T. Belman.  This article is carefully written. The author is cautious when suggesting that there might be a trend here.  Wouldn’t it be loverly.

By Mustafa Akyol, NYT

Across much of the Islamic world, many Muslims are disillusioned with the ugly things done in the name of their religion.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, addressing members of a militia loyal to the Islamic republic about demonstrations against the government last month.Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

For decades, social scientists studying Islam discussed whether this second biggest religion of the world would go through the major transformation that the biggest one, Christianity, went through: secularization. Would Islam also lose its hegemony over public life, to become a mere one among various voices, not the dominant one, in Muslim societies?

Many Westerners gave a negative answer, thinking Islam is just too rigid and absolutist to secularize. Many Muslims also gave a negative answer, but proudly so: Our true faith would not go down the erroneous path of the godless West.
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My friend, Howard Rotberg, the publisher of conservative books in Canada (Mantua Books), including Diane Bederman’s book noted below, writes a powerful response to Phyllis Chesler’s Is it too late to clear the antisemitism swamp?

Phyllis, a sad but true missive that, to those of us who have accompanied you into the trenches of this culture war for the last 15 years or more, is completely true.  You have been a great leader in this cause, just as you were in the cause of women’s rights.   Thank you for your elegant remarks about Diane Bederman’s magnificent new book, The Serpent and the Red Thread:  The Definitive Biography of Evil.

I knew it was too late when…

How does one answer your question about whether it is too late?

I knew it was too late when my book The Second Catastrophe, warning against a Second Holocaust, (this time at the hands of the Iranians and their allies)was banned in 2003 by Canada;s monopoly Jewish-owned book chair, due to taqiyyah from an 18 year old book clerk, member of the Muslim Brotherhood directed Muslim Students Association –  and no Jewish or civil rights organizations would speak out.

I knew it was too late when I lived in Israel for two months during the Second Intifada researching my book, and bombs went off around me every day..
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T. Belman. Recently I spoke to two Hareidi men about my suggestion that we need a new social contract that defines the relationship between secular and Hareidi. They both suggested that all my arguments in support of same were based on lies. This article suggests otherwise.

The plight of masses of children being born into a vicious cycle of self-inflicted poverty is a moral stain on Israel

T. Belman.  The author was remiss in not mentioning Churchill as another example.  Churchill, after saving England from destruction at the hands of Hitler, was dispatched as Prime Minister right after he won the war

Reality Check: All political lives end in failure

By JEFF BARAK, JPOST

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting, December 2019.

After more than 10 consecutive years in power and 13 years overall as the country’s leader, it’s understandable that many in the Likud think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is irreplaceable.

Nevertheless, they are wrong. If they want to see a Likud victory next March, they should put sentiment to one side and vote for Gideon Sa’ar in Thursday’s Likud leadership election.  No one in politics is indestructible. As a British politician once noted: All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.
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By Sara Carter

Senior White House advisor Stephen Miller has become a target of the leftists, open borders activists and frankly, anyone who opposes President Donald Trump. Their attacks against him are vile, filled with fallacies and a concerted disinformation campaign by open-border activists who want to remove the most effective Trump advisor from his position at the White House.

Miller, who does not make usual television appearances and works long hours behind the scenes on the immigration crisis, decided to go on the offensive late Friday night in an in-depth interview with Fox News’ Trish Regan.
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Jewish pioneers cleared the swamps of the Galilee a hundred years ago, hoping naively to be left in peace in their own homeland. But how are we going to clear the swamp of antisemitism that has engulfed the world?

By Prof. Phyllis Chesler, INN

Daily, Jews are being cursed, defamed, beaten, knifed, shot down, and bombed, both in Israel and around the world. Everywhere, weary scholars are publishing long lists of one incident after another—cemetery vandalisms, swastikas, Holocaust monuments defaced, Jewish students heckled and tormented on campuses, pro-Israel speakers dis-invited or shut down, “Jews to the Gas” chanted at sports events, boycotts of Israeli products and of Israeli professors, pro-Palestine/anti-Zionist marches and resolutions in almost every country on earth.
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By Den Kalmyk, AMERICAN THINKER

Recently, Russian leader Vladimir Putin held the end-of-year press conference where 2 thousand journalists from around the world tried to understand the future political plans of the Kremlin’s holder. This event has become a tradition whereby Putin demonstrates that the liberal elite’s policy of isolating Russia has failed. The logic is that it is impossible to ignore the interests of the largest country. Therefore, the efforts of top news agencies to understand its next steps are clear evidence of this.

There were questions on completely different topics: from Putin’s personal life to predictions of a possible nuclear war. However, many guests stubbornly sought an answer to the question of whether he intends to remain in his position after 2024.
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T. Belman. Trump must have calculated that being good to Jews and Israel would help him at the polls. No one else in the past has made this assessment. By doing so, he stoked the ire of 75% of American Jews who are against him and Israel and curried favour with the evangelical community who constitute much of his base. At the same time he has stoked the ire of the Muslim community and all other antisemites who are against Israel and the Jews.

As he heads into an election year, US President Donald Trump has put his full weight behind branding the Republican Party the most pro-Zionist in American history.

By Erez Linn, Ariel Kahana, TOI

US President Donald Trump bids farewell to the audience after delivering remarks at the Israeli American Council National Summit in Hollywood, Florida, Dec. 7 | Photo: Reuters/Loren Elliott

T. Belman.  This is another example of Bibi deferring to our enemies, in this case, the ICC. Bibi also didn’t stop the EU from financing illegal construction and the PA from doing the building, preferring to defer to the EU. Similarly he refuses to take on Hamas or Hezbollah. Time for a change.

Israel fears ICC could issue global arrest warrants for top officials — report

Israel Katz acknowledges Netanyahu, who vowed to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, knew it could prompt probe against Israel; MK challenging PM as Likud leader says Israel ‘scared’ of court

By ALEXANDER FULBRIGHT, TOI

An Israeli policeman on a hilltop overlooking the West Bank Bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar on January 1, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Sunday Israel has not yet razed a West Bank Bedouin village slated for demolition over concerns it would be the “the last straw” for the International Criminal Court, which is readying a probe into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

The High Court of Justice has approved the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, a Palestinian hamlet east of Jerusalem, which Israel says was built illegally.
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PM slams court’s ‘absurd’ decision, accuses it of ‘acting against the right of Jews to settle in the homeland of the Jews’

By ALEXANDER FULBRIGHT, TOI

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Science Minister Ofir Akunis (L) at the start the weekly cabinet meeting on December 22, 2019, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday tore into the International Criminal Court for saying there were grounds to investigate alleged Israeli and Palestinian war crimes, calling it an “absurd” decision that showed the court was being weaponized against Israel.

“As we’re moving forward to new places of hope and peace with our Arab neighbors, the International Criminal Court in The Hague is going backwards. On Friday it finally became a weapon in the political war against Israel,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

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By Dovid Mark, ISRAEL UNWIRED

With Israel heading to a third election and the Prime Minister now indicted, the real story is what is driving the judicial system against the Prime Minister. Mark Levin, in a comprehensive show below explains how the current crisis and political upheaval are really a product of a Deep State coup underway against Bibi Netanyahu.

Israel’s Deep State as I have pointed out in other places, has an entrenched interest in keeping their power within the Justice system and Law enforcement agencies. This is where the left’s hold on Israel’s system remains the strongest and provides for an ability to thwart the nationalist and rightwing capabilities to actually implement policies that are beneficial to a majority of Israelis.

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While Saudi Arabia seeks a foothold in the oil-rich region, Assad says he has offered China investment opportunities in his country – where Russia, Iran and Turkey already operate

Zvi Bar’el, HAARETZ

A former farmer working at a primitive refinery making crude oil into diesel and other products, Rmeilan, Syria, April 6, 2018. Hussein Mall / AP

[..] Katerji, 37, is the head of the Katerji Group of about a dozen companies in industries such as construction, textiles and petroleum.  The son of a poor tailor who opened a textile factory in Raqqa, Katerji is estimated to be worth more than a billion dollars.

Two of the tailor’s sons, Baraa as well as Hussam, went into real estate, and thanks to their ties with the Assad family and ties they built with tribal leaders around Raqqa (which later become the Islamic State’s “capital” in Syria), their business flourished. They were able to take control of historical sites and obtained illegal permits for construction there. They also appropriated buildings and land that they sold for a tidy profit.
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T. Belman. Here’s a thought: The Israel/Jordan partnership, soon to be, should replace Turkey as a member of NATO and Germany should be kicked out of NATO because she is the leader of the globalists and refuses to pay NATO her alloted share. Sooner or later, NATO must decide if it is in the nationlist camp or the globalist camp.

The Turkish regime is following in Tehran’s footsteps by making Israel an intractable foe

By Yochanan Visser, ISRAEL TODAY

Turkey has now become an active member of the anti-Israel axis spearheaded by Iran but retains its independence in operations against the Jewish state while extending its cooperation with Hamas.

After Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, last week, lambasted Israel during a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and accused the Jewish state of “executing and merciless murdering innocent girls, fathers, mothers, elderly people, children and young people on the streets of Palestine” the Turkish dictator met with Hamas leader Ishmail Haniyeh and other high-ranking officials of the terror organization.
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T. Belman. As a result of Johnson’s landslide victory and the UK’s exit from the EU, the UK will begin to adopt policies in line with Trump’s policies. As a result they will be more supportive of Israel diplomatically. Also they will side with Israel against Iran and will support the Jordanian Option.

The upcoming visit to Israel by the Prince is historic and underscores this transformation.

For the Jewish community, the speech was significant as it referred to the action the government will take with organizations adopting boycotts, divestments and sanctions against foreign countries.

By BENJY SINGER, JPOST

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Charles, the Prince of Wales proceed through the Royal Gallery before the Queen’s Speech during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London, Britain October 14, 2019. (photo credit: LEON NEAL/POOL VIA REUTERS)

Although the Queen delivers the Speech, the content is written by the government and approved by the Cabinet. It sets out the government’s policies and the proposed legislative program for the new Parliamentary session.
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T. Belman. Contrast this with Bibi’s policy of “calm for calm”. If Bibi had followed Bennett’s pillar, Hezbollah wouldn’t have 130,000 rockets and missiles and Hamas wouldn’t be as strong as they are now. Time for Bibi to go.

If Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has his way, a fifth pillar might soon be added to Israel’s national defense concept: “Preemption.”

By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett during a recent visit to the Syrian border

David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father, took a leave of absence from his duties as the country’s prime minister in 1953 and moved South, to his rickety home perched over Nahal Zin in the desert kibbutz of Sde Boker.

Israel was five years old, but Ben-Gurion wasn’t sure it would survive another war. The Jewish state had barely made it through the War of Independence in 1948, when five Arab armies converged on the nascent state. Another war of that kind, he knew, could not be tolerated.

Over a period of seven weeks, Ben-Gurion sat and wrote. When he was done, the document he had drafted would become known as Israel’s national defense strategy, which rests on three pillars: Deterrence, Early Warning and Decisive Victory. Go into any senior IDF commander’s office and the list can usually be seen in a framed document hanging on the wall.
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T. Belman. I fully support Saar. He is the future. Bibi has outlived his usefulness. Read Saar’s policies carefully.

By Hezki Baruch, INN

Gideon Sa’ar in Ramat GanCredit: Public relations

MK Gideon Sa’ar was in Ramat Gan on Saturday night with over 150 Likudniks in attendance ahead of the pre-election Likud primaries on Thursday.

“Change is a good thing,” Sa’ar said. “It’s a welcome thing. Every system – private or public – needs to change. And it’s time for a change.”

“We followed the Prime Minister for more than 20 years,” Sa’ar continued. “But the Prime Minister is blocked and it’s unreasonable that the Likud will remain blocked and the state will be stuck. If we don’t make a change this Thursday, there is a high likelihood of a change in the March 2 election – the rise of a left-wing government to power that will endanger everything dear to us.”
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DEBKA

A new Iranian drone base near the eastern Syrian town of Abu Kamal was flattened early Saturday, Dec. 21 in this month’s fourth unidentified attack in this part of Syria. DEBKAfile military sources report that the target was Hamadan airport, which stood derelict until recently. Iranian forces moved in, carried out repairs and lately installed drones with operational teams there for attacks on northern Israel. Early Saturday, that installation was razed before it became operational.

Our military sources report another significant event which has only just occurred. At week’s end, a Saudi military contingent landed for the first time at the Syrian oil fields in another part of eastern Syria, the Deir Ez-Zour region. The Saudi troops took up positions around the Omar oil field, the largest in the country. They provided security for engineers and technicians of the Saudi State Aramco company who arrived to repair the pumping equipment disabled during the war years. The Saudi oil operation and troops at Omar oil field are being secured in their turn by US military and air units and Syrian Democratic Forces.
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T, Belman. Miller has my full support. I strongly support Trump’s Muslim ban.  In fact I would broaden it. No one has the right to emigrate to the US or anywhere except as provided in law.  US law should protect it from the destruction of its own culture.

Lawmakers send letter to US president saying his senior policy adviser has ‘no place in our government’ because of emails promoting white nationalist materials

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN, TOI