Peloni:  The Swamp is looking to take one last great bite at the apple before Trump’s reformers take center stage.  Trump has called on Republican to “GET SMART and TOUGH” and oppose this legislation.

Julianna Frieman | Daily Caller | December 18, 2024

Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to create a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sounded the alarm Wednesday over the Republican-led House’s federal funding bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson released the full text Tuesday of the 1,547-page continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government until March 14, 2025. The incoming Trump administration’s cost-cutting bulldogs took to social media to rally against the bill, urging members of Congress to read its contents like they did before casting their votes.

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Peloni:  Carlson’s antisemitic alignment has been growing for some time now.  It was troubling to see him given a position speaking at the Republican Convention, and is still being treated with significant deference and support from key Republicans, even among those going into the new Trump administration.

by Corey Walker | Algemeiner | Dec 17, 2024

US media personality Tucker Carlson is currently providing the “leading platform” for Jew-hatred, according to Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli.

“Congratulations to Tucker Carlson for becoming the leading platform for fringe Holocaust deniers, conspiracy theorists, and blood libel enthusiasts who oppose the State of Israel,” Chikli posted on social media on Tuesday.

Chikli’s comment came one day after Carlson, a right-wing commentator and former Fox News host, hosted economist Jeffrey Sachs for a lengthy interview in which both men gave credence to the antisemitic idea that Israel “controls” US foreign policy, among other controversial comments.

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Israel doing what the rest of the world should have already done. Striking the Houthis who have been terrorizing/attacking Israel and the Red Sea, costing billions to international shipping costs. https://t.co/exjMCyxZph

— John Spencer (@SpencerGuard) December 19, 2024

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Peloni:  As is true of all of Yossi’s research, this is an important read, relating the combined efforts of domestic legal shenanigans and international protest movements  targeting Netanyahu’s leadership with the desired goal of rendering Israel into a state of all its citizens alongside a Pal state ripped from Israel’s strategic heartlands.

Yossi Baum tweeted the following:

A Must-Read: It’s Worth Pausing for a Moment to Grasp What Happened Today in Court to Understand What’s Actually Going On Here.

• First, a revelation: The majority of the charges—159 out of the 315 in the indictment—Netanyahu was not personally involved in at all. The *full* document format.
• At the opening of the defense’s case, attorney Hadad explained that the drama that unfolded today is precisely the reason why in the rush to file the indictment while Netanyahu was on the White House lawn during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony, the 315 items were not included in the indictment. The prosecution knew everything was fake; the goal was Netanyahu’s ousting, and detailing was unnecessary for that. When the court compelled them to detail those 315 cases, the collapse began. Because, as revealed today and will be further exposed, there are none and never were.

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By Robert Spencer | Dec 18, 2024

The Biden-Harris regime wants the “moderate” Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas to take over Gaza once the war there is over.

“Palestinian Authority calls for ‘Islamic awakening’ to save Al-Aqsa from the Israelis,” by Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch, December 15, 2024:

During a sermon on official Palestinian Authority TV, a preacher called on Allah to “remove” Israel and “purify the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings” – i.e., the entire Temple Mount – the holiest place for Jews. Official PA TV has broadcast many sermons with similar content:

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“If Israel concludes that it cannot effectively strike the Iranian nuclear program alone and needs the United States, its options become much more limited.”

By ERIC R. MANDEL |  DECEMBER 17, 2024

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump raises his fist during a “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America Event” with Dr. Miriam Adelson and Jewish leaders in Washington, U.S., September 19, 2024.  (photo credit: REUTERS/PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW)

According to Michael Mandelbaum, professor emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, if “the Islamic Republic should acquire nuclear weapons, as it is actively seeking to do, its capacity to harm America’s friends and American interests would expand dramatically. The most important task for American Middle East policy is…to prevent that from happening. This is especially the case insofar as the American government actively discouraged Israel from hitting Iran’s nuclear installations.”

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Peloni: Shame on Fox

Amin Saikal | Australian National University | Dec 17, 2024

The Conversation; Mohammed Badra (EPA), Maxim Shemetov (Reuters Pool/EPA), Stoyan Nenov (Reuters Pool/AP)

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has opened a new front for geopolitical competition in the Middle East.

Now, however, instead of Iran and Russia playing the most influential roles in Syria, Israel and Turkey see an opportunity to advance their conflicting national and regional security interests.

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Peloni:  This is a very important and highly recommended video.  Mike Doran makes a detailed and emphatic case for the support of Turkey’s moves in Syria as being not only in Turkey’s interests but also in Israel’s interest.  He makes the point that Turkey’s eminent and utter victory over the Kurdish YPG forces in northern Syria are not a major victory over a Iranian allied force, but that it would also be nearly impossible to prevent this victory from taking place, and will likely be supported by the incoming Trump administration.  In regards to  concerns of Erdogan being an Islamist leader, Mike argues that Erdogan’s Islamist nature is only secondary to his pragmatic nature, and that he has basically ceded national security control over Turkey to the establishment which has only Turkey’s national interests in mind.  Consequently, he argues that should Israel support Turkey’s conquest over the Kurds, Israel and the Turks could move forward together while turning Syria into a buffer state, but if Israel should show support for the Kurds, the pragmatic nature of the Establishment will see Israel as a threat and act accordingly.

Mike’s arguments, however, seem to ignore Erdogan’s interest in recreating the Ottoman Empire, which will only be encouraged evermore by Turkey’s expansion into Syria.  He also downplays the import Islamist nature of Turkey, which now hosts the Islamist Hamas political elites, and helped finance and arm the Islamist forces which toppled Assad’s regime.  In fact, the Turkish backed, Islamist rebels in Damascus should be seen as little more than a sword of Damocles wavering overhead of Israel, with the ultimate control emanating from Ankara, leaving Syria to appear far more like a Turkish proxy state than as a buffer state as Mike describes it will be.

The problem of anti-Israel bias has become much worse, in part because it has become an accepted part of mainstream journalistic culture.

Moshe Phillips

Portrait of longtime writer for “TIME” magazine Lance Morrow. Photo by James Keyser/Getty Images.

Obituaries for journalist Lance Morrow, who passed on Nov. 29 at the age of 85, heaped praise on his “elegance” and “beautifully constructed” essays. They neglected to mention the antisemitic essay he once wrote—and the award it received from a prominent liberal Jewish organization.

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According to Reuters, the Trump Transition Team is becoming increasingly concerned about Tulsi Gabbard’s chances of being Approved by the Senate for her nomination to Director of National Intelligence (DNI); with at least 8 Republican Senators having told the Transition Team… pic.twitter.com/29s0jDiWly

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 18, 2024

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Because America’s problems aren’t big enough yet.

by Daniel Greenfield | Dec 17, 2024

Are you a criminal or some sort of illegal alien from those parts of Israel controlled by Islamic terrorists?

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Sen. Raphael Warnock, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Peter Welch and Sen. Brian Schatz have some good news for you.

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Peloni:  Ettinger offers an important review of what the West is facing as they seem ready to support the rise of Muslim Brotherhood forces in Syria based on inexplicable pronouncements of literally overnight becoming a voice of toleration and multiculturalism.

Contrary to some Western policy makers, journalists and academics, the pro-US Arab leaders do not take HTS’ moderate statements at face value. They know who they are dealing with. Opinion.

Amb. (ret.) Yoram Ettinger | Dec 16, 2024

Abu Mohammed al-Julani   screenshot

Peloni: Fantastic speech by Beatrix Storch of AfD addressing the German Bundestag

WOW. Every single word.

This is a ???? ????? and a ???? ?????.

“First the synagogues will burn and then the churches. They are burning already”

“First the Kippah wearers will be beaten, then anyone who will not submit”

Wake up people.

An incredible speech… pic.twitter.com/Tgip3tEnEs

— Kosher?? (@koshercockney) December 16, 2024

Peloni:  As Turkey stands poised to completely dominate the Kurds, the question remains what will Trump do to stop them?  Of course, Trump has notably voiced that what is taking place in Syria has nothing to do with the US, but the reality is that it does, and as Turkey takes on a dominating role in the Middle East, it will degrade any opportunity for peace in the region. Furthermore, Erdogan’s recent comments heralding the fall of Western society demonstrates his interest in farm more than the regon itself.

By Hugh Fitzgerald | Dec 16, 2024

The Kurds have been the most effective ally of the U.S. in the campaign to destroy ISIS in Syria. The Kurds in Iraq also helped the American military to defeat ISIS in that country as well. Now the Kurdish militia (YPG) in Syria are threatened with destruction by Erdogan, who backed the jihadist rebels of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and has already been seizing Syrian territory where the population is predominantly Kurdish. Antony Blinken tried to dissuade the Turks from attacking the Kurds at his recent meeting with Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, but to no avail. And now the Kurds have had to divert their forces from fighting ISIS to defending themselves from attacks by the Turkish army. More on Turkey’s announced “strategic goal” to destroy the Kurdish militia, YPG, can be found here: “Turkey seeks to purge pro-US Kurdish force that helped defeat Islamic State in Syria,” by Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, December 13, 2024:

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Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi is the founder and chairman of IDSF. During his service, Amir held a series of senior roles in the IDF, including Deputy Comptroller of the Security Forces, Director of the Office of the Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander of the Gaza Division, Commander of the Sagi Division, Commander of Battalion 605 and Commander of the School of Combat Engineering.