By Sundance, THE LAST REFUGE 18 December 2023
In the world of tracking geopolitical maneuvers closely, particularly as it relates to military intervention, it becomes critical at a certain point to get more deliberate.
Two fronts seem like they are about to open on the geopolitical stage. The first in Yemen, the second in Moldova. We can watch them unfold together if we begin from the same baseline.
Against the background of the Israeli-Gaza war against Hamas terrorists, the U.S. military is about to begin a large-scale operation in the Red Sea under the auspices of combating Houthi rebels and terrorist attacks. Against the background of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, we can also anticipate NATO opening a new front using Moldova.
T. Belman. The three diplomats questioned are clearly anti-Israel. What they see as bad news, I see as good news.
By asserting it will maintain security control over Strip, rejecting PA return, not advancing alternate plans, Israel likely to find itself stuck in enclave, top officials tell ToI
Tom Nash
T. Belman. I posted this article because it tells what is really going on behind the scene. Biden is paving the way for a ceasefire because he wants Israel to end “high intensity military operations”. So don’t believe any “happy talk” by US officials.
US poses as Israel’s friend while at the same times gets France, Britain and Germany to work in tandem with her to keep the pressure on Israel.
According to an Israeli source U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made it clear that the current phase of the war will have to stop in early 2024
The Biden administration and pro-Israel governments in Europe are placing increasing pressure on Israel to transition within the next few weeks from the current phase of “high intensity military operations” to more targeted raids, acute airstrikes and assassination of senior Hamas leaders. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who arrived in Israel Monday, and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who visited last week, conveyed clear messages on the issue to Israel’s war cabinet.
T. Belman. Bottom line, Israel agreed to all US demands. in exchange for allegedly “no timeline”. In reality he imposed a timeline for “winding down major combat operations in Gaza, withdrawing most ground troops and moving to more targeted operations”.
More IDF soldiers will die as a result. The US has made it very difficult for Israel to destroy Hamas to the extent its needed. Austin limited the fighting to killing Hamas leaders and specifically did not include their entire forces. Lurking in the background is the US commitment to establish a Palestinian state. Israel is against this but has set up a committee to make a report for the day after.
Austin pushes for more Gaza aid, two-state vision; says he’ll convene regional ministers to counter Houthis; Gallant: There’s ‘no clock running,’ war will see ‘end of Hamas’
By AMY SPIRO and JACOB MAGID, TOI 18 December 2023, 9:34 pm
From left: IDF Chief Herzi Halevi, US military chief CQ Brown, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meet in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Tel Aviv on Monday, meeting with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He reiterated US backing for Israel’s war against Hamas, while calling to increase humanitarian aid entering the Strip, though he declined to set any timeline on the ongoing Israeli operation.
T. Belman. Dr Eldad spoke at the Jordan Option conference in 2017
T. Belman. I reposted this article because Austin re-emphasized Biden’s policies again.
President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, once said “Never let a crisis go to waste”. The Biden Administration (Biden) is following this dictum by supporting Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas in order to advance the Two-State Solution. It matters not at all that neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis want such a solution.
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T. Belman. Austin repeats Biden’s policy of emphasizing the need to protect “innocent” Palestinians and to stop “settler violence”. No change there. He also stressed the need for surgical strikes in the south as opposed to what took place in the north of Gaza. The humanitarian effort must continue because we must protect these “innocent civilians,” Austin and Biden have never mentioned the need to save IDF lives. Yet that should be Israel’s primary concern, not the lives of Gazans. He made one concession. He won’t “‘dictate timelines or terms’ of war” but he did call for ““winding down major combat operations in Gaza, withdrawing most ground troops and moving to more targeted operations””
Gallant re-emphasized that Israel’s goals will be achieved but he had nothing to say about saving our soldiers lives.
Click Photo to See Video
T. Belman. It is enough that Ben Gvir takes this position but he should stay in the government. As a government Minister, his voice is much louder. He shouldn’t put Gantz in the position to decide when to end this coalition by leaving it. Mind you, if Gantz leaves the coalition, Ben Gvir could rejoin it if Bibi invites him. The last thing Bibi wants is an early election.
By SAM SOKOL, TOI Today, 5:01 pm
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads a faction meeting of his Otzma Yehudit party at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on December 4, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticizes the government’s handling of the war against Hamas, reiterating his demand that terrorists be executed and declaring he will not remain in the coalition if the military offensive doesn’t “continue at full strength.”
Asserting that Hamas is still undeterred after 73 days of war, Ben Gvir objects to the government’s decision to let aid into the Gaza Strip, telling reporters at a Knesset faction meeting of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party that “you don’t bring in 200 fuel trucks, you don’t transfer money to any official.”
Read more…
By Sarit Zehavi and Tal Beeri, ALMA REC 17 December 2023
Photo credit: ALMA Research and Education Center
What does Hezbollah want?
Hezbollah did not desire to be lured into the conflict by the Palestinians on October 7 and to come across as though it was being managed (“playing second fiddle”). Hezbollah was “forced” into the campaign on October 7, but on its terms – in a limited capacity; not as a tag-along, but as a supporter. Hezbollah joined the fight to enhance its narrative, although, it would have preferred to start the major conflict by itself. As far as Hezbollah is concerned, the current scenario is a win-win situation.
It should be noted that Hezbollah has been pursuing a policy of provoking Israel since the end of 2022 and throughout 2023. Hezbollah is interested in war with Israel but through its initiative and timing.
Why is the U.S. leveraging its position as Israel’s ally to compel an Israeli defeat at the hands of Iran and its proxies? The answer is politics.
By Caroline Glick, JNS 18 December 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo by Avi Ohayon
The Biden administration is working assiduously to block Israel from defeating Hamas or contending coherently or effectively with the growing existential threats it faces from Iran and Iran’s Lebanese and Yemeni proxies. To force Israel to stand down, President Joe Biden’s top advisers are descending on Israel one after another to pressure and coerce Jerusalem to limit its military operations in Gaza, Lebanon and the Red Sea.
Last week National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was here to hector Israel’s leaders. Sullivan devoted most of his efforts to demanding that Israel move quickly from major combat operations in Gaza to more limited operations directed against specific “high value targets.” The idea is that Hamas can be left in place, more or less, and Israel can just seek a terror master or two to kill and declare victory.
The U.S. defense secretary arrived in Israel to discuss shifting to a more targeted approach in Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) meets with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in Tel Aviv, Dec. 18, 2023. Credit: Israel Defense Ministry.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Monday, where he was expected to pressure Jerusalem to scale back the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
His first meeting upon arriving in the Jewish state was with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Austin was also expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the third member of the War Cabinet, Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz.
Billions in handouts would be contingent on absorbing refugees
by Eliyahu Tulshinski, FRONTLINE December 15, 2023
As momentum builds for the resettlement of the population of Gaza, activists from the NGO Boneh Israel (literally: “Building Israel”) have presented congressmen with a plan to make U.S. foreign aid to Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, and Turkey contingent on those countries accepting a quota of refugees from Gaza. Recently, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton and Dutch leader Geert Wilders called to resettle Gaza’s population.
Report on the Acquiescence of the Israeli Government in Palestinian Authority First Strike Preparations in Judea and Samaria
by Frontline News Staff October 23, 2023
{The following paper was published in Hebrew in the year 2000 as Policy Paper No. 107 of the Ariel Center for Policy Research. Updated on May 17, 1999, it included information reflecting new facts shared by Israeli military officials, after an earlier draft was released on March 22, 1999. Included here also are the official reaction to the report, and the author’s response.
T. Belman. In effect, Biden is banning people who oppose the TSS.
By Eugene Kontorovich, NY POST Dec 17/23
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced visa restrictions on Israelis in response to “settler violence.”
Britain and Belgium plan to follow suit, and other European Union countries will likely jump on the blacklist bandwagon.
The United States frequently uses such visa restrictions to block those guilty of gross human-rights abuses, tyrannical foreign despots and nationals of state sponsors of terrorism.
America’s manipulation of the Jewish state is endangering Israel and American Jews
BY Jacob Siegle and Liel Leibowitz, TABLET Dec 17/23
Two years ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously wept in Congress after changing her vote on funding Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system from “no” to “present.” The New York Times said that the incident showed progressive members of “the Squad” “caught between their principles and the still powerful pro-Israel voices in their party, such as influential lobbyists and rabbis.” (The line was later removed with no correction.) In People magazine, the congresswoman’s procedural maneuver to avoid voting was appreciated for its pathos: “Ocasio-Cortez Opens Up About Israel Iron Dome Vote That Left Her in Tears: ‘Yes, I Wept.’” In the end, the resolution passed the House 420-9.
Mark Levin interviews Alan Dershowitz and David Shoen
THIS IS A GREAT INTERVIEW. DON’T MISS IT.
YOU MUST LISTEN TO DERSHOWITZ’S RANT.
By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS December 17, 2023
Let’s put it this way: if some rare disease had swept through America, killing everyone 25 and older, it would become very inhospitable for Jews. A survey conducted online by The Harris Poll and HarrisX within the United States from December 13-14 among 2,034 registered voters, asked, “Do you think that the long-term answer to the Israel-Palestinian dispute is for Arab states to absorb the Palestinians, for there to be two states, Israel and Palestine, or for Israel to be ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians?” and, God help us, 51% of respondents ages 18-24 preferred “for Israel to be ended.”
By Hana Levi Julian, JEWISH PRESS 17 December 2023
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Commander of the Gaza Division and LTC Avi Rosenfeld tour a Hamas terror tunnel uncovered by IDF troops next to the Erez border crossing, in the northern area of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF released for publication on Sunday a Hamas video seized during Israeli military operations that documents the construction of the terror organization’s largest Gaza tunnel uncovered so far.
A mother and daughter duo sued Rudy Giuliani in Georgia, alleging that he had defamed them in connection with the Fulton County vote count. They just received a $148,000,000 verdict (and yes, that’s the right number of zeroes). But all is not as it seems, and the story is a reminder of the multi-level lawfare being practiced against conservatives, especially Trump supporters.
