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Friday, June 06, 2025

06/06 Links Pt1: What the Death of Four IDF Soldiers Reveals About Hamas’s Pre-Destruction of Gaza; Inside the IDF “Aid Massacre” That Never Happened

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: What the Death of Four IDF Soldiers Reveals About Hamas’s Pre-Destruction of Gaza
Is Israel’s war to topple Hamas in Gaza going unnecessarily slowly? That’s become the conventional wisdom. But the tragic deaths of four IDF soldiers in a booby-trapped building in Khan Younis challenge that assumption.

Chen Gross of a commando unit and Yoav Raver of an engineering unit were killed along with two other, as-yet-unnamed soldiers when they entered a building in Southern Gaza that was rigged with explosives, and the structure collapsed on the four of them.

After the announcement, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin answered questions from the media. Unsurprisingly, he was asked whether it was truly necessary to put the soldiers in the kind of danger that resulted in the four deaths in Khan Younis. His response: “Sometimes there’s no choice but to investigate a tunnel route. To do this, without being harmed by an explosive, we carry out a variety of methods,” one of which is in-person inspection.

Perilous as this no doubt sounds (and is), one can easily imagine scenarios in which there really is no choice but for the soldiers to investigate a building themselves, with the gear they’ve got on them. With the large amount of cameras and remote triggers Hamas and other Gazan forces have left behind, sometimes standing around and waiting for backup or for a flyover of some sort really isn’t in the cards. Yet a prospective tunnel can’t be left unmolested either; just a week ago, IDF soldiers found a tunnel hundreds of meters long and with several exits. The troops reportedly “spotted a cell of operatives emerging from one of the shafts” and neutralized the militants. Point is, the terror tunnels aren’t hypothetical future threats; they are still active war zones whose presence puts every single soldier and civilian in the vicinity in grave danger.

The IDF isn’t doing this for fun, in other words. Its missions continue to have a clear and definable purpose and they carry inherent danger.

This also helps explain the level of physical destruction in Gaza. Rather than being indicative of some sort of pyromania on the part of the IDF, which is what the media would like you to believe, these structures must be destroyed. They cannot be lived in. They aren’t inhabitable—or even safe for people to live and work near. They are boobytrapped, rigged with explosives, and contain entrances (or exits) to tunnels from which a cell of armed terrorists will eventually emerge into daylight.
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour: There Is Actually No Solution
The Israeli and Palestinian actors remain crucial, of course, but they no longer exhaust the field. They are not the whole. In many ways, they are no longer even the main event. The conflict today exists not as a bounded dispute between two sides, but as a structural feature of a much larger system. Its persistence is not a mystery. It persists because it serves. It has become a site through which larger powers maneuver, posture, extract, legitimize, delay, and dominate. It is a feature of constant system reproduction.

Iran’s posture toward the conflict, for instance, is not reducible to ideological hostility toward Israel or support for Palestinian nationalism. Iran does not fund Hamas or Islamic Jihad out of solidarity or because Allah will pay them back in Paradise with fine concubines and gallons of halal wine. It does so because the Palestinian front offers Tehran a low-cost way to bleed Israel, destabilize the region, and harass the U.S. out of its dominant position; it uses the conflict as a mechanism to mobilize proxies, claim ideological legitimacy, etc. Qatar’s expansive media and soft power apparatus, likewise, uses the Palestinian cause to amplify its global posture, expand global media footprint, shape narratives, and leverage its role as a regional broker. Egypt treats Gaza as a pressure valve to be regulated, monetized, and instrumentalized in its relationship with Washington. Jordan and Lebanon, meanwhile, remain structurally dependent states, each fragile in its own ways—absorbing the conflict's demographic and political overflow while depending on it for foreign aid, regime legitimacy, and international attention.

None of this touches yet on the international sector: the array of UN bodies, Western NGOs, donor conferences, and legal forums that orbit the conflict like satellites. These institutions do not operate from outside the system; they are the system. Their logic is not resolution but management, not because of bad faith, but because the perpetuation of crisis sustains their budgets, their roles, their raison d’être. It is one of the most morally and professionally prestigious, well-endowed white collar economic activities for First and Third-world natives. Palestine functions here as a symbol of moral legitimacy and bureaucratic permanence, offering endless ground for reports, mandates, workshops, and concern and access to an inexhaustible pool of resources.

Nowhere is this structural depth more visible than in the domestic politics of the United States. Here, the conflict is not merely a foreign policy concern—it is a proxy for deeper ideological, identity, and factional struggles within both political parties. The Democratic Party is divided between institutional centrists and an increasingly vocal activist Left that uses Palestine as a symbolic theater for broader critiques of American power, race, and capitalism and as means to grab power from the traditional Democratic institution. The Republican Party, practically the MAGA movement, meanwhile, incorporates support for Israel as part of a broader civilizational narrative involving Western identity, national security, and anti-Woke ideology, yet they themselves are increasingly polarized against rising tides of isolationists, the anti-Israel right, and increasing antisemitism. The result is that U.S. policy on Israel-Palestine is no longer even primarily about the region—it is increasingly about America.

This is what sustains the conflict: not simply the impasse between two intolerant peoples, but the convergence of regional ambition, institutional interest, ideological theatre, and domestic maneuvering. To continue describing it as a bilateral dispute is to mistake the stage for the play. The question is not why the conflict remains unresolved. The real question is why we continue to pretend that resolution is its horizon.
Confessions of a Travel Ban Convert By Abe Greenwald
Commentary Newsletter sign up here. It is about our analysis, to the extent that we don’t really have any. As I noted in yesterday’s newsletter, 5.5 to 6 million illegal immigrants entered the U.S. during the Biden presidency. More than 1.7 million of them are “gotaways” who have evaded border and immigration officials entirely. And some in the latter group are on the U.S. terrorism watchlist. One percent of 1.7 million is 17,000. The attacks of 9/11 were carried out by 19 hijackers.

Yesterday, Donald Trump put it this way: “The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colo., has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don’t want them.”

Unlike many in Trump’s orbit, I do want some of them—those who detest their thug regimes and love America as much as I do. But we don’t know who they are. And while I’m not xenophobic, I’m not xenophilic either. Immigration, under optimal circumstances, is a glorious windfall unique to the United States of America. But I’m not intoxicated by exotic cultures for the sake of exoticism. Under emergency circumstances, such as those that prevail today, migration flows from hostile lands is an unacceptable risk. We can be a little less welcoming for a few years.

I’m sorry to see it come to this, but I’m not sorry for supporting the vigilant restoration of Jewish safety and American national security. Israel didn’t want the war that Hamas brought it on October 7, and American Jews didn’t want the war that Hamas supporters brought them the next day. But we have to fight it, just the same.

What is it that pro-terrorist activists say when inciting anti-Semitic, anti-American violence? “Globalize the intifada.” Well, they’ve done just that with the aid of Muslim immigrants. The Trump administration has now globalized the response. And my guess is that it’s just the start.


Trump administration imposes sanctions on ICC judges, US Treasury says
US President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court, an unprecedented retaliation over the war tribunal's investigation into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan and over the court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Washington designated Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia, according to a statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel,” Rubio said. “The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies. This dangerous assertion and abuse of power infringes upon the sovereignty and national security of the United States and our allies, including Israel.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X/Twitter in response,"Thank you President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio for imposing sanctions against the politicized judges of the ICC. You have justly stood up for the right of Israel, The United States and all democracies to defend themselves against savage terror."

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon added, "I send my deepest gratitude to President @realDonaldTrump, Secretary of State @SecRubio and the broader U.S. administration for their unwavering support in standing against the ICC's politically motivated actions. Your decisive measures affirm the strength of our alliance and the shared commitment to universal justice."

The ICC said in a statement that it "deplores the additional designations for sanctions which were announced today..These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 States Parties from all corners of the globe. The ICC provides justice and hope to millions of victims of unimaginable atrocities, in strict adherence to the Rome Statute, and maintains the highest standards in protecting the rights of suspects and the victims.

"Targeting those working for accountability does nothing to help civilians trapped in conflict. It only emboldens those who believe they can act with impunity. These sanctions are not only directed at designated individuals, they also target all those who support the Court, including nationals and corporate entities of States Parties. They are aimed against innocent victims in all Situations before the Court, as well as the rule of law, peace, security and the prevention of the gravest crimes that shock the conscience of humanity.


French longshoremen block military material bound for Israel
French dockworkers on Thursday blocked the shipment of military material destined for Israel, in protest against the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The employees at the port in Fos-sur-Mer, 30 miles northwest of Marseille, refused to load arms-related crates aboard the cargo vessel, the CGT trade union said.

The union said the move made clear its refusal to “participate in the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government.”

The move, which follows harsh French criticism of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip, was welcomed by hard-left and left-wing leaders in France.

“Humanism is not for sale,” said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.

On Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron said France would decide “in the coming days” whether to implement “concrete measures” against Israel because of the war against Hamas.
U.N.’s Albanese has ‘blood on her hands,’ Rep. Sherman says
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), in a blistering statement, accused the U.N.’s special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, of antisemitism and said that her activity has undermined the United Nations and eroded U.S. support for the U.N. and foreign aid in general and will contribute to deaths around the world.

The statement comes in response to a letter from Albanese, who has faced ongoing accusations of antisemitism from U.S. officials and lawmakers who have described her as unfit for her role, to Israel Bonds, accusing the group of involvement in crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

“Only for a demonstrated antisemite like Ms. Albanese could stabilizing Israel’s economy after the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust be something negative,” Sherman said. “This is just the latest instance in Ms. Albanese’s long history of antisemitism – she has regularly used antisemitic terms like the ‘Jewish lobby’ and claims that Israel doesn’t have the right to defend itself or even to exist.”

He said that, “Albanese and her ilk have turned once-legitimate entities like the United Nations into kangaroo courts and clown shows, significantly undermining U.S. support for the funding of international institutions and foreign aid.”

Sherman argued that actions by officials like Albanese make it harder for U.S. supporters of foreign aid to fight the Trump administration’s cuts to U.S. foreign development assistance and to support funding to international organizations. He drew a connection between Albanese and the antisemitism at the U.N. and what he said were 3.3 million anticipated deaths as a result of cuts to U.S. foreign aid.

“There’s a substantial amount of blood on her hands – but her victims live in countries that she doesn’t care about,” Sherman continued. “In fact, it seems the only thing she cares about is justifying attacks on Israel and Jews worldwide.”


Bassem Eid: Israel’s just Gaza operation deserves the world’s support
The Palestinian civilian population has increasingly turned against the iron rule of Hamas with vocal protests. Many ordinary Gazans are fed up with Hamas’s quasi-medieval brand of Sharia law, which has turned the territory into the Afghanistan of the Mediterranean.

In many ways, Hamas’s most dangerous weapons are not AK-47s or suicide vests, but the “useful idiots” in the West who have amplified its smear campaign against Israel. For example, United Nations emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher falsely but sensationally claimed on May 20 that 14,000 babies in Gaza would die of starvation unless food aid reached them within the next 48 hours.

Ultimately, the United Nations retracted the claim, admitting that it could only support the very different claim that 14,000 children were at risk of malnutrition (not death) within the next twelve months. Despite the retraction, large media outlets and online networks massively amplified the false claim, potentially reaching billions of people in just 24 hours.

Nor was this the first time that a false claim about food security has been used to demonize Israel in the ongoing conflict. In April 2024, Samantha Power, director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), made the remarkable proclamation that famine had begun in Gaza, citing a report by a U.N.–affiliated monitoring system called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Global Initiative, which had never actually declared a famine in Gaza.

Power’s report was ultimately rebuked by the international experts of the Famine Review Committee, who determined that it failed to count as much as 82 percent of the “daily kilocalorie requirement” in northern Gaza, including 940 metric tons (2 million pounds) of flour, sugar, salt and yeast, as well as all trucks contracted to commercial warehouses. And yet the myth of famine in Gaza had already done remarkable damage, being embraced by Israel’s enemies as proof of its perfidy – allegedly using starvation as a weapon of war.

These false claims help explain why Israel has been targeted for international condemnation and isolation. For example, citing alleged food insecurity, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada made a statement threatening “concrete action” against Israel if it doesn’t “deescalate” against Hamas—ironically issued just hours after Israeli trucks carrying baby food and other aid entered the Gaza Strip.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rightly responded, in so doing, these countries are “offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on Oct. 7 while inviting more such atrocities.”

The resumption of Israeli operations in Gaza is not a failure of diplomacy; it is a necessary precondition for successful diplomacy. Israel is fighting a just war against an enemy that targets civilians, glorifies rape and murder, and hides behind its own people.

The world may choose to look away, but Israel will not. And neither should we. In the face of terror, misinformation, and global pressure, Israel continues to act with moral clarity and strategic restraint. It is doing what any sovereign democracy must: protecting its people while striving to uphold human dignity, even in war.

Israel’s success on the battlefield and the elimination of the Hamas terrorist organization will ultimately create the conditions necessary for a lasting peace. If the world is serious about peace, then it must stand with Israel rather than undermine it.
Seth Frantzman: Learning Israel's enemies: Officer sheds light on IDF intel. gathering
In December 2024, the IDF was fighting in Jabalya in northern Gaza. The military had attempted to clear this stronghold of terrorists in the past. However, they were still there.

Jabalya is a warren of residential homes, some of which are part of a refugee camp established in the 1950s. The war has dramatically changed the area. Some homes were badly damaged or destroyed by the fighting: windows blown out, pieces of concrete dangling, walls ripped apart, and the ground around them churned up by tanks and armored vehicles. Other areas were less damaged.

“I was with a combination of the Givati Infantry Brigade and the 401st Armored Brigade,” recalled Major Y. His name cannot be used for security reasons. He is a member of the IDF’s Unit 504, which is part of the Military Intelligence Directorate. The 504th focuses on gathering human intelligence in the field, which can mean interrogating people to identify threats in the thick of battle.

In December 2024, Major Y was in Jabalya, attached to IDF units advancing through the urban battlefield. The military usually does this with tanks and infantry working together, hence he was with the Givati infantry and the 401st and their tanks.

“A terrorist was detained during operations and brought to the officer,” Major Y noted. “He was identified as a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one of the terrorist groups in Gaza. While Hamas is the largest terror group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, PIJ, also has thousands of members.

This PIJ member was ready to talk, not about his own group but about Hamas.

“He was willing to share information about Hamas. He gave a few different bits of information. One was the site of an ambush Hamas had set up and the houses the operatives were in.” The information was combined with other intelligence the IDF had gathered and received about the sector.

“After it was checked, there were airstrikes on the targets. For me, that was meaningful because the troops had been expected to move in that direction [toward the threat]; it was good to see the effects of our good work.”The intelligence he gathered had helped lead to strikes that neutralized the threat.
Debunking the Gaza Accusations – with John Spencer
As Israel faces mounting international accusations — genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war — we turn to one of the world’s leading experts in urban combat to break down what’s actually happening on the battlefield, and what international law really says.

John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, joins Aviva Klompas to explain the military and legal obligations of armies fighting in densely populated areas. He walks us through how terror groups like Hamas exploit civilian infrastructure and addresses the biggest public misconceptions about modern warfare.
4 IDF soldiers killed, 5 wounded after booby-trapped south Gaza building collapses
Four Israeli soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis on Friday morning, the military said, amid an ongoing offensive against the Hamas terror group.

Two of the slain soldiers are named as: Sgt. Maj. (res.) Chen Gross, 33, of the Maglan commando unit, from Gan Yoshiya, and Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, 19, of the Yahalom combat engineering unit, from Sde Warburg.

The names of the other two soldiers would be released later, the military said.

According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers entered the building to clear it of possible terror infrastructure, including tunnels.

The building was booby-trapped and the explosion caused the structure to collapse on the soldiers, killing the soldiers and wounding the others, including one seriously.

The incident took place shortly after 6 a.m. in the Khan Younis suburb of Bani Suheila.

In a seperate incident, a reservist with the 646th Paratroopers Brigade was moderately wounded by a mortar impact in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, the army said.
Israel’s sports world pays tribute to fallen soldiers Yoav Raver and Chen
The Israeli sports world mourned St. Sgt.-Maj.Yoav Raver on Friday, who fell in battle alongside three other IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

The soldiers were clearing a building in Khan Yunis when a bomb detonated, causing a building to fall on them. The incident occurred at around 6 a.m. on Friday morning, the IDF reported. Five additional soldiers were wounded in the incident, one of them is critically wounded.

Raver, 19, played for the Israeli national basketball team in his teenage years and left a considerable impact on the basketball association. He reportedly could have chosen to continue playing at a professional level, but instead chose to enlist in the IDF's elite Yahalom unit as a combat engineer.

"The Israel Basketball Association mourns the untimely passing of Yoav Raver, a former member of the Israeli national team for [the] under 14 [team]," the organization said in a statement.

"Raver played in the youth department of Hapoel Kfar Saba and, beyond being an outstanding athlete, won all of us over with his unique and humble character. The Israel Basketball Association extends its condolences to the family."
Ex hostage Liri Albag eulogizes former classmate killed soldier St. Sgt. Raver
Former hostage Liri Albag eulogized killed soldier and former classmate St.-Sgt. Yoav Raver in an Instagram story on Friday, after his death was announced along with the deaths of three other soldiers who were all killed in the same incident in Khan Yunis.

"Yoav was in my class. He’s someone who does everything calmly and quietly. He always respects everyone and makes those around him feel at ease," Albag said.

The four soldiers were killed when a bomb detonated, causing a building to collapse on the troops. Five soldiers were wounded in the same incident, one severely.

"Yoav was the son of Lior and Gili Raver and the brother of Tamar and Omri, a graduate of Ami Asaf Educational Center. Our hearts are broken," the Drom Hasharon Regional Council said in a Facebook statement.


The Free Press: Inside the IDF “Aid Massacre” That Never Happened
“We are here near the area where this incident took place,” a Gazan man told us, gesturing toward an aid distribution center run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

On Sunday, dozens of Palestinians were shot at here, with masked gunmen opening fire on the people waiting to collect aid, according to the released footage and subsequent reports.

The Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, and scores of other Western media initially reported that Israeli troops were the ones who had opened fire, and that the site of the massacre was the southern city of Rafah.

Except, as would later become clear, the shooting actually took place at a different GHF distribution site in Khan Younis. And it wasn’t Israeli troops who fired those shots.

“All the evidence we’ve seen with our own eyes indicates that Hamas caused the killings and panic during the distribution of aid a few days ago,” the Gazan man continued. “No one possesses weapons and the ability to mobilize and carry out such an attack on people except Hamas. And no one has an interest in this attack except Hamas.”

Hamas has managed to retain its grip on power in the Gaza Strip because up until now, it fully controlled the flow of aid into Gaza, explained Michael Nahum, the chief operating officer at the Center for Peace Communications (CPC). But GHF, the new aid mechanism, which Israel—with U.S. backing—has been rolling out in recent weeks, bypasses Hamas entirely, safeguarding the trucks from looters and delivering supplies directly to residents.

“And Hamas, understandably, is launching a full-fledged counteroffensive against this effort, because they understand it is truly an existential threat for them,” Nahum said.

In partnership with the CPC, The Free Press sent a reporter to Gaza to speak with locals about what really happened on Sunday, and get their take on the new aid mechanism that may spell the end of Hamas’s reign in the Gaza Strip.




Tikvah Podcast: Jeffrey Herf on the Transformation of Radical Speech into Violence
On April 13, 2025, an arsonist set fire to the residence of the governor of Pennsylvania. When apprehended, he told law-enforcement officers that he did so using Molotov cocktails. The attack took place just hours after the governor, an American Jew, and his Jewish family, had concluded their Passover seder.

The next month, a far-left activist murdered two members of the Israeli embassy staff in the name of Palestine, having gone to a Jewish venue hosting a Jewish event in order to hunt down and kill Jewish people. Not long after, on May 28, a Michigan man was apprehended outside of a Jewish preschool, after threatening Jewish parents and children. It was later discovered that he had attempted to acquire firearms and had planned to kill members of the school.

Then there was the most recent news. On June 1, an Egyptian national came to a solidarity walk for Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado. There, he threw Molotov cocktails and used a homemade flamethrower in order to burn the attendees. While hurling the explosives, he was recorded yelling “Free Palestine,” and other like phrases.

A new season of violence has descended upon the Jews of America. Or, perhaps, one ought to say that a new season of violence has descended upon America with the Jews as its central of target, revealing for all to see the dangers of domestic terrorism.

The historian and analyst of anti-Semitism Jeffrey Herf, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, joins Jonathan Silver to discuss this spike in domestic terrorism. It is his contention that the phenomenon has an antecedent in the 1960s radical movements that, then as now, transformed leftist ideas into violent action. The slogan “globalize the intifada,” has been a hallmark of campus and leftist protest since October 7, but it has slipped the bounds of speech and resulted in violence, with deadly results. Drawing on the work of the writer Paul Berman, Herf goes on to argue that if history is any guide, violence against Jews is likely to increase. He laid this out in an article he published in the Free Press just hours after the Boulder attack.


Call me Back Podcast: The 8th Front - with Nadav Eyal
On Sunday, a peaceful demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, advocating the release of the 58 remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas, was violently disrupted when 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, disguising himself as a gardener, attacked participants with Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower. The assault injured six elderly individuals, aged between 67 and 88 — including a survivor of the Holocaust — with at least one victim in critical condition. In Paris, vandals defaced the Holocaust Memorial, two synagogues, and a Jewish restaurant in a coordinated act of antisemitic violence. These horrific events come just over one week after Elias Rodriguez, a radical, leftist activist, murdered two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Jewish museum in Washington DC.

We have been hearing from Israelis who lived through the Intifada in Israel, as they reflect on what “Globalize the Intifada” means when it reaches our country; we hear one Israeli’s perspective in today’s episode.

Meanwhile, just as it appeared that Israel was facing increasing international pressure, it is Hamas’s position in the hostage negotiations that is weakening with time, according to U.S. officials.

Late on Wednesday, the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the release of all the hostages and unhindered aid access across the enclave. Dorothy Shea, Acting US Ambassador to the UN cited the failure to condemn Hamas and calling for its disarmament as the reason for the veto.

Nadav Eyal, senior analyst at Yedioth Achronot, joins us to discuss the implications of the antisemitic terror attack in Boulder as well as the turmoil in Gaza.

00:00 Introduction
04:35 Globalizing the intifada
15:28 What Israel does vs What Israel is
25:40 The latest in Gaza
40:36 What if Hamas survives?
51:49 Outro


Piers Morgan slammed for ‘appalling’ conduct in interview with Jewish lawyer
Sky News host Sharri Markson has blasted Piers Morgan for his “appalling” conduct in an interview with Jewish lawyer Natasha Hausdorff where he interrupted her 60 times.

When later criticised by Ms Hausdorff on social media, Mr Morgan said the truth ‘wasn’t coming out of her disingenuous mouth’.

“This genuinely appalled me,” Ms Markson said.




Letters to government calling for ceasefire in Gaza achieve ‘next to nothing’
Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin claims any letters written in an attempt for intervention by groups and individuals for the war in Gaza to end are not "worth the paper they’re written on".

The Australian Medical Association wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the war in Gaza, urging the government to call for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire.

“We’re all sick and tired of individuals and groups with no skin in the game, with no ability to actually impact events on the ground, taking these sorts of moral positions and trying to tell the people of Israel how they should fight this war and rescue their people,” Mr Ryvhcin told Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus.

“For all the pontificating that’s been going on, and letters and petitions ... at the end of the day, the only thing that’s going to rescue the hostages is Israeli minds and sacrifice.

“These doctors and these petitions aren’t going to achieve anything.

“If they want to do something productive and constructive, let them stand with people of goodwill and call for an immediate end to the conflict through the defeat of Hamas.”


Here I Am With Shai Davidai: “I Was Protested for Telling the Truth” | EP 43 Dumisani Washington (Part 2 of 2)
In Part 2 of this two-part episode of "Here I Am with Shai Davidai," host Shai Davidai continues his powerful conversation with guest Dumisani Washington. Together, they explore the complexities of leadership, justice, and activism—drawing parallels between historical struggles and today’s challenges in Israel, Palestine, and beyond. Dumisani shares insights on corruption, class struggles, and the importance of agency, highlighting how real change requires courage, honesty, and action. The discussion also touches on the impact of leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., the role of faith, and the responsibility each generation has to stand up for justice. This episode is a continuation of last week’s conversation—don’t miss it!


Israel’s winning secret—And why the Left Can’t Handle It w/Dave Rubin | The Quad
Dave Rubin has some spicy takes on how the world is reacting to Israel’s current war.

He joins “The Quad” to share reflections from his second post–October 7th visit to Israel, contrasting the national trauma of late 2023 with today’s spirit of resilience and unity. The group confronts Israel’s dual struggle: winning the battlefield war against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran while also fighting—and often losing—the global narrative war. They explore the complex dilemma of rescuing hostages versus dismantling Hamas and criticize Israel’s own media outlets for undermining its elected government and military strategy.

Themes of Jewish identity, unapologetic Zionism and moral clarity are central. Rubin and Hassan-Nahoum urge Israelis to embrace and export core Jewish values like family and community, while warning of the West’s moral decay and appeasement of jihadist ideology. They expose the performative activism of Greta Thunberg and slam media figures like Piers Morgan for giving platforms to virulently anti-Israel voices.

Rubin makes special notice of the powerful return of Zionism among everyday Israelis. The discussion closes with praise for Donald Trump’s critical support in unlocking munitions for Israel, and a call for Israel to invest in long-term strategic communication to defeat its well-funded opponents in the court of public opinion.

Chapters
00:00 Reflections on Israel's Current State
02:34 The Dichotomy of Hope and Conflict
05:34 Narrative Wars: Israel's PR Challenges
08:01 Moral Dilemmas in Warfare
10:04 Geopolitical Strategies and Anti-Semitism
12:38 Cultural Identity and Values
14:12 The Hybrid War: Military and Narrative
17:11 The Energy of Israel: A Dual Perspective
19:29 The Center-Right Political Landscape
22:30 Bibi Netanyahu: A Complex Legacy
24:07 The Polarizing Figure of Bibi Netanyahu
25:32 Political Strategies and the Left's Position
26:46 The Need for Term Limits and Governance
27:40 Generational Shift in Leadership
29:24 Emerging Political Voices and Zionism's Revival
30:22 Critique of Media and Public Figures
32:21 The Role of Online Content Creators
35:03 The Battle for Narrative and Public Perception
40:15 Humanitarian Efforts Amidst Conflict
43:01 Concerns and Hopes for the Future


Comedy Cellar USA: Live from the Table: Fighting Anti Semitism in the Era of Tik Tok with Daniella Greenbaum Davis
Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Daniella Greenbaum Davis. Davis is an Emmy-award-winning producer, writer, and social media strategist with bylines in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Daily Beast, Commentary, and Washington Post. She executive produced the first ever holocaust-edu-series for TikTok, How to: Never Forget, which garnered 20M views and was profiled by ABC, NBC, Deadline, Variety, PBS, and E!.


travelingisrael.com: This Prof’s Take on Israel Is So Bad, I Had to Respond
🎓 Roy Casagranda is a professor of political science and Middle Eastern studies. Sounds impressive, right?
Well... not when you hear what he says about Israel.

In his video “How Israel Was Born,” he repeats some of the worst historical distortions and anti-Israel myths out there—so I decided to respond.
From Herzl and Uganda, to land ownership, terrorism, and the 1948 war—he gets a lot wrong. And if this is what passes for academic expertise, we’ve got a serious problem.

📚 I studied with real experts on Israeli history—people like Benny Morris, Motti Golani, and Yoav Gelber.
This guy? He teaches fairy tales.

In this video, I break down his claims one by one.
If you care about truth, history, and pushing back against misinformation—this one’s for you.


Israeli Navy gears up to block Greta Thunberg’s high-profile protest ship headed for Gaza
The Israeli Navy is expected to block a high-profile activist mission sailing to Gaza to challenge Israel’s blockade, should the boat near Israel’s territorial waters in the coming days.

Clashes aboard the Madleen, which was organized by the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel Freedom Flotilla Coalition, would likely spark diplomatic outrage, with France and Britain reportedly monitoring the situation.

London has so far rejected Israeli requests to prevent the boat, flying under a UK flag, from reaching Israeli waters, an official in Jerusalem told The Times of Israel.

“They can act,” said the official, “but they say they only will if there is a safety risk.”

The UK asked Israel to ensure the safety of boat and its crew, said the official, calling the mission “the selfie flotilla.”

Among the 12 activists on the ship are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, Irish “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham, and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member.

Hassan, one of six French citizens on board, was barred in February from entering Israel over her past statements supporting sanctions and armed struggle against the country.

Israeli defense officials told The Times of Israel that they are monitoring the boat’s route, as the activists take a detour to pick up Sudanese migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Still, if the boat continues to Gaza, it will be intercepted by the Navy, the officials said. At its current pace, the Madleen would likely reach the Strip sometime over the weekend. The boat may be towed to the Ashdod port or left at sea, the Kan public broadcaster reported earlier this week.


FLOTILLA: We Con the World



NYC Chassidic group endorses Cuomo for mayor
The Bobov Chassidic community has endorsed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the upcoming June 24 Democratic primary for New York City mayor.

Joel Rosenfeld, a Bobov community leader, told JNS that after meetings with numerous candidates, community leaders “have concluded that Cuomo is the strongest advocate for the community’s values and the needs of New York City.”

“The primary election features several candidates, including some from the far-left Socialist spectrum who have expressed hostility toward the Jewish community and are performing competitively in recent polls,” he told JNS. “This election is critical, and we cannot afford to let those who oppose our values lead our city.”

The Bobov Chassidic community is a prominent Orthodox Jewish sect based in Brooklyn, N.Y., whose large voting bloc has long played a significant role in New York City politics.

Rosenfeld told JNS that community leaders were able to speak directly with Cuomo to address concerns about what they saw as unfair targeting by the state under his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Cuomo expressed deep regret for the distress caused, acknowledging past mistakes and committing to prevent such issues in the future,” he told JNS. “He pledged to maintain an open line of communication with community leaders and to appoint Orthodox Jewish advisors to his administration to ensure culturally sensitive decision-making.”


Dawn French sparks outrage with bizarre video appearing to belittle 7 October slaughter
Comedian Dawn French is facing a furious backlash after posting a bizarre video in which she appears to mock the slaughter of 1,200 Jews on 7 October.

The comedian, best known for her roles in The Vicar of Dibley and French and Saunders, adopted a cartoonish baby-like voice to seemingly parody those killed and kidnapped and those mourning the atrocities.

In the short clip shared on social media platform X, French is heard saying: “Yeah but you know they did a bad thing to us,” before switching to her natural voice and replying, “Yeah, but no.” She then returns to the exaggerated tone, adding: “But we want that land… Those people aren’t really even people,” to which she again replies, “No.”

While French made no direct reference to Israel, Hamas or Gaza, the insinuation seemed clear to many and the response was immediate.

Actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “saddened” by the sketch, calling it deeply offensive. “This mocking voice ‘bad thing’ of October 7 that Dawn (who I revere by the way) appears to be mocking involved the most horrific terrorist attack involving rape, sexual violence, burning alive, child mutilation and taking of civilian hostages. Why would Dawn seem to deny that which has affected so many of us personally in the most painful way possible?”


Caryl Churchill pulls out of Donmar Warehouse project over Barclays’ Israel links
Caryl Churchill has pulled a show from the Donmar Warehouse over the small theatre’s sponsorship by Barclays and the bank’s links to Israel.

The playwright, who penned the controversial 10-minute play Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza, has withdrawn the planned production, accusing the venue of helping to whitewash the bank’s reputation on Israel.

In a statement, Churchill claimed: “Theatres used to say they couldn’t manage without tobacco sponsorship, but they do. Now it’s time they stopped helping advertise banks that support what Israel is doing to Palestinians.”

More than 300 actors, directors and other creatives from the industry including Harriet Walter, Juliet Stevenson and Richard Eyre have signed an open letter in support of Churchill’s decision.

“Barclays states that its sponsorships of venues like Donmar Warehouse help ‘build our brand and reputation’. It uses venues like Donmar Warehouse as cover to shield itself from accountability over its complicity in Israel’s war crimes and role in financing climate destruction,” the letter said.

“Arts institutions have an ethical duty not to contribute to oppression and injustice. By continuing to accept sponsorship from Barclays, Donmar Warehouse is helping to launder the bank’s reputation as it profits from Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”
Dr Who star Ncuti Gatwa spoke at pro-Palestine demo days before leaving BBC show
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa was pictured speaking at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament days before leaving the flagship BBC show.

A social media post shared by Choose Love, an organisation “supporting refugees and displaced people, showed the actor making a speech at its event in Westminster last week.

In the photo, Gatwa, dressed in green combat trousers, a beige fleece, brown boots and a white cap, read the names of dead Palestinian children from a mobile device in front of a banner reading: “Gaza: Actions not words.”

Other famous faces to list the names at the event included actor and comedian Alexei Sayle and Gatwa’s former Dr Who co-star Varada Sethu.

Choose Love captioned the post: “Our hearts ache for every single on of the 15,613 dead Palestinian children killed in Gaza by Israeli bombardment and military offensive.

"Last Thursday, together, we read every one of their names aloud. It took us 18 hours.”

The 15,613 figure was published by the Gaza Ministry of Health, though Choose Love did not cite this source or qualify that it is run by Hamas in its pose.

The ministry’s data has repeatedly been proven to be unreliable, including several self-confessed revisions.

However, last Thursday was May 29 – two days before Gatwa’s final Doctor Who appearance aired on May 3, though the JC understands his contract with the BBC had already expired.


From protest to terrorism: A well-trodden path
Historians will be familiar with the observation in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, or “Kohelet” as it is known in Hebrew, about the repetitive cycles of past and present: “What has been will be again; what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

This passage is especially resonant when it comes to antisemitism. The underlying libels—killing for blood in ritual use, treachery and treason, colonial theft against an indigenous population—may differ from generation to generation, but the manner of their expression remains essentially the same.

It’s unlikely that a single pro-Hamas protester knows about the antisemitic “Hep Hep” riots in Germany 200 years ago, in which students played a prominent part. But those were triggered by the rejection of Jewish civil emancipation, just as the harassment of Jewish students on campuses today is triggered by outrage against Jewish national self-determination. “Hep Hep” was the rallying cry then; “We don’t want no Zionists here” is the rallying cry now.

Perhaps the most consistent feature of all is violence. Violence against Jews is the culmination that the messengers of antisemitism, tired of rhetorical quarrels and pleading for “action,” seek. Some say so plainly. There are many more too cowardly and disingenuous to do so, but who justify violence as an inevitable and legitimate response to the alleged crimes of the Jewish state and the mass of Jews outside who identify with it. The question was never if the pro-Hamas movement that has disfigured our country would itself turn to violence, but when.

In the last two months alone, we have seen the attempted murder by fire of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family, the cold-blooded shooting deaths of a young Jewish couple who worked for the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., and the firebombing of a rally for hostages held by Hamas in Boulder, Colo., all carried out in the name of “Palestine.” As Americans try to figure out how and why this continues to happen, not least for the sake of a more effective response, relatively recent history remains a useful guide.




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