Thursday, November 13, 2025

11/13 Links Pt1: Body of Meny Godard, 73, returned from Gaza; Erin Molan interviews PM Benjamin Netanyahu; The Cease-Fire and Israeli Sovereignty; In the Israel-Hamas War, International Law Favors the Lawless

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: The Cease-Fire and Israeli Sovereignty
Some of the questions around the U.S. role in the cease-fire seemed designed to pick a fight. It was suggested that perhaps Israel was being put in the role of a “vassal” state. Netanyahu had a good response to this: “One week they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later, they say the United States controls Israel.”

Still, questions persisted. An Israeli official complained to the Times of Israel that at Kiryat Gat, the headquarters of the stabilization team, Israel was playing second fiddle, and that Israeli agencies were relegated to “contractor” roles.

Former Ambassador to the U..S Michael Oren expressed similar concerns. He acknowledged that the Israeli military rarely has full freedom of action and that most wars end when the U.S. tells Israel to stop fighting. Still, Oren wrote, “there is a huge difference between receiving an order to stop fighting and the need to receive approval every time we must act. This is the situation today when there are 200 American soldiers in Kiryat Gat and American drones are flying over Gaza.”

Fortunately, Oren says, President Trump knows Israel needs to be able to respond to Hamas’s violations. I would add that Trump has been careful not to ask Israel to do anything that would grant Hamas a loophole around its obligations under the deal. Also, while some fret over the presence of troops from European (read: unfriendly) countries, for now it appears those countries’ leaders are following Trump’s lead consciously and carefully.

The question, then, is less about Trump and the near future than about the post-Trump future. The U.S. isn’t seeking a forever force in Gaza, but no rebuilding mission takes exactly as long as it is budgeted for. Further, any extension—which is likely—of a peacekeeping force will give it an air of semi-permanence, and it will act accordingly.

Trump has positioned himself as the indispensable man of the Gaza cease-fire. On balance, that is surely preferable to the alternatives. But there’s a clock on his presidency and a competition to succeed him that will ensure the “sovereignty” question remains near the front of Israeli minds.
In the Israel-Hamas War, International Law Favors the Lawless
The rules of war were created for a world that no longer exists. They were designed to regulate conflicts between states - actors with borders, uniforms, and at least a minimal respect for order. The Geneva Conventions assumed reciprocity: that both sides would follow the same moral code, even during armed conflict. But what happens when one side rejects those norms entirely? What happens when the law begins protecting those who operate outside it?

The war between Israel and Hamas exposes that contradiction with brutal clarity. On Oct. 8, 2023, Israel did something unprecedented: it declared a formal state of war - not against another nation, but against a terrorist movement. Hamas is not a resistance movement or a political party, but a death cult that massacres civilians, hides behind them, and celebrates it. Yet in the eyes of international law, Hamas remains entitled to protections it has never earned.

That legal fiction has become the foundation of a moral farce. Hamas livestreams atrocities and then hides in hospitals, knowing that each civilian death it engineers will be tallied against Israel in global opinion and international courts. This isn't war - it's lawfare, the weaponization of humanitarian norms to discredit liberal democracies and shield those who commit war crimes.

The International Criminal Court's decision in 2024 to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders alongside Hamas commanders marked the collapse of legal neutrality. To equate a liberal democracy defending its citizens with a jihadist organization dedicated to genocide is not impartial justice - it is ideological jurisprudence.

The law's neutrality, meant to ensure fairness, now serves those who reject fairness altogether. The result is a grotesque inversion: liberal democracies are treated as war criminals for defending themselves, while regimes and militias that glorify mass murder are treated as legitimate political actors.

If international law can no longer distinguish between those who uphold it and those who annihilate it, then it ceases to be law at all. The challenge of our time is to rescue the law from those who would use it to destroy the very civilization that created it. A world where the law protects the lawless is not a world governed by justice - and democracies will not survive long in it.
Khaled Abu Toameh: How Hamas Is Planning to Deceive the Trump Administration
Hamas lied to President Trump when it said it had accepted his plan for ending its war against Israel. It was simply trying to buy time to reassert control over Gaza and prepare for more attacks against Israel. Now it is arguing that it needs to engage in negotiations about the implementation of most parts of the Trump plan.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect in early October, Hamas officials have repeatedly emphasized that they did not accept all the points mentioned in the Trump plan. According to these officials, Hamas only agreed to the first phase of the Trump plan, which calls for Israel to suspend military operations and release Palestinian prisoners, and for Hamas to return all Israeli hostages, dead and alive, within 72 hours. It has been weeks, and Hamas has not yet fulfilled that phase-one obligation.

What about the part in the Trump plan that talks about the demilitarization of Gaza and the deployment of an "International Stabilization Force" as a "long-term security solution?" Hamas insists that these issues are "up for negotiation" but that it never agreed to demilitarization or the presence of international experts and security forces in Gaza. Hamas official Osama Hamdan affirmed on Nov. 10 that "What we signed was related to the first phase of the plan, the remaining phases are up for negotiations and discussions."

For Hamas, the longer the negotiations continue, the better. Those who are familiar with Hamas's way of handling things know that such negotiations, if and when they start, could last for months or years. Hamas will likely try to drag out negotiations until the Trump administration is replaced by another that Hamas hopes will be less interested in Gaza.

Hamas is not serious about laying down its weapons or relinquishing control over Gaza. For Hamas, the Trump plan is nothing but a temporary ceasefire that would enable it to get back on its feet to rule Gaza again, and resume its Jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel.


Body of Meny Godard, 73, lover of ‘sports, the ocean, people,’ returned from Gaza
The body of slain hostage Meny Godard was returned to Israel by Hamas on Thursday night, officials confirmed, after forensic experts completed their identification of the remains handed over by the terror group, and military representatives notified Godard’s family.

Godard, 73, was murdered by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, alongside his wife Ayelet, 63, and his body was abducted to Gaza by the Hamas-allied terror group. The couple is survived by their children, Mor, Gal, Bar, and Goni, a number of grandchildren and several siblings.

Godard’s body was transferred by the Red Cross from the terror group to Israel Defense Forces troops inside the Strip, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, was held, the IDF said. The casket was then escorted by the police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

Crowds of people carrying Israeli and yellow flags lined roads to pay their respects as the convoy carrying the body passed by.

In March, troops recovered findings belonging to Godard at an Islamic Jihad post in southern Gaza’s Rafah. The findings found at the post were taken to Israel and identified as belonging to Godard, but his body remained held in Gaza.

Hamas, in a joint statement with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said that the body had been located in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza on Thursday. Footage aired by Al Jazeera earlier in the day showed heavy equipment digging through rubble in Khan Younis, before masked gunmen dug up white plastic sheeting apparently containing the body.


Netanyahu insists he won’t ask for pardon if he has to admit guilt in ‘absurd’ trial
Syria
Asked about Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with Trump in Washington earlier this week, Netanyahu said he will judge the new Syrian leader by “what happens on the ground.”

“Does Syria become a peaceful country?” he said. “Does he weed out the jihadists in his own military? Does he work forward with me to achieve a demilitarized zone in southwest Syria that abuts the Golan Heights?”

“What do we do to secure our Druze brothers, the Syrian Druze brothers of Israel, who were mutilated, massacred, almost as bad as in the October 7th massacre that was conducted by Hamas in Gaza?” he asked.

He said if there is demilitarization of southwest Syria and permanent protection for the Druze there, “we can move on.”

“When I look at Al-Sharaa, I’m going to look at what is actually being done, what is actually being achieved.”

The US is brokering talks on a possible security pact between Syria and Israel, which remains wary of Sharaa’s former terror ties, and has criticized his government’s treatment of minorities. Israeli troops have also taken up several positions in southwestern Syria following Assad’s fall, in what the government has said is a temporary security measure.

Iran
Netanyahu also denied in the interview that Washington prevented Israel from finishing the job in the June war against Iran. “We had a very clear set of targets,” he said. “We were absolutely clear. We wanted to target the nuclear sites, the missile production sites, and a few other targets. We made that clear. When that was achieved, the war ended.”

“There was one possible more strike, and that was it,” he said. “It wasn’t something that we were stopped or we didn’t intend to follow our war plans.”

He said that Israel and the US were following Iran’s attempts to repair what was destroyed during the war. This picture shows a residential building that was hit in an Israeli strike covered with a big Iranian flag, in Tehran on June 25, 2025. (Atta Kenare/AFP)

Israel said its sweeping assault in June on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Gaza
Turning to the future of Gaza, Netanyahu said that Israel “will retain overriding security responsibility, because we don’t farm out our security to anyone else, not in Gaza or not in any other front.”

The prime minister’s Gaza comments came as the US advances a UN Security Council resolution to establish the International Stabilization Force in the Strip, which, according to the latest draft of the resolution obtained by The Times of Israel on Wednesday, indicates that the ISF could be tasked with disarming Hamas.
Erin Molan: NETANYAHU EXCLUSIVE: "Hell No, I’m Not Afraid” — Reacts to Mamdani, Trump’s Pardon & Ending U.S. Aid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins Erin Molan for his most unfiltered interview yet — reacting in real time to a leaked Axios headline, Donald Trump’s request for a pardon, New York’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani, Emmanuel Macron’s embrace of Mahmoud Abbas, Iran’s collapsing regime, and the future of Gaza and Israel itself.

Right as Axios publishes a “scoop” claiming Israel is seeking a 20-year US military aid deal with “America First tweaks”, Netanyahu flatly rejects it and lays out his real plan: making Israel’s defense industry as independent as possible.

From there, nothing is off limits:
Responding to President Trump’s official pardon request over his corruption trial — and whether he’d ever accept it, Calling his trial a “politicized and unjust witch hunt” and explaining why it hurts both Israeli and American interests. Reacting to New York City’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani, who publicly vowed to arrest him — and why he says he’s “hell no, not afraid” to set foot in NYC
Warning that Mamdani-style socialism and rising antisemitism risk pushing New York toward bankruptcy. Weighing in on the Syrian president playing basketball with US military leaders — and why the only thing that matters is what happens “on the ground”. Taking aim at Mahmoud Abbas and Emmanuel Macron’s decision to fete him in Paris — and why you “cannot build peace on falsehoods”. Speaking directly to the Iranian people in light of the water crisis and a weakened regime after the 12-day war. Confirming whether he plans to run for office again
Explaining who will control Gaza’s security going forward — and why Israel will not outsource its security
Opening up about the personal toll on his wife Sara and son Yair, and why their character assassination by hostile media is the most painful part of leadership Erin closes with a heartfelt message to the Prime Minister for his courage and moral clarity — and he fires back with a cheeky suggestion that she apply for a job at the BBC.
If you care about Israel, the West, and the future of global security, you do not want to miss this one.

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Erin welcomes PM Netanyahu & sets the stage
01:00 – Netanyahu reacts to Axios “20-year US aid deal” scoop
04:10 – “I want Israel independent” — cutting reliance on US military aid?
07:20 – Trump’s official pardon request & Netanyahu’s reaction
11:00 – “Absurd witch hunt” — inside the corruption trial & its impact on war-time leadership
14:10 – Zohran Mamdani, threats of arrest & New York’s dim future
18:40 – Socialism, antisemitism & why societies collapse
22:00 – Syrian president, US generals & “trust and distrust but verify”
25:20 – Macron, Abbas & “you cannot build peace on falsehoods”
29:40 – Iran’s water crisis, the terror axis & will the regime fall?
33:10 – Did the 12-day war finish the job? What was the real objective?
36:00 – Will Netanyahu run again — and is it best for Israel?
39:20 – Who controls Gaza next? Why Israel won’t outsource security
42:10 – The personal cost: attacks on Sara & Yair, and life as a war-time PM
47:00 – Erin’s emotional closing message + Netanyahu’s BBC joke


Israel seeking 20-year ‘America-first’ security agreement with US — report
Israel is angling for a 20-year security agreement with the US with “America first” elements, US media reported on Thursday, a deal that would be broader in scope than past pacts and would last until the 100th anniversary of Israel’s independence.

The current 10-year memorandum of understanding between the two countries — the third such agreement signed — expires in 2028. Signed under the Obama administration in 2016, it includes around $4 billion of aid to Israel annually.

With growing skepticism around foreign aid, including to Israel, in the Republican Party among those who subscribe to US President Donald Trump’s largely isolationist “America First” policies, the next MOU faces challenges that the previous ones did not.

Discussions on the next MOU began in recent weeks, according to the Axios report, which cited Israeli and US officials, after a long delay because of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel proposed a 20-year deal that would end on the country’s centennial in 2048, and to appease those opposed to aid, it would allocate some of the funds for joint R&D, rather than direct military aid, Axios reported.

The projects touted would be in defense tech, defense-related AI, and Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project, among others, an Israeli official told Axios.

“This is out-of-the-box thinking,” an Israeli official told Axios. “We want to change the way we handled past agreements and put more emphasis on US-Israel cooperation. The Americans like this idea.”

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied the report in an interview with Australian TV host Erin Molan. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. My direction is the exact opposite,” he insisted.

“I think it’s time to ensure that Israel is independent,” he continued. “Understand that our military aid is like a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of what the US spent in Afghanistan or spent in the Middle East. It’s tiny. But I think that we have a very strong economy. We have a very strong arms industry. It’s true that even though we get what we get, which we appreciate, 80 percent of that is spent in the United States. It produces jobs in the United States. But nevertheless, I’d like to see a much more independent Israeli, an even more independent Israeli defense industry.”
The Gaza War Has Generated Billions of Dollars in Sales for U.S. Companies
Israel's two-year war in Gaza built an unprecedented arms pipeline from the U.S. to Israel that continues to flow, generating substantial business for U.S. companies. Since October 2023, Washington has approved more than $32 billion in armaments, ammunition and other equipment to the Israeli military, according to State Department disclosures.

The U.S. greenlighted an $18.8 billion sale of Boeing F-15 strike fighters last year to Israel for delivery beginning in 2029. This year, various partnerships in which Boeing plays a leading role got approval for $7.9 billion of sales of guided bombs and associated kits. This would account for a significant portion of the company's current orders.

Other companies that have secured approved weapons sales include Northrop Grumman, which provides spare parts for jet fighters; Lockheed Martin, a supplier of precision missiles; and General Dynamics, a provider of 120mm shells for Israel's Merkava tanks.

Israel's Eitan armored fighting vehicles are equipped with a hull from Wisconsin-based Oshkosh and an engine made by Rolls-Royce's U.S. unit in Michigan. Caterpillar's D9 armored bulldozers have been ubiquitous in Gaza. Oshkosh said an Israeli order of tactical vehicles had extended the lifespan of a production line that was due to shut last year. The Trump administration is seeking congressional approval to sell $6 billion in weapons to Israel, including a $3.8 billion deal for Boeing's Apache helicopters.
Greece to Buy Israeli Missile Systems for Air Defense for $3.5 Billion
Greece is advancing plans for a $3.5 billion modernization of its air-defense network, the Greek City Times reported on Nov. 11. The program aims to replace a patchwork of older Russian and U.S.-made systems with an integrated, multi-layered network sourced primarily from Israeli defense contractors. The Israeli SPYDER air defense system by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems would replace Greece's Russian-made TOR-M1 units. The SPYDER system is known for its rapid reaction time, autonomous engagement capabilities, and mobility, offering a significant upgrade for countering low-flying threats, including UAVs, cruise missiles, and aircraft. For the medium-range layer, the Israeli Barak MX system is to replace Greece's legacy U.S.-supplied MIM-23 Hawk batteries. The Barak MX integrates multiple interceptors into a unified launcher and enables simultaneous tracking and engagement of multiple targets. At the upper tier of Greece's new missile defense network, the Israeli SkyCeptor interceptor - a variant of the Stunner missile used in the David's Sling system - is slated to replace the long-range Russian-made S-300 PMU-1 systems. The Israeli systems are combat-proven, having been deployed extensively in Israeli air-defense operations. Greece has favored Israeli systems over U.S. or European alternatives in part due to shorter delivery timelines, lower lifecycle costs, and expanded local industrial participation. Greek defense industry sources confirm that the first wave of systems is targeted for deployment starting in 2026, with full operational capability expected before the end of 2028.
Rubio ‘optimistic’ as US advances new UN resolution to establish foreign force in Gaza
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington is “optimistic” about the chances of establishing the International Stabilization Force in Gaza and is working on advancing a new draft through the UN Security Council to create the unit.

“We’re making good progress on the language of the resolution, and hopefully we’ll have action on it very soon. We don’t want to lose momentum on this,” Rubio told reporters in Canada, where he attended a G7 summit.

The US is looking to bring the resolution creating the international mandate for establishing the ISF to a vote in the coming days so that force can deploy by the beginning of 2026, a Western diplomat told The Times of Israel.

Whether or not the US can convince countries to contribute troops to the force will be a separate endeavor, with many privately indicating that they don’t want to send soldiers into a war zone where they’d be expected to use force to disarm Hamas.

A copy of the latest draft of the resolution obtained by The Times of Israel on Wednesday indicates that the ISF could be tasked with such operations.

The force will “stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” the draft resolution states.

The resolution grants the ISF a two-year mandate during which a Trump-chaired “Board of Peace” would oversee “a transitional (Palestinian) governance administration… until such time as the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program… and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza.”

Asked whether the ISF will be a peace enforcer, rather than just a peacekeeping force, Rubio said, “It shouldn’t be a fighting force.”

He claimed that the “agreement that was signed and that all parties agreed to calls for the demilitarization of Hamas,” apparently referring to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war. Except that agreement was not signed by any country. Dozens of countries did indeed provide varying levels of verbal support, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu verbally accepted it in September.

However, the deal actually signed by Israel and Hamas on October 9 only dealt with an initial ceasefire, IDF pullback, hostage-prisoner swap and humanitarian aid provisions.
UN Gaza resolution draft mentions Palestinian state for first time
For the first time, a reference to a Palestinian state was seen in a draft to the UN Security Council regarding the International Security Force that is meant to govern Gaza, a document seen by The Jerusalem Post on Thursday shows.

“After the PA reform program is faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.

The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence," the new clause in the draft seen by the Post read.

Notably, this is the same language as is used in the US-backed Gaza plan. However, this is the first time a Palestinian state was mentioned in the main body of the resolution and not in the annex.

Russia proposes its own UN resolution on Gaza in challenge to US draft
Russia on Thursday proposed its own draft of a UN resolution on Gaza in a challenge to a US effort to pass its own text at the Security Council that would endorse President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, according to a copy of the draft seen by Reuters.

The US formally circulated the draft resolution to the 15 Council members last week and has said it has regional support for its resolution that would authorize a two-year mandate for a transitional governance body and international stabilization force.

Russia's UN mission said in a note to Security Council members on Thursday afternoon, seen by Reuters, that its "counter-proposal is inspired by the US draft."
Ricketts Tells State Department UNRWA Must Have ‘No Role’ in Post-War Gaza
The United States must not allow the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to participate in any post-war Gaza plan, a group of 25 Republican senators led by Pete Ricketts (Neb.) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, citing the organization’s ties to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups.

"As discussions on Gaza's future continue, we must avoid repeating the mistakes that empowered the terror group to take hold in the first place," the lawmakers wrote in a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. "For decades, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has operated in Gaza, yet extensive reporting, investigations, and intelligence assessments documented systemic infiltration of the agency by Hamas and other U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations."

Intelligence Israel presented to the United Nations indicated that at least 19 UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, contradicting the agency’s categorical denials that any of its employees work with Hamas. The United Nations fired 9 of those employees but retained 10 others, suggesting UNRWA may still employ terrorists who played a role in the Oct. 7 massacres.

As the Free Beacon reported in September, Hamas leaders have controlled UNRWA’s on-the-ground operations since at least 2011, enabling the terror group to put its members in teaching and administrative positions to spread its jihadist ideology. Hamas members have served as leaders of UNRWA schools and unions, and UNRWA’s educational materials include references to "jihad," lessons on the "hobby" of dying as a martyr and killing Israeli civilians, descriptions of Jews as "inherently treacherous," and accusations that the Jewish people have defiled the Holy Land with their presence.

Hamas’s infiltration of UNRWA reached the point that about 10 percent of the agency’s 12,000-person workforce is linked to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Israeli intelligence reports. Israel also found that 49 percent of UNRWA staffers had close relatives with official ties to terror groups, and 23 percent of UNRWA’s male employees had some level of involvement with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.


Trump pressing Saudi crown prince to ink deal with Israel following Gaza truce
US President Donald Trump urged Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in a phone call last month to normalize relations with Israel following the October 9 Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reported Thursday, citing two US officials.

According to Axios, the call took place after the October 13 Sharm El Sheikh Peace Conference, where Trump and his counterparts from fellow mediating countries Turkey, Qatar and Egypt signed a declaration on a peace plan for Gaza.

During the call, Trump said he had succeeded in ending the war in Gaza and expected Saudi Arabia to move toward full diplomatic ties with Israel, according to a US official cited by Axios. The crown prince, who is Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader and is widely known as MBS, said he would be willing to work with the White House on the matter, the official said.

Normalization, which seemed to be in the cards before the war in Gaza, has more recently faltered on Riyadh’s insistence that Israel commit to Palestinian statehood, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes, and which the Israeli public is even less likely to accept in the wake of the past two years.


Germany arrests another suspect in Hamas cell targeting Jewish institutions
German authorities announced Wednesday the arrest of another suspect allegedly tied to a Hamas cell planning attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions, reported AFP.

The man, identified as Borhan El-K., a Lebanese national, was apprehended late Tuesday while entering Germany from the Czech Republic, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutors allege that in August, El-K. “procured an automatic rifle, eight Glock pistols and more than 600 rounds of ammunition in Germany,” which he then transferred to another suspect, Wael F.

Wael F. was among three individuals arrested in Berlin last month on suspicion of acquiring weapons and ammunition for the same cell.

Danish police have also conducted searches at locations in and around Copenhagen linked to El-K. and another suspect, according to AFP.


Kenyan who accused Israel of apartheid named judge of UN high court
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, the principal judicial arm of the United Nations, elected Phoebe Okowa, a Kenyan professor who has accused Israel of “apartheid,” as a judge on Nov. 12.

Okowa secured the required majority votes of the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council on Wednesday after multiple rounds of voting. When she is sworn in in two months, she will replace Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, who resigned. The latter’s term was slated to expire in February 2027.

Namibia hired Okawa to prosecute its 2024 case against Israel before the U.N. high court, in which it alleged that the Jewish state was guilty of illegal practices in areas that the United Nations considers Palestinian territory.

The Oxford-educated jurist accused Israel of carrying out racist policies, amounting to “apartheid.”

“Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory grossly violate its obligations under international law,” she said. She asked the court to “make it clear that the prohibition of apartheid is not limited to southern Africa in the last century. It extends to Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territory today.”

She also claimed that Israel’s entry to the United Nations was based on the creation of a Palestinian state.

Okowa was among the signatories on a 2020 open letter to Israeli officials condemning plans to apply Israeli sovereignty to areas of Judea and Samaria.

The 60-year-old is the first African woman to serve on the International Law Commission and the first Kenyan legal expert to represent a country at the U.N. high court.


Israel foils large Hamas terror network in Bethlehem
Israeli security forces in recent weeks broke up a major Hamas terror network in the Judean city of Bethlehem, including a cell in the advanced stages of preparing an attack, according to an Israel Police statement on Thursday.

Over 50 operatives were arrested in more than 15 separate operations conducted by reservists from the Israel Defense Forces’ Etzion Brigade, along with forces from the IDF’s Duvdevan Unit and the Israel Border Police’s Counterterrorism Unit (Yamam). The Judea and Samaria District Police and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also took part in the joint operation.

In addition to the arrests, weapons were also confiscated, including an M16 rifle.

The network had planned to carry out shootings against Israeli security forces and civilians, with one cell “at an advanced stage of readiness to carry out attacks in the immediate timeframe,” the statement said.

According to the Shin Bet investigation, senior members of the network “recruited and established terror cells, procured weapons and planned shooting attacks targeting Israeli civilians and security personnel.” The dismantling of the network “prevented major planned shootings and bombings that could have resulted in significant loss of civilian and military life,” the agency said.
IDF strikes Hezbollah terror sites in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday struck a weapons storage facility and an underground terror infrastructure site used by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.

According to the IDF, the sites were located near a civilian population, “serving as yet another example of Hezbollah’s cynical use of Lebanese civilians as human shields for its operations conducted from within civilian areas.”

Later in the day, the IDF also struck another Hezbollah infrastructure site.

“The Hezbollah terrorist organization continues its attempts to reestablish terror assets throughout Lebanon. The presence of these terror infrastructure sites and Hezbollah’s activity in the area constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military said, referring to the November 2024 ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the IDF and the Iranian proxy.

“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat and defend the State of Israel,” it added.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned that ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Southern Lebanon “cannot continue,” stating, “Everything has a limit.”

In a televised address, Qassem asserted the ceasefire agreement only applies to Southern Lebanon, arguing that “disarming Hezbollah and other enforcement mechanisms should not apply to areas north of the Litani River.”

He further stated that, “We will not give up our weapons,” insisting they are needed for self-defense. He also rejected Lebanese government efforts to collect the terror group’s arsenal.


IDF denies Lebanon strike, says blast caused by Hezbollah weapons smuggling attempt
The IDF denies carrying out an airstrike against a car in southern Lebanon earlier today, saying that the blast was actually caused by an attempt by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.

“Earlier today, false Lebanese reports were published about an Israeli airstrike in the area of the village of Toul in southern Lebanon. After examining the reports, it was found that the car explosion resulted from a failed attempt by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons,” says Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.

He says that Hezbollah “continues to violate the understandings [between Israel and Lebanon], as its operatives move under civilian cover and endanger the residents of Lebanon.”


Jonathan Sacerdoti: “I won’t let propaganda win just because it’s louder” Erin Molan's message for the left and the West
Erin Molan is one of Australia’s most recognisable broadcasters – but after 7 October 2023, her life changed. In this powerful conversation, she speaks openly about the day she decided silence was no longer an option, the threats she faced, and why she now sees the global rise in antisemitism as an existential test for the entire West.

We talk about her journey from sports journalism to political commentary, the moment she realised Australia’s response had crossed a dangerous line, and what she discovered on the ground in Israel when she chose to witness the aftermath of the massacre for herself.

Erin also reflects on media failures, the silence of political leaders, and the deeper cultural forces shaping younger generations.

Topics you’ll hear in this conversation:
• Erin’s early career and the transition from sport to geopolitics
• The moment 7 October reshaped her worldview
• What she learnt in Israel and why it stayed with her
• Australia’s reaction – and what it revealed
• How media narratives have distorted public understanding
• Why younger audiences are vulnerable to propaganda
• What real allyship means to her, and why she believes the fight concerns everyone


Pro-Palestine activists submit complaint to AHRC over Sharri Markson’s October 7 reporting
Sky News host Sharri Markson claims that journalism at Sky News is “under attack” after pro-Palestine activists made a formal complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission regarding Ms Markson’s reporting on the October 7 attacks.

“Now to something I haven't been able to share with you over the past two months, our journalism at Sky News is under attack from pro-Palestinian activists,” Ms Markson said.

“As you know, over the past two years, I've been steadfast in my reporting on antisemitism and the devastating October 7 attacks.

“It's abhorrent that an individual who has called some Jews "filth" and has refused to specifically condemn October 7 as terrorism would pursue me, Australia's only Jewish nightly television host, over my coverage of antisemitism and the Hamas attacks.

“I will not be intimidated or silenced. I'll continue to stand up for what's right, and that’s an enormous thanks to the support of Sky News.”


Andrew Klavan: The Definitive New Documentary About Oct 7 That Hollywood Can't Stand w/ Dinesh D'Souza
Dinesh D’Souza, host of the Dinesh D’Souza Podcast and producer of several successful documentaries, joins us for a fascinating conversation about his new film, The Dragon’s Prophecy, which explores the Middle East conflict following the October 7 attack on Israel.


America and Israel: Best of friends and allies or on the brink of a break-up in 2028?
Haviv Rettig Gur joins Hugh for a deep dive into the both countries’ most important strategic relationship as the world divides into the U.S. and the West v the deepening alliance of tyrants.


Unpacking Israeli History: What Really Killed Oslo?
Thirty years after Rabin’s assassination, what broke—and what still binds?

With historian Haviv Rettig Gur, Noam Weissman probes Oslo’s promise and aftermath: the euphoria, the incitement, the shattering. From the White House handshake to the 1996 cliffhanger, from halachic misreadings to classroom memory, they test two claims—did a bullet end the peace process, or briefly keep it alive?


Ami’s House Podcast: Is History Repeating Itself? With Eli Lake of The Free Press
We sit down with journalist Eli Lake for a wide-ranging conversation about the political currents shaping the current political moment. What can we learn from past generations who dealt with the same thing?

Eli unpacks the fragility of fringe movements and the real story behind America’s political realignment. Thoughtful, grounded, and sharp — this is an episode for anyone trying to make sense of 2025.

Topics include:
• Why today’s extremism feels familiar in a historical cycle
• How anti-Semitism on both sides is reshaping Jewish identity
• Why fringe candidates win locally but struggle nationally
• Political violence, normalization of chaos, and the “moods” driving discourse
• What the realignment means for Jews, Zionism, and American politics


When jihad came to Paris – again
A decade on, the Paris attacks stand out for the sheer scale of their organisation – in 2022, after a high-profile, nine-month-long trial, a special terrorism court convicted 20 other men, in addition to the nine perpetrators, of offences related to the attacks, including murder. And above all, the Paris attacks stand out for the sheer breadth of their murderous violence. But in intent and nature, they were grimly unexceptional. Alongside the bombings in Madrid (2004) and London (2005), the Paris attacks are part of that cresting wave of Islamist terror that has washed over Europe over the past quarter century.

In France itself, the slaughter on that terrible November evening followed not just the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket massacres earlier that year, but also the Toulouse massacre in 2012, when the al-Qaeda-affiliated Mohamed Merah killed three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school, after shooting dead three soldiers. Less than a year after the Paris attacks, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, allegedly in the name of Islamic State, drove a lorry into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people.

Indeed, in just 18 months – between the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s offices on 7 January 2015 and the attack on a French Catholic priest in Normandy on 26 July 2016 – 239 people were killed by jihadist terrorists in France. Since then, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in 2020, after he showed a caricature of Muhammad to a class at school, and another teacher, Dominique Bernard, was killed while trying to protect pupils from a jihadist in 2023.

The Paris attacks, like so many of the others mentioned, were carried out by young Muslim men from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the case of Paris, the French-Belgian perpetrators were largely second-generation North African immigrants from Paris’s impoverished Banlieues and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, an infamous district in Brussels, dubbed the seedbed of jihad.

They weren’t devout young men, following in their parents’ religious traditions. They were drinking, drug-taking and, above all, deeply alienated young men, believing themselves to be victimised on account of their Muslimness. This was a sentiment fuelled among their generation by the growth of Islamism, identity politics and, above all, the 2005 Paris riots. The latter, as political scientist Gilles Kepel argues, had been sparked less by the death of two teenagers of immigrant backgrounds than by French police firing tear gas near a mosque – an act that was interpreted as further evidence of the French state’s ‘Islamophobia’, following on from the 2004 Islamic headscarf ban in schools, and subsequently exploited by hardline Salafist actors.

The Paris attackers, like the Toulouse killer before them, were almost all converted to jihad during stints in prison, where Islamism runs rife. And they were then hardened on the battlefields of Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, where they joined up with the Islamist forces of al-Qaeda or, later, the Islamic State. Their resentment was Islamised, transfigured as a religious cause – a cause that was to be consummated in a violent, purifying death. As Osama Bin Laden had it, ‘We love death as you love life’.

That love of death came to the streets of Paris 10 years ago.


CAIR New Jersey to Lobby Against International Antisemitism Definition as Part of Multi-State Campaign
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), New Jersey, is set to host its latest “Muslim Day of Advocacy” on November 13. The event will feature American activist Linda Sarsour, known for her anti-Israel rhetoric, alongside Shaun King, both of whom will address attendees at the State House in Trenton.

The organization’s New Jersey chapter has partnered with several anti-Israel activist groups including American Muslims for Palestine NJ and the Palestinian American Community Center, organizations that have consistently opposed U.S. support for Israel and promoted boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns.

Anti-Israel Agenda at the Forefront
A primary focus of these lobbying efforts is opposition to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by dozens of countries and numerous U.S. institutions. The IHRA definition includes certain forms of anti-Israel rhetoric as examples of contemporary antisemitism, such as denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination.

CAIR-NJ explicitly lists “opposing adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism” as a key legislative priority, arguing that the internationally recognized definition would “impede the freedom of speech to criticize the Israeli government.” Critics counter that this framing conflates legitimate policy criticism with antisemitic rhetoric that delegitimizes Israel’s existence or applies double standards to the Jewish state.
Arab-American Rights Group’s New Legal Director Says Jews Fake Hate Crimes, Control America — Then Deletes Posts
The new legal director of one of the largest and most influential Arab-American rights advocacy groups in the US recently promoted classic antisemitic tropes on social media, claiming that American society is under “Zionist control” and that Jews routinely “fake” hate crimes against them.

Jenin Younes, who in September was hired by the American‑Arab Anti‑Discrimination Committee (ADC) to be its national legal director, made the explosive claims on X last week.

“There may be inadequate evidence to be certain in this specific instance, but the fact is it is a very common occurrence that Jewish people fake these hate crimes,” Younes said, responding to someone else’s post.

In another post, Younes replied to a tweet which claimed that Jews control the media, education system, entertainment indsutry, and government.

The ADC’s legal director responded, “100 percent. It’s dawning on me recently how insane it is I just accept that I’m subservient to them.”

Both social media posts have since been deleted. The ADC did not respond to a request for comment for this story on why the posts were erased and whether the organization agrees with and stands by her comments.

Younes’s posts came a few days after her organization filed a federal lawsuit targeting a California law which aims to combat antisemitism in K-12 schools.

Earlier this month, she led a lawsuit challenging the state over a civil rights bill which requires government officials to establish a new Office for Civil Rights for monitoring antisemitism in public schools, establish an Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator, set parameters within which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be equitably discussed, and potentially bar antisemitic materials from reaching the classroom.
The DSA Just Won Big, But Its Members Can’t Stop Fighting About Mamdani
Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary sent MUG back to the drawing board. In September, the entire faction published a missive that outlined its strategy for the “Mamdani moment.” The document demanded more “democratic” DSA institutions, with more “transparency and accountability” from the group’s leadership. It also outlined several principles about the DSA’s relationship to Mamdani, including asserting that “Zohran should be accountable to DSA’s democracy.”

The Liberation Caucus also opposed the pro-Mamdani propositions. Calling itself “Marxist-Leninist-Maoist,” the group formed this year to advocate for more revolutionary politics within the organization. Liberation Caucus recently issued its own response to the propositions, denouncing the NYC DSA for “seek[ing] to turn an ostensibly socialist organization into an electoral cheerleading and fundraising machine.”

“What worker would donate to NYC-DSA,” the group asked, “if all we do is run electoral campaigns?”

Remarkably, some of the Liberation Caucus’s members believe that Mamdani has become too conservative and friendly to Israel. One member called Mamdani “ZIOhran” and accused him of “pivot[ing] further and further to the right.” Another deemed Mamdani a “traitor and an opportunist,” adding, “[I w]ould not vote for him if I [were] a New Yorker.”

While some in the DSA’s radical fringes think that Mamdani is too mainstream, others see the mayor-elect as a revolutionary. In Partisan, a Communist magazine, someone writing under the name “Landry L.” argued that Mamdani’s mayoral campaign gave socialists an opportunity to “unite new and existing fights under a common banner.”

Mamdani’s campaign presents “a golden chance . . . to build power both inside and outside the state,” Landry L. writes. Invoking historian Noel Ignatiev—known for his calls to abolish “whiteness” and his objections to kosher toasters—Landry L. suggests that DSA and its allies should “actually instigate [a crisis] by deepening the contradictions in the current political order.” Even if Mamdani fails to deliver on his agenda, Landry L. argues, “his position as mayor will open possibilities that are bigger than a single mayoral administration in one city.”

These disputes reveal the extent to which Mamdani’s DSA coalition is fractured. His ideological allies cannot agree on the purpose of his mayoralty, or even whether it’s worthwhile. Is the mayor-elect merely an “organizer in chief,” or does he have the “radical potential” to spark a crisis that ushers in a socialist revolution? As the DSA takes power, New Yorkers should pay close attention to the answers.


Adolf Hitler speech blasted out during Kristallnacht ceremony in Austria
A clip of a speech by Adolf Hitler was blasted out loud during a Kristallnacht commemoration ceremony in the city of Mödling (Lower Austria) on Sunday.

About 50 people were present at the city’s official event, which took place at the former location of the Mödling synagogue, which was burned down during the November pogroms of 1938.

As a piece of music was set to be played as part of the ceremony, the Hitler audio was blasted from a nearby residential building for about one and a half minutes.

City councillor Stephan Schimanova (SPÖ) told Austrian media that it was “extremely loud” and the guests were “speechless.”

“There was a great deal of consternation. It was just sick.”

Austria investigates suspect for playing Hitler speech during Kristallnacht ceremony
The city of Mödling immediately filed a complaint. According to the police, the sound came from an apartment in a nearby residential complex and could be heard for about one to one and a half minutes.

The Wiener Neustadt Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that it is investigating a male individual for neo-Nazi activity. It also confirmed that a house search was carried out and evidence was seized but noted that the investigation is not yet complete.

Under Article 3g of the 1947 Prohibition Act, someone who engages in activities relating to National-Socialism sense can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.




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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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