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Tuesday, November 11, 2025

11/11 Links Pt1: Israel's Demands for the Demilitarization of Gaza; Francesca Albanese’s campaign against Zionism; UN Report Shows ‘Palestinians’ Fatter Than Israelis

From Ian:

Israel's Demands for the Demilitarization of Gaza
Demilitarizing Gaza is one of the central components of the Trump framework. An International Stabilization Force (ISF) is to stabilize security in Gaza "including through the demilitarization of non-state armed groups and the permanent decommissioning of weapons." However, significant gaps exist between Israel's position and those of Hamas, the PA, and the moderate Arab states regarding the role of the stabilization force.

Hamas opposes any international force with enforcement powers aimed at disarming the armed organizations. The Palestinian Authority demands that internal security be entrusted to its security forces. The moderate Arab states prefer a "peacekeeping" model limited to monitoring, without powers to enforce disarmament.

Israel views the disarmament of Hamas and the other factions and the prevention of their rearmament as central objectives and demands that Gaza's reconstruction be closely linked to its demilitarization. However, Israel fears that the ISF's deployment could impose constraints on the IDF's freedom of action in Gaza.

In any event, Israel insists on retaining overriding security responsibility in order to counter threats and prevent the reestablishment of terrorist infrastructure in Gaza if the Palestinian police and the ISF face difficulties in disarming Hamas and in preventing its rebuilding.

The anticipated challenges in demilitarizing Gaza include Hamas's refusal to cooperate, as well as continued public support for Hamas and opposition to its disarmament. Accordingly, Israel must hold dialogue with American representatives in order to prepare for these scenarios in advance.

Simultaneously, Israel must formulate a backup plan that includes "defensive belts" before reaching a point of breakdown and returning to confrontation with Hamas. This framework includes conditioning reconstruction on effective disarmament processes.

The gap between the strategic objective - a demilitarized Gaza, responsibly governed by a moderate Palestinian actor - and the operational challenges involved in achieving this objective indicates that the success of the framework will require coercive and sustained American involvement, close coordination with Israel, and U.S. persuasion of moderate Arab states to mobilize for active intervention in the demilitarization of Gaza.
Something is not right with Egypt
Something just isn’t right with Egypt. The situation is starting to smell bad. Like that one piece of leftover fish from Friday night that’s been sitting in the fridge until Wednesday—something’s off.

Israel entered U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan with Egypt as its most significant partner, given their shared border with Gaza. But weeks later, there are troubling signs that something has shifted. To understand this, I decided to take a more biblical view of what may be unfolding.

According to our sages, Egypt betrays its peace pact with Israel at the end of days, forming a coordinated attack on her borders. The Talmud (Sotah) states that God will allow Egypt’s actions of betrayal to play out fully before exacting judgment.

The text even uses the term “Sassah,” referring to the Egyptian leader—eerily reminiscent of today’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It says he will launch one final attack on Israel, the third in a series dating back to Pharaoh 3,330 years ago—and that Israel will ultimately emerge victorious.

If this refers to our times, when might it happen? The Talmud indicates it will occur toward the end of the ruler’s reign in Egypt. Sisi’s presidency began in 2014 and was meant to end years ago, yet he changed the law to remain in power until 2030. While signing new energy and infrastructure deals with Israel, Sisi has simultaneously been building up his army.

This buildup—coupled with Egypt’s participation in the proposed international stabilization force meant to occupy Gaza for at least two years—is cause for concern. Reports indicate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet was not even informed of the U.S.-backed U.N. Security Council resolution outlining such a deployment. If approved, it would mean Egyptian boots on the ground in Gaza.

Sisi, a former general, appears frustrated by the military restrictions imposed by the 1979 Camp David Accords. Forty-six years later, Egypt’s army on Israel’s southern border is stronger than ever. Over 200 kilometers of the border have reportedly been declared a restricted military no-fly zone for the first time since the Yom Kippur War—ostensibly to stop drones, but possibly for other reasons.
Francesca Albanese’s campaign against Zionism
When a public intellectual arms herself with a lexicon of genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing and broadcasts those terms as incontrovertible facts, culture and history die a little.

The recent interview of Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, contained more than misinformation; it was a manifesto for the erasure of the Jewish state.

I have long refused to dignify Albanese with a formal debate—not out of timidity, but out of principle. To breathe the same air as someone who repeatedly traffics in demonstrable falsehoods is to concede a moral equivalence that does not exist.

Her latest claim—that Zionism itself is “the problem” because it created the State of Israel, which she sees as an apartheid state occupying a land once called Palestine—collapses decades of history into a single, dishonest sentence.

It is worth reminding readers of the simple facts that Albanese elides. For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jews called themselves Palestinians; former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir was one of them.

The modern Arab populations in the British Mandate era were not static indigenous blocs but peoples on the move from neighboring regions. The British Mandate, sanctioned by the international community after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, provided the legal framework for Jewish return to the Land of Israel.

Partition and subsequent wars created the borders and complexities we live with today. The modern Palestinian national movement emerged later—in the 1960s and ’70s—nurtured by geopolitical forces and ideologies abroad. To erase that chronology is to erase causality itself.

Albanese’s rhetorical sleight of hand is not an innocent error of interpretation. It serves an objective: the dismantling of the State of Israel’s legitimacy.


Hadar Goldin buried in Israel, more than 4,000 days after he fell in 2014 Gaza war
Israel Defense Forces Lt. Hadar Goldin was laid to rest at the military cemetery in the central city of Kfar Saba on Tuesday, more than 4,000 days after he was killed during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014.

The funeral, which drew thousands of Israelis, came two days after the Hamas terror group returned Goldin’s remains from the Gaza Strip as part of the U.S.-brokered truce deal.

Hamas killed Goldin on Aug. 1, 2014, two hours after a ceasefire took effect in that year’s war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists.

“The circle is closed—’Operation Protective Edge’ has come to an end,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told attendees at the funeral on Tuesday.

“For a long time, you have become a compass and a conscience for the entire people of Israel; a compass that the IDF will carry forever,” stated the chief of staff. “Hadar, you gave far beyond measure for your country. We continue to discover rays of light you left behind after your passing.

“You have returned to the land for which you fought, but we will go back to every place where a promise remains unfulfilled, and we will keep working until the last of our sons returns home.”

Four more bodies are still being held in Gaza, those of three Israelis—Meny Godard, Sgt. Ran Gvili and Dror Or—and of one Thai citizen, Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was working in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Simcha Goldin, Hadar’s father, implored fellow mourners to “remember Hadar’s smile,” saying: “We have no choice but to continue in his path.”

“I ask of you to act like Hadar and to earn a bit more hadar,” Goldin said, using the Hebrew word for splendor. “In Hadar’s prayer book, he recited every day: ‘Grant in our hearts that we may see our friends’ virtues, and not their faults.’ … Take Hadar’s words, and apply them to yourselves.”


France says it will help draft constitution for Palestinian state as Abbas visits Paris
France hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris for a meeting on Tuesday, during which French President Emmanuel Macron committed to helping the PA draft a constitution for a future state.

Macron, whose country led the charge in recognizing a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly in September, said France and the PA would set up a joint committee to work on drawing up a new framework for the state.

“This committee will be responsible for working on all legal aspects: constitutional, institutional and organizational,” he told reporters, adding that Abbas had presented him with the first draft of a potential constitution.

He added France would contribute 100 million euros ($116.62 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza for 2025.

Ahead of the meeting, France raised its concern with the PA about recent illicit payments Ramallah made to Palestinian security prisoners, a senior French official told The Times of Israel.

Abbas ousted PA Finance Minister Omar Bitar on Monday for signing off on payments to Palestinian security prisoners through an old mechanism that awarded them based on the length of their sentence, a Palestinian official and a second source familiar with the matter revealed to The Times of Israel on Monday. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas arrives to meet France’s President Emmanuel Macron at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

The payments amounted to an apparent violation of Ramallah’s pledge to France and other key backers in the international community that the PA would reform its prisoner payment system, which critics have dubbed “pay-to-slay.”

While Abbas signed legislation in February to end the old system, the new mechanism that conditions welfare payments strictly on a recipient’s financial need has not yet been fully rolled out. Bitar’s firing also highlighted the domestic pushback that the PA is facing for the move.

After their meeting at the Elysee Palace, Macron told reporters that Abbas committed to launching an audit by an American company to certify that pay-to-slay is no longer in place.

It’s unclear whether Macron was referring to the audit that Ramallah invited the Trump administration to carry out in order to certify that the reform is being implemented.


France to allow Israeli firms to take part in defense expo after reports ban was weighed
Following Hebrew media reports that the French government intended to prevent eight Israeli companies from taking part in a defense exhibition in Paris next week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot informs Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that all Israeli companies will be allowed to participate.

“French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke a short while ago with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and informed him that all Israeli companies will be permitted to participate in the exhibition,” Sa’ar’s office says in a statement.

A French official with knowledge tells The Times of Israel that the decision to allow all the companies to attend “was a French decision and not the result of Israeli pressure.”

Earlier today, Channel 12 reported that after reviewing a list of 45 companies expected to take part in the Milipol Paris exhibition from November 18–25, France notified Israel that it would bar eight Israeli firms from the event, without specifying which ones. The French reportedly said their participation “would pose a problem,” while clarifying that the other Israeli companies would be permitted to attend, causing outrage from Israeli officials. It remains unclear whether the exclusion was related to the companies’ links to Israel’s activities in Gaza or to operations in the West Bank.


UN Report Shows ‘Palestinians’ Fatter Than Israelis
After two years of barraging social media with lies about a famine in Gaza, Hamas propaganda channels are now trying to cover up their obesity by claiming that Israel is making them fat.

One recent Hamas media story clamored that “they’re forcing us to gain weight”, and objected that supermarkets have “shelves overflowing with chocolate, soft drinks, and cigarettes”, along with unhealthy “flour and various types of cheese used in sweets and pizza, in addition to sugar and flour derivatives used in confectionery production.”

An Arab Muslim settler in Gaza who had previously justified the Hamas massacres complained, “I am compelled to consume carbohydrates, processed cheese, and manufactured meat.”

What some are calling the ‘Fatocide’ reflects the reality that there was never a famine in Gaza, but there was a very real obesity problem. Past reports had found high rates of obesity among children and adults in Gaza and a 2019 study found that almost half of adults over the age of 42 had Type 2 Diabetes. Another Gaza report citing Hamas Ministry of Health numbers claimed that 9.6% of the population in Gaza has diabetes and it’s the cause of 11.2% deaths.

The ‘Fatocide’ is real and is claiming ‘Palestinian’ lives every day.

A study from a decade ago found that 1 out of every 5 adolescents in Gaza was overweight or obese and more recent numbers from the combined terrorist occupied territories of Israel, including Judea, Samaria and Gaza, showed that around a third of boys and girls were obese.

Now a new UNICEF study usefully compares obesity rates in Israel and in the so-called ‘Palestinian’ entity areas. If Israel were really starving, oppressing or denying materials to the terrorist occupied territories, then the Israelis should be fatter than the ‘Palestinians’.

And yet the UNICEF report found that in Israel, 23% of 5-9 year olds were fat, but 28% of children in the same age group in ‘Palestine’ were obese.

28% of children aged 10-14 in Israel were fat, but in ‘Palestine’, 33% of children were obese.

Among 15-19 year olds, 19% of Israeli teens were fat, but 32% of ‘Palestinian’ teens were. Notably, while the Israeli teens appeared to be getting in shape before going into the Israeli Army, their counterparts in the terrorist-occupied territories stayed fat. But then again while you need to be in good shape to be in the infantry, not so much to be a suicide bomber.
Suspect Arrested in Venezuela for 1994 Panama Flight Bombing That Killed 21, Including 12 Jewish Passengers
Interpol has confirmed the arrest in Venezuela of a suspect linked to the 1994 bombing of a Panamanian commercial flight that killed 21 people — including 12 members of the country’s Jewish community — marking a major development more than three decades after one of Latin America’s deadliest terror attacks.

On Saturday, the Interpol National Central Bureau in Panama said in a statement that it “received confirmation” from its counterparts in Venezuela of the arrest of Ali Hage Zaki Jalil — a Venezuelan citizen of Lebanese descent — on Margarita Island in the northeastern state of Nueva Esparta, in a joint operation with the international police organization Interpol and local and national authorities.

In 1994, Alas Chiricanas Flight 901, a domestic passenger plane traveling a short 30–40 minute route from Colón on Panama’s Caribbean coast to the capital, Panama City, was destroyed by a midair explosion, killing all 21 passengers and crew on board.

At the time, local authorities determined that a suicide bomber had triggered explosives concealed within a portable radio.

Jalil allegedly managed logistics and transportation for the terrorists responsible for the attack, according to officials.

Panama’s government investigation found that the bomber was Hamas operative Ali Jamal, who had boarded the flight carrying a suitcase packed with explosives.

The terrorist attack occurred just one day after the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 wounded — the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history.

International intelligence agencies have long suspected that the two attacks were part of a Hezbollah-led wave of coordinated violence in the early 1990s targeting Jewish and Israeli interests across Latin America.
IDF destroys Gaza tunnel used to kidnap Hadar Goldin in 2014
The Israel Defense Forces revealed on Tuesday that it had destroyed the Gaza tunnel shaft into which Lt. Hadar Goldin was kidnapped in 2014.

The underground route was dismantled hours after Goldin’s body was returned to Israel on Sunday after 4,118 days in Hamas captivity. The mission was carried out by the IDF’s Nahal Brigade, the army said.

The IDF statement came as Goldin was laid to rest at the military cemetery in the central city of Kfar Saba on Tuesday morning.

“The circle is closed—’Operation Protective Edge’ has come to an end,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told attendees at the ceremony.

Hamas killed Goldin on Aug. 1, 2014, two hours after a ceasefire took effect in that year’s war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists.


Iran Smuggling Advanced Weaponry to Growing Terrorist Proxy Network in West Bank
Iran has spent the past several months quietly smuggling advanced arms to a growing number of terrorist proxies in the West Bank, ramping up its efforts to transform the territory into a Gaza-style militant hub that can replicate Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attacks since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire began a month ago, according to Israeli intelligence centers and regional analysts.

After the Donald Trump-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect last month, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) moved the center of its operations against Israel to the West Bank. While PIJ is the most prolific of the Iran-sponsored terror groups operating in major cities like Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, and Jericho, it is far from the only one: Others among the 28 detailed in a Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) database include factions within the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Hamas's West Bank cells. The terror groups—some of which have only recently begun setting up shop and receiving Iranian weapons—have acquired advanced rockets, explosive drones, anti-tank missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades—armaments the Islamic Republic's proxies in the West Bank have not typically used in the past.

The quality and quantity of arms Tehran has sent to the Palestinian territory underscores its ambition to turn the areas outside Jerusalem into a launching point for another large-scale attack on Israel. Its terrorist proxies share that assessment: Almost immediately after the Oct. 10 ceasefire began, Hamas made clear the West Bank "would continue to be a leading arena of resistance," according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, a research institution closely aligned with the IDF.
IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson to retire after 20 years
Col. Avichay Adraee, who has been the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson for the past 20 years, is set to soon retire from the military.

Adraee became a familiar face during the ongoing war, especially over the military’s use of his social media pages to issue evacuation warnings ahead of strikes in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran.

With millions of followers across his social media accounts and hundreds of interviews on Arabic-language media channels, Adraee became the IDF’s face in the Arab world.

Adraee began his service in the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 8200. In 2005, toward the end of his mandatory service, he was offered the chance to head the Arabic media department in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, a position he has held since.

Adraee received numerous threats to his life over the years. Last year, a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a deadly car-ramming spree in the central city of Ra’anana initially sought to target Adraee, according to police.


US State Dept. denies reports of anti-Hamas militia head, Kushner meeting in Israel
The US State Department on Tuesday denied reports that Yasser Abu Shabab, leader of Hamas opposition "Popular Forces" militia, met with key Trump adviser Jared Kushner at a US military base located south of Israel.

"This report is false - never happened," the State Department wrote on X/Twitter.

Saudi news outlet Al Hadath initially reported that the meeting centered around the evolving role of Abu Shabab's forces in the territories, where Hamas is set to withdraw from in accordance with the US-brokered Gaza deal.

Sources close to the event stated that the discussion primarily focused on the strategic positioning of Abu Shabab's forces in areas vacated by Hamas as the militant group retreats from key positions in Gaza.

The sources added that one of the primary concerns of the talks was securing the safe exit of Hamas fighters from the Rafah tunnels, which have long served as a critical logistical route for the group.


Call me Back Podcast: Hamas Isn't Surrendering, It's Evolving - with Yonatan Adiri
In a recent piece for Yedioth Achronot, Ark Media’s very own Yonatan Adiri argues that while Hamas’s military capabilities have been largely destroyed, it has realized that real power has shifted from the battlefield to the international arena. By integrating into the institutions of the Palestinian Authority and leveraging its support from Qatar and Turkey to gain legitimacy, Hamas can manifest its charter through political and diplomatic means - trading its rockets for stamps, and its tunnels for offices. On today’s episode, Yonatan joins Dan to discuss Hamas’ position after two years of war and the evolving dynamics between Hamas, Qatar, and Turkey.


Hugh Hewitt: ”The Call at 4 AM” is the new book from Israel’s most influential television journalist



John Fetterman Speaks: Defying His Party on Israel, Zohran, Shutdown & More
Since coming to Congress, Fetterman has stood out—and not just because he’s six-foot-eight. He’s shown strong support for Israel, a departure from many in his party. He’s said Democrats mishandled border security under Biden. He praised the president for his peace deal in Gaza—and even met with him in Mar-a-Lago.

He’s also publicly blamed Democrats for the government shutdown, saying: “I follow country, then party.” He refused to “play chicken with the food security of 42 million Americans,” and voted 15 times with Republicans to reopen Washington.

On Sunday night, the Senate finally voted to reopen the governement—but only after 40 days of missed paychecks, travel chaos, and millions at risk of losing SNAP benefits.

It was just the latest litmus test for Democrats, highlighting the divide between the centrists and the progressives—between, for lack of better words, the Fetterman wing and the Mamdani wing. And now, Democrats may have to decide which impulse to run on—in 2026, and in 2028.

Today, I ask John Fetterman about his decision to speak out against his own party; his recent dinner with Donald Trump—and the backlash that followed; the shutdown and whether he believes the Democratic Party is heading in the right direction; and finally, his new book Unfettered, which chronicles his journey to the Senate, his stroke, his battle with depression, and his time in office.




Jonathan Tobin: Republicans need JD Vance to debunk the ‘Israel First’ smear
Some of Tucker Carlson’s defenders and apologists have argued that the backlash against the former Fox News host-turned-podcaster isn’t really about antisemitism.

Given the cozy interviews he’s granted to neo-Nazi “groyper” Nick Fuentes and Holocaust-denier “historian” Daryl Cooper—and his willingness to invite anyone on his show that will promote blood libels against or otherwise smear Israel—that’s not an argument anyone should take seriously. There’s no doubt that Carlson, like so many on the left, are determined to move the Overton Window of acceptable discourse so as to make it acceptable to engage in a wide variety of antisemitic tropes aimed at stigmatizing Jews and anything to do with the Jewish state.

But it’s also true that there is an ongoing debate about foreign policy in which Carlson’s efforts to aid the cause of delegitimizing the Jewish state and its supporters is playing a significant role. As Carlson has made clear, the ultimate target of his attacks isn’t really Jews or even the state of Israel. He’s just as, if not more, interested in taking down Americans who support it, thereby altering American foreign policy in the Middle East.

An antisemitic trope
If he is to be stopped, it won’t be because conservative supporters of the U.S.-Israel alliance like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speak up in defense of Israel and its friends. Rather, it will be because Vice President JD Vance, who is not only Carlson’s avowed friend and ally, as well as a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, does so.

The phrase Carlson uses is “Israel First,” which is an attempt to disparage anyone who backs the U.S.-Israel alliance as not merely unpatriotic but also somehow at odds with President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. The expression is essentially an antisemitic trope about dual loyalty, and is linked to other ones about Jews buying influence. That’s why, rather than maintaining silence about Carlson’s most recent platforming and coddling of a neo-Nazi, the vice president needs to show that he is prepared to challenge allies to his right. If he fails to do so, it will not only hurt the country; it will also harm Vance’s own chances of following Trump into the Oval Office.

The “Israel First” smear delineates the distinction between the contemporary right-wing version of Jew-hatred from the even more potent one on the left.

Both are rooted in toxic myths.

Leftists are wrong to think of the Jewish state as either “white” or a manifestation of imperialism, since the Jews are the indigenous people of Israel. But left-wingers, like New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, hate Israel because they see it through the lens of their mindset in which the world is divided between two groups: people of color who are always victims no matter what they do, and “white” oppressors who are always in the wrong.
Victor Davis Hanson: Confronting Conservative Antisemitism
Tucker Carlson’s interview with controversial right-wing podcaster Nick Fuentes has snowballed into a bigger conversation that has everyone asking: Does the Right have a serious issue with antisemitism?

Victor Davis Hanson explains how conservative icons like William F. Buckley once handled extremists, contrasts that with today’s platforms, and explores why some on the Right are now flirting with the same rhetoric on Israel that echoes leftwing sentiments. How should the conservative movement handle this divide? Hanson breaks it down on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”

“I think the reason for the rise of antisemitism is an element, the isolationist base of the MAGA movement, felt that it was the driving force and that it was going to be isolationist and we were not going to get involved in the Middle East. And they were very suspicious of so-called, what they call neocons and what they call Christian Zionists. As Tucker said, he hates Christian Zionists over any other people. Even bin Laden? Al-Qaeda? ISIS? I don't know. But they were losing influence. Donald Trump proved that he is not a neoisolation. He's a Jacksonian. Targeted strikes to preserve and enhance U.S. deterrents.”

(0:00) Introduction
(0:59) The Tucker Carlson-Nick Fuentes Interview
(1:32) The Rise of Right-Wing Antisemitism
(7:44) Left-Wing vs. Right-Wing Antisemitism
(9:17) The MAGA Movement and Isolationism
(11:09) The Importance of the U.S.-Israel Alliance
(14:14) Conclusion


Michele Bachmann Resigns From Heritage Foundation Task Force
Former Minnesota GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann resigned from the Heritage Foundation's National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (NTFCA) on Thursday, slamming the think tank's board of directors for failing to hold President Kevin Roberts accountable.

In a statement sent exclusively to Newsmax, Bachmann suggests the once respected think tank appears to be on life support because the board had not acted to "repair the breach if the good name of Heritage is to survive."

Roberts pushed the think tank into crisis after Tucker Carlson interviewed white supremacist and Hitler-admiring antisemite Nick Fuentes. Roberts took the moment to go public in a video to defend the Carlson interview.

Roberts later called posting the video a "mistake" but has yet to condemn Carlson for his advocacy of antisemitism and continues to call him a "close personal friend."

"I resigned from the Heritage antisemitism task force because Heritage leadership failed to stand against the voices of antisemitism on the political right," Bachmann, a former presidential candidate, said.

"Inexplicably, consistent voices of antisemitism on the political right were embraced and, worse, defended by the leadership of Heritage Foundation."

"This is the biggest PR disaster in Heritage's history," she added. "Heritage leadership shot a cannon through their brand."


John Cleese denies BDS pressure after Israeli shows postponed for second time
John Cleese has announced he will reschedule his upcoming Israel tour, citing safety concerns and the realities of travelling at 86.

The Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star had been due to appear for three nights in the country towards the end of November, after the postponement of three shows initially due to take place towards the end of June.

Last night, the promoter of Cleese’s planned Israel shows, Alon Yurik Productions, claimed the cancellations were linked to political pressure. In a statement posted on social media, the company said:

“We deeply regret that John Cleese has succumbed to threats from BDS organisations, especially after all tickets to his performances had long been sold out. We will continue to give our all to bring the Israeli audience the finest shows and cultural events.”

Cleese responded today with his own statement directly, stating that –

“Contrary to what was claimed by Alon Yurik Productions last night – and subsequently reported – I am having to reschedule my shows in Israel planned for later this month following advice about safety. At 86, that is obviously all important.”

Cleese’s new statement makes no reference to BDS or political pressure, instead emphasising his affection for Israeli audiences – and making it clear that financial considerations were not a factor for him.

“I will rearrange these shows as soon as it’s possible – and I would be happy to perform without receiving any fee,” he said.

“I am hugely fond of Israeli audiences and send my sincere apologies to all the people who bought tickets.”

In the last few weeks, the actor and comedian has shared a series of tweets relating to Israel. These included sharing a video of Israeli soldiers closing up an illegally dug well in the West Bank, in which Cleese said of Israelis “they have a contract with God, who signed it some time ago, but which they have temporarily mislaid.”

It also included quoting a tweet showing an image of Tzipi Hotovely, the former Israeli ambassador to the UK, along with a quote falsely attributed to her, reading “There could be a million dead Palestinian children and I could still sleep well in the evening”. Cleese described the words as “unbelievable” – which indeed they were.

The comedian and actor also shared a clip of Benjamin Netanyahu talking in the 1980s. A false translation alongside the clip claimed that Netanyahu said that “Israel owns and controls the US”, when he had in fact said no such thing. Cleese’s quote tweet said: “So American institutions will advance Israeli interests over American ones?”


UK Muslim commentator who hailed ‘victory’ of Oct. 7 agrees to voluntarily leave US
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in a statement Tuesday that Hamdi had requested voluntary departure and “ICE is happily arranging his removal from this country.”

The State Department said due to “visa record confidentiality,” it could not comment on specific cases.

CAIR, whose national director praised the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror onslaught that started the Gaza war, has said that Hamdi, 35, was detained in response to what it characterized as his vocal criticism of the Israeli government during a US speaking tour.

The Department of Homeland Security said at the time of Hamdi’s arrest that the State Department had revoked his visa and that ICE had put him in immigration proceedings. Homeland Security later accused him of supporting the October 7 attack.

In a statement at the time, McLaughlin cited remarks he made in a video posted online shortly after the Hamas attacks in which he called to “celebrate the victory” of October 7 and asked his audience “how many of you felt euphoria” when they heard of the Hamas atrocities in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Hamdi claimed later his intent was not to praise the attacks but to suggest that the violence was “a natural consequence of the oppression that is being put on the Palestinians.”

The State Department has not said specifically what Hamdi said or did that initiated the revocation but in a post on X the department said: “The United States has no obligation to host foreigners” who the administration deems to “support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans. We continue to revoke the visas of persons engaged in such activity.”


The IDF ‘Obelix’ who single-handedly held off a violent mob of keffiyeh-clad protesters
The strapping IDF soldier seen in a viral clip single-handedly ejecting a keffiyeh-clad mob from a meeting of pro-Israel students in Toronto Metropolitan University last week has told the JC that he gets his warrior spirit from his uncle, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists in 1996.

Twenty-nine-year old Jonathan Karten was hailed as a hero after ejecting up to a dozen masked Gaza activists after they disrupted a meeting of pro-Israel students at Toronto Metropolitan University on November 5.

The skirmish, which spilled onto the street, left three people injured and resulted in five arrests.

Karten, who has reportedly been called "Obelix” – the character in the Asterix comics who had super-human strength – by some of his friends, said that he attributed part of his warrior spirit to the memory of his uncle Sharon Edri, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists at age 20 in 1996.

His family persuaded the Israeli government not to release Edri’s murderer from prison and give him back to Hamas in the recent prisoner-for-hostage exchange.

Although it was a hateful episode, the TMU attack may have served some good, Karten said.

“Thank God no one was fatally injured. “This altercation, their assault and their trespassing, ultimately helped us, because we were able to get our message out to a wider audience, which was our initial intent.”

Videos of Karten went viral on YouTube, showing him powerfully removing the trespassers from the room, sometimes two at a time. In some videos, a woman is heard screaming, “Stop! Stop! Get out of here! Get out! This is private property! Call 911! Call the police!” above singsong chants of “Free free Palestine!” and “We refuse to allow war criminals in our city!”

After someone wielding a drill bit knocked through the glass door, Karten confronted him and “got hit in the face and stabbed, either by the broken glass or by the drill bit,” he said. He and one student were taken by ambulance to hospital, where they were treated and released.

“I have a bit of a shiner and some abrasions, and I needed a couple of stitches on my forearm,” he said. Soon after leaving hospital, he returned to campus and gave his planned talk to the students because “I wasn’t going to let them take that away from us.”
Avi Yemini: Palestinians TRIED to CANCEL this ISRAELI MUSIC DUO… and they FAILED



Probe of ‘Death to IDF’ chant at Glastonbury festival ongoing, say UK police
British police said on Tuesday they were continuing to investigate comments made on stage during a performance by duo Bob Vylan at Glastonbury music festival in June over derogatory chanting about the Israeli military.

Avon and Somerset Police said they had held a voluntary police interview with a man in his mid-30s to help progress their inquiries.

“The matter has been recorded as a public order incident while we continue to investigate and consider all relevant legislation,” Avon and Somerset Police said.

The performance by Bob Vylan, a duo whose stage names are Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan, both thought to be in their mid-30s, included onstage chants of “Death, death to the IDF,” a reference to the Israel Defense Forces, then heavily involved in fighting the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

The performance was condemned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Israeli Embassy in London, while the BBC was criticized for not stopping its livestreaming of the set.

Days later, British police said they had opened an investigation into Bob Vylan’s behavior, and that of Irish-language band Kneecap, which also called for “death” to the Israeli military at the music festival.
Protest expected at O2 Forum as Kentish Town set to host Bob Vylan show
British Jews and allies are set to protest this evening outside a Bob Vylan concert in Kentish Town, having called on the owners of the venue to cancel the scheduled performance.

The Stop The Hate advocacy group cited widespread community concern and a significant rise in antisemitic incidents following the punk duo’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury Festival in June.

During their performance at the UK’s largest live music festival in the summer, the group’s frontman engaged in an extended diatribe about a “Zionist” producer he had formerly worked with, before leading the crowd in chants of “death, death to the IDF”. The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit subsequently concluded that “the content of this act, taken in the round, can fairly be characterised as antisemitic.” According to figures from CST, the day after Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance saw the highest number of antisemitic incidents recorded so far this year.

The O2 Forum Kentish Town is closely situated to north-west London’s large Jewish community, with some residents describing AMG’s decision to proceed with the event as “deeply reckless.”

To date, more than 1,000 people have written to the local council leader, and over 3,800 have contacted the Prime Minister, urging intervention.




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