We are advancing in cruise missiles, and the Iranians are advancing. This is an arms race.

Dr. Uzi Rubin, ISRAEL HAYOM

The Sept. 14 combined cruise missile and drone attack on the Abqaiq Saudi oil facility, which caused extensive damage and has been attributed to Iran, is a “global wake-up call for understanding that the threat is here and now,” a senior former Israeli air-defense source said on Thursday.

The Saudis did not have any prior intelligence warning, and their advanced air-defense systems – one of the largest in the region – failed to stop the attack, noted the source.

“We know from our own microcosm that the Iron Dome batteries must be ready at all times because threats can pop up without warning. Now, we can all see the importance in the presence of effective air defenses against a range of threats on 24-hour readiness, guarding 360 degrees,” the source stressed.
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T. belman.  I would imagine that CAIR is backing these women and the Democratic Party is cooperating.

Politics expert: Women of color are “next generation of leaders”

BY Donna Rachel Edmunds, JPOST

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has lent her support to the 26 Muslim candidates emerged victorious in Tuesday’s off-year US elections, tweeting news of their successes.

The election wins brings the total number of Muslims elected to office in the States this year to 34. Fifteen of the candidates were newly elected. Muslim advocacy groups have described the results as a blow against Islamophobia and a triumph for community organization.

Tlaib is one of four Democrat congresswomen who have shot to prominence thanks to their demagogic support for minority rights. Describing herself as a Palestinian American, she regularly uses Twitter to attack Israel.

Retweeting a video by minorities-supporting campaign group “She The People” on election day, Tlaib commented: “Get out of the way. We are here and more are coming.” Read more…

T. Belman. The king will be deposed this year.

Development could lead to further American pressure on Amman to extradite Ahlam Tamimi, who played a major role in organizing the ‘Sbarro attack’ in Jerusalem in 2001

By Amir Tibon, HAARETZ

WASHINGTON — The White House is rejecting claims by its Middle Eastern ally Jordan that a Palestinian-Jordanian terrorist who was involved in the murder of U.S. citizens cannot be extradited to face trial in the United States.

A new report published this week by the State Department says explicitly that the U.S. considers its extradition treaty with Jordan to be valid, despite a Jordanian court ruling from 2017 that said the opposite.

This development could lead to further American pressure on Jordan to extradite Ahlam Tamimi, a Hamas terrorist who played a major role in organizing the “Sbarro attack” in Jerusalem in August 2001, a suicide bombing which led to the deaths of 15 people, including two American citizens.
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By David M. Halbfinger and Richard Pérez-Peña, NYT

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday that the International Atomic Energy Agency had validated his longstanding allegation that Iran has been maintaining a secret nuclear site in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty — a claim that the agency did not publicly confirm.

Mr. Netanyahu’s assertion came as the Vienna-based agency held a closed-door meeting on Thursday about questions concerning Iran’s “safeguard declarations,” but did not specify more precisely what had been discussed.

The Israeli leader spoke hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while visiting Europe, accused Iran of “nuclear extortion” by having accelerated its ability to develop a nuclear weapon in a shortened time frame.

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After nearly 2 years of relative silence on the swirling controversies in the White House, Jared and Ivanka seem to be bracing for a fight.

By Ron Kampeas, JTA,

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the New York socialites who were supposed to soften the blunt edges of the Trump administration, appear to be taking the gloves off.

After nearly two years of relative silence on the swirling controversies in the White House, President Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, both of whom hold senior advisory positions in the West Wing, seem to be bracing for a fight.

Last month, in a rare media interview, Kushner took an even rarer swipe at one of the president’s opponents, saying he had been busy “cleaning up the messes” Vice President Joe Biden left behind in the Middle East. And Ivanka — whose Twitter feed is best described as part travelogue, part booster of good economic data — recently featured a tweet describing her father as surrounded by “enemies and spies.”
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From Gerald Honigman

Dear Friends,<

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings….

Since this represents the largest denomination of American Jews, think about what the implications of the following article are:

https://www.jns.org/opinion/rabbi-jacobs-eretz-yisrael-and-the-reformatting-of-reform-judaism/

Ah yes, “rabbi” Jacobs.

I know I’m not going to win many fans by what I’m now sending,

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Defending PM, Amir Ohana had claimed police extorted state’s witness Nir Hefetz with extramarital affair; Hefetz slams minister, vows ‘shameful’ accusation ‘will not go unanswered’

By RAOUL WOOTLIFF, TOI and TOI STAFF6 November 2019, 8:48 pm

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit (L) and Justice Minister Amir Ohana attend the annual Justice conference in Airport City, outside Tel Aviv on September 3, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit issued an unprecedented rebuke of a serving justice minister on Wednesday, saying Amir Ohana’s claim that investigators in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption probes extorted a key witness was an attempt to “mislead the public” for the Likud leader’s political benefit.

Mandelblit, in a joint statement with State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, vowed not to get dragged into litigating Netanyahu’s corruption investigation in public, as the premier’s political allies were trying to force him to do.
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T. belman.  This is a good thing.

“If it is that important to Netanyahu, he should pay them,” Trump reportedly told his advisers at the prospect.

ARUTZ SHEVA

Several months ago, President Trump rejected a request by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow US aid to be transferred to Palestinian Authority security forces, Channel 13’s Barak Ravid reported in Axios.

According to the report, while the White House has gradually cut all funding to the PA over the last two years – with the encouragement of Israel – around 6 months ago the State Department realized that $12 million in aid to PA security forces had not been cut, but hadn’t been transferred, either.

Israeli officials requested from their US counterparts that the money be transferred to PA security forces, “which work hand in hand” with Israel in Judea and Samaria, according to the report. They were told that, as Trump’s policy was to cut funding to the PA, such a decision would have to be cleared by Trump himself. Read more…

Leadar quits admid misconduct probe

Israel’s Foreign Minister: Renewal of organization’s mandate unreasonable and immoral

BY Tovah Lazaroff, JPOST

Pierre Krahenbuhl Commissioner-General of the UNRWA attends a news conference in Geneva. (photo credit: DENIS BALIBOUSE / REUTERS)

Israel called for UNRWA’s closure Wednesday, as its commissioner-general, Pierre Krähenbühl, resigned amid a UN probe into ethical misconduct allegations against him and other top officials in the organization tasked with providing humanitarian assistance to 5.5 million Palestinian refugees.

This “is a victory in the campaign against the politicization and incitement against Israel that is at the root of the agency [UNRWA],” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said. “Compounding this, numerous accusations regarding the agency’s conduct signals to the international community that there is no other solution for UNRWA besides its total closure, and it is time to consider alternative models for the refugee issue.”
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By Shoshana Bryen, JEWISH POLICY CENTER • The Daily Wire

One of the few points of unbounded bipartisan agreement in Washington has for decades been that U.S.-Israel security cooperation is right, good, mutually beneficial, and worth every nickel spent on it. It is well–grounded in facts and has acknowledged benefits to both sides.

However, at the J Street Conference last week, left-of-center political candidates and hostile-to-Israel speakers questioned the utility of American aid to Israel except, perhaps, as “leverage” to force Israel to meet their left-of-center and hostile-to-Israel demands. Candidates were willing to “explore” the issue. But it was left to J Street president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, to get to the heart of the conversation – Ben Ami isn’t interested in “leverage,” but in de-legitimizing the aid. “American aid is not intended to be a blank check. As Israel receives that $3.8 billion in aid, what is it being used for?”
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This is the second time the consulate has been attacked in a week.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN, JPOST

Demonstrators take part in a protest over corruption, lack of jobs, and poor services, in Iraq. (photo credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)

Iraqis scaled the wall around the Iranian consulate in Karbala and raised an Iraqi flag over it. They said only the Iraqi flag should fly high in the sky and that Iranians should be ejected. Other protesters tried to burn the wall around the compound.

This is the second time the consulate has been attacked in a week; it was previously targeted on October 26.
Protests in Iraq have reached their crescendo after a month in which 250 demonstrators have been killed. The Iraqi Prime Minister has been pressured to resign. Protesters have targeted the political party offices of Iranian-linked parties and militias. The militias, known as Hashd al-Shaabi, have been alleged to use snipers to shoot demonstrators. In addition, reports indicate that Iran has used a heavy hand to try to suppress Iraqi protesters by working through political allies such as the Badr Organization and Fatah Alliance head Hadi al-Amiri.
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T. Belman. Wasn’t there supposed to be a ceasefire after initial invasion. What’s Turkey doing in Iraq?

Three were injured in the airstrike on Tuesday, the third airstrike in two days.

BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN, JPOST

Turkey’s attacks on Syria and Iraq escalated on Tuesday as its warplanes bombed Sinjar two days in a row, striking at villages inhabited by the Yazidi minority. Yazidis survived the ISIS genocide by they have been targeted in both Afrin in Syria, which Turkey invaded in January 2018, and in eastern Syria where Turkey is carrying out an invasion against Kurdish fighters. Turkey claims it is fighting “terrorists,” but locals say airstrikes and attacks by Turkish-backed militants have caused civilians to flee. Read more…

Announces New Effort to Hold Turkey Accountable for Human Rights Abuses in Syria

US SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate Floor making the case for a recalibration of the U.S.-Turkey relationship based on its aggressive behavior in the region and the dramatic backsliding of democracy under President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

“Our strongest allies should be those in NATO, those who have made a treaty commitment to mutual defense.  Those who share our values.  Those who work in concert with us to face the threat from countries like Russia and Iran with common cause,” said the Senator. “Unfortunately, Turkey under Erdogan embodies none of those things… Turkey under Erdogan should not and cannot be seen as an ally.”

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