level negotiators will return to Israel, while a working team will remain in Doha.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the remaining team in Doha is staying to show that Israel is still willing to make efforts to reach a deal.

However, Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that no progress has been made in the negotiations and that there is no indication that Hamas is shifting its position.


The price of Edan Alexander’s release: Giving Hamas control of humanitarian aid
One question many were asking surrounding the release of dual US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander pertained to what Hamas was promised in return for his freedom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office even went so far as to release a statement that it had been informed by the US of Hamas’s intention to release Alexander “without compensation or conditions.”

The statement went on to emphasize that Israel did not commit to a ceasefire or the release of any Palestinian prisoners, only to “a safe corridor that will allow for Edan’s release.”

At the same time, Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi told the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV that they conducted direct negotiations with the US that would lead to the resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

And Qatar and Egypt issued a joint statement referring to Alexander’s release as “an encouraging step for the parties to return to the negotiating table for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and detainees, and ensuring the safe and unhindered flow of aid to address the tragic situation in the Strip,” implying that certain soft commitments by the Israelis were to be understood. Edan Alexander wearing Star of David necklace gifted by Steve Witkoff. (credit: Canva, Hostage and Missing Families Forum)


Netanyahu blasts London, Ottawa, Paris for demanding end to war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday criticized the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada after they warned of “concrete actions” unless Jerusalem halts its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed, and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa, and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, while inviting more such atrocities,” he said according to a statement from his office.

The statement reiterated that the war began when “Palestinian terrorists stormed our borders, murdered 1,200 innocent people and abducted over 250 more innocents to the dungeons of Gaza.”

Netanyahu noted that Israel backs U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace vision and urged European leaders to do the same.

“The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled, and Gaza is demilitarized. No nation can be expected to accept anything less, and Israel certainly won’t,” the statement continued.

“This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved,” it concluded.

Earlier on Monday, the three countries issued a joint communiqué expressing strong opposition to expanded Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza and calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
London sanctions seven Israeli citizens, entities over alleged Judea and Samaria violence
The British government sanctioned four Israeli entities and three people on Tuesday for what it said was alleged support for “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” of Arabs in Judea and Samaria.

According to London’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the decision was made after determining that the targeted groups and individuals “supported violence against Palestinians” in the region.

The Israelis will be subjected to “financial restrictions, travel bans and director disqualifications, and will follow 18 other individuals, entities, and companies already sanctioned relating to serious violence against communities in the West Bank,” the British government announced in a statement. (The United Kingdom, like many other countries around the world, refers to Judea and Samaria as “the West Bank.”)

The four sanctioned Israeli entities are the Nachala Settlement Movement, which works to develop communities across Judea and Samaria, as well as the Gaza Strip; and the Shiloh-area Libi Construction and Infrastructure Ltd. company, as well as the Neriya’s Farm and Coco’s Farm outposts, also in Samaria.

The measures include all “persons residing” at the farms, London said.

The Israeli citizens added to the sanction list were Nachala chairwoman Daniella Weiss; Libi Construction and Infrastructure Ltd. owner Harel (“Coco”) Libi; and Zohar Sabah, a rancher from central Samaria whose farming outpost has repeatedly been attacked by Palestinians.
Seth Mandel: What On Earth Were France, Canada, and the UK Thinking?
This war isn’t a playground tit-for-tat. Hamas launched this war and took captives, and it has neither surrendered nor returned all the captives. Of course the war isn’t over. Indeed, Hamas has made clear that its war will go on in perpetuity. Israel has no power to end this war alone.

And yet, the statement threatens: “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.” So Israel must unilaterally disarm during wartime, then. Good luck convincing anyone to do that.

“It is a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and a long-term political solution that offer the best hope of ending the agony of the hostages and their families, alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza, ending Hamas’ control of Gaza and achieving a pathway to a two-state solution.”

“Ending Hamas’s control of Gaza”—why didn’t anyone think of that before? Just call a cease-fire and ask Hamas to leave! What are the Israelis waiting for?

When the leaders of France, the UK, and Canada imagine the implementation of the settlement they are advocating here, what specifically is envisioned for the part where they end Hamas’s control of Gaza? Who will be ending Hamas’s control of Gaza, and how will they be doing so?

The answer is that if Hamas’s control of Gaza is to end, it will be because Israel ends it. Which is what the IDF is doing now. Which is what the governments of the UK, France, and Canada are strenuously objecting to.

A random assortment of words would make more sense than this statement. It is a mixture of falsehoods and contradictions. War is a serious matter, and these three countries ought to find someone in their ranks willing to take it seriously, instead of whoever wrote this letter.
A gift to Hamas
Where Israel has been clear-eyed, the West has lost its moral compass. After initially calling for Hamas’s defeat, many Europeans shifted to demanding a ceasefire that would leave Hamas in power. And now, Britain, France and Canada have escalated – not against the hostage-takers, but the hostage-rescuers.

This shift followed a remarkable PR makeover for Hamas, aided by their Qatari funders. One day Hamas were genocidal rapists livestreaming mass murder; the next, they were elevated to negotiators with “demands” and “conditions” that deserve consideration. The real obstruction to peace? The Israelis who still insist the genocidal jihadists on their border be defeated.

A biased media and activist NGOs helped cement this moral inversion. Western reporters scrutinise every comma in Israeli press releases while treating Hamas’s doctored casualty figures as fact. Politicised NGOs and compromised prosecutors accuse Israel of genocide while ignoring the real one in Sudan. The effect was to embolden Hamas and prolong the fighting.

There has always been a clear path to end this war. Hamas could surrender. It could release the hostages. It could accept Israel’s pragmatic offer to let its leaders leave Gaza unharmed. But why would it, when Western democracies keep signalling that salvation is just one more UN vote away?

Imagine if the UK, France, Canada and other Western leaders had said this: Hamas alone is responsible for every death in this war. The path to peace begins with its defeat. Perhaps Gaza would already be rebuilding.

As this goes to press, the situation remains fluid. Maybe the IDF advance will push Hamas to accept the deal Israel embraced two months ago – a temporary ceasefire in exchange for some hostages. Or perhaps the jihadis are still stalling, waiting for the next surge of international pressure to rescue them from defeat.

But one thing is certain: unless Hamas is defeated, this war won’t end – it will only pause, until the next massacre. And the UK, France and Canada will have the grim distinction of having helped condemn Israelis and Palestinians to perpetual conflict.


‘Mandate ended 77 years ago’: Israel reacts furiously to UK sanctions
Israel hit back at the UK government’s decision to suspend trade negotiations over its Gaza blockade by fuming;”The British mandate ended 77 years ago – sanctions won’t deter us.”

After David Lammy had outlined the new moves in parliament – which also included the summoning of ambassador Tzipi Hotovely to the Foreign Office and more sanctions on the occupied West Bank settler movement – a spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry said: “If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy – that is its own prerogative.

“External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”

It added: “The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago.

“External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in the struggle for its existence and security against enemies seeking its destruction.”

In his statement, Israel’s spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said: “Even prior to today’s announcement, the free trade agreement negotiations were not being advanced at all by the current UK government.”

He then addressed the West Bank sanctions saying: “The sanctions against residents of Judea and Samaria are unjustified, and regrettable, especially at a time when Israel is mourning yet another victim of Palestinian terror — Tzeela Gez, of blessed memory, who was murdered on her way to the delivery room. Doctors continue fighting for her newborn’s life in hospital.”

In the UK, Jewish News understands that the main communal organisations are still considering their response to the government’s announcement, made to a packed House of Commons on Tuesday.

Although Labour Friends of Israel did issue a statement saying they were “disappointed” by government’s decision to suspend negotiations on a UK-Israel FTA.

They claim the move will “play into the hands of the Netanyahu government while isolating moderate voices for peace.”


ICC deputies take over as chief prosecutor goes on leave amid sex assault scandal
The International Criminal Court in The Hague announced on Tuesday that deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang would be taking over from ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan following the accusations of sexual misconduct against him.

In a statement published by the court, the two prosecutors stressed that they would ensure their office’s continuity “across all areas of work, and particularly in its mission to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes with independence and impartiality.”

The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor reaffirmed its “commitment to the continued effective implementation of its mandate to deliver justice for victims of Rome Statute crimes, across all situations and cases globally.”

Karim Khan has taken indefinite leave pending the outcome of a probe by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services about allegations that he repeatedly assaulted a Malaysian colleague while urging her not to pursue charges as they might hinder his war crimes case against Israeli leaders.

“Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants,” the chief prosecutor was cited as saying, according to his accuser. He has denied all allegations.


Hungary approves exit from International Criminal Court
Hungary’s parliament voted on Tuesday to initiate the country’s formal withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, a move hailed by senior Israeli officials as a stand against the court’s political targeting of the Jewish state.

The bill, submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, passed with 134 lawmakers in favor and 37 opposed. The legislation cited concern over the ICC being used “as instruments of political influence,” echoing longstanding Israeli objections to the court’s legitimacy.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government first announced the withdrawal plan on April 3, coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s state visit to Budapest—one of only two trips Netanyahu has made abroad since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Orbán has condemned the warrants and vowed Hungary would not honor it. The withdrawal would make Hungary the only European Union member state that does not recognize the ICC’s authority.

“Hungary firmly rejects the use of international organisations—in particular criminal courts—as instruments of political influence,” the bill states, according to the Hungarian parliament’s website.

Netanyahu praised the decision, calling it “bold and principled” and reiterating that Israel is being unfairly targeted over its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. He has denied all allegations brought by the court.

“I praise the Hungarian Parliament for its just and historic decision this morning to approve the withdrawal from the ICC,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar posted on X. “The so-called ‘International Criminal Court’ has lost all moral credibility in its zest to remove Israel’s basic right to defend itself. Thank you Hungary and @PM_ViktorOrban!”


Netanyahu calls Golan’s ‘killing babies as hobby’ remark ‘outrageous’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that opposition leader Yair Golan’s comment saying Israel is “killing babies as a hobby” was no different than “antisemitic blood libels” against Israeli forces.

The chairman of the Democrats Party made the remark about Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the terrorist group’s massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, earlier on Tuesday when speaking to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News, stirring heated reactions from across the political spectrum.

“Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah among nations, like South Africa once was, if it doesn’t return to acting like a sane state,” he said. “A sane state does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not set goals of population expulsion for itself.”

Golan further accused the government of having “nothing whatsoever to do with Judaism. Kahanist types, lacking wisdom, lacking morality and lacking the ability to manage a state in times of emergency. This is dangerous to our very existence. Therefore, it is time to replace this government as soon as possible so that this war can also come to an end.”

Netanyahu berated Golan, who holds the rank of general in the Israel Defense Forces reserves, branding his remarks as “outrageous” with “no limit to [the] moral decay.”

“The IDF is the most moral army in the world, and our soldiers are fighting a battle for our very existence. Golan, who has encouraged refusal to serve and previously compared Israel to the Nazis while in uniform, has now reached a new low,” said the Israeli premier.

“While we are engaged in a multi-front war and leading complex diplomatic efforts to free our hostages and defeat Hamas, Golan and his allies in the radical left are echoing some of the vilest antisemitic blood libels against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel,” he said.


John Spencer: Gideon’s Chariots Rolls Forward: Israel Escalates Military Offensive as Hamas Blocks Hostage Deal
In this approach, humanitarian relief and military operations are not in conflict—they are synchronized. Aid distribution advances as Hamas control recedes. By outsourcing aid operations to internationally vetted, non-governmental actors under military supervision, Israel is also cutting Hamas out of its historic practice of hijacking and weaponizing humanitarian assistance.

It is essential to anchor this war in its true origin: October 7, when Hamas launched a barbaric assault on Israeli civilians across southern Israel. The violence wasn’t spontaneous—it was strategic. This week, The Wall Street Journal reported what Israeli intelligence and analysts had long assessed: the October 7 attack was intended to collapse the Israeli-Saudi normalization process. Documents recovered in a Gaza tunnel quote Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s former leader, saying an “extraordinary act” was needed to derail normalization. The attack had been two years in the making. Sinwar expected Hezbollah and Iran’s other regional proxies to join the offensive. They didn’t.

With ceasefire talks in Doha stalled and Hamas’s senior leadership dead or in hiding, Israel continues military operations while remaining open to short tactical pauses for hostage releases. Short of an immediate and verifiable release of all hostages, followed by Hamas’s total surrender, disarmament, and the demilitarization and deradicalization of Gaza, Operation Gideon’s Chariots remains the most present and viable strategy for achieving the goals of the war.

There are many unknowns—among them, reports of a Trump administration-backed proposal to allow voluntary Gazan resettlement abroad, including in Libya. But one truth is increasingly clear: Israel will need to clear and hold territory, degrade Hamas’s military capabilities, and maintain security on the ground until an alternative governing entity—not Hamas—can assume control.

That transitional force may be the IDF, a multinational protectorate, or an Arab-led peacekeeping structure. Either way, the conditions for a post-Hamas Gaza are now being shaped in real time. The war Hamas launched to Israel block regional normalization and ultimately destroy Isarel may, in the end, accelerate normalizations. A new strategic alignment is forming—one that no longer accommodates terrorist organizations as political stakeholders.

And after October 7, any political or military leader who believed Hamas could be swiftly dismantled—or that its infrastructure was anything less than deeply entrenched—was never a serious student of war. Hamas spent decades transforming Gaza into a fortress: a vast subterranean network of tunnels, a militarized landscape of civilian infrastructure, and a society indoctrinated for jihad. This was not a rogue insurgency. It was an autonomous warfighting entity—an entire region engineered for protracted conflict.

Now, that war is being met with clarity of purpose. Operation Gideon’s Chariots is not merely a military offensive—it is a campaign to dismantle the machinery of terror and reshape the strategic future of the region.


Israel will seize more of Gaza if Hamas doesn’t free hostages, IDF chief warns
The Israeli military is prepared to capture more territory in the Gaza Strip if Hamas does not agree to release the remaining hostages it is keeping in captivity, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned in a video statement on Tuesday.

He issued the ultimatum following a situational assessment and field tour in Gaza, days into a major new offensive dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” through which Israel seeks to attack Hamas and seize and retain territory, while relocating Palestinians from the north of the Strip to its south.

The offensive was launched amid negotiations in Qatar for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, which started back up again last week following the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

Israel had previously warned that it would launch the offensive should no agreement be reached following the end of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region last week. While reports initially indicated that the new talks were moving in the right direction, they hit a wall in recent days.

Zamir said “Hamas will pay a price for its refusal” to release the hostages.

“It will face intense firepower,” he said. “We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until its defeat.” Troops of the 162nd Division operate in northern Gaza, in a handout photo published on May 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

“Hamas only has one option, and that is to release our hostages,” Zamir continued, adding that should an agreement be reached, “the IDF will know how to adjust its activity accordingly.”

“Our objectives are clear: the return of the hostages to their homes, the defeat of Hamas and the dismantling of its rule,” he continued. “We are defending ourselves, and for that we must attack. We cannot defend ourselves only on the defense, without clearly removing the threat from the other side of the border.”


Soldier killed in Gaza, bringing IDF wartime toll to 857
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed earlier in the day in the northern Gaza Strip, the military announced overnight Monday.

The soldier was identified as Sgt. Yosef Yehuda Chirak, 22, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from Harasha.

An initial IDF investigation has found that Chirak was accidentally killed by friendly fire. According to the probe, combat engineers operating under the 401st Armored Brigade had located a tunnel shaft in northern Gaza and were preparing it for demolition. Chirak, who was standing near the tunnel, was struck by fire from another company tasked with securing the area.

“Sergeant Yosef Yehuda Hirak was accidentally killed by fire from our forces while he was inspecting a tunnel shaft with other fighters,” the IDF confirmed in a statement. The military has presented his family with the initial findings.

A total of 857 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on the northwestern Negev.


IDF thwarts weapons smuggling attempt from Egypt
The Israel Defense Forces overnight Tuesday announced that it had foiled another attempt to smuggle weapons and ammunition across the border from Egypt via an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The drone, which was successfully intercepted, was found to have been carrying 19 pistols, three automatic rifles and ammunition, according to the IDF.

The drone and its contents are now in the hands of the Israel Police.

Terrorists have increasingly taken to using drones to attempt to smuggle both weapons and drugs across the Egypt-Israel border. Weapons smuggling across Israel’s eastern border with Jordan has also seen a marked uptick in recent months.


Israel resumes aid to Gaza under strict new conditions
Five United Nations trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including baby food, entered the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Monday, the Israeli military confirmed.

The transfer followed the recommendation of Israel Defense Forces officials and was carried out under the directive of the political echelon.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) emphasized that all aid was subjected to “a thorough security inspection” by the Defense Ministry’s Crossing Points Authority. The IDF reiterated that it “will continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip while making every effort to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas.”

The director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Eden Bar Tal, said: “From the beginning of the war, Israel has stated clearly—we are monitoring the levels of basic items in Gaza, and we will facilitate the supply of items in low levels to avoid shortages.”


Call me Back Podcast: State of World Jewry Address (‪@92NY‬) Part II

Anti-Israel J Street pollster publishes skewed stats on Trump and Netanyahu
A few days ago, multiple news publications reported on the results of a poll by Jim Gerstein’s GBAO Strategies for a newly formed, supposedly “nonpartisan” outfit: the Jewish Voters Resource Center. The final tally suggested that half of Jewish Americans believe that U.S. President Donald Trump is antisemitic, in addition to other left-wing results.

Unfortunately, the mostly identical news articles in The Forward, The Times of Israel, Israel Hayom, The Hill and Arutz Sheva failed to mention the poll’s dishonest phrasing of its questions to elicit far-left results, the poll’s skewed polling sample or the fact that Gerstein was J Street’s former vice president and biased pollster.

But many active in the American Jewish community suspected that the poll results were not believable and simply wrong. It did not seem possible that a legitimate poll would find “half of American Jewish voters believe Trump is antisemitic”; that 62% supposedly believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu resumed the war in Gaza in March for personal political considerations as opposed to Israel’s national security”; or that significant numbers of American Jews believe that Trump’s efforts to end campus antisemitism causes more hatred.

So what’s going on? First, pollster Gerstein has a history of conducting deceptive polls to promote J Street’s agenda. Commissioning Gerstein’s polls through the new “Jewish Voters Resource Center” outfit seems to have been an effort to obscure that these are still misleading polls designed to promote the same anti-Israel J Street agenda.

Second, the polling sample was heavily skewed to overrepresent Jews who voted against Trump and to underrepresent Republicans and Orthodox Jews. Only 26% of Gerstein’s polling sample voted for Trump, and 16% were Republicans. An AP/Fox News analysis exit poll showed that 33% of American Jews voted for Trump. The exit poll numbers for Trump were also much higher in states with large Jewish populations (45% in New York, 43% in Florida and 41% in Pennsylvania).

Exit polls are not as reliable as actual results and likely understated Jewish voters for Trump: A Tablet study of actual precinct-level results found that in New York and other areas, “Nearly every neighborhood with a notable density of Jewish-specific businesses and institutions … voted heavily Republican or saw a rise in Trump’s performance.” For instance, Trump received 62% in a heavily Syrian Jewish area of Brooklyn, N.Y., and between 75% to 90% of the votes in the borough’s heavily Russian-Jewish area.
Hugh Hewitt: Was President Trump’s ME trip a success?
Haviv Rettig Gur of the Times of Israel and the “Ask Haviv Anything” podcast joined Hugh for a long post-op breakdown with some interesting asides.


Ami’s House: Haviv Rettig Gur UNCENSORED– The Gaza War Explained Like You’ve Never Heard Before
Israeli journalist, history teacher, and commentator Haviv Rettig Gur joins Ami Kozak and Michael Weber to break down the real story behind Israel's PR crisis, Trump’s Middle East strategy, and the viral rise of antisemitism in American culture.

We cover everything from:
The four major axes of power in the Middle East 🌍
Why Trump’s foreign policy worked—and Obama’s didn’t 🧠
What Kanye’s new song reveals about American decay 🇺🇸
How American Jews are losing the battle of ideas 💬
Whether Israel can survive without U.S. support 🇮🇱

00:00 - Intro
01:51 - Trump’s Middle East Strategy: Genius or Guesswork?
02:46 - Saudi Arabia, Iran, and 4D Chess in the Middle East
10:48 - Does Trump Intuit the Region Better Than Obama?
19:11 - Why the U.S. is Sidelining Israel—and What It Means
21:16 - How U.S. Military Aid Helps Israel (Iron Dome & F-35s)
24:01 - The Case for Israeli Independence from U.S. Dependency
26:24 - Kanye West’s “Heil Hitler” Lyrics and Cultural Rot
29:18 - Joe Rogan, Tom Segura, and Playing with Antisemitism
30:32 - American Culture’s Obsession with Tearing Things Down
33:59 - Are Jews Overreacting, or Is This Pre-Holocaust Germany?
38:39 - What’s the Right Response to Kanye’s Antisemitism?
41:45 - The Crisis of Community in American Life
47:13 - What Counts as “Fair Criticism” of Israel?
52:59 - Rise of Christian Antisemitism on the American Right
55:11 - Rogan, Ian Carroll, and the Spread of Talmud Blood Libels
56:18 - Netanyahu’s Cowardice and PR Incompetence
57:11 - Why Biden Pressured Bibi on Rafah—and How It Backfired
58:02 - Bibi’s PR Vacuum and the Global Messaging War
59:02 - Tribal Loyalty in Likud: Why Bibi Survives
62:15 - Jews Must Learn Their Story—Or Let Antisemites Write It
63:06 - Why American Jews Are Losing the Narrative
66:12 - Where Are Jews From? Ashkenazi Origins Explained
70:27 - Final Thoughts: Jewish Community, American Loneliness




Fetterman: Israel ‘deserves much better from my party’
As Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) faces attacks from the media and fellow lawmakers in the Democratic Party, he hit back at members of his own party on Tuesday in remarks to a group of bipartisan activists in Washington.

Speaking to members of NORPAC, a pro-Israel advocacy organization, Fetterman offered some of his sharpest criticism yet of the Democratic Party’s approach to Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

“Israel and your community deserves much better from my party,” Fetterman said, earning loud applause.

He described how American universities have produced a “monoculture that produced, actually, rampant antisemitism,” and called to address it — but suggested Democrats are not interested in doing so.

“We have to address that. But in my party, you will pay a price,” said Fetterman. “That’s OK. I think that’s what defines character … that you’re going to support things even if it moves against your own political interest.”




Israel Advocacy Movement: Israeli Debates Palestinian… And They Actually Agree?!

Israel Advocacy Movement: Jew Traps Muslim With Quran… Exposes What Islam Really Says About Jews



Kneecap threatens legal action against critics after calls to axe Glastonbury set
Controversial Irish republican rap group Kneecap has threatened to sue music industry figures who reportedly lobbied Glastonbury organisers to remove the band from this year’s line-up over pro-terrorism comments.

The trio, named after a paramilitary method of torture, is currently under investigation by UK counter-terrorism police after videos surfaced of members shouting, Up Hezbollah, up Hamas” and “Kill your local MP” during performances in 2023 and 2024.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Monday that a man was interviewed under caution in Belfast on Sunday, 18 May, as part of an ongoing inquiry into “potential offences” relating to the videos. “The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command,” a spokesperson said.

Footage from London gigs at Kentish Town Forum and other venues, where the slogans were allegedly shouted, has been referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment. Police said they had “grounds for further investigation” based on the material reviewed.

Kneecap’s legal team, Phoenix Law, has now issued a formal letter to individuals accused of urging Glastonbury to drop the group, describing the intervention as “untrue and defamatory”.

The band allege that the correspondence was shared among over 30 recipients and later leaked to them.

The letter accuses industry figures of attempting to “monopolise [their] status within the industry” and exert “concerted pressure” on Glastonbury organisers to silence the group. “Such a direct and coordinated approach seeks to create a chilling effect upon the wider music industry,” it states.

It demands a “formal and unequivocal apology” or face civil proceedings for reputational damage. “We cannot allow false statements to be asserted dressed up as statements of fact,” the letter says.


Peter Tatchell: Pro-Palestine stewards had me arrested over anti-Hamas sign
Peter Tatchell has accused stewards at a pro-Palestine march in London of using police to suppress his criticism of Hamas after he was detained while holding a placard condemning both Israel’s actions in Gaza and human rights abuses by the terror group.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed Tatchell, 73, was arrested “in error” at Saturday’s Nakba Day demonstration after officers were approached by stewards from the Palestine Coalition protest. He was later released without charge and the force said it would review its handling of the incident.

Tatchell, a lifelong campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and global human rights, said he had attended the march to show solidarity with Palestinians while also highlighting Hamas’s documented torture and execution of internal critics. His placard read: “Stop Israel genocide! Stop Hamas execution!” and included a photo of Oday Nasser Al Rabay, a Palestinian reportedly executed by Hamas after participating in protests against its rule in Gaza.

“I find it shocking that the campaign, which I’ve supported for 54 years, would seek to use the police to silence my criticism of Hamas,” Tatchell told the PA news agency.

“Before the march started, I was abused, menaced and threatened by a minority of protesters,” he added. “Some told me to ‘f*** off’ and called me ‘Zionist scum’. Despite this, the police stood by and did nothing. I was frightened for my safety.”




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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

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