Peloni:  Israel must secure all its borders, and among these, only the long border with Egypt hosts an army capable of mounting a conventional threat to Israel, and a significant one at that.  As Dr. Wurmser noted in an interview some months ago, and which Piflaks resonates below, Israel must focus on being able to address the capabilities of its neighbors rather than trying to divine their presumed intentions.  With regard to Egypt, this should have become particularly clear following Egypt’s obvious role in facilitating arms transfers to Hamas thru the causeways constructed under Rafah became clear.  Additionally, we should recall the resistance which Egypt resisted Israel’s actions in closing those causeways.

Tolik Piflaks | All Israel News | December 29, 2024

An Egyptian army soldier looks on from his position at a checkpoint in Al Arish city, the troubled northern part of the Sinai peninsula. Picture taken July 8, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

Egypt has been engaged in one of the most aggressive military modernization and expansion programs in its history. Under President Al-Sisi’s leadership, the Egyptian armed forces have transformed into one of the world’s most formidable forces, with recent acquisitions including everything from aircraft carriers to advanced fighter jets, from German submarines to the latest American tanks.

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The Surgery that the Prime Minister will undergo on Sunday, is for a Medical Issue he has been suffering from for at least a Decade; with him having received an Experimental Treatment in 2015, that appears to have not helped his Condition. https://t.co/cWVQnPf11r

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 28, 2024

All the current “mainstream” proposals for the “Day After” in Gaza represent the triumph of misguided hope—or at least, misconceived correctness—over bitter experience.

Dr. Martin Sherman | Dec 28, 2024

You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.—Albert Einstein

Sadly, the discussion of the fate of Gaza in general, and of the “Day After” in particular, is taking on an eerily familiar look—ominously reminiscent of the discussions of yesteryear.

Misperceptions and misconceptions

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Peloni:  This is a very important video.  Barry Shaw, the Senior Associate for Public Diplomacy at the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, provides an important region wide masterclass analysis of the consequences of recent events in Syria.

Towards the end of the video, he discusses a proposal to use the Abraham Accords as a protectorate guiding the reconstruction of Gaza and perhaps under the management of Mohammed Dahlan.  Shaw argues that the deradicalization of Gaza can not be completed by Israel, and that it must instead be conducted by the moderate Muslim states of UAE and Bahrain with the addition of Saudi Arabia, all of whom have chased Islamic radicalism from their own territories.  I find this proposal to be deeply worrisome.

Martin Sherman addresses the concern regarding Dahlan’s possible role in this Day After scenario.   Beyond Sherman’s comments, which I would argue are significantly material, I am additionally concerned about the consequence of outsourcing the deradicalization of Gaza to Israel’s AA partners to act on Israel’s behalf.  Israel has responded to an attack from Iran’s proxies since October 7 without any diplomatic support of either the current members of the AA nor from the Saudis, all of whom have repeatedly employed their influence to confound Israel’s response to October 7.  Indeed, it should be recalled that both Bahrain and UAE have issued multiple condemnations against Israel for its response to the Islamist savagery, with Bahrain also ceasing trade with Israel and recalling its ambassador.   Recall further that, even before October 7, the UAE acted on behalf of the radical leadership within the PA as it has repeatedly condemned Israel, even soliciting a condemnation from the UNSC against Israel on behalf of the PA.  Beyond this, since October 7, rather than supporting Israel in its defensive war against Iranian proxies, the UAE has consistently advocated for ceasefires and Israeli withdrawals from Gaza, leaving Hamas intact.  The UAE has also condemned Israel’s recent ban on UNRWA, which seems relevant to the UAE’s potential role in any protectorate guiding reform in Gaza. While the AA provided an important basis upon which Israel might lead a coalition against Iran, and thereby extend its support within the region, it seems that this end, in and of itself, has yet to be fully embraced, even by the current signatories of the AA.

Hence, whatever influences might be constraining the AA members and SA from supporting Israel in its fight against Islamic radicalism, should caution us from believing that they should, would or could effectively act on Israel’s behalf in ridding Gaza of its radical leanings on the Day After, this, despite the fact that they did so while stabilizing their own regimes.  What is more, should Israel place its interest in Gaza under the control or influence of any foreign/international body, it will beyond Israel’s control to influence what takes place on the Day After.

Janet Levy:  This speaks to the critical role of advisors.  The people a president surrounds himself with, make decisions that affect everyone.

William Upton | National Pulse | Dec 26, 2024

A fierce debate has broken out between President-elect Donald J. Trump’s very recent tech industry supporters and his long-standing America First base. At the core of the disagreement is the subject of legal immigration—specifically, how Trump should handle so-called “high-skilled” foreign worker programs like the H1B visa.

One of the staunchest proponents of expanding the labor pool in this way is billionaire Elon Musk. In a Christmas Day post on X, Musk exclaimed America needs more than double the 160,000 semiconductor industry engineers said to be required by 2032.

“No, we need more like double that number yesterday! The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk wrote, adding: “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to wn.”

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By Eileen F. Toplansky | Am Thinker | Dec 28, 2024

Jews first came to Ireland in 1079.  But when Britain expelled all of its Jews in 1290, the Jews of Ireland were forced to leave.  A small number returned in the late 15th century as refugees from the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal.  In the 1700s, the synagogue in Dublin was forced to close.  In fact, “contributing to the closure may have been the government’s refusal to grant citizenship to Jews, despite other bills that gave citizenship to other foreign nationals.”

In the early 1920s and 1930s, Irish sympathies lay squarely with the Zionists and drew heavily on the presumed parallels between historical Irish and Jewish suffering.

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Behnam Ben Taleblu | Dec 27, 2024

“Fools” flocking to the “scent of kebab”: That’s how Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently described audiences abroad who sense an opportunity to support Iran’s people against their clerical overlords in the face of his regime’s myriad challenges.

But the joke’s on Khamenei: When President Donald Trump returns to the White House next month, the United States will have a chance to end Tehran’s menace for good.

Iran is sunk in a months-long energy crisis that’s rocking the regime to its foundations.

Home to significant oil and natural gas reserves, the Islamic Republic has defied the Biden administration’s (admittedly lax) sanctions to remain involved in the global energy trade.

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Raylan Givens tweeted the following

10 DAYS TO WIN A WAR: In September 2024, PM Netanyahu made 2 decisions that decided the war with Hezbollah within 10 days – the pager operation (9/17), and the assassination of Nasrallah (9/27).

In both cases, Bibi clearly stood up to then DM Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi, who opposed him on executing both of the operations. Here is the story behind the scenes of those dramatic 10 days

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Israel Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, Tweeted the following:

We must not look away—these are the true faces of the emerging terror regime in Syria. These are @RTErdogan allies.

Call them by any name you wish; it won’t change the fact that they are a gang of fanatical jihadists who must never be recognized or granted even a shred of moral… pic.twitter.com/7egMcGLYud

— ????? ????? – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) December 27, 2024

We must not look away—these are the true faces of the emerging terror regime in Syria. These are @RTErdogan allies.

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All Israel News Staff | Published: December 26, 2024

Head of Mossad David Barnaea and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: flash 90, Edited by All Israel News staff).

Following an increase in attacks from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Israeli government is reportedly weighing its military options for dealing with the threat.

According to reports in Israeli media, Israeli leaders are debating an escalation in strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which is said to be the strategy favored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or to strike against Iran directly, as the initiator of the attacks, said to be favored by Mossad Director David Barnea.

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By Jeffrey A. Tucker | Dec 25, 2024

Brownstone Institute has been tracking a little-known federal agency for years. It is part of the Department of Homeland Security created after 9-11. It is called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA. It was created in 2018 out of a 2017 executive order that seemed to make sense. It was a mandate to secure American digital infrastructure against foreign attack and infiltration.

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Peloni:  This was a very interesting read.  While I completely reject the notion made by Putin’s remark that “They are ethnic Jews” as there are far more than just Jews who are responsible for the repulsively repressive policies against the Russian Orthodox Christian Church to which Putin is addressing, but the explanation argued by Korybko is completely reasonable, beyond the objection I make here.

Andrew Korybko | Dec 25, 2024

His intent was actually to absolve Jews of the collective responsibility for Zelensky’s crimes and his radical ideological crusade against the Russian Orthodox Church that anti-Semites attribute to them solely due to their ethno-national and religious association with him.

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Having a consultant from a foreign organization controlling intelligence is a threat to national security.

by Daniel Greenfield | Dec 26, 2024

The COVID era was an Orwellian nightmare in which official narratives ruled and suppressing ‘disinformation’ was seen as the only means to save lives. Dubious claims that even those distributing them did not believe, like the supreme power of surgical masks or the natural origins of the Wuhan Virus, became dominant under the guise of a national and global emergency.

The idea that the Wuhan Virus emerging into a worldwide pandemic was unrelated to the Wuhan biolab working on gain of function research on those same viruses was implausible. It violated Occam’s Razor and yet the intelligence community, among others, took a lead in shutting it down.

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By Paul E Vallely, MG – US Army (Ret) | December 26, 2024

There was a time when differing political opinions meant an excellent discussion at the dinner table or workplace. In those days, political business conducted itself through compromise. After all, they all believed in the fundamental values of America: freedom, love of God, country, family, and hard work through private enterprise. We were all in it together. No longer. After all, the Left controls most of the media, education, Hollywood, Big Tech, Big Pharma, big business, and much of the federal government through their deep state. If you try to computer research a political question, your answer will come from the New York Times, NPR, the Boston Globe, Time, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, and The Daily Beast. You will have to scroll way down to get anything approaching objectivity.

You would think the Left was the majority. The Left in America has co-opted loyalty to America for allegiance to the tribe. And this tribe is anti-America, pro-democratic socialism (whatever that is), pro-censorship, transgenderism, open homosexuality, open borders, a universal basic income, and faith in science, not God. And their science has no room for diverse opinions, including God’s. Secretly, to them, all science has a political objective. Climate change will require massive societal change as long as one can change one’s gender. Climate change has become the outing of natural gas: the introduction of digital ID, central bank digital currency, 15-minute cities, no private transportation, lab-grown meat, no dairy, no private property, no privacy. The elimination of billions of people. Did they tell you that? Yes, they did, but you weren’t listening. It will be to your detriment if you don’t believe this.

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Dr. Joseph Ladapo on the CDC Still Recommending the COVID Jabs: “It’s Just Completely Nuts”

“They care more about their agenda than the health and well-being of human beings.” pic.twitter.com/GkYoVjQBUm

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 24, 2024