By HEN MAZZIG, LA TIMES

Along with resurgent identity politics in the United States and Europe, there is a growing inclination to frame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of race. According to this narrative, Israel was established as a refuge for oppressed white European Jews who in turn became oppressors of people of color, the Palestinians.

Outgoing UK leader likely to be remembered for short-lived and unpopular tenure, but local community hails her for ‘unprecedented’ support of Jews, Israel

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, TOI

JTA — Theresa May, who announced her resignation on Friday as the prime minister of the United Kingdom, will be remembered as one of her country’s shortest-serving and least popular leaders.

Blamed by supporters of Britain’s departure from the European Union for delivering what they consider half measures, she was loathed also by opponents of that plan for her efforts to push it forward.

Ultimately, her desperate balancing act came to an end following the umpteenth failure in Parliament of one her many proposals for a compromise.
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by Amil Imani, CAPITAL OUTSIDER

All phobias are, by definition, irrational fears. I’m not an Islamophobe, because my “fear” of Islam is completely rational. Avoiding a poisonous snake is a rational fear. Not a phobia. The emotion of fear, when utilized rationally, is of immense value. The key point is that the person, as well as the society, must base their assessment on facts. My assessment of Islam, conclusively supported by indisputable facts, is that it is a dangerous, destructive and death-bearing belief system of a long-ago savage people that has inflicted and continues to inflict misery and death to people.  According to Christopher Hitchens, Islamophobia is a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.
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Adnan Abu Amer, AL MONITOR May 16, 2019

President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party promptly attacked the newly launched Reform and Development Party in the West Bank and warned Palestinians to have nothing to do with it.

When a Palestinian political body calling itself the Reform and Development Party launched this month, it immediately raised the concern of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party, with the latter calling the new group “suspicious” and its ideas toxic.

The party was established May 1 in Hebron, stating it will represent the Palestinian “silent majority.” Its goals include reviving the Palestinians’ economic situation, cooperating with Israel to open West Bank roads Israeli authorities closed for security reasons and easing Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian people. In its founding statement, it said it wants to improve communication with the rest of the world, end corruption and nepotism and reform the PA and the PLO.

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The past few years have revealed that the more Europeans are stuck dealing with domestic politics, the less likely they will be concerned with what happens in Israel.

by Ariel Kahana, ISRAEL HAYOM

Mr. Trump appears to have changed the approach to Mideast peace by rejecting the theory of linkage and eschewing the much vaunted two-state solution.  

By Matthew M. Hausman, J.D., INN

During his first two years in office, President Trump has worked to repair a relationship with Israel that was severely damaged by Barack Obama and to make respect for the Jewish State an essential component of US Mideast policy.  He demonstrated this commitment by moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, taking the lead in the fight against global antisemitism, and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. These actions illustrate a shift in US policy back towards Israel, America’s strongest ally in the region, and away from the radical regimes that were enabled by the previous administration.  Perhaps most significantly, Mr. Trump appears to have changed the approach to Mideast peace by rejecting the theory of linkage and eschewing the much vaunted two-state solution.
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By Leah Rosenberg

Brigitte Gabriel fights for what is right in the world. She is not a bystander who watches history go by as different religions are targeted.

The United Nations has been a place of Jew hatred and Israel hatred. Resolution after resolution has been passed attacking the Jewish state. Reports have criticized Israel – but they are false. So many other world problems are ignored because the UN is obsessed with condemning Israel for nothing. Christians are being slaughtered throughout the Muslim world. Terrorists are murdering Jews. And the UN talks about Israel’s “war crimes.”
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Analysis by Nikhil Kumar, CNN

New Delhi (CNN)In purely electoral terms, it is an extraordinary achievement. Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have won a clear victory in India’s national elections.

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Other countries have gone from a situation in which recognizing Jerusalem was unthinkable to one in which it’s being actively debated.

by Evelyn Gordon, ISRAEL HAYOM

The first anniversary of the U.S. embassy’s move to Jerusalem sparked multiple articles in the Israeli press declaring it a failure for both U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. From the left-wing Haaretz to the centrist Times of Israel, headlines trumpeted the fact that only one minor country, Guatemala, has followed America’s lead. And even that might prove fleeting, as several candidates in next month’s Guatemalan election have pledged to return the embassy to Tel Aviv.

All this is true, but it also misses the point. And it thereby obscures the real and lasting gains of the embassy move.

To understand why, it’s worth recalling America’s own history on this issue. In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which ordered the embassy relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It was approved by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both the House (374-37) and the Senate (93-5). And in every subsequent election, every presidential candidate, whether Republican or Democratic, pledged to honor this directive.
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The victory by Scott Morrison, who hails from the center-right Liberal Party, echoes some of the surprise electoral success other decidedly pro-Israel right-wing candidates have seen in recent years around the world.

by Sean Savage, ISRAEL HAYOM

The surprise election victory of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last weekend not only shook up the country’s political landscape but also potentially bodes well for another country thousands of miles away – Israel.

“We have had a strong and constructive relationship with Scott Morrison personally and had a very good working relationship with the government he led,” Jeremy Jones, director of international and community affairs for the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), told Jewish News Syndicate. “We also have worked with many members of the Opposition and the Cross-benchers. We saw the defeat of a number of racist candidates and MPs who associated with maximalist anti-Israel groups.”

The victory by Morrison, who hails from the center-right Liberal Party, echoes some of the surprise electoral success other decidedly pro-Israel right-wing candidates have seen in recent years around the world, such as with U.S. President Donald Trump and more recently with Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and potentially in Canada as well next October. However, Austria’s Sebastian Kurz, who has also staked a strong pro-Israel stance in Europe, now faces snap elections after his junior coalition partner resigned from the government following a video scandal.
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Iran is already using its many proxies to target the US and its allies, while planning a multi-front war with Israel.

By Yochanan Visser, INN

“It has already started” I answered him, adding that Iran is a world champion in fighting proxy wars.

As we reported on May 9th the Israeli spy agency Mossad delivered intelligence to the US indicating that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was preparing to attack American marine vessels and US bases in the Persian Gulf.

The IRGC has equipped speedboats with anti-tank missiles such as the Kornet which it also supplied to its proxies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in Gaza.
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