Tuesday, August 05, 2025

08/05 Links Pt1: Behind Netanyahu's Gaza strategy: Iran interference and Trump's conditional support; Sa’ar at UN: Plans to recognize Palestinian state ‘assassinated the hostage deal’

From Ian:

Trump Is Right to Point the Finger at Hamas for Gaza Woes
From the start of Israel’s war against Hamas, there have been dire warnings of imminent famine in Gaza that have proven false.

In November 2023, just over a month after the October 7 massacres, United Nations World Food Programme director Cindy McCain told CBS that Israel’s effort to destroy Hamas had already put Gaza “on the brink of famine.” By February 2024, no famine had occurred, but the United Nations put out a statement claiming that “at least” 576,000 Gazans, or about a quarter of the population of the strip, were “one step away from famine.” A few months later, two U.N. agencies warned that “over one million people — half the population of Gaza — are expected to face death and starvation (IPC Phase 5) by mid-July [of 2024].”

Israel’s many enemies have a huge incentive to promote the idea that Israel is using starvation as a tool of warfare. The New York Times, along with most major media outlets throughout the world, turned a photo of a skeletal toddler in Gaza, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, into a rallying cry against the supposed Israeli policy of starvation. But the outlets did not report that the boy was born with a muscular disorder, which helped explain his sickly appearance, and they did not print part of a photo that showed his healthy-looking brother beside him. Days after the deception was exposed, the New York Times, which ran the photo on the front page, quietly updated the story, but only after the original photo had been spread around the world.

All that said, it does appear the humanitarian situation has now become more serious. Amit Segal, an Israeli journalist who has been skeptical of prior claims of mass starvation, has pointed to research showing the rising price of flour in Gaza and concluded that this time, “Gaza may well be approaching a real hunger crisis.” Other credible sources have concluded the same.

Even facing a hostile population, Israel has gone to incredible lengths to try and help feed Gaza. In terms of sheer amount of supplies, it’s an effort on par with the Berlin airlift. The current operation, though, has faced barriers created by the United Nations and Hamas. When the U.N. and its affiliated groups were in charge of food distribution, its supplies routinely ended up in control of Hamas, which hoarded aid for its own fighters and also sold it on the black market to raise money for its war against Israel.
Michael Oren: The Wisdom of Yahya Sinwar
If the Palestinians had the misfortune of facing a different enemy—Turkey, for example, or Chinese—the West might care as much about them as it does about the Kurds or the Uyghurs or worse, the Syrian Druze. But Sinwar and other Palestinian leaders understood antisemitism. They understood the Jew-hatred long hardwired into the West as well as its desire to purge the original genocidal sin of the Holocaust by accusing the Jews of a similar crime.

This does not remotely mean that Israel is blameless or hasn’t enhanced the Palestinians’ ability to tap into Western prejudice. Undoubtedly, there are many hungry people in Gaza and numbers of them may have starved during this war. Israel’s erratic policy of supplying, then denying, then again supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza, often in woefully insufficient amounts and by inefficient means, surely exacerbated the food shortage. And Israel’s failure to explain and defend its policies has been nothing short of monumental. All that, combined with settler violence, the racist remarks of prominent government ministers, and the selfie videos of soldiers rejoicing over Gaza’s demolition, heighten the odds that Sinwar’s bet paid off.

Still, nobody knows exactly how many Palestinians have actually died of starvation or can prove Israel’s culpability. The accusations persist despite the achievements of the American-run and Israeli-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Since May, the GHF has distributed more than 100 million meals in Gaza, a record that America’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called “a great feat.” Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says hundreds of food trucks are waiting to enter the Strip daily. The delays, Israel maintains, are caused by the refusal of the UN and other aid agencies to distribute the food and the relentless attacks on GHF workers and civilian aid recipients by Hamas.

Not surprisingly, the media has rejected these facts virtually out-of-hand while uncritically accepting Hamas’s. Little credence is given to Israel’s assertion that Hamas stole much of the UN aid and sold it back to the Palestinian population at exorbitant prices. Scant importance is given to the fact that, in the ceasefire talks, one of the terrorists’ top demands is for the return of the UN’s responsibility for aid—a return, that is, of the terror group’s major source of political control and income. Such details are irrelevant to a West insistent on finding Israel guilty of genocide by deliberate deprivation.

Any lingering doubts about the wisdom of Sinwar’s wager would be dispelled by the publication, again on the front page of the Times and other influential papers, of the photograph of a Palestinian woman holding her emaciated infant whom the captions claimed was starved by Israel. As is now well-known, the child, Muhammad Zakariya al-Matouq, suffered from a genetic condition, perhaps exacerbated by malnutrition, though his brother standing nearby did not appear visibly starved. Still, the Times did not apologize for the distortion, issuing only an editorial clarification, but other outlets—The Guardian, Sky News, the Daily Mail—did not even do that. The reason is obvious. What subtler way to defame the Jewish State than the image of a mother cradling the infant it killed, a modern-day Pietà?

By contrast, the video Hamas posted on Saturday of hostage Evyatar David, Auschwitz-emaciated and forced to dig his own grave, merited only minor Western headlines. The Times’ print edition buried the story on page 10. CNN similarly buried the story in a report on the anti-war movement in Israel, and concluded the piece with a long description of “the worst-case scenario of famine” in Gaza, and rising casualty reports from the Gaza Health Ministry.

The supposed Israeli genocide of the Palestinians is now widely accepted as truth. A June 2025 Leger poll found that more than half of Democratic voters and all Americans under the age of 35 believe Israel is guilty of committing genocide in Gaza, as do a shocking 78 percent of Democratic primary voters in New York.

Typically, the charge has united both radical left and right—Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene with academics like Brown University’s Omer Bartov and lunatics like Candace Owens. Added to the brands of antisemitism I’ve experienced in life, along with deicide, pedocide, and conspiring to destroy civilization, Jews now stand accused of annihilating an entire people. And each day, it seems, more people co-sign this lie.

Yahya Sinwar died last October 16, felled by an Israeli bullet, but indeed his gamble on Jew-hatred continues to pay off. The impending recognition of a Palestinian state by Britain, France, and Canada not only punishes Israel for imperfectly defending itself, but incentivizes terror and strengthens Hamas’s hand in the ceasefire talks. Sinwar’s successors can now walk away from the negotiating table, perpetuate the war with yet more civilian casualties, and further immiserate both Palestinians and Israelis.

What better bet could have assisted the terrorists to obscure their atrocities of October 7? What wager would enable the West to finally cleanse its own genocide guilt by imputing that sin to the Jews? In his grave, Sinwar is still counting his earnings.
Seth Mandel: Free, Free Lebanon
You know who hasn’t removed Hezbollah’s weapons from the south, or even made a token effort to prevent the weapons buildup in the first place? Right, UNIFIL. So peace in Lebanon is possible, but it requires the work of the U.S., Lebanese army, and Israel. The UN and Hezbollah can both pack up and be roomies somewhere else.

The Times reports: “The Lebanese Army is gradually raising the number of troops in the south. Once the military there is up to full strength, President Aoun said, an armed Hezbollah will be unnecessary.”

That’s putting it generously, although we can understand why President Aoun is careful and diplomatic with his words. It was never “necessary” for there to be an Iranian satrapy in South Lebanon. But yes, even by the region’s default anti-Israel stance, there is no justification anymore for Hezbollah’s gun-toting thugs roaming the border.

Last, and crucially, we are reminded that Hezbollah not only isn’t a boon for the state but is bleeding it dry: “The Lebanese government must defang the group to secure Western funds without provoking an internal conflict. Hezbollah has long been under Western sanctions due its designation as a terrorist organization.”

Now would be as good a time as any to do so, especially since morale within and around Hezbollah is at low tide. A Hezbollah fighter’s father-in-law tells the Times that all he has to show for Hezbollah’s “resistance” is a hole in the ground that used to be his house. “They promised us a victory, but instead they destroyed our villages, destroyed our houses,” he said.

Western powers have been hesitant to deliver knockout punches to dwindling terrorist groups and other nonstate actors. But they now face that opportunity in two places: Gaza and Lebanon. Allowing remnants of terrorist armies with lots of Arab, Israeli, and American blood on their hands to stew in their own Petrie dishes of resentment is a fool’s play. When the chance to disarm them appears, take it. Where terrorism is concerned, victory is the only path to peace.
Ruthie Blum: ‘Hasbara’ and the traitors among us
Examples abound, but let’s begin with Channel 12 anchorwoman Yonit Levi, who concluded her nightly news show on July 27 by saying with a sigh, “Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that this isn’t a public-diplomacy failure, but a moral failure, and to start from there.”

Three days later, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the German outlet Spiegel International, “There are a number of events that could be seen as war crimes. More than I can list. More than anything, though, it is the illegitimate war that is being waged out of the personal, political interests of [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu]. As a consequence, Israeli soldiers are dying, additional hostages may be losing their lives and many innocent Palestinians are being killed. That is a crime.”

Then came award-winning novelist David Grossman’s Aug. 1 interview in the Italian daily La Repubblica. Expressing “immense pain and a broken heart,” he said, “For many years, I refused to use that term, ‘genocide.’ But now, after the images I have seen and after talking to people who were there [in Gaza], I can’t help but use it.”

This echoed the words of expat Israeli historian Omer Bartov, whose guest essay in The New York Times on July 15 was titled: “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.”

More recently, on Sunday, some 1,000 prominent Israeli performers signed a petition reading: “We, the people of culture and art in Israel, find ourselves—against our will and against our values—complicit, as Israeli citizens, in the horrifying events in the Gaza Strip, particularly the killing of children and uninvolved civilians, starvation, displacement of the population and the senseless destruction of Gaza’s cities. We call on all those involved in shaping and implementing this policy—stop! Do not issue illegal orders and do not follow them! Do not, God forbid, commit war crimes! Do not abandon the principles of human morality and the values of Judaism! End the war. Free the hostages.”

Meanwhile, a separate petition, signed by more than 1,400 designers, architects and visual artists states: “Before our eyes, a horror of historic proportions is taking place. We bear responsibility as human beings and as Israelis for the atrocities currently being committed in our name against a population located just a few kilometers away from us—living in an impossible reality and under immense suffering. We are deeply concerned for the fate of Gaza’s residents, the hostages, our sons and daughters and for the future of our society—both present and future.”

The icing on the cake appeared on Monday, with a short video of former chiefs of the Shin Bet, Mossad, Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police denigrating their country. “We’re hiding behind a lie,” asserted one participant. “We’re on the eve of defeat,” declared another. The rest proffered similarly inane—albeit dangerous—remarks.

Israeli hasbara may leave a lot to be desired. But what good is public diplomacy when the traitors among us parrot, if not craft, the enemies’ talking points? As Evyatar David’s father, Avishai, put it simply: “Whose side are they on?”


Behind Netanyahu's Gaza strategy: Iran interference and Trump's conditional support
International patience evaporates
Extended fighting duration minimizes civilian casualties while requiring sustained political battles against increasingly impatient Western leaders. Despite widespread hypocrisy, these leaders have embraced largely fabricated hunger campaigns orchestrated by Hamas and Iran with direct Qatari involvement.

Gaza combat escalation will almost certainly intensify these campaigns and increase pro-Palestinian pressure on governments. European consequences include approaching real measures against Israel – investment restrictions, joint program suspensions like "Horizon," formal boycotts of Israeli scientists, artists and institutions, plus comprehensive trade and weapons embargos.

Diplomatically, the UN General Assembly convenes in six weeks – the target date chosen by France-Saudi Arabia conference participants for Palestinian state recognition declarations. Continued fighting virtually guarantees additional Western recognition and anti-Israeli UN resolutions.

While the "desolate UN" wields primarily declarative power, the Security Council possesses practical authority. Trump's America becomes crucial here.

The administration has provided Netanyahu comprehensive support, barring isolated exceptions like tariff disputes. Envoy Witkoff and administration spokesmen consistently blame Hamas and Iran for negotiation failures, while Netanyahu emphasizes complete Washington coordination. This coordination faces imminent testing as Gaza operations proceed.

Trump's regional calculations
Trump's circle harbors varying perspectives, influenced by shifting support constituencies, some turning against Israel. White House and State Department assessments suggest Trump will grant Netanyahu operational latitude with international political cover, but intervention becomes likely if operations falter or extend excessively. Netanyahu will comply with presidential directives – this generates minimal debate.

One American diplomatic source suggests Washington-Jerusalem coordination in applying maximum military pressure to return Hamas to negotiations, ending the conflict diplomatically rather than militarily. Operational commencement followed by rapid negotiation resumption would not surprise observers.

Trump seeks rapid Middle East vision implementation, recognizing Hamas and Iran as primary obstacles alongside Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia. Arab nations universally pressure Hamas – Jordan and Egypt maintain direct conflicts while Qatar, despite providing propaganda support, endorsed disarmament demands.

Israeli offensive operations gain US and Gulf approval if they terminate fighting through agreements while eliminating Hamas from power calculations. However, Iranian-inspired Hamas may choose continued resistance, hoping to trigger Israeli external political crises and internal political turmoil forcing cessation and acceptance of hostage release and war termination conditions.


US Speaker Mike Johnson dines with Netanyahu in West Bank settlement of Shiloh
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara dined Monday evening with US House Speaker Mike Johnson and his wife in the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Tuesday.

The dinner was also attended by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and his wife, as well as Republican members of Congress Michael McCaul, Claudia Tenney, Michael Cloud and Nathaniel Moran. Israel Ganz, who leads the Yesha Council as well as the Binyamin Regional Council in the West Bank, was also present.

The dinner occurred as Johnson, by traveling to Ariel and Shiloh on Monday, became the most senior US official to ever visit a West Bank settlement. In past decades, leaders in both parties advocated for a two-state solution, and visits to settlements were seen as taboo.

But Netanyahu’s government has vocally rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, even as several Western countries have said in recent days that they will recognize one. Huckabee is a longtime advocate of West Bank settlements, a posture Johnson echoed on Monday.

During the visit to Ariel, Johnson said that the “mountains of Judea and Samaria” belong to the Jewish people “by right,” using the biblical name for the West Bank that is favored by Israel’s government.

“Every corner of this land is important to us. It is an integral part of our faith, and therefore the significance for us is great… We stand entirely by your side,” said Johnson, according to a statement by the municipal authority of the Ariel settlement.


Tom Cotton Presses IRS To Probe CAIR's Tax-Exempt Status, Citing 'Ties to Terror Organizations'
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is petitioning the IRS to formally investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for violations of its tax-exempt status, citing "ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," according to a formal letter sent Tuesday and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

CAIR, one of the nation’s foremost anti-Israel advocacy organizations, has long been dogged by accusations that its funding streams are entangled with Hamas. It was named as a co-conspirator in a 2009 federal court case related to terrorism financing and has since become a leading force in the pro-Hamas campus movement that erupted after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks.

Cotton, chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence, says that CAIR’s "deep ties to terrorist organizations" warrant an immediate IRS investigation to determine if the group is in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, which governs nonprofits. The senator wants the federal probe to include a comprehensive review of CAIR’s "financial records, affiliations, and activities," according to the letter addressed to IRS commissioner Billy Long.

While CAIR’s funding networks have drawn congressional scrutiny in the past, Cotton’s letter marks the first time since Oct. 7 that a leading GOP senator is formally requesting the IRS to engage in investigative oversight. CAIR’s financial records remain opaque, though the organization maintains it is primarily funded through individual donations.

"The IRS has broad authority to examine whether an entity’s operations align with its exempt purpose," Cotton wrote. "Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism."

The government’s 2009 investigation "revealed that CAIR’s founders participated in a meeting of Hamas supporters in Philadelphia, where they discussed strategies to advance the Islamist agenda in America while concealing their true affiliations," according to the letter. A founder of CAIR's Texas chapter was later sentenced to 65 years in prison as a result of the case.

In November 2023, just a month after Hamas’s brutal terror spree, CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said he was "happy to see" Palestinians in the Gaza Strip "breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land." The comments elicited a rare rebuke from the former Biden administration and led it to sever ties with the advocacy group, which it originally tapped to serve on an executive body meant to stem anti-Semitism.


Sa’ar at UN: Plans to recognize Palestinian state ‘assassinated the hostage deal’
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday said countries that announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks sabotaged a ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group.

“There are countries that acted, also in this building, to pressure Israel, instead of Hamas, during sensitive days in the negotiations by attacking Israel, campaigning against Israel, and the announcement of a recognition of a virtual Palestinian state. They gave Hamas free gifts and incentives to continue this war,” Sa’ar said during a press briefing at the United Nations in New York.

“They directly assassinated the hostage deal and ceasefire. Let me be clear: these countries prolonged the war. Hamas is responsible for beginning this war by invading Israel and committing the October 7 atrocities,” Sa’ar said.

“Hamas is also responsible for the continuation of this war by still refusing to release our hostages and lay down its arms. The international pressure must be on Hamas. Anything else only prolongs the war,” he said.

Sa’ar spoke at the UN ahead of a Security Council session focused on the Gaza war. Israel called the UN session after Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad published videos last week showing hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appearing weak and emaciated, causing deep shock and distress in Israel.




Debunking the claim of low combatant deaths in Gaza
There's a false claim being propagated by activists posing as neutral experts, such as Michael Spagat, that based on the demographic composition of deaths in the list published by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, the number of combatants killed in Gaza must be considerably lower than that reported by the IDF. This claim not only relies on taking Hamas' list at face value (in-turn based on the false claim that it proved accurate in past wars and that the Ministry of Health is somehow independent from Hamas), but also on the assumption that the number of civilian men killed has to be far greater than the number of civilian women killed. The logic goes: Take the number of women killed according to the list (who we know are virtually all civilians), increase it by 50% or even 100% to estimate civilian men, then subtract that from the total number of men killed, and what's left is combatants (total men deaths minus civilian men deaths = combatant men deaths). They base this logic on cherry-picked data from other wars showing significantly more civilian men killed than civilian women. But this is nonsense.

Even for coalition airstrikes in Iraq (where the ratio of civilian men deaths to civilian women deaths is probably *higher* than Gaza), deaths of civilian men and women were almost parity, according to the available data (see below). Mortality data specifically from the early intense phase of the war skews even further to women (relative to civilian men). In Gaza, where airstrikes are probably more skewed to high-density residential areas (where there will often be an *over*-representation of women and children present, relative to their population share) there could even be more civilian women killed than civilian men (at least for deaths caused by airstrikes). And it's not just because of a natural over-representation of women and children in residential areas. Hypothetically, if there's an airstrike on a Hamas member's home and it also kills his family, then assuming there are no other men in the household (not always the case), there would be *zero* civilian men killed in that hypothetical scenario. So taking the 'MoH' list at face value for argument's sake (which, again, you cannot do in practice), if civilian men deaths are equal to civilian women deaths (which is plausible, but just for argument's sake) then using the list from mid July and the above methodology, combatant men deaths would be ~17k. And again, this calculation takes the Hamas-run MoH's list at face value, which only a propagandist or an idiot would do. After adding deaths omitted from the list (likely to skew combatants), as well as removing any inflation in the number of women and children killed (which occurred in past wars), the combatant count should be higher under this methodology.

Going back to Iraq, the below table shows mortality data for the Iraq war (2003-2008), taken from a study which Michael Spagat himself cited in a thread in which he showcases cherry-picked mortality data from other wars (to create the impression that Gaza is an extreme outlier in terms of women and children death share). Of course Spagat ignored the most relevant data point in the study, outlined in red, namely the data for coalition airstrikes, showing less than 1.1 civilian men killed per civilian woman (both including the elderly). Also, other data from early in the war suggests an even lower ratio of civilian men:women killed.


Will global media continue falling into Hamas' traps?
Headlines and broadcasts around the world reported extensively on "starvation in Gaza," with main news programs and newspaper front pages displaying disturbing images of severely underweight Palestinian children, sparking outrage and condemnation of Israel. However, investigations have revealed that two of the most widely shared images were unrelated to malnutrition, weaponized for Hamas' propaganda.

The first image showed Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a young boy whose frail appearance was widely attributed to famine in Gaza. The photograph appeared in global media, including on The New York Times' front page. Later reports confirmed that Mohammed suffers from a rare genetic disease that causes his appearance, leading the American newspaper to issue a correction.

A second widely circulated photo showed Abdul Qader Al-Fayoumi, 14, also appearing emaciated. But a Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) inquiry found that Abdul had been treated in Israel in 2018 for a genetic nervous system disorder.

Both images were initially distributed by outlets linked to Hamas, which has a long record of using emotive imagery to shape international perceptions of the conflict. The central criticism, however, has been directed at major media organizations that published the photos without apparent fact-checking.


Herzog urges world leaders not to engage with Hamas until hostages are released
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, currently on a diplomatic visit to the Baltic states, met with Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs in Riga on Tuesday.

During joint press statements following their bilateral talks, Herzog issued an urgent appeal to the international community, urging nations not to engage in dialogue with the Hamas terrorist group until all hostages held in Gaza are released.

Emphasizing the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the plight of hostages, Herzog said, “In order to get to the day after, in order to finish the tragedy in Gaza, the terrible tragedy in Gaza, which was imposed only by Hamas, one has to get the hostages back home. Because we are dealing with a jihadist terror regime in Gaza, which we are trying to remove in order to release our hostages and make sure that our citizens on the border live in peace, we have to get the hostages back.”

Displaying images of recently publicized hostages, Herzog detailed their dire conditions and made a direct plea to the International Red Cross to deliver vital aid.

The pictures were of two severely emaciated men: Evyatar David, 24, and Rom Braslavski, 21. Hamas released the footage of David on Aug. 1. Palestinian Islamic Jihad released its video of Braslavski a day earlier.

Twenty captives are estimated to be alive. Palestinian terrorists kidnapped 251 people during the Hamas-led terrorist invasion and attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Herzog noted recent efforts by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the delivery of over 23,000 tons of aid in the past 10 days and increased airdrops. However, he emphasized that genuine progress hinges on the immediate release of hostages.

“I call upon the international community from here in Riga,” he stated, to present “a unanimous, tough position, including Europe, and saying to Hamas and its allies: we’re not talking to you until you release the hostages.”
Read vile antisemitic comments of Palestinian leader who praised Albanese in phone call
The Palestinian leader who praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a phone call on Tuesday has previously compared Israel to the Nazis and claimed the Holocaust was "not about antisemitism".

The Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday revealed Mr Albanese spoke with Palestinian Authority President and leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Mahmoud Abbas on the ongoing situation in Gaza.

In the conversation, Mr Albanese “reiterated Australia’s call for the immediate entry of aid” in Gaza as well as a “permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages”, according to a readout of the phone call.

“Prime Minister Albanese also reinforced Australia’s commitment to a two-state solution because a just and lasting peace depends upon it,” the readout said.

“President Abbas thanked Prime Minister Albanese for Australia's economic and humanitarian support.

“The leaders discussed deepening cooperation across a range of areas, and agreed to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.”

But the same Palestinian leader who thanked Australia for its support has a grim past of shocking antisemitic rhetoric.

In a speech to members of his Fatah party in August 2023, Mr Abbas denied the Holocaust was "not about antisemitism", and instead said Hitler’s horrific killing of six million Jews was because of “their social role", which had to do with "usury, money and so on”.

In the same speech, he denied that European Jews had any lineage based in the Middle East, a widely discredited theory.

“When we hear them talk about Semitism and antisemitism — the Ashkenazi Jews, at least, are not Semites,” Mr Abbas said.
UKLFI: UKLFI’s Comments on UK Government’s Proposal to Recognise “Palestine” as a State
Montevideo Convention
The qualifications for recognition as a state set out in the Montevideo Convention have long been regarded as customary international law. They are “(a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states”. These qualifications are not met in relation to a supposed new Palestinian State:
Government: As matters stand there is no single Palestinian government. To the extent that there remains a Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip, it is Hamas – not the Palestinian Authority (PA) which administers 40% of the West Bank pursuant to the Oslo Accords.

Capacity to enter into relations with other states: Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and other countries. It does not have capacity to enter into relations with other states. Art. IX.5 of the Oslo II Accord specifies that the PA does not have powers in the sphere of foreign relations, save that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) may enter into economic, aid, cultural, scientific and educational agreements for the benefit of the PA.

Permanent population: UNRWA and the PA maintain that nearly half of the total Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are refugees, i.e. not the permanent population of these areas.

Defined territory: The territory of a new Palestinian state is not defined. The complications of determining its extent and boundaries are manifold, a problem reflected in the lack of any indication in recent calls by France or the United Kingdom as to what territory they would be recognising as constituting the State of Palestine.

Under the Oslo II Accord, “borders” and “Jerusalem” are issues to be addressed by “permanent status negotiations” (Art. XXXI.5). The PA has no control over the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem or the majority of the West Bank. It merely administers part of the West Bank under the Oslo II Accord.

Furthermore, Art. XXXI.7 of the Oslo II Accord states: “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.” Recognition of a Palestinian state contradicts this provision.

Self-determination
Those in favour of a new Palestinian state often invoke the right to self-determination. However, first, a right to self-determination does not in itself constitute an unconditional right to a state, as Canada’s Supreme Court confirmed in the Quebec case. Still less does it imply that one or more or any of the four Montevideo qualifications have been met.

Second, self-determination requires the will of those for whom it is invoked to be established, as the Badinter Commission advised in its Opinion No. 4. This has not been done. Notably, an opinion poll by a Palestinian news agency found that 93% of Jerusalem’s Arab population preferred a continuation of Israeli rule of the whole city; while a survey by Israel’s Central Bureau Statistics found that 86% of Jerusalem’s Arabs were satisfied with their lives.

It is likely that an overwhelming majority of Jerusalem’s Jewish population would also prefer a continuation of Israeli rule. On this basis, the principle of self-determination would appear to mandate a continuation of Israeli sovereignty over the united city of Jerusalem.

This conclusion also has implications in relation to the Montevideo Convention criteria of permanent population and defined territory of a supposed Palestinian state. Moreover, the 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has also been cited in support of a Palestinian state, was based on false information in this regard.
Keir Starmer shamed by videos of starving hostages, as UK position undermines ceasefire negotiations
Jonathan Sacerdoti discusses the latest development as anti-Israel protestors plan to 'overwhelm' British police


British Government set to recognise Palestinian sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest sites
The British government has been unable to confirm whether its planned unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in September will lead to it recognising Judaism’s holiest sites as being under Palestinian sovereignty.

On Monday morning, the Prime Minister’s office spokesperson responded to a question from a Parliamentary Lobby journalist, Ben Bloch of Sky News, about the borders of a Palestinian state which the UK would recognise. The spokesperson referred to a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Palestinian Authority in April. The document in question refers to recognising a two-state solution “based on 1967 lines”.

The 1967 lines, also known as the Green Line, refers to the borders from 1949-1967 – when Egypt controlled Gaza and Jordan controlled both East Jerusalem and the West Bank. During this period, Jordan controlled the Old City of Jerusalem, including the city’s historic Jewish Quarter – ethnically cleansed of its Jewish community in 1948 – as well as both the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

While the FCDO’s long-term position has been that of recognising a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, this has not previously proved controversial – largely due to the fact that recognition of a Palestinian state was traditionally predicated on coming at a later stage of a process worked out by Israel and the Palestinians, where one would naturally assume that the issue would be worked out between the two.

However, the British government’s sudden policy shift, with Keir Starmer’s announcement last week of the UK’s planned unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by September, has changed the situation. As things stand, the UK is currently in a position where it looks set to recognise Palestinian sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount – Judaism’s Holiest site – with the potential to cause serious diplomatic ruptures.


Khaled Abu Toameh: How Hamas Sees the West's Recognition of 'Palestine'
Hamas's primary goal is to remain in power after the war so that it can continue its jihad (holy war) to eliminate Israel.

Western leaders have succeeded in making any negotiations impossible. The message they sent -- especially in Europeans -- was: Massacre and keep the hostages and be rewarded with a state. The terrorists clearly see, yet again, that terrorism pays off. So keep on doing it!

Despite their opposition to the "two-state solution," the Palestinian terrorists are nevertheless prepared to take any land Israel gives them so it can be used as a launchpad to destroy Israel.

In 2017, Hamas issued a "policy document" that confirmed this approach. The terror group made it clear in its document that it would not oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Hamas, however, stressed that this does not mean that the terror group would recognize Israel's right to exist.

Hamas's policy document has been mistakenly interpreted by some Westerners as a sign of pragmatism, moderation and acceptance of the "two-state solution" on the part of the terror group. False. Hamas, as part of a campaign to deceive and mislead Westerners into accepting it as a legitimate player in the Palestinian arena, is pretending that it supports a Palestinian next to Israel. In reality, Hamas is clearly stating that such a state will be used for "the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea."

In the same document, Hamas makes it abundantly clear that it will pursue its jihad against Israel after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

This is certainly not the right time to talk about a "two-state solution." The jihadists and terrorists see it as a reward for their atrocities against Israel. It is more important to focus efforts on dismantling and crushing all the Palestinian terror groups and embarking on a process of deradicalization for the Palestinians before talking about a peace process or "two-state solution."

Under the current circumstances, statements about recognizing a Palestinian state send a message to the Palestinians that terrorism and violence -- not negotiations -- are the best way to gain international support for statehood... and anything else.
Foreign Ministry summons Polish envoy after Tusk accuses Israel of causing Gaza starvation
Following remarks from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accusing Israeli politicians of causing starvation in Gaza, the Foreign Ministry summoned Polish ambassador to Israel Maciej Hunia for a dressing down today, the ministry says in a statement.

Hunia was summoned “for an official demarche by the head of the Political-Strategic Division, following unacceptable statements made by the prime minister of Poland,” says the ministry in a statement.

“Israel firmly rejects these accusations and expects Poland to refrain from using language that distorts history and dishonors the memory of Holocaust victims. The head of the Division emphasized that Israel is fighting a terrorist organization that openly seeks the murder of Jews and Israelis, and the destruction of Israel,” the statement reads.

“Israel acts under international humanitarian law and has significantly expanded its humanitarian aid efforts — including the entry of additional aid convoys into the Gaza Strip, humanitarian pauses, the opening of safe passage routes for aid delivery, infrastructure repairs, and airdrops of humanitarian supplies — including coordination with the European Union,” adds the ministry.

On Sunday, in a Polish-language post on X that sparked strong criticism from the Foreign Ministry, Tusk stated: “Poland was, is, and will be on Israel’s side in its confrontation with Islamic terrorism, but never on the side of politicians whose actions lead to hunger and the death of mothers and children. This must be obvious to nations that together went through the hell of World War II.”


Egypt's president accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, saying the war was no longer being waged to achieve diplomatic goals or to secure the release of hostages, but rather to eradicate the Palestinian cause.

"This war is no longer about achieving diplomatic aims or freeing the hostages, but has become a war of starvation, genocide, and the elimination of the Palestinian issue," el-Sissi said.

He added that "the situation in Gaza has become a diplomatic bargaining chip," and criticized the international community's failure to bring an end to the war.

The Egyptian president's remarks came as Cairo has faced increasing criticism in recent weeks. Senior Egyptian officials recently directed criticism at the terrorist organization Hamas, amid public calls in Egypt for mass movement toward the border with Gaza.

Pressure on Cairo is also coming from Qatar, where a prominent cleric affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood denounced Arab governments on Monday and called on the masses to march toward Israel's borders.


IDF eliminates Hezbollah terrorist in southeastern Lebanon
An Israel Defense Forces aircraft on Monday eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist in southeastern Lebanon, according to the military.

“Earlier today, the IDF used an aircraft to attack and eliminate a terrorist from the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon’s Al-Khiam area,” the IDF said. No additional information was provided.

The IDF on Thursday night carried out a wave of attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s south, including a major missile production site.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military was “powerfully striking” Hezbollah infrastructure, including the Iranian-backed terror army’s “largest precision missile production site, which was previously attacked, along with additional sites Hezbollah is attempting to restore.”

“As I emphasized, the maximum enforcement policy against Hezbollah will continue,” he added. “Any attempt by the terror group to rehabilitate, reestablish itself or threaten will be met with uncompromising force.”

The defense minister said Jerusalem would hold the Lebanese government responsible for Hezbollah’s terrorism in the border area.


United Nations Says 89% Of Their Gaza Aid Trucks Have Been Looted Since May
According to United Nations data, 88.7% of the organization’s aid trucks have been looted in Gaza since May 19.

Data shared by the United Nations’ 2720 Mechanism for Gaza show that of the 2,604 trucks that collected aid at border crossings, 2,310 were intercepted “peacefully by hungry civilians or forcefully by armed actors,” during transit.

Only 300 trucks, just 11.5%, successfully reached their intended destinations.

A spotlight on the data comes as Israel continues to face allegations of blocking aid to Gaza. UN figures show that Israel approved 112 aid requests in June and denied 38.

A video obtained by The Daily Wire shows a chaotic scene in southern Gaza last month, as more than a dozen UN aid trucks enter a dense crowd along the Morag route. As the convoy attempts to pass through, a mob swarms the vehicles, climbing aboard and looting the supplies.


Thane Rosenbaum | Moral Combat | Israel-Hamas War | Conversation with Shana Meyerson
If you’re anything like me, there is a good chance you wake up every morning these days, wary of what the new day will bring and go to sleep each night wondering what the hell just happened.

It’s been 22 months of Orwellian insanity and, to be honest, sometimes I just think I am losing my mind.

October 7, 2023 was the day that common decency went out the window and basic morality decided to take a paid leave of absence.

People think this phenomenon of thinly masked anti-Zionist-flavored antisemitism is something new. It’s nothing new. It’s just good old-fashioned Jew Hatred on a new set of steroids in a dystopian reality where terrorism is all the rage and facts…well, they’re a matter of opinion.

The pseudo-intelligentsia have been consumed with useful idiocy, but somewhere in the abyss there does lie common sense and a voice of reason. Someone who can make sense of all the nonsense, and connect all the dots until the picture becomes clear. That someone is Thane Rosenbaum.

In this LIVE conversation, Shana Meyerson of YOGAthletica and Thane Rosenbaum discuss both the legal and moral implications of the war in Gaza and how the world got swept away in the tide of jihadi terror.

If you are a yogi or yogini who thinks that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, you owe it to yourself to listen to this conversation about how propaganda and the weaponization of words really works...and why it is so easy to fall into its trap.


UK (The Unicorn Kingdom) Recognizes The Palestinian State 🪂 🤸‍♀️ What Could Possibly Go Wrong???
🪂 🤸 Welcome to the A Paratrooper and a Yogi Walk Into a Bar... Podcast, where veteran paratrooper Andrew Fox and expert yogi Shana Meyerson discuss the most interesting events relating to Israel, war in the Middle East, and antisemitism in the past week. 🥂

YOGI YADA-YADA WITH SHANA: Shana introduces the United Kingdom's Memorandum of Understanding with "The Palestinian State"...such as it were... 🤸


Call me Back Podcast: What went wrong with humanitarian aid in Gaza? - with Yotam Polizer
For over a week, global attention has been focused on a food crisis in Gaza. Though there have been endless false reports of mass starvation since the beginning of the war, this time, many Israelis have accepted concerns about hunger among Gazans are legitimate.

This raises questions about how humanitarian aid has been distributed over the past few months. To discuss this – as well as how humanitarian aid distribution should be executed – we are joined by Yotam Polizer.

Yotam is the global CEO of ISRAAID, the largest humanitarian aid organization in Israel, which has operated in 12 different countries. Since October 7th, 2023, ISRAAID has also worked inside Israel to rehabilitate Israeli victims of the October 7 Hamas attack, and helped facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid and medical support to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.




‘The bridge protest, war and Australia’: Global terror sympathy on the rise
Sky News host Chris Kenny says Australia losing its way “starts from the top” as a “serious lack of democracy” and terror sympathy is on the rise.

“The bridge, that protest, that war and our country,” Mr Kenny said.

“This really troubles me, and I know it troubles you … if our country has lost its way as I said last night, then of course it all starts from the top.”


Investigations launched into Sydney Harbour Bridge death chants and terror symbols
NSW Police have launched a series of investigations into the Sydney Harbour Bridge protesters over death chants, waving terrorist flags, and displaying Hamas and Nazi symbols.

Police estimated 90,000 demonstrators took part in the “March for Humanity” through the heart of Sydney, which shut down the Harbour Bridge from 11.30am to about 5pm, although it was originally scheduled to end at 4pm.

Videos posted to social media depicted protesters chanting “Free, free Palestine”, “In our thousands in our millions, we are all Palestinians”, and "Death, death to the IDF; death, death to Netanyahu".

"The IDF are terrorists" was also chanted during the march on the Harbour Bridge, as Al-Qaida flags were allegedly waved. Al-Qaida is a designated terrorist organisation in Australia.

NSW Police told Sky News investigators in Sydney are investigating the audio of the chants and seeking legal advice.

Police are also "actively investigating" the identity of one woman who displayed a swastika placard and have spoken to the man wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words: "Death death to the IDF".

"The stills of and videos of flags are being assessed by specialist officers and Sydney City PAC is awaiting their advice," NSW Police said.

"Officers from Sydney City PAC stopped and spoke with the man wearing the jacket depicted and his details recorded. Legal advice being sought."
Harbour Bridge protest called out for ‘barely any condemnation’ against Hamas
Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power discusses the lack of condemnation against Hamas during the recent ‘March for Humanity’ which took place across the Harbour Bridge.

“There were plenty of people there demonstrating, who genuinely just want to see an end to the war, but this protest that was called ‘March for Humanity’ featured the Taliban flag, chants such as ‘death to the IDF’ and posters of Iran’s Supreme Leader,” Ms Power said.

“There was a lot of anger and a lot of hate directed at Israel, yet barely any condemnation of Hamas, the terror group who refused to release the hostages.”




'They're fearful': High court could axe law protecting places of worship
Former 2GB host Ray Hadley expresses his concern over recent protests in Sydney and the legal challenges surrounding a new law aimed at protecting places of worship.

“It’s not a precedent because any other Supreme Court justice may have come up with an entirely different decision,” Mr Hadley said.

“It passed through both houses of New South Wales parliament, but it's before the High Court now.

“They’re fearful that the Higher Court is on the cusp of knocking over this legislation.”




Zyklon B producer heiress to participate in next Gaza flotilla
A heiress from the German industrial dynasty that profited from producing Zyklon B, the gas used in Nazi death camps, will participate in the next pro-Palestinian flotilla to Gaza, activist groups announced last week.

Marlene Engelhorn is a descendant of the family that founded the BASF chemical industrial company, which in the 1920s merged with IG Farben, one of the largest industrial powers during the Nazi regime. During this period, IG Farben produced the cyanide-based poison, which was used to murder millions of Jews during the Holocaust. Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

Engelhorn accuses Israel of 'genocide, apartheid, illegal occupation' Engelhorn has been outspoken against Israel and declared that she opposes "genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation," and supports a "free Palestine," in posts on her social media.

"We continue to fight to break this illegal siege and bring humanitarian aid to Gaza," she wrote in a post on the Instagram account of "Global Movement to Gaza Austria," along with a video featuring Marlene from last week. "The flotilla is sailing soon, and we are excited to announce that Marlene Engelhorn will be aboard and stand on the right side of history."

Engelhorn's personal wealth
IG Farben was dissolved after World War II, with BASF being reconstituted as a company in 1952, still owned by the Engelhorn family.

The family sold the company in the mid-1990s for approximately $4.2 billion, with Marlene personally inheriting approximately $27.1 million upon the death of her grandmother in 2021.

Engelhorn attempted to persuade the Austrian government to tax her inheritance at a 90% tax rate, according to reports at the time. However, Austria refused, as the country has no inheritance tax.

In turn, she founded an activist group "Tax me now" to lobby for higher taxes on the wealthy. Other heiresses, including Abigail Disney and Valerie Rockefeller also participate in the activist group, according to Forbes.


Cooper says court cases for Palestine Action activists set to reveal ‘disturbing information’
Disturbing information about the true nature of the threat posed by the banned Palestine Action group is likely to be revealed in future court cases involving its activists, the Home Secretary has revealed.

Asked to justify the mass arrests of people taking part in demonstrations in support of the proscribed group this weekend, Yvette Cooper said:”I do understand there will be people who do not know, who are wanting to protest, who do not know what the nature of this group is.

“Let’s be clear, this is not about Palestine or protesting about Palestine.

“This is about a particular, narrow, specific group that has both a violent record and information and about future planning as well.

“More of that information is likely to be revealed once court cases come through and can’t be in advance, but I would say to people, this is not a non-violent organisation.”

The Home Secretary added that as well as “injuries to people” she has been made aware of ” some disturbing information, referring to future planning as well.”

“So that’s the information that I have to take immensely seriously when making those prescribing decisions,” she said.

The Metropolitan police has made clear it would arrest anyone breaking terrorism laws, who takes part in a London demo organised for Saturday.
Police intervene as pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt John Swinney at Edinburgh Fringe
Police were called to an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Saturday after First Minister John Swinney was repeatedly confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters demanding he declare Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.

Swinney had been on stage at the Stand comedy club in York Place for a live interview with comedian Susan Morrison when activists interrupted proceedings, holding signs and accusing the Scottish Government of hypocrisy over its funding of defence-related firms.

Despite the First Minister’s repeated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and his support for UK recognition of a Palestinian state, demonstrators insisted he “say the word” and condemned the government’s commercial links to companies involved in arms production.

After the event, Swinney told reporters: “It’s quite clear that there is a genocide in Palestine – it can’t be disputed. I have seen reports of terrible atrocities which have the character of being a genocide. That’s my feeling.”

His statement, the first time he has publicly used the term, makes Swinney the second UK national leader to accuse Israel of genocide after Michelle O’Neill, First Minister of Northern Ireland, did so in July.

Audience videos posted online showed activists holding placards depicting malnourished children and clashing with venue staff and police. According to eyewitnesses, the event was disrupted at least five times, with chants of “Call it genocide” and shouts condemning UK-Israel defence ties.




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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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