BY Eric R. Mandel, MEPIN

It was not long ago that President Obama told the Saudis to “share the neighborhood” with Iran, as part of his solution for regional stability in the Middle East. So it would not be hard to imagine a future American president who would also say we must accept Iran as a nuclear power because the alternative would be war, which would not be in American interests.1.2

But what if the Israelis think differently, seeing a nuclear Iran as their existential threat that cannot stand? Israel still adheres to the Begin Doctrine, when Prime Minister Begin said after Israel’s preemptive attack against the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, “We shall not allow any enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction turned against us. … This attack will be a precedent for every future government in Israel.”
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The endless election cycle has thrown a wrench in IDF chief Aviv Kochavi’s plans for the military, and the damage to the defense establishment and, by extension, Israel’s security, amounts to gross negligence.

by  Yoav Limor, ISRAEL HAYOM

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi | Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

In about one month’s time, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi stands to mark his first anniversary as chief of the Israel Defense Forces. Common wisdom says that what the chief of staff doesn’t accomplish during his first year in office he may never get around to doing.

Kochavi had many plans for his first year, but he – like the rest of the Israeli public – got thrown for a loop over the unprecedented electoral crisis.

With the exception of the operational theater, which goes about its business regardless of politics – dictated by the Middle Eastern reality that, for the most part, doesn’t care about politicians’ interests – everything else has been treading water.
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Israel Hayom offers an exclusive glimpse into a classified government project seeking to assess the scope of property left behind by Jews who were expelled or fled Arab nations and Iran. “We may be able to right a historical wrong,” minister says.

by  Dan Lavie, ISRAEL HAYOM

The parameters examined in the report include rural and urban property, businesses value, loss of income and potential income, and loss of communal property | Photo: Getty Images

i24NEWS  December 15, 2019, 
Ozan KOSE / AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech on November 27, 2019 in Istanbul.

In response to both threat of sanctions and vote to recognize Armenian genocide

Should the US officially recognize the Armenian genocide or sanction Turkey over its decision to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system, Ankara could shut down its military bases operated by the US military and hosting American nuclear warheads, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

“If it is necessary for us to take such a step, of course we have the authority … If this is necessary, together with our delegations, we will close down Incirlik if necessary,” Erdogan was quoted by Reuters as saying.

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Ankara places a $1.72 million bounty on the head of exiled Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, a staunch opponent of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and one of the most outspoken critics of Turkish President Tayyip Erdo?an.

by Israel Hayom Staff

Exiled Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan | Photo: Reuters/Loay Abu Haykel

by Cristina Laila, GATEWAY PUNDIT

President Trump on Sunday went after Barack Obama and DOJ IG Michael Horowitz, who was appointed by Obama.

“As bad as the I.G. Report is for the FBI and others, and it is really bad, remember that I.G. Horowitz was appointed by Obama. There was tremendous bias and guilt exposed, so obvious, but Horowitz couldn’t get himself to say it. Big credibility loss. Obama knew everything!” Trump said in a tweet.

Michael Horowitz finally released his report on FISA abuses last Monday.

The report revealed what we knew to be true all along — the FBI defrauded the FISA court and purposely omitted exculpatory information from the FISA judges in order to obtain FOUR FISA warrants on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.
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– You Won’t Believe This…

https://www.teaparty247.org/finnish-parents-lose-custody-of-daughter-for-trying-to-protect-her-you-wont-believe-this/

(Tea Party 247) – The transgender movement needs to be shut down and fast. It’s claiming the lives of thousands of people but most tragically teens and young children. The lies from the liberal LGBT mob have permeated Western culture and now we are wholesale abandoning reason and truth.

Cases of children either pursuing their gender change or being coerced into it by their “woke” parent(s) are making it into the legal system and parents are finding themselves on the losing end of the battle.

It’s truly disturbing to imagine losing your child to this demented ideology.

One Finnish couple has lost custody of their 15-year-old daughter after trying to protect her by refusing to allow her to begin medically transitioning.

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“Some American Jews don’t love Israel enough.”

By Michael L. Wise, PhD          mlwise@gmail.com

It is an unpleasant task to sound the alert that there are Jews who seek to destroy the State of Israel and harm its supporters. We brand Jews who try to harm Israel and the Jewish people as “FAKE” JEWS. They advocate Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions against Israel (BDS) and vilify Israel as a genocidal apartheid state, occupier and violator of human rights. Many “FAKE” JEWS deny their Jewish parentage and go out of their way to hurt the Jewish people. They malign Israel and mislead many uninformed people.  These Jews provide legitimacy to the assault against Israel. Not surprisingly, US President Donald Trump says “some American Jews don’t love Israel enough.”

Historically there have been Jews who acted to the detriment of the Jewish people. In 1936, Zionist leader Katznelson asked: “Is there another people on earth whose sons are so emotionally twisted that they consider everything their nation does despicable and hateful, while every murder, rape and robbery committed by their enemies fills their hearts with admiration and awe?” During pogroms and holocausts there were Jews who aided the enemies of the Jewish people. From Torquemada, the renegade Jew, during the Spanish inquisition to Kapos and colluders who collaborated with the Nazis during the holocaust, Jews have been besieged by people who betrayed their brethren and sought favor with the enemies of the Jewish people.
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By DAVID HARSANYI, NATIONAL REVIEW

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) points to a FBI chain of command chart as he questions U.S. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz (not pictured) during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2019. (Erin Scott/Reuters)

All of it was to keep open a “low threshold” counterintelligence investigation into the opposition party’s political campaign during an election.

Perhaps if Democrats would momentarily shelve their obsession with Donald Trump, they’d comprehend the staggering abuse of power they’re defending these days.Because much of Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing with DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz was jaw-dropping. Horowitz’s testimony, in fact, sounded little like the media depiction of the IG report only the day before. Most major outlets had stressed that the IG had found no bias in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. But failing to uncover explicit instances of bias and exonerating the FBI aren’t the same thing.
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Most people don’t care that much about Israeli-Palestinian issues, so small groups of committed activists can exert a disproportionate influence on policy.

by  Evelyn Gordon, ISRAEL HAYOM

For years, I considered Europe a lost cause from Israel’s perspective and decried the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Euro-centric focus, arguing that it should instead devote more effort to places like Africa, Asia, and South America, which seemed to offer better prospects for flipping countries into the pro-Israel camp. But the past few years have proven that Europe isn’t hopeless – if Israel changes its traditional modus operandi.

This has been evident, first of all, in the alliances that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed with several countries in eastern and southern Europe, resulting in these countries repeatedly blocking anti-Israel decisions at the European Union level. Previously, Israeli diplomacy had focused overwhelmingly on Western Europe. Netanyahu’s key insight was that conservative, nationalist governments seeking to preserve their own nation-states would have more instinctive sympathy for a Jewish state than the liberal universalists who dominate in Western Europe, and whose goal is to replace nation-states with an ever-closer EU.
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NEWSMAX

In recent days, Iran hawks in Congress leveraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s interest in a Senate run to win a key concession from the Trump administration that could help their bid to kill the nuclear deal with Tehran.

Late last week, the State Department agreed to release a portion of an internal legal opinion that says the U.S. has the right to demand that all U.N. sanctions on Iran be reinstated, despite President Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear deal. In exchange, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lifted his hold on the nomination for Stephen Biegun to serve as the State Department’s No. 2 official, according to an administration official and a congressional aide.
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From Christchurch to Colombo to Poway and beyond, worshipers were the targets of some of the most deadly violence seen in years

By DAVID CRARY, TOI

Signs of support and flowers adorn a post in front of the Chabad of Poway synagogue, April 29, 2019, in Poway, California. (AP/Gregory Bull)

AP — On December 1, a band of assailants opened fire on worshipers at a small-town Protestant church in Burkina Faso, an impoverished West African country where the Christian minority is increasingly a target of attacks. The victims included the pastor and several teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to “unidentified armed men” who, according to witnesses, got away on motorcycles.

The slaughter merited brief reports by international news outlets, then quickly faded from the spotlight — not surprising in a year where attacks on places of worship occurred with relentless frequency. Hundreds of worshipers and many clergy were killed at churches, mosques, synagogues and temples.
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“We have witnessed in the last years a growing trend among the people of Nigeria to learn more about Jewish tradition, and we are here to accommodate that.”

By AARON REICH, JPOST

Thousands of Nigerians gather in Abakiliki to celebrate Hanukkah.

(photo credit: DISCOVERING THE JEWISH JESUS WITH RABBI SCHNEIDER)

Thousands of Nigerians gathered in the city of Abakiliki last week to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

In a three-day festival organized by Ohio-based Messianic Jewish shliach Rabbi Kirt Schneider, a massive crowd gathered together to light the candles of the traditional Hanukkah menorah (also known as a hanukkiah) and say the appropriate blessings.
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Jordan says UN’s extension of UNRWA’s mandate shows support for rights of “Palestinian refugees”.

INN

UNRWA school in eastern Jerusalemon Saturday hailed a decision by the UN General Assembly to extend the mandate of UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees” until 2023.

A spokesperson for Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates quoted by the Xinhua news agency said that the decision represents a genuine support to the Palestinian refugees’ right.
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As you know, the Jordan Option is my primary concern. Although I can’t report the details of what is going on now, let me assure you that I am working on it daily.

Other issues that concern me and occupy my time include:
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By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, BESA

In a recent press conference, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett presented a goal for IDF activity in Syria: “To cause Iran to give up its attempt to entrench itself in Syria.” Unlike the common tendency toward ambiguity in defining strategic objectives, Bennett dared pronounce a clear and measurable goal. But is the goal he presented achievable? And is it right to declare a strategic goal in that way?”

Moshe Dayan, photo via IDF Archives Flickr CC

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,368, December 10, 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In a recent press conference, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett presented a goal for IDF activity in Syria: “To cause Iran to give up its attempt to entrench itself in Syria.” Unlike the common tendency toward ambiguity in defining strategic objectives, Bennett dared pronounce a clear and measurable goal. But is the goal he presented achievable? And is it right to declare a strategic goal in that way?

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by Dr. Eric R. Mandel, MEPIN

What will it take for the international community to realize that no amount of money, accommodation or deference will change the DNA of Iran’s leaders, who are bent on eradicating Israel, and the ascendency of Shi’ism over Sunnis and minority populations living in the Mideast?

In Tehran, the mullahs have blamed the recent protests in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon not on their own repressive regimes and proxies, but on foreign and Zionist interference.

The Iranian Supreme Leader speaking to his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Basij henchmen, blamed the Iranian people’s protests on foreign interference, thanking the Iranian people for the “hard blow to global arrogance and Zionism, forcing them to retreat.”
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