By Frank Musmar, BESA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The vast Leviathan natural gas field off the Haifa coast could be a game-changer for Israel’s relations with the EU. Europe is currently dependent on Russian natural gas. A reliable and price-competitive natural gas alternative in the Mediterranean could diminish Moscow’s ability to use energy supplies as a political weapon against Europe.

Leviathan, the largest natural gas field ever discovered, is located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel.  It is deep in the Levantine Basin, an area rich in hydrocarbons. The field is roughly 130 kilometers west of Haifa and 1,500 meters deep. Read more…

At this time, Jews need to stand tall with the expectation that racially and religiously-motivated violence is now a part of life.  DEC 30, 2019

By Ashley Rindsberg, TOI BLOG

Anti-Semitism is back. Truth is, it never really went anywhere. It’s like cicadas repopulating or a dormant virus reactivating. A herpes of the soul, if you will. Apt as the metaphors may be, all this risks the obvious: anti-Semitism is flourishing in ways, and in places, we could hardly have imagined just years ago.

There is, however, a distinction amid the difference. In addition to crude anti-Semitism – the anti-Semitism of physical violence and vandalism–we’re also seeing the parallel emergence of a cultural and, in some cases, official indifference toward the specter of anti-Semitism. On an official level, this symptom presents as willful inaction or, in more advanced cases, in the form of apathy-as-policy. Read more…

If CAIR, Linda Sarsour and the rest were genuinely opposed to terrorism, they should have been thanking the NYPD and assisting it; instead, they filed a lawsuit.

By Stephan M Flatow, ISRAEL AHYOM

When the police uncover a plot to carry out terrorism, the arrest usually makes a big splash in the news for a day or two, but then quickly fades from the headlines. The legal process drags on, and most people forget about the case. That’s a shame because the trial and its outcome sometimes provide important lessons.

Consider the case of Asia Siddiqui. Does anybody even remember her name?

Back in 2015, Ms. Siddiqui, a Muslim woman from Queens, NY, was arrested along with her roommate, Noelle Velentzas. Inspired by ISIS, they did extensive research on how to make bombs and even purchased many of the components, which they planned to use to murder police officers. Read more…

T.Belman.  ZOA Exposé: J-Street Sides with Israel’s Enemies & Works to Destroy Support for Israel

 From wellness centers to addressing BDS and anti-Semitism, Hillel “plays a fundamental role when it comes to creating new avenues for Jewish identity-building that specifically address the changing Jewish community,” says new president and CEO Adam Lehman.

BY JACKSON RICHMAN

(January 16, 2020 / JNS) Hillel International announced Adam Lehman last week as its new president and CEO.

Lehman, who has held the interim CEO position since July 2019, previously served as the organization’s chief operating officer for four years. He succeeds Eric Fingerhut, who stepped down in June to become CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America.

Lehman, 52, and his wife, Belinda, have two daughters who are both in college.

Q: What are your goals as the new head of Hillel? How will you decide differently from your predecessor?
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by Dr. Eric R. Mandel, MEPIN

We need to look at the new possibilities and perils in the post-Soleimani era.

The assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the longtime commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has profoundly changed the playing field between the United States and Iran. For the first time since 1988—when U.S. President Ronald Reagan responded to Iranian provocations in the Straits of Hormuz by sinking Iranian warships and destroying two oil platforms—tangible consequences were imposed on the regime. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini and the IRGC are now forced to revisit their decades-long assumption that America would not respond militarily to its nefarious behavior, and the United States needs to develop a strategy to take advantage of its newfound leverage.
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By J.E. Dyer, LIBERTY UNYEILDING  January 17, 2020

Iranian students decline invitation to trample the painted flags of the U.S. and Israel. 

Probably the most overlooked aspect of the “flags on the sidewalk” phenomenon in Iran is that, as the regime paints those flags everywhere, hoping Iranians will step on them, it is basically symbolizing its – the regime’s – effective “occupation” by its obsession with the Great Satan and the Little Satan.

Not focusing on that point is as it should be, of course.  The nobility and honor of Iranians who refuse to tread on the foreign flags are what is most important.  Americans and Israelis are awed to see such courageous signs of goodwill and respect.  I know I speak for many when I say we wish we had more direct ways to convey our reciprocal admiration and support to the Iranian people.
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by Sam Westrop, MEFORUM

In October, the Trump administration handed out $100,000 of federal government money to the terror-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Middle East Forum has found.

In 2009, the FBI blacklisted CAIR after federal prosecutors named the Islamist group as an unindicted co-conspirator during the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial. In 2014, the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR as a terrorist organization. And today, its officials continue to promote and excuse violently anti-American and anti-Semitic rhetoric.
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The cant and emotionalism that enshrouds this final doomed effort to undo the 2016 election probably require a full trial. The public relations battle must be fought to the end.

By Conrad Black, AMERICAN GREATNESS

As far as can be determined, the question of whether the Senate should conduct a trial or dismiss the spurious articles of impeachment as unworthy of trial by vote of the majority, is being addressed as a matter of President Trump’s political convenience.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is doubtless sincere and may be accurate in saying that the acquittal that is almost certain to result from a trial will clear the president more convincingly than the Republican majority determining at the outset that the charges are frivolous and vexatious harassment and simply should be rejected.
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T. Belman. Tobin like the vast majority of pundits doesn’t have the imagination to envisage why Trump is confidant he will succeed. He assumes Trump will follow the path tread by all the others. He’s wrong in this. Trump will decide what is doable and will follow that path.

The long-delayed “deal of the century” won’t end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though it can advance realism and undermine establishment thinking that set back peace.

by Jonathan S. Tobin, ISRAEL HAYOM

Three years in the making and long after most of the world had given up on it being rolled out, President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan may soon see the light of day. In an interview with Axios, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien let drop that the administration’s blueprint for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians may soon be unveiled.

That the effort that was the responsibility of senior presidential adviser/son-in-law Jared Kushner and recently retired Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt hasn’t been permanently shelved is news by itself. But it also raises the possibility that the scheme might be announced during the run-up to Israeli elections on March 2. That ignited speculation about whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious coalition would benefit politically from the move. It’s also highly ironic since the general assumption has been that the plan has been on ice for a year because of the need to wait for the formation of a new Israeli government.
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The Iran-backed terrorist organization remains deterred by Israel’s military might, but pursuing precision missile factories would be taking an enormous risk of escalation. The coming months will reveal whether Hassan Nasrallah realizes the extent of the danger and decides to step back from the brink.

By Yaakov Lapin, ISRAEL HAYOM, 

While it remains too soon to know the full implications of the assassination of Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and many questions remain, Iran’s malign activity in the Middle East looks set to continue to create risks for escalation.

At the top of the list of immediate threats is the Iranian-Hezbollah plan to construct precision-guided missile factories on Lebanese soil. This represents a top proliferation challenge for Israel in 2020, and Tehran is continuing to lean on Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah to proceed with the construction of the factories. Judging by the comments of Israeli officials in recent months, Jerusalem has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards such activity.

Giving Hezbollah and the Iranians the ability to accurately threaten strategic spots in Israel with guided missiles built on Lebanese soil looks like a step too far in the force buildup program by Israel’s enemies.
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T. Belman. To argue that Antifa’s violence is justifyable because it is supposidly fighting fascism as it’s name suggests is pure pooycock. Antifah is the epitomy of a fascist organization. Let’s face it, Antifa is fighting the anti-fascists.

By Doug Petrikat, AMERICAN THINKER

A few weeks ago, I met an old friend who is a professor.  We discussed various issues, but when the subject of Antifa came up I was surprised by what he said.  He stated that the acts of violence committed by Antifa are justifiable because we know what fascists have done and should do anything to prevent that from happening again.  When I mentioned that some of the people being assaulted are ordinary Americans wearing MAGA hats, he merely said maybe Antifa should be more specific about whom they target.

Justifying Antifa’s violent actions is nothing new.  I have heard or read enough similar statements that I was starting to think new members of Antifa and its fan club in academia, the media, and in the Democratic Party, all receive the same flyer instructing them how to respond if anyone criticizes their acts of violence, even when journalists and bystanders are among the victims.
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Christian Saunders also said Israel was seeking to replace UNRWA services for Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem with those of its own.

By REUTERS

The interim head of the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees on Thursday accused pro-Israel groups of lobbying foreign parliaments to stop donations, even as it struggled to recover from losing United States funding in 2018.

Christian Saunders, in an interview with Reuters in his Gaza office, also said Israel was seeking to replace United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) services for Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem with those of its own.

UNRWA has faced budgetary difficulties since 2018, when the United States, its biggest donor, halted its annual aid of $360 million. The United States and Israel have both accused UNRWA of mismanagement and anti-Israeli incitement. Read more…

A small clash broke out at the scene between the IDF and Palestinians.<

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST

Palestinians in the Ar Rifa’iyya village sit by the rubble fo the Rib’i family home, demolished Thursday by Israeli security forces in the South Hebron Hills.

Israeli security forces demolished an illegal Palestinian home and the foundations of an elementary school in the West Bank as Israel moved this week to tighten its hold on Area C.

Border police, the IDF and the Civil Administration surprised the Palestinian residents of the village of Ar Rifa’iyya, when they arrived without warning in the morning to take down a small illegally built cement home that belonged to Hussein Muhammad Rib’i. He lived there with his wife and their six children.

Demolition of the Palestinian home in the South Hebron homes is almost completed. One can see the clothes line with the laundry hanging that was behind the home.

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By Tzvi Fishman, JEWISH PRESS

Yigal Dilmoni, CEO of the Yesha Council is, in the eyes of his colleagues, “a quiet bulldozer.” He says that media headlines that focus on Israel’s political and security problems act like smokescreens, camouflaging the great building surge currently underway throughout the country.

In a conversation with The Jewish Press, he predicted that by 2030, the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria will number a million residents, double what it is today.

The Jewish Press: In November, the United States altered its previous position that settlements in Judea and Samaria violated international law. What do you think caused this shift in policy?
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‘I don’t want to go into details, but there won’t be 4th vote,’ Yisrael Beytenu chief says; asked if he means unity coalition, he answers: ‘Not unity — all Zionist parties’

TOI

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman speaks during a press conference at the Knesset on December 11, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman claims it is “essentially a locked and done deal” that a government will be formed following the March elections, after two rounds of national votes in 2019 failed to produce a coalition.

“I don’t want to go into details, but… there won’t be a fourth election,” he tells the Ynet news site. “I want a coalition of all Zionist parties.”

Asked if he means another attempt to form a unity government, Liberman answers: “Not unity, I say all Zionist parties.”

Liberman also asserted ahead of the September election that there would not be a third vote — a claim that was proved wrong.
Read more…